Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Discussion about official Mozilla Firefox builds
Locked
lithopsian
Posts: 3664
Joined: September 15th, 2010, 9:03 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by lithopsian »

This has very little to do with using www or not. Switch to tab entries are scored just like other entries so they might appear anywhere in the list, but since statistically they are more likely to be seen on frequently used pages then they are very likely to occur at the top of the list.
KiRK_
Posts: 57
Joined: April 17th, 2006, 6:16 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by KiRK_ »

Just tried it out - doesn't work.

I don't have to type "www" anymore, true, but it always selects the first entry in the list of suggestions. Which is, of course, one of the many "Switch to tab" entries. So it doesn't change anything.

EDIT: It's even worse when this add-on is installed. Now it suggests tabs which aren't even open! I just type a word and get a list of "Switch to tab" entries, the first one is automatically selected. However, this tab isn't open! There is no such tab! And when I hit enter, of course nothing happens ;) I can hit enter, click the arrow, nothing...
Rodze
Posts: 602
Joined: October 5th, 2006, 2:54 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by Rodze »

I said it was only regarding having to type "www" for autofill. =P Someone will need to write another extension to remove switch to tab (if possible).

I don't have this other problem you mentioned, though. It seems you have a ghost tab. Try restarting the browser.
lithopsian
Posts: 3664
Joined: September 15th, 2010, 9:03 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by lithopsian »

There is a known bug for the ghost tab problem. They are having trouble reproducing it reliably, hence having trouble fixing it. If you can reliably reproduce the problem then please post the steps.

I have an extension that totally disables switch to tab, but it is bundled in with other functions and nowhere near ready for public use. Look higher up this thread for the basic bindings, not pretty but it works for me. This code is still being worked on and I'm hoping it will be improved to the point where I don't have to polish up my extension for release.
schwinn8
Posts: 4
Joined: December 6th, 2010, 1:41 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by schwinn8 »

Littlemutt wrote:You folks having trouble with Switch-to-Tab and autofill should quit using http://www.blahblahblah You have the search algorithm filled with www , of course its always going to float to the top.

Maybe you don't know how autofill works?

In FF3.6, if you do the "www.goo" you are provided with autofill capability as shown below:
Image
Note how the URL bar has auto-filled and completed the entry for me. I can just press enter to go there, without entering the rest of the URL.

On the other hand, if you don't use the www, you get this:
Image
Note how there is a list of selections, but the URL bar doesn't auto-fill anything, so pressing enter would take me to "goo.com" or a search page or something else... not Google.

Bottom line is that for autofill to work, it has to match what you have in the history from the first letter after the "http://"... otherwise it won't autofill.

Bringing us back to the point, the problem is that in FF4.0 this is broken because of the Switch to Tab, since that (almost) always comes to the top. That's why we want it disabled/removable or to fix autofill in-spite of its presence. Any of these are valid solutions to fix autofill functionality.
User avatar
Erunno
Posts: 746
Joined: December 5th, 2008, 10:56 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by Erunno »

schwinn8 wrote:Note how there is a list of selections, but the URL bar doesn't auto-fill anything, so pressing enter would take me to "goo.com" or a search page or something else... not Google.


Try this. I can't imagine using Firefox without the Enter Selects extension anymore.
The previous signature has been removed again. Enjoy your month off, Erunno.
schwinn8
Posts: 4
Joined: December 6th, 2010, 1:41 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by schwinn8 »

Erunno wrote:
schwinn8 wrote:Note how there is a list of selections, but the URL bar doesn't auto-fill anything, so pressing enter would take me to "goo.com" or a search page or something else... not Google.


Try this. I can't imagine using Firefox without the Enter Selects extension anymore.

Even this addon won't work to solve the problem with FF4 - because in FF4 (as you can see from my previous example post) the first item is the switch-to-tab entry. In fact, a few of the first ones might be for other tabs... you never know. Therefore, Enter Selects will select a tab, and fail to take me to the page I want, while also not fixing the autofill that we want.
fluffypony
Posts: 1
Joined: December 19th, 2010, 5:59 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by fluffypony »

