[Ext] Tab Kit 0.5.7 (2009-07-06)

[Jomel]

Could you please tell me when Tab Kit will be compatible with TabMixPlus?

Sorry cruzolo, don't hold your breath. TabMixPlus makes such major changes to Firefox that Tab Kit will probably never be compatible. However as well as its innovative tab grouping etc, Tab Kit also includes replacements for many of Tab Mix Plus's most useful features:

Tab Mix Plus vs Tab Kit comparison
Based on TMP Feature Help

Note: obviously I develop Tab Kit, so this is going to be slightly biased. But I have tried to be objective, and the aim is mainly to show people where Tab Kit / Firefox can already do things they perhaps unnecessarily rely on Tab Mix Plus for.

LINKS

• Open links that open in a new window in: Included in Firefox, already set to only useful value.
• Open links from other applications in: Included in Firefox, already set to only useful value.
• JavaScript popups: Included in Firefox, already set to most sensible value.
• Open links from other applications in: Included in Firefox, already set to only useful value.
• Open links with a target attribute in current tab: Already covered by "Open links that open in a new window in" (at least if you're being consistent).
• Prevent blank tabs when downloading files: I believe this is now built-in to Firefox.
• Force to open in a new tab: I don't support this, as it's too messy for all or arbitrary links to open in new tabs.
• Enable Single Window Mode: This is redundant, given the first three LINKS preferences.

EVENTS Tab Opening

• Load on new tabs: Try NewTabURL or New Tab Homepage.
• Open new tabs next to current one / Change opening order: Included in Tab Kit, which can also optionally group tabs together, and generally makes this much more powerful.
• Open duplicated tabs next to original: On by default in Tab Kit.
• Open tabs from: Included in Tab Kit - see the Advanced options panel.
• Middle click opens item in current tab: On by default when the above is enabled.

EVENTS Tab Focus

• Focus/Select tabs that open from: The most useful ones are Included in Firefox.
• Inverse middle click focus of: Included in Firefox when the above are toggled.

EVENTS Tab Closing

• Warn when closing multiple tabs: Included in Firefox (Options -> Tabs -> Warn when closing multiple tabs).
• Warn when closing window with protected tabs: On by default in Tab Kit.
• Do not close window when closing last tab by hotkey: Sorry, not implemented.
• Prevent last tab from closing: Firefox already hides the close button on the last tab...
• When closing current tab, focus: Implemented in Tab Kit (except last selected, which is on the TODO list), along with powerful options to override the close direction to avoid leaving tab groups.

EVENTS Tab Merging
Window merging is not yet supported, though it's on the TODO list. However Tab Kit lets you drag tab groups between windows (hold down the Shift key to drag a group at once), so in practice you can do this quite easily.

EVENTS Tab Features

• Enable undo close tabs: On by default in Firefox 2+.
• Max number of tabs to remember: Included in Firefox, with sensible default.
• Restore the tab’s original position: On by default in Firefox.
• Make the toolbar button display a list: Use History -> Recently Closed Tabs, Session Manager, or Undo Closed Tabs Button.
• Ctrl|Cmd – Tab navigates tabs in the most recently used order: Use Ctrl-Tab (which will apparently be integrated into Firefox 3.5).
• Ctrl|Cmd – Tab displays a list popup menu: Ctrl-Tab shows very pretty menus.
• Tab list responds to the mouse: Ctrl-Tab responds to the mouse.
• Pressing F8 rotates tabs every: What is this even for?!

DISPLAY Tab Bar

• Show New tab button: A new tab button will be present by default in Firefox 3.5. In the meantime, there are worse things than having it in the toolbar instead.
• Show Close tab button: Included in Firefox, and to make it easier Tab Kit has an option letting you set this.
• Show Extra spaces on both sides: Personally, I find this just wastes space!
• Hide tab bar when only one tab is open: Included in Firefox
• Drop Indicator: Native style included in Firefox.
• Position: Tab Kit lets you move the tab bar to the Top, Bottom, Left or Right, and allows useful tree-style display when on Left or Right! (note: unfortunately display on bottom is currently disabled in Firefox 3+, for compatibility reasons).
• When tabs don’t fit width: Tab Kit allows multi-row mode (with a scrollbar instead of clumsy up/down arrows); Firefox 3+ provides scroll arrows; in the very useful tab bar on Left/Right modes a scrollbar is provided (like sidebars).
• Max number of rows to display: Tab Kit lets you change this too.

