Open Bug 1328776 Opened 8 years ago Updated 2 months ago

Provide ability to show multiple sidebar contents parallelly

Categories

(Firefox :: General, defect, P5)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
General
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Tracking Flags:
Tracking Status
firefox53 --- affected
firefox56 --- affected
firefox57 --- affected
firefox58 --- affected

People

(Reporter: yuki, Unassigned)

References

(Blocks 1 open bug)

Details

(Whiteboard: ux needed, sidebar, triaged)

After the bug 1208596 is fixed, WE addons can have its custom sidebar panel. However, some type addons like Tree Style Tab or Tab Center will hog the sidebar area while Firefox is running. For example, it will be stressful that I have to switch the sidebar to "Bookmarks" and switch back to "Tree of Tabs" at every time. Thus something mechanism to provide second/third sidebar panel area is required. I have two plans: A) Providing ability to embed "sidebar" widget at inside of any sidebar panel, for WE addons. (= new WE API) B) Providing second/third sidebar panel by Firefox itself. How about this idea?
Depends on: 1208596
I can imagine doing something [different than bug 1208596] to support tab managers separately from sidebars, but I don't see allowing multiple sidebars as a feature we'd implement without Firefox product and UX driving that decision and design. We should make sure there is a bug for tab management and look at doing an experiment.
Blocks: 1329022
look at after the minimal patch landed - look at UX for sidebar extension use cases
Priority: -- → P5
Whiteboard: ux needed, sidebar, triage
Component: WebExtensions: Untriaged → WebExtensions: Frontend
Whiteboard: ux needed, sidebar, triage → ux needed, sidebar, triaged
No plan for this bug? Tree Style Tab (without shortcut to switch between Tree style Tab and bookmarks) is a very bad experience on Firefox 57+. For me B) is the best solution.
An support for doing multiple sidebars would have to come from Firefox, with UX and product support. If it implemented it, we'd support it from WebExtensions.
Component: WebExtensions: Frontend → General
Product: Toolkit → Firefox
¡Hola Andy! Could you please think of somebody to ni? for and answer to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1328776#c5 perhaps? ¡Gracias! Alex
Flags: needinfo?(amckay)
Sorry, I'm not really sure, it's a big question.
Flags: needinfo?(amckay)
I took the time to create an account here to say it is a really annoying regression. I just got an automatic update and discover this problem, is there any update about this issue ? Thanks.
(In reply to adrien.lagrange from comment #8) > I took the time to create an account here to say it is a really annoying > regression. > I just got an automatic update and discover this problem, is there any > update about this issue ? > Thanks. I agree. I would very much love this feature be implemented in some way. I use dual side panels in my daily work.
I think this feature is even made more important since FF57/Web Extensions. Now Tree Style Tab (TST) have become a sidebar. It mean that everybody using TST + a sidebar have to give up on one of them. For exemple, before FF57, I used to have TST on the left side of the Web page and Mastodon as a Sidebar on the right. Now I can only use one of the two sidebar.
This is the most annoying regression yet, it completely ruins my workflow process. Every time I have to use one of several "view/tools" that can only be docked in this single web extension sidebar ("security" ? Really ?), it takes a significantly longer time because of all the switching and clicking. And the frustration. And the stress. Argh ! Either (1) allow me to create several sidebars or (2) let extension use their own UI space somewhere.
It was a very very great feature to be able to use vertical tabs (with TST) and bookmarks in parallel. Now I spend my days to click on the panel head to switch between TST, Bookmarks... And I can't drag and drop tabs... Unfortunately FF is not relevant anymore for me at this day, it's too much annoying in my work. You have several solutions : allow a panel to embed an other panel, or to be able to disp several panels, or let a web-ext to take its own space...
> … or (2) let extension use their own UI space somewhere. … Extension pages - Mozilla | MDN https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/user_interface/Extension_pages – also known as 'bundled web pages'.
