703435 - There are no config options to undo/reverse recent changes to tab folders behavior

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[Kevin Ar18]

FF has recently changed the behavior of opening tab folders.  Two obvious changes include:
* Opening a tab folder appends new tabs instead of destructively overwriting current tabs
* The current tab (being viewed by the user) does not get replaced.

The bad news is that FF does not seem to have a way to re-enable the old behaviors.  While I think the current default behavior was a good change, there are also people who want a way to re-enable the older style.  This has been most notably mentioned in: Bug 683146 in the comments (ignore the subject line).

In fact, I find it rather odd that Firefox would not have a way to re-enable the old behaviors.  I am proposing that we add several new config options that re-enable the old behaviors.


1. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace - the default in FF is now "false" - support for this config was removed recently, some people want it back so they can re-enable it.
2. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent - This is a new made up config.  The default in FF is now "false" - this config would let people replace the current tab only when opening a tab folder (This is separate from the loadFolderAndReplace config option.)
3. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceBlank - This is also a new made up config.  The default in FF is now "false" - Setting it to "true" would replace the current tab if it is blank (about:blank); see Bug 683146 for reference.

4. In Bug 701950, I suggested a more fine-grained control over tabs that goes beyond these 3 config options.  I personally, think these 3 config options would solve a large majority of the complaints I've seen.  However, it might be worth considering making these options part of the UI as I talked about in Bug 701950.

Comment 1

[helmut.bergmann]

I like these options. I'm personally interested in the 2nd option, because this is why I complained in Bug 683146.

Thanks Kevin.

Comment 2

[Kevin Ar18]

I've given this some more consideration, especially in light of the comments on Bug 683146 and the UI proposal I wrote in Bug 701950.

I think I could refine these config options even further and also allow even more configurability.  So... I would like to suggest the following alternative config options instead.

1. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace - (range: 0-3)
> 0 = default setting; does NOT replace any tabs; appends new tabs
> 1 = replaces blank tabs only (at or after current tab)
> 2 = replaces current tab and all tabs after until all the folder items are opened (any remaining tabs stay open/unchanged)
> 3 = replaces all tabs with ONLY the tabs folder and closes all others

2. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent - (range: 0-3)
> 0 = default setting; does NOT replace/change current tab
> 1 = replaces current tab only if it is a new browser window with an empty tab
> 2 = replaces the tab if it is about:blank
> 3 = replaces the current tab no matter the content

Now, I will admit, this is more complicated and requires the user to consult a guide page to know what they do.  So, it may not be a good idea for manual configuration.  However, in Bug 701950, I suggested these options should be part of the Firefox options menu.  These config options would probably make more sense if you had a GUI to control them in FF options.  Anyways, at this point I still don't know if the UI/UX people think these options would be useful or not.... :)

Comment 3

[[e-mail]]

Definitely sounds good, either of those options would allow me the behavior I want.

One thing to consider that's not mentioned there is behavior of middle-click (and similarly control-click).  I believe that in FF7 using middle-click to open all in tabs would open all new tabs, not re-using the current.  I suggest that the above settings affect the left-click behavior as described, while a middle-click should continue to open all new tabs regardless of the setting.

Comment 4

[Kevin Ar18]

> One thing to consider that's not mentioned there is behavior of middle-click (and similarly control-click).

Yeah, guess that would be best for the UI described in Bug 701950.  So, do do things properly, you may want to do several config options, like this:

browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace.leftClick (0-3,10)
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent.leftClick (0-3)

browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace.middleClick (0-3,10)
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent.middleClick (0-3)

browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace.ctrlClick (0-3,10)
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent.ctrlClick (0-3)

browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace.shiftClick (0-3,10)
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent.shiftClick (0-3)

In addition to having several config options, there is one change/addition to accomodate "Shift clicking": the ability to open a new window instead.

1. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace - (range: 0-3,10)
> 0 = default setting; does NOT replace any tabs; appends new tabs
> 1 = replaces blank tabs only (at or after current tab)
> 2 = replaces current tab and all tabs after until all the folder items are opened (any remaining tabs stay open/unchanged)
> 3 = replaces all tabs with ONLY the tabs folder and closes all others
> 10 = open tabs in a new window

2. browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplaceCurrent - (range: 0-3)
> 0 = default setting; does NOT replace/change current tab
> 1 = replaces current tab only if it is a new browser window with an empty tab
> 2 = replaces the tab if it is about:blank
> 3 = replaces the current tab no matter the content