DISPLAY Tab

• Highlight Current tab: Tab Kit lets you do this.
• Highlight Unread tabs: Tab Kit lets you do this.
• Show Tab icons for protected: Tab Kit does this by default.
• Show Progress meter on tabs: Sorry, not implemented.
• Show Close tab button: Included in Firefox, and to make it easier Tab Kit has an option letting you set this.
• on all tabs wider than: Included in Firefox, and to make it easier Tab Kit has an option letting you set this.
• on pointed for: Sorry, not implemented.
• Place on left side: Sorry, not implemented (what would be the advantage?)
• Tab Width: Tab Kit lets you set the minimum tab width.
• Tab width fits to tab title: Sorry, not implemented. Would combine very badly with multi-row mode or tabs on side anyway.
• Use bookmark name as tab title: Sorry, not implemented.

MOUSE Mouse Gestures

• Select tab pointed for: Tab Kit implements switching tabs on hover.
• Switch to last selected tab when clicking on the current one: Sorry, not implemented.
• Allow scrolling to select tabs: Tab Kit implements this, and also lets you set scrolling anywhere with Right-mouse button held down to have the same effect.
• Mouse click (down and release) to select a tab: Sorry, not implemented.
• Remove Tab Mix Plus menu list entries using middle-click: N/A.

MOUSE Mouse Clicking
Use Tab Clicking Options if you want this.

MENU Tab Context Menu
Tab Kit adds all its tab context menu items to a 'Tab Kit' submenu to bypass the problem of cluttering this.

MENU Main [content area] Context Menu
Tab Kit lets you control whether or not to show its Open Selected Links items here, but adds nothing else to this.

MENU Tools Menu
Tab Kit doesn't add anything to the Tools menu. Session Manager lets you choose whether to show its menu here or not (see below).

Session Manager
Firefox 2+ includes its own simple session saving functionality, which can undo closed tabs, recover from crashes, restore the tabs you last had open when you open Firefox, etc. If you need more control than this, just install Session Manager for a more complete session manager than TMP ever had (TMP can't save form data, POSTDATA or cookies).

Toolbar Buttons

• Opened Tabs: Firefox includes an All Tabs button on the tab bar that pops up a list of all your tabs.
• Closed Tabs: Use History -> Recently Closed Tabs, Session Manager, or Undo Closed Tabs Button.
• Closed Windows: Session Manager provides this.
• Session Manager: Session Manager provides this.

Protected Tabs
Tab Kit provides Protect Tab functionality. Locking tabs is not currently supported, since navigating in protected tabs is often useful (e.g. webmail tabs), and I want to avoid menu item bloat, but is under consideration.


I don't mean to be harsh to Tab Mix Plus - it's a clever amalgamation of features, and the authors have done an impressive job of helping everyday users cope with the vast array of options. But I personally believe that Tab Kit provides unmissable features (tab grouping, vertical tabs, etc.), while incorporating all of Tab Mix Plus's really useful abilities. Things not covered by Tab Kit are covered extremely well by other class-leading addons: Ctrl-Tab, Session Manager and Tab Clicking Options (all compatible with Tab Kit).

After reading that, I'll be interested to hear if there are still things that prevent you from trying Tab Kit...

[Jomel]

Thank you for the new version. I didn't know how to update it, so I installed it over the previous one. I have one problem with this version. It doesn't show the vertical tabbar. Only on the top.

Hi Zodler, installing it over the top is fine. I take it you've checked that Tools -> Add-ons -> Tab Kit -> Options -> Tab Bar -> "The tab bar should be shown [along the left edge] of the window" is set? If so it's probably a conflict with another extension or theme you have installed. Try installing Tab Kit alone in a fresh
profile - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing+Profiles, and gradually re-adding extensions/themes to see if they work.

[cruzolo]

@Jomel - Thank you very much for the comparison. I can assure you I'll take a closer look at Tab Kit and try it along with Session Manager and Tab Clicking Options if necessary.

Take care, cruzolo

[Penny Dreadful]

Hi Jomel

I'm having sort of the same problem as Zodler, except that I've got a clean install of Firefox no other extensions or themes installed, but nothing I do puts the tabbar in to any position other than the top, it's also not grouping or colouring tabs. I'm running Firefox3.1b3 on Vista64.

