401414 - Open links passed from other applications in a new tab in the current window

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(SeaMonkey :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Charles]

User-Agent:       Opera/9.24 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en)
Build Identifier: 

I think the default behavior should be to open links passed from other applications in a new tab in the current window. It'll keep the system taskbar less busy.

Reproducible: Always

Comment 1

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Well, it can be set in "Edit -> Preferences -> Browser -> Tabbed browsing -> Links from other applications" which is fairly "discoverable", I guess.

I suppose the reason the default is what it is, is that OT1H other applications don't know what your "default browser" is, it might not have any tabs at all, and OTOH it is "logical" to open links meant for a new window in, well, a new window.

And BTW you might have mentioned which version of SeaMonkey you were using.

Comment 2

[Charles]

I know how to change my browser settings. I obviously mean "as default".

Comment 3

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Well, I expect the "people on high" will WONTFIX this, but let's sit down and watch.

Comment 4

[Karsten Düsterloh]

People are expecting a new browser window to pop up with the linked page. It would be very surprising if a tab appeared in a random browser window...

I often have several browser windows with several tabs each, so it's not clear where to look for the newly opened page, and newbies to SM aren't likely know that they can change the behaviour...

=> WONTFIX

That said, I do have set _my_ settings to open external links in a new tab, but that's not a good default for starters.

Comment 5

[Charles]

The tab wouldn't appear in a random browser window. If would appear in *their* browser window, the one they either have minimized, or the session they saved when they closed their browser.

Having several browser windows with several different tabs open in each window is the opposite of the tabs philosophy. You have tabs precisely to avoid taskbar clutter, and for more organization. Furthermore, a session saver would *not* save all your tabs, it would only save the tabs of the latest-closed windows, discarding others.

Opening a link in a new tab has no usability issue at all, as the tab is instantly focused on the screen, so the user *knows* where the link opened (in front of him).

As you said, beginners don't know how to change settings, so they will most likely clutter their taskbar just like with... Internet Explorer.

Comment 6

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

(In reply to comment #4)
[...]
> That said, I do have set _my_ settings to open external links in a new tab, but
> that's not a good default for starters.
> 
I have the same settings, but I agree that it shouldn't be the factory default.

(In reply to comment #5)
[...]
> As you said, beginners don't know how to change settings, so they will most
> likely clutter their taskbar just like with... Internet Explorer.

I wouldn't say that "Edit -> Preferences" is not discoverable; and after that, I'd say that it's hard to make it more obvious than "Browser -> Tabbed Browsing".

Comment 7

[Charles]

Beginners don't explore the browser settings (some of them are afraid of messing things up; others don't know these settings exist).