212809 - default tabbed browsing preferences

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(SeaMonkey :: Tabbed Browser, enhancement)

Description

[Simon Males]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624

For a new install of Mozilla, the default Tabbed Browsing preferences are not
adequate to take advantage of the Mozilla tabbed browsing system. This report's
purpose to suggest the enabling of three preferences by default: 
1. Load links in background (Tab Display)
2. Middle-click, Control+click or Control+Enter on links in a Web page (Open
tabs instead of windows for)
3. Control+Enter in the Location bar (Open tabs instead of windows for)

For defaulting of "Hide the tab bar when only one tab is open" (Tab Display)
preference see Bug 206103

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
Edit > Preferences... > Navigator > Tabbed Browsing 
Actual Results:  
Listed preferences are unchecked.

Comment 1

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

The choice of the defaults somewhat reflects the fact that not everyone likes
tabs very much... Changing the behavior of long-established shortcuts to
suddenly open tabs instead of windows would be somewhat disorienting and not
particularly appreciated in many cases.

Comment 2

[Humberto Diógenes]

Maybe this should be set by an install-time option "Use tabbed-browsing by
default"...

By the way, I think that, under "Edit - Preferences - Navigator - Tabbed
Browsing - Open tabs instead of windows for: ", there should an option "Forever"
:), so I didn't have to ctrl+click everytime (just like Opera's behavior).
This way, ctrl+click would be a shortcut for opening new windows.

Comment 3

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

For 1.5, we are going to turn on "load links in the background", but not the
prefs which redefine keys. That discussion needs to happen for 1.6.

Gerv

Comment 4

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

Attachment: Patch v.1

This fixes this bug and bug 206103 (i.e. it turns on the tab bar by default,
and the load links in the background pref.)

Gerv

Comment 5

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

Comment on attachment 131410 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch v.1

jag: assuming you agree with this, could you review it, or otherwise comment?
(2 lines.)

Thanks,

Gerv

Comment 6

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

Taking.

Gerv

Comment 7

[Jason Bassford]

*** Bug 206103 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[Jason Bassford]

Duped bug 206103 to this one (rather than marking a dependency) since a patch
has actually been submitted over here.

> so I didn't have to ctrl+click everytime

How, then, do you click on a link and get it to open in the *same* window?

> This way, ctrl+click would be a shortcut for opening new windows.

Or had that been a type with you meaning to say ctrl-click to open in the same
window?  (Currently I don't know of a keyboard shortcut that opens a link in a
new window.)

In any case, I personally think that a regular click should always do what it
does now.  Having this particular behaviour change would, I think, be far too
confusing for the regular user.

Comment 9

[Stefan Borggraefe]

What is the status here? What needs to be done? Why was the review flag removed?

Comment 10

[Ivan Ičin]

It is not good idea to open tab just to show users that the tab function exists.
This should be made other way.

Probably the best way is to make new starting home page which will show some
tutorials (with tile like learn new generation features), and it should contain
other things too - explaning extensions and themes, how to get involved in
community or developing, etc. Also buy t-shirt and donate should be on this screen.

Funny, but how users know to middle-click links if tabbar is opened by default
and not when it is closed? They must take additional steps to learn. So it is
better to make them learn all in one step.

Finally, many users appriciate more free screen area (I do), and some of them
don't have more than one page opened in many cases.

Comment 11

[Dorus Peelen]

Perhapt 2 default start pages (2 tabs) would solve this, that way you can keep
hidding the tab bar when only one tab is open, and new users will find out about
tabs the frist time they start the browser.

Comment 12

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This bug is long dead.

Gerv