I consider extension pages to have poor UX and would not use them in my own creations for two reasons: 1. Under a floating window manager, having an application with multiple top-level windows makes multitasking awkward unless you've got enough monitors to more or less make stacking behaviour irrelevant. (To this day, XSane is one of the applications I grumble about the most because it's such a pain to bring the multi-window UI back to the front every time I have to pull something forward on whichever monitor I put it on... and I've got three monitors!) 2. Wikis for tiling window managers have whole PAGES about how to customize the configurations to work around multi-window applications (historically, The GIMP is the most noteworthy application). By those two points, I'd only ever use that UX transient information (dialogs boxes) and only as an in-page popup. (I'm very much looking forward to when <dialog> is supported because of how much it will simplify things.) ...not to mention, that's assuming that extension APIs like windows.create() can override what I've done with the browser.link.open_newwindow family of configuration keys to make new tab creation only triggerable by user action and redirect all new window creation to new tabs in the same window.
I too need this fix to enable multiple sidebars. I'm amazed that mozilla hasn't implementd TreeStyleTabs into its own code rather than needing a plugin. I also like to be able to look at my bookmarks simultaneously with my tabs and FF version 57 has made that impossible in the same window. (as far as I know) The easily distracted, like yours truly, use things sitting out visible as reminders of what to do next and the current version keeps me from seeing both my bookmarks and vertical tabs, both things that I need. I'd even call theis an ADA issue. Please fix this bug so TreeStyleTabs can be built into what I need.
So .... 1328776 is a duplicate of 1432216 & 1432216 is a duplicate of 1328776 Does this mean that both trouble tickets are being declared mutual duplicates and consequntly ignored or is only 1328776 a live bug that needs squishing?
(In reply to rustin from comment #18) > So .... > > 1328776 is a duplicate of 1432216 > & > 1432216 is a duplicate of 1328776 > > Does this mean that both trouble tickets are being declared mutual > duplicates and consequntly ignored or is only 1328776 a live bug that needs > squishing? bug 1432216 is a duplicate of bug 1328776 only. see the difference of "Duplicate of this bug: " and "Duplicate of bug: ".
That said, the phrasings could stand to be more distinct. Whenever I see either of those, I go up to the metadata block to figure out what it's actually saying.
YF, thank you for finding this issue and closing the duplicate 1432216 I had created. I searched but had not found this issue. I would like to second what several posters here have already said. A highly relevant use case is when a user wants to utilize a tab management add-on (such as Tree Tabs) in conjunction with a built-in feature (such as Firefox Bookmarks) and have both interfaces open simultaneously. I am sure there are numerous combinations of features and add-ons that various users would like to be able to use simultaneously. Advanced users know what they want/need and how to allocate screen space. As it is now, the 1-sidebar limit forces users to pick only the one feature/add-on they need most, and then have to use laborious menus for other features (or keep switching the sidebar back and forth).
You can read the status of the bug at the top including the ASSIGNEE field. If you wish to provide the patch, please do so, otherwise, follow the Bugzilla etiquette https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html
Recently I released a new addon "Aggregate Tabs to Main Window". https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/aggregate-tabs-to-main-window/ It may become a workaround until this bug become fixed. For example, steps to use "Bookmarks" sidebar with another sidebar panel: 1. Go to "about:config" and set "browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs" to "true". 2. Open another browser window, and show "Bookmarks" sidebar in the window. This window is used just to show the Bookmarks sidebar. 3. Reduce width of the window for Bookmarks sidebar to enough width for the sidebar area. Then, new tabs opened from the Bookmarks sidebar by clicking are automatically moved to the main window, thus it will work like multiple sidebar panels.
@Piro, did look at your addon but wasn't able to see how it is a workaround, perhaps an animation or something might be useful to explain it. Hopefully we get multiple sidebars otherwise most of my time would be spent similarly to quite a few people who have been on this thread .
(In reply to shirish from comment #26) > @Piro, did look at your addon but wasn't able to see how it is a workaround, > perhaps an animation or something might be useful to explain it. https://youtu.be/jBxDB2rqlas I've uploaded a screencast to describe steps to setup. Does this help you?
