How can i get the destination url of a link on the web page in the javascript onbeforeunload event?

Question

Is it possible to capture what link on the web page the user clicked on? Not talking about if they manually entered an url in the address bar or if they clicked on the back butt

Answer 1

Instead of having a completely different set of headers/footers you could replace all links in certain areas with links that open in a new window like so:

$('#header a, #footer a').each(function() {
  $(this).attr('target', '_blank');
});

Answer 2

This is what I came up with to handle this and it is working for me.
Detects when user clicks on a page link then evaluates link to determine how to handle appropriately. It does not work for links typed in the browser address bar.

I use jquery magnific-popup (http://dimsemenov.com/plugins/magnific-popup/) to create a popup window (.popupForm-handleExitRequest in my code) that offers the user the option of opening link in same window (and losing their order data), in new window or returning to order form.

$('body a').click(function(e) {     
    //if link is reference to page element
    if ($(this).attr('href').charAt(0)=="#") {
        return;
    }

     //check if link is to same window    
     var pathname = window.location.pathname;
     var pathname2 = $(this).attr('href');
     pathname2 = pathname2.replace(/^.+\.\//, '');
     if (pathname.indexOf(pathname2) >= 0) {
        //link clicked is contained on same page
        //prevent page from getting reloaded & losing data
        e.preventDefault();
        e.stopImmediatePropagation();
        e.stopPropagation();    
        return;     
    }

    //link clicked on is another page
    if (hasMerchandise) {  //var to indicate user has items on order form       
        //give user options: leave page, open link in other page, stay, etc.
        // $('.popupForm-handleExitRequest').click();   //roll your own code    

        //prevent page from getting reloaded & losing data
        //in case user wants to cancel page change or open link in another window
        e.preventDefault();
        e.stopImmediatePropagation();
        e.stopPropagation();            
    } else {
        //load new page
        $(this).removeAttr('target');
    }       
});