112639 - rfe: Bookmarks/(url-not-from-page) default to open in new tab (pref setting)

Status: RESOLVED EXPIRED

(SeaMonkey :: Tabbed Browser, enhancement)

Description

[gekacheka]

From Bugzilla Helper:
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:0.9.6) Gecko/20011120
BuildID:    2001112009

RFE:  Preference option to open URL in a new tab whenever URL comes from local
user action (e.g., bookmarks, typed-in URLs, hard-coded URLS, etc.), rather than
from actions on the current page/frame.

Rationale: Tabs are nice.  I use a new tab whenever I switch to a new browsing
task.  
(+) This way I always have the option to switch back to the old task and browse
further without losing my place in the new task (when I start the new task in
the same tab and then back up to the old task and follow a link, the new task
context is lost).  
(+) It is also easier to find the old task (no searching through dozens of links
in the back menu).  
(+) It may also help a little with memory management (I can close tabs for tasks
I have finished, so Mozilla can free the memory).
(+) Much less window clutter than when I open windows.
(-) sometimes I mistakenly close the window when I meant to close the tab.

The following are clear indications that I'm starting a browsing task and not
following a link from the current page:
  o typing in a URL (Mozilla already starts a new tab for this)
  o clicking on a bookmark or toolbar bookmark
  o clicking on the Mozilla icon 
  o invoking other hard-coded urls (e.g., menu help/release notes)

I'd like to have a preference option that says open a new tab whenever I do any
of these (I'm clearly starting a new task as the URL doesn't come from the page).

Workaround:  my current workaround is to type control-T (or control-N) before
mousing on a toolbar or bookmark, but of course I often forget and later regret
that I forgot.  It's also inconvenient to have to get to the keyboard.  (adding
context menu or middle button clicking to open bookmark in a new tab avoids the
keyboard, but doesn't help me remember to do so.)

Design:  A possible design for this option in browser preference dialog:

+- Opening user-specified URLs: --------------------------------------
|
| [x] URLs entered in URL bar
| [x] Bookmarks and toolbar buttons
| [x] Mozilla URLs (Browser icon, help, etc.)
|
| When YOU specify a URL to open, you're not following a link supplied
| by the current page, which indicates you're starting a separate task.
|
| Open in:  (*) new tab   ( ) new window  ( ) same tab & window
+---------------------------------------------------------------------

This could be a reasonable default behavior, as it makes the browsing experience
easier to manage (IMHO).

Comment 1

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

Confirming rfe.

The default behavior should stay the current behavior.  Don't force tabs on
people unless they actually want to use them.

Comment 2

[David Hyatt]

Reassigning to new component owner.

Comment 3

[jag (Peter Annema)]

-> future, helpwanted

Comment 4

[R.K.Aa.]

dup of bug 110540?

Comment 5

[gekacheka]

This RFE is related to bug 110540, but not a dup.
One relation is that a partly similar RFE (bookmarks/toolbar) was requested in a
comment to that bug http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=110540#c8

Bug 110540 is about fixing incorrect/unexpected behavior; 
This RFE is about extending/generalizing behavior. 

Bug 110540 is about mousing with click-middle or control-click, and how the
preference doesn't work.
This is about normal clicks.

Bug 110540 is about using click-middle for new tabs: user has to remember to
click-middle every time a new tab is desired.
This rfe requests preference so user can set a policy for mozilla to
remember/recognize when to create new tabs. (E.g., in which cases where source
of url is not a link on the current page, and 'back' does not go back over a link. 
Such url sources include 
 - typed url in URL bar, 
 - bookmarks (and personal toolbar)
 - URLs in email messages, 
 - clicking on local files on the desktop, or other external programs,
 - hardcoded urls such as mozilla icon, help, about, etc.)  
Currently Mozilla creates new tabs automatically only for URLs  typed in the URL
bar, which is good, but this rfe extends this to other cases  where URL is not
from the current page.

Comment 6

[Greg K.]

See also bug 121969.

Comment 7

[Robert Kaiser]

MASS-CHANGE:
This bug report is registered in the SeaMonkey product, but has been without a comment since the inception of the SeaMonkey project. This means that it was logged against the old Mozilla suite and we cannot determine that it's still valid for the current SeaMonkey suite. Because of this, we are setting it to an UNCONFIRMED state.

If you can confirm that this report still applies to current SeaMonkey 2.x nightly builds, please set it back to the NEW state along with a comment on how you reproduced it on what Build ID, or if it's an enhancement request, why it's still worth implementing and in what way.
If you can confirm that the report doesn't apply to current SeaMonkey 2.x nightly builds, please set it to the appropriate RESOLVED state (WORKSFORME, INVALID, WONTFIX, or similar).
If no action happens within the next few months, we move this bug report to an EXPIRED state.

Query tag for this change: mass-UNCONFIRM-20090614

Comment 8

[Robert Kaiser]

MASS-CHANGE:
This bug report is registered in the SeaMonkey product, but still has no comment since the inception of the SeaMonkey project 5 years ago.

Because of this, we're resolving the bug as EXPIRED.

If you still can reproduce the bug on SeaMonkey 2 or otherwise think it's still valid, please REOPEN it and if it is a platform or toolkit issue, move it to the according component.

Query tag for this change: EXPIRED-20100420

Comment 10

[Michal 'hramrach' Suchanek]

This has been confirmed due to a bug in bugzilla. I added my vote to a *different* bug. Not using Seamonkey anymore.