(In reply to YUKI "Piro" Hiroshi from comment #25) > Recently I released a new addon "Aggregate Tabs to Main Window". > https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/aggregate-tabs-to-main-window/ > It may become a workaround until this bug become fixed. For example, steps > to use "Bookmarks" sidebar with another sidebar panel: > > 1. Go to "about:config" and set "browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs" to > "true". > 2. Open another browser window, and show "Bookmarks" sidebar in the window. > This window is used just to show the Bookmarks sidebar. > 3. Reduce width of the window for Bookmarks sidebar to enough width for the > sidebar area. > > Then, new tabs opened from the Bookmarks sidebar by clicking are > automatically moved to the main window, thus it will work like multiple > sidebar panels. This is a very innovative temporary solution. Thanks for making the tool. :-) This should help me quite a lot with my "tab addiction". If I can continuously see my list of shortcuts to select from, I don't really need the tabs open all the time. The only weaknesses I see right off is that the individual windows get focus independently and must be moved indivitually (not dockable to each other) but I can live with that for now. This is really going to help me. 🦊 Thanx!!
(In reply to YUKI "Piro" Hiroshi from comment #27) > (In reply to shirish from comment #26) > > @Piro, did look at your addon but wasn't able to see how it is a workaround, > > perhaps an animation or something might be useful to explain it. > > https://youtu.be/jBxDB2rqlas > I've uploaded a screencast to describe steps to setup. Does this help you? I use more one window (generally 2 or 3), this solution is not possible in this case.
(In reply to Zéfling from comment #29) > I use more one window (generally 2 or 3), this solution is not possible in > this case You can put each window pair in a separate workspace and switch between them.
(In reply to Kestrel from comment #30) > (In reply to Zéfling from comment #29) > > I use more one window (generally 2 or 3), this solution is not possible in > > this case > > You can put each window pair in a separate workspace and switch between them. That assumes that Zéfling isn't doing as I do and having multiple Firefox windows specifically because the same workspace spans three monitors. In that case, the only real workaround is "Use fewer web apps and more native applications or put each application in a different browser profile".
(In reply to Stephan Sokolow from comment #31) > (In reply to Kestrel from comment #30) > > (In reply to Zéfling from comment #29) > > > I use more one window (generally 2 or 3), this solution is not possible in > > > this case > > > > You can put each window pair in a separate workspace and switch between them. > > That assumes that Zéfling isn't doing as I do and having multiple Firefox > windows specifically because the same workspace spans three monitors. > It not exact, I have a big 4K screen et I use 2 to 4 windows for my websites and more, but the problem is the same with a multi monitors configuration. > In that case, the only real workaround is "Use fewer web apps and more > native applications or put each application in a different browser profile". Sorry to have a very web-friendly approach, even for some of my local apps. I don't know how to code non-web applications. Currently, I stayed on Waterfox, exclusively cause by my usage of TreeStyleTab... waiting for something viable. I often test Nightly, but it's too frustrating to have such limited use. today, Firefox is my second webbrowser for this raison. Then I think having a exclusive window for bookmarks isn't a good approach. Move the a window impose to move 2 windows.
(In reply to Zéfling from comment #32) > Sorry to have a very web-friendly approach, even for some of my local apps. > I don't know how to code non-web applications. No need to apologize. I gave that example because I tend to have either an issue tracker or YouTube on my left monitor, the application I'm working on and gVim on my middle monitor, and HTML-format reference materials on my right monitor. I'm in the same boat as you... I just rarely use sidebars other than Tree Style Tab, so this doesn't affect me as often. As for developing native applications, if you want to try it, I'd suggest using Qt with its Python bindings. Both the toolkit and the language are well-documented and easy to pick up, Python has a TON of libraries (including the Django web framework, which also has a ton of ready-made addons), and the combination is, in my experience, quite forgiving.
Hi folks! This conversation has gotten a little off-topic, which unfortunately makes it harder for a future assignee to follow the bug and for other folks to track a bug fix progress. Could you continue the conversation on Mozilla's add-ons forums (https://discourse.mozilla.org/c/add-ons) or, if it's ok with Piro, on Tree Style Tab's support site? Thanks so much.

