Homepage featured content not opening in new window.

Hi there! I'm having issues with the homepage featured content; specifically, directing the links to open in a new window. The customizer provides a text input field titled "Target. Open link in new window?" Leaving the field blank or inputting text yields the same outcome. The value automatically defaults to target="_self" Investigating the code on the child page (adventurous-featured-content.php), something seems to be off in the operation. The parameters given are as follows: if ( !empty ( $options[ 'homepage_featured_base' ][ $i ] ) ) { $target = '_blank'; } else { $target = '_self'; } Shouldn't that mean that leaving the field empty will set the target value to _blank so that it opens in a new window? Why is it still defaulting to _self whether or not there is a value in the field? Here's my website: http://barefootwanderer.com/ In particular, I want that "Barefoot Wanderer Crafts" link to open in a new window, since it redirects outside of my site. Thanks for the help! -Kriz