Most of the time when using the node picker/select element tool nothing happens when you click an element, even if it’s a hyperlink or has onclick events tied to it, as intended. However, there are times when something is still processed and I end up somewhere else when trying to inspect an element with the node picker. I’m not sure if it’s caused by a mouse up or some other type of trigger, but something is certainly getting processed.
One example that I’ve found was if a link was set for the background image for Smart Slider 3 slide, then it’ll open the URL when you try to inspect the slide with the node picker. Here’s a sample page for testing that will be around for 30 days at least. If you try to pick the the entire slide or background portion, you’ll see “n2-ss-slide–focus” as the div, but if you click it’ll open the link via JS.