remember 'broadpage' browser - here's 'tablane'

[nudone]

there used to be a browser called 'broadpage' that allowed you to view two (or more) web pages at the same time within a single window, similar to tiling windows vertically on the desktop.

alas, 'broadpage' is no more.

but, oh joy, here  comes 'tablane' http://www.tablane.com

for me, the most beneficial feature that tablane has, is the ability to open links from one pane directly to the adjacent pane, i.e. you could keep your search results in view whilst each result that you clicked upon would then open alongside in the next pane, or 'lane' as the authors of the program like to call them.

okay, you can achieve similar results by opening two browsers on your desktop and tiling them, then simply dragging links from one window to the other - but it wouldn't be as much fun as using 'tablane'.

it's early days for the browser, there are bugs and not many options but i think it shows promise. i'll not be using it as my main browser but i'll certainly be tempted to give it a try when i know i'm going to be browsing several sites at a time (which is a lot now that i think about it).

i've still not tried 'firefox' (shock, horror) so i wouldn't be too surprised if there is a plugin that behaves in a similar way to 'tablane'. if there is i'd like to hear of it please - the point being that a link, when clicked, will automatically open up in the next 'pane' and not the 'pane' the link is in.

(if there is a plugin for 'maxthon' that performs this kind of function then i'd like to hear about that also - if firefox can do it then it may well be the thing that finally makes me a convert.)

[tsaint]

How about the old Operas (eg v5) which would let you create new windows which could be tiled or cascaded within Opera?
You could create a "linked window" (or windows) to show the url you clicked on in an originating window.
Don't know if its still possible or not - would like to know.

As an aside, I had to install an old opera to get the screenshot below, which gave me a chance to use the Altiris Virtualization Software
Thanks to whoever it was posted about that!!

[nudone]

the 'create linked window' functions sounds similar to what tablane does but i thought that all current tabbed browsers allowed tiling/cascading of pages/panes/windows (whatever they should be called).

this may be just an aesthetic thing but the way tablane works is to automatically resize the 'lanes' so that there is no 'dead' space within the window - each 'lane' fits tight against each other. to me, this 'feels' better as it's self adjusting and doesn't require you to keep messing about resizing windows to fit nicely on the screen.

i've had a look through a lot of maxthon plugins and i can't find anything that does what tablane does - what about firefox, no one prepared to stand up for it on this one?

[tsaint]

the 'create linked window' functions sounds similar to what tablane does but i thought that all current tabbed browsers allowed tiling/cascading of pages/panes/windows (whatever they should be called).

this may be just an aesthetic thing but the way tablane works is to automatically resize the 'lanes' so that there is no 'dead' space within the window - each 'lane' fits tight against each other. to me, this 'feels' better as it's self adjusting and doesn't require you to keep messing about resizing windows to fit nicely on the screen.

-nudone (March 31, 2006, 12:50 AM)

That used to be called tiling (either vertically or horizontally, which opera DID have. It ALSO used to let you have all sorts of odd sizes as "laning"/tiling.  Plus you didn't need to drag/drop, you just clicked as normal and voila, new page in linked window.

Opera was way, way ahead of its time and lots of "new" features around today are in fact OLD opera features.

[nudone]

ah, i see.

i used opera for a while a few years ago because of the tabs but i never realised it did what you say.

[Carol Haynes]

Can't find a Firefox extension to do exactly that but here are some related ones (I haven't tried them yet):

Firefox Showcase
Fox Pager
Quick Preference Button
Tab Catalog
Viamatic foXpose
Viamatic Tabnail

[nudone]

thanks, Carol. i'll check them out later.

[Carol Haynes]

I think I am going to settle on only two:

Firefox Showcase (from the View Menu) which opens a window with small versions of all open tabs in Firefox (from multiple windows). Right clicking on an image allows you to do various tasks - reload, close etc. Tab Catalog does similar and has the advantage of a quickly accessible button, but only shows tabs in the current window. Fox Pager and Viamatic Foxpose duplicate this functionality but not as neatly. Fox Pager has the advantage that you can have a side bar showing you Tab contents - but it is limited in size and so only show a couple of tabs without the need to scroll. I couldn't get Tabnail to work at all.

and

Quick Preferences Button - which gives one click access to most of the preference settings from the Menu Bar.

[nontroppo]

How about the old Operas (eg v5) which would let you create new windows which could be tiled or cascaded within Opera?
You could create a "linked window" (or windows) to show the url you clicked on in an originating window.
Don't know if its still possible or not - would like to know.

-tsaint (March 31, 2006, 12:34 AM)

Yes, it is is absolutely possible in V8.5 and the latest V9 technical previews. It has been hidden more and more in the prefs to make it look liked tabbed browsing (not to scare new users), but you can get a full "multi-page" power mode as Opera has always allowed (and now is uber fashionable) since V2.x back in the last century...

You can custom program commands in the menus to do specific stuff like split-screen mode in the later versions, for example I have:

[Select]

Item, "Create linked and tile" = Minimize all & Restore page & Create linked window & Tile horizontally
Item, "Split-screen mode" = Minimize all & Restore page & Duplicate page & Tile vertically

[allen]

Yes, it is is absolutely possible in V8.5 and the latest V9 technical previews.

-nontroppo (March 31, 2006, 05:04 AM)

Beat me to it

I love all these browsers new innovations that have existed in Opera for over a decade.  I'm reminded of an entry in a MSIE developer's blog, where he was gushing about their innovative new tab feature -- I guess he'd never used Opera, Firefox, or any non-IE browser this side of 1894.

-- About broadpage, is it a shell that utilizes the IE browsing engine or is it mozilla/gecko based?

[nudone]

broadpage and tablane use the ie browsing engine.

[Darwin]

Maxthon will also allow you to select "view" and then your choice of cascade, tile vertically, tile horizontally, etc. I just gave it a go and it works fine.

[nudone]

you're right about maxthon, Darwin, it's just not as much fun as the way 'tablane' does it. since i made this post i've not really used 'tablane' at all. i'm still using the browse many pages by clicking on tabs method so i guess that pretty much sums everything up - perhaps that's why 'broadpage' vanished - no one cares to browse that way, not even me and i thought it was a good idea.