diff --git a/layouts/_default/_markup/render-link.html b/layouts/_default/_markup/render-link.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7605ea17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layouts/_default/_markup/render-link.html
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<!-- configures external links to open a new tab -->
+<a href="{{ .Destination | safeURL }}"{{ with .Title}} title="{{ . }}"{{ end }}{{ if strings.HasPrefix .Destination "http" }} target="_blank"{{ end }}>{{ .Text }}</a>