Please let me know if you need more info.

Thanks Penny.

[lythande]

However Tab Kit lets you drag tab groups between windows (hold down the Shift key to drag a group at once)

I can get shift-drag to move groups around one window, but I can't seem to get it to work moving to a new/different window. Am I missing something?

[Jomel]

I'm having sort of the same problem as Zodler, except that I've got a clean install of Firefox no other extensions or themes installed, but nothing I do puts the tabbar in to any position other than the top, it's also not grouping or colouring tabs. I'm running Firefox3.1b3 on Vista64.

Oops, 0.5 had a major bug, so didn't run properly. Please update to 0.5.1 immediately (from the same place).
I made a typo that accidentally commented out vital Tab Kit code

[Penny Dreadful]

Thank you, it's working perfectly now

[dstar]

<original post deleted>

I just spent an hour tracking down that same bug so that I could tell you about it....

[dstar]

<original post deleted>

I just spent an hour tracking down that same bug so that I could tell you about it....

I found when I was testing that I had to add the following code at the beginning of onDOMContentLoaded, because otherwise gBrowser would be null in preInitShortcuts:

getBrowser();
if (gBrowser == null)
return;

That fixes the problem for 0.5.1 as well.

[SlimShady]

Great! That post helped me say goodbye to TMP. And I removed some mouse gestures I had created.
What's left is the ability to change the color yellow (unread tabs) to a user defined color.

[Jomel]

Great! That post helped me say goodbye to TMP. And I removed some mouse gestures I had created.
What's left is the ability to change the color yellow (unread tabs) to a user defined color.

To customise the unread tab (or protected or current tab) highlight colour(s), add the following to your userChrome.css (replace "#ffff66", "black", "green" and "white" with appropriate CSS colors):

Code: Select all

/* Override Tab Kit unread tab highlight colour */
#content .tabbrowser-tab:not([read]) .tab-text {
   background-color: #ffff66 !important; /* Label background colour */
   color: black !important; /* Corresponding text colour */
}

/* Override Tab Kit protected tab highlight colour */
#content .tabbrowser-tab[protected="true"] .tab-text {
   background-color: green !important; /* Label background colour */
   color: white !important; /* Corresponding text colour */
}

/* Override Tab Kit current tab highlight colour */
#content .tabbrowser-tab[selected="true"] .tab-text {
   background-color: black !important; /* Label background colour */
   color: white !important; /* Corresponding text colour */
}

Note: this requires that you have Tab Kit Options -> Tabs -> Coloring: [Color tabs by group and labels if highlighted] set (the default).

Note2: you may have seen people telling you to use ":not([selected])" to tell if a tab is unread, but that doesn't work if tabs get moved! That's why Tab Kit added a custom "read" attribute to tabs, and tests for ":non([read])" instead.

[Zodler]

Thanks now it works

[Jomel]

However Tab Kit lets you drag tab groups between windows (hold down the Shift key to drag a group at once)

I can get shift-drag to move groups around one window, but I can't seem to get it to work moving to a new/different window. Am I missing something?

You can't drag between different instances of Firefox (e.g. if you're running different versions side by side), in case that's what you're trying, but it should work between different windows opened from that same Firefox. You have to drag onto the other window's tab bar, as you would while dragging within one window.

Otherwise it could well be a conflict with another extension or theme you have installed. Try installing Tab Kit alone in a fresh profile - http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing+Profiles, and gradually re-adding extensions/themes to see if they work.

[Jomel]

I found when I was testing that I had to add the following code at the beginning of onDOMContentLoaded, because otherwise gBrowser would be null in preInitShortcuts:

getBrowser();
if (gBrowser == null)
return;

That fixes the problem for 0.5.1 as well.

Hi dstar,

Thanks for helping track it down (and sorry to have wasted your time!)

That code would have been a partial fix to the bug in 0.5, but the fix in 0.5.1 should make it unnecessary (as getBrowser(); is called a few lines up from preInitShortcuts).

Thanks though!

[Zodler]

One more "bug" I have noticed in this new version. It worked before. Middle clicking on a bookmark opens in the same tab.
It would be nice if it didn't touch the middle click behavior. Middle clicking on a bookmark "should" open in a new tab like before.