For Tree Style Tab addon users, I've added an ability to embed arbitrary page by other helper addons, as a workaround for this bug. Here is the API document:
https://github.com/piroor/treestyletab/wiki/SubPanel-API
As a reference implementation, I've cloned the Bookmarks sidebar panel. You can try it with Tree Style Tab 3.1.0 and later.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/tst-bookmarks-subpanel/
But I saw various problems on its development due to restrictions from sandboxed iframe, and I still think that this should be supported by Firefox itself natively.

Here is another example implementation of a subpanel for TST: a modified version of the Side View addon. It loads arbitrary webpage below TST's tabs.
https://github.com/piroor/side-view/tree/tst-subpanel
But I've realized that major Web services (like Twitter) blocks loading of their resources into any <iframe>. So I think browser-level support for ability to show multiple sidebar panels is still needed.

As workaround, maybe we can reuse developer sidebar (frame with browser console), attached to right side of browser window, like secondary sidebar? So implement extension, that adds tab "Custom webpage" to it. Example of custom tab for developer sidebar we can lookup in https://addons.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/addon/graphql-developer-tools/ extension.

(In reply to Murz from comment #37)

As workaround, maybe we can reuse developer sidebar (frame with browser console), attached to right side of browser window, like secondary sidebar? So implement extension, that adds tab "Custom webpage" to it. Example of custom tab for developer sidebar we can lookup in https://addons.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/addon/graphql-developer-tools/ extension.

That is a good idea! Can someone create an extension that adds something like a history sidebar using this method?

A developer sidebar looks not suitable for a regular sidebar like Bookmarks and History, because the developer tool is bound to a tab. It disappears when you focus to other tabs, and you will see the default console instead of the custom developer sidebar panel if you show the developer tools again.

For addon authors: follow-up to the Comment #36. Recently I've tried to find workarounds to bypass restrictions about <iframe>. Finally I've successfully transferred drag data between the host addon and the client addon (in the iframe), and overridden the context of the context menu. I've documented technical details I've realized around the experiment:

https://github.com/piroor/treestyletab/wiki/SubPanel-API#drag-and-drop-between-your-subpanel-and-tst
https://github.com/piroor/treestyletab/wiki/SubPanel-API#how-to-provide-custom-context-menu-on-your-subpanel

But I've realized that these workarounds are unstable, especially about overriding the context. There are strong limitations about efforts on addon-side, and I still think multiple sidebar panels need to be supported natively.

Hello, I second that demand, several of my users (Bookmark Search Plus 2 add-on) are asking that they can have both TST and BSP2 at the same time in the sidebar, and this is not possible currently.

I considered, and experimented a bit, using the API developed by @piro in TST to integrate both, but:

  • this is creating a second code base, it is very defficult and complex to keep one code for running both inside TST iframe and as standalone
  • there are variations on behavior of events, drag & drops and other peculiarities of FF implementation I worked around, due to the scaffolding

I believe a workaround could be possible if an iframe created by a hosting add-on, such as TST, could get the complete browser.xxx API set, and not be considered as a content script limited to https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Content_scripts#WebExtension_APIs,
however, this still poses the problem that there is no associated manifest or specific add-on context to an iframe, and so the embedded add-on would inherit permissions, commands .. etc .. of the hosting add-on, still creating limitations or problems, and dual code base.

Therefore, it clearly looks to me that only a genuine split provided by FF is a solution. Or at least a way to open a second sidebar.

Thanks, aaFn.

Severity: normal → S3

The severity field for this bug is relatively low, S3. However, the bug has 34 votes and 52 CCs.
:mossop, could you consider increasing the bug severity?

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Flags: needinfo?(dtownsend)

The last needinfo from me was triggered in error by recent activity on the bug. I'm clearing the needinfo since this is a very old bug and I don't know if it's still relevant.

Flags: needinfo?(dtownsend)
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