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Mozilla Contest: How Would You Improve Tabbed Browsing?

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fenixproductions:
IMO the hover thing is not going to work in a browser, both from an efficiency and usability standpoint-Ehtyar (May 19, 2009, 07:19 PM)
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Why not? Something like this is already implemented in many browsers and called Sidebars or something. The biggest problem with them is the fact that they steal precious space when activated. That is why I've thought about overflow effect.

We have also the possibility to use auto-hide option for system taskbar. I know many people who use that even if it's not good for me. Now, imagine similar thing in browser.

I understand it is not the best idea in the world (i.e. there would be no indication of tabs count until we get something more) but I've wanted to show that solution might already exists, though no one sees.

P.S. I recommend to try FastStone Image Viewer in full screen mode to see some parts of my idea :)

Ehtyar:
The hover thing literally requires you to have your mouse sitting in one spot doing nothing for an extended amount of time. I'm not sure how users would fancy doing this in their browser.

Then there's issue of the "left area". I can't really imagine how small the area would have to be to avoid accidental triggering. You could instead try using the left side of the screen/window with an instantaneous popup, but you'd still have the occasional accidental trigger.

IMO we'd be better off with a keyboard shortcut; I dare say most users who require the efficiency boost of an extended tab system are already comfortable with keyboard shortcuts.

Ehtyar.

fenixproductions:
2Ehtyar
I see nothing against the possibility to switch "hover mode" off and using shortcuts.

I also know that accidental triggers can bother people but despite that some users might find it handy. I doubt I would ever use it (same annoyance for me as taskbar auto-hide) but I know "others" might think different. That is what making ideas is all about. You will never hit 100% satisfaction rate but you can try to get as much as possible.

Back to tabs: their disadvantages were well known since the beginning and it makes me wonder why they realized that so late.

MilesAhead:
I've just browsed through web (Flickr mostly) and must say that many ideas are strange because most of the people are trying to reinvent the wheel. They focus on tabs only by grouping them or creating strange lists. It is no longer usable IMHO.

Why does nobody bother to i.e. use simple list view as overflow panel on the left side on the screen? With thumbnails and transparency it could be pretty nice to use. Just hover left area and it is shown. No magic needed.
-fenixproductions (May 19, 2009, 07:07 PM)
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I believe there's a TreeView side panel already.  Also I tried a side panel that shows images of the tab and kills the tab bar when open.  Conceptually it seemed worth trying but I didn't like the feel of it.  Then again, I rarely use the side panel.

People are so used to tabs now that if they opened a link in a new browser window it might seem like a revolutionary experience. :)

fenixproductions:
People are so used to tabs now that if they opened a link in a new browser window it might seem like a revolutionary experience. :)-MilesAhead (May 19, 2009, 08:17 PM)
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You might be right.

BTW It just came to me but: isn't "too much tabs" just a mental problem?

I see it falling into the same category as hundreds of icons on Desktop or entries in Start menu.

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