I've got vertical tabs in Firefox again!

Posted on: November 7, 2006

O JOY! I've got vertical tabs in Firefox 2.0 again — I prefer a vertical tab strip for a number of reasons. Here's something I wrote in an internal Linden Lab project file as for why I'd like to see vertical Instant Message tabs inworld:

Just wanted to add, the more I use vertical tabs, the more I see how useful it'd be to add as an option. Here are several reasons:
  • People read more effectively with relatively narrow columns of text. Right now, to show many IMs, you're forced to stretch the IM window horizontally — this causes extreme line length and lower reading speed and comprehension when scanning through mounds of IMs. See this article for an example.
  • When dealing with many IMs, what's initially perceived as "wasted space" with vertical IMs soon becomes space-saving because all of that gets filled up anyway. Multi-row horizontal IMs can be confusing, because there's no easy one cardinal direction to travel in, it's like a clump. Plus, the metaphor is problematic.
  • Think of an address book with alphabetical tabs so you can get where you want quickly. How are the tabs arranged? Vertically, down the edge of the paper. Also, think about many long lists (e.g., bullet points), how are they displayed? Vertically. For example, a web browser's bookmarks, or Second Life's own menu items.
  • Also a reminder that the popular AIM Triton has chosen vertical tabs for ongoing conversations. Many pictures of Triton here.

This is one of those features that's seems a bit odd from afar, but quickly becomes familiar once you actually start using it and get into the swing of things. Vertical tabs save time and are way easier to flip through. Horizontal tabs can be kept if you manage "lite" IMs, but for heavy-duty usage, I'll extend another example: I recently upgraded to Firefox 2 and am sad because I haven't figured out a way to open vertical tabs yet! (In 1.5, an extension called Vertigo, which doesn't work in ver. 2, did the trick.) As a result, I am noticeably slower and clunky when I open the whole list of daily emailed JIRA tasks (in Firefox: right-click, select all links, and "Open Links in New Tabs).

I specifically aligned my vertical tabs to the left of the main webpage content, which also makes sense because most computer screens are wider than they are tall, and especially with popularized widescreen solutions, you can really put that visual real estate to good use.

Yeah, it's been weighing heavily on me. :D

I've got vertical tabs in Firefox 2.0 againI got my vertical tabs thanx to this "Tabs on left or right side" thread on the Tab Mix Plus forum. If you use Firefox, I recommend getting Tab Mix Plus, and also picking up another, Aging Tabs (thanx Lifehacker!), which will change the color of your tabs as they get old and crusty. ;) It also uses your Windows highlight color for the active tab, so mine's hot pink. My inactive tabs fade from white to black after time. Dramatic, eh?

My only qualm is since the default Firefox theme wasn't designed for vertical tabs, there's this odd gradient sectioning. It's alright, it'll get better.

15 Responses to “I've got vertical tabs in Firefox again!”

  1. Josh Says:
    November 7th, 2006 at 10:09 PM PST

    Here's another thought: Ditch the text on the tabs in favor of icons or thumbnails. It would work perfectly for IM windows, at least if everyone has a unique chat avatar. (If not, they need to set one!)

    In a browser, the tab could display the a site's favicon (if it has one set), otherwise, a thumbnail of the page content might suffice. (In the case of thumbnails, the tabs would have to be wider, but not as wide as needed to display a full text title.) Thumbnails could also enlarge on rollover, making it easier to tell what each one represented. There's also IE 7's approach, with page thumbnails spread out across the whole window when you enter the tab switcher.

  2. Aster Says:
    November 7th, 2006 at 10:49 PM PST

    I kinda like the tabs on top, but I'd prefer the tabs to migrate to the side of the page if they grows in numbers past four or five.

  3. Torley Says:
    November 7th, 2006 at 11:37 PM PST

    Josh, a great thought I've also experimented with… unfortunately, when I'm on one site with many pages from it open, I definitely need the text!

    Aster, I agree. I my general conclusion right now is for light tab users, having them horizontal is alright, but as they grow as you described, migrating them to the side actually saves space (and reduces scrolling) for a "big picture view".

  4. Chronic Skronski Says:
    November 8th, 2006 at 8:25 AM PST

    Hi Torley!

    Have you experimented with different themes to try to get rid of the gradient?

  5. Torley Says:
    November 9th, 2006 at 8:08 PM PST

    Chronic, haven't yet… going to! :)

  6. Johnny Weare Says:
    November 20th, 2006 at 6:21 AM PST

    The fix for the background, with choice of right or left tabbar and everything else fully working is at http://www.widefox.com .

  7. Torley Says:
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:11 PM PST

    Sounds like good news, Johnny! Thankee, I'll have to check it out, me being a vertical-tab enthusiast and all!

  8. Torley Lives Says:
    November 23rd, 2006 at 12:39 AM PST

    [...] Torley: Hehe thanx, Ayu! Alexander, my transience is permanent. ;) But the… I've got vertical tabs in Firefox again!: [...]

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