I'd also like to throw my weight in: I have quite an active Tumblr account (lifesimplyrocks.tumblr.com), and when I want to post a bunch of photos to my queue I open a series of tabs (http://www.tumblr.com/new/photo?post[state]=2) that sit waiting for me to upload/link to the photo and set the tags. The problem with Switch To Tab is that I open a new tab, press down to select the top entry in my history list, and press enter...which switches back to the previous tab. This is HIGHLY counter-productive, and is driving me insane. I'm sure there are context-menu addons that would simplify my posting process, but that isn't the solution to the overall problem. Another use case is this: if I am researching something and I want to perform two or three Google searches, it should be my prerogative as a user to open as many tabs as I deem necessary - I should not be forced into first creating my search query, and then opening the next tab etc. etc. In fact, the use case for NOT having this feature is so strong, that I'm struggling to find a use case where it is helpful? Even with the tab-mess that FF4's tab grouping features will introduce, there should be no reason to stop a user from having duplicate tabs open if they so desire. Oh - and I have sent my feedback in. Firefox made me sad because: SWITCH TO TAB IS RETARDED! :-P
bebebubu
Posts: 11
Joined: October 9th, 2010, 7:37 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by bebebubu »

teoli2003 wrote:And don't extrapolate your opinion onto the others: most like that feature.


Most people are happy with IE.

For Firefox, we can come up with dozens of situations where most people would like a web browser feature, but it's clearly a horrible idea -- the tyranny of the majority.

teoli2003 wrote:Far less people are complaining here than for other features like Panorame, plugin-container, removal of the RSS icon. This shows that this feature is well accepted.


Or it shows we all know how to turn off Panorama with a couple of clicks. I'm sure if we could turn off "Switch to Tab" as easily as we turned off Panorama (or even with an obscure about:config key), we'd all be perfectly happy.
KWierso
Posts: 8829
Joined: May 7th, 2006, 10:29 pm
Location: California

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by KWierso »

Then it's a good thing the first item in the dropdown isn't going to be switch to tab in builds after beta 7.
User avatar
a;skdjfajf;ak
Posts: 17002
Joined: July 10th, 2004, 8:44 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by a;skdjfajf;ak »

bebebubu wrote:Or it shows we all know how to turn off Panorama with a couple of clicks. I'm sure if we could turn off "Switch to Tab" as easily as we turned off Panorama (or even with an obscure about:config key), we'd all be perfectly happy.


You know something the rest of us don't ? There is no way to turn off Panorama, though may of us would love the option. Once you use Ctrl+E to enter Panorama, you have opened Pandora's-box, and it silently lurks in background observing your tabs open and close and updating groups, even if its only the default group. I am still not convinced that even if you don't use Ctrl+E to enter Panorama its still doing tracking of your tabs, consuming resources, a pref to turn it off for good would be good, and there is a bug on file, but to date... its ignored.
urkle
Posts: 5
Joined: March 7th, 2005, 10:23 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by urkle »

KWierso wrote:Then it's a good thing the first item in the dropdown isn't going to be switch to tab in builds after beta 7.


I'm not seeing that in beta 8. It's still there, first entry and just as annoying. I keep trying to open a bookmarked page again (it's one that I need to open several copies of throughout the day for development). and it replaces the bookmarked entry in the suggest list with that stupid "Switch To Tab" feature.. ARG.. I just want to disable it!!!

Firefox makes me very sad :cry:
mat--
Posts: 669
Joined: May 20th, 2010, 8:12 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by mat-- »

urkle wrote:
KWierso wrote:Then it's a good thing the first item in the dropdown isn't going to be switch to tab in builds after beta 7.


I'm not seeing that in beta 8. It's still there, first entry and just as annoying. I keep trying to open a bookmarked page again (it's one that I need to open several copies of throughout the day for development). and it replaces the bookmarked entry in the suggest list with that stupid "Switch To Tab" feature.. ARG.. I just want to disable it!!!

Firefox makes me very sad :cry:

This will be fixed in beta 9, not beta 8.
KiRK_
Posts: 57
Joined: April 17th, 2006, 6:16 pm

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by KiRK_ »

OK, would be great! Looking forward to it :) I just need an option to disable it permanently, completely, absolutely, totally, finally and forever.

May it never come back...
lithopsian
Posts: 3664
Joined: September 15th, 2010, 9:03 am

Re: Firefox 4. How to disable 'Switch to tab'?

Post by lithopsian »

Wait for some stability. If this feature is still a pain, I'll package my hack into an extension. Right now anyone really desperate to be on the cutting edge can just paste it in and hope nothing breaks :)
Locked