Tabbed browsing
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Tabbed document interface. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2009. |
Tabbed browsing refers to use of web browsers which allow multiple tabs (sub-windows) to be opened within the window the browser is open in, each tab displaying a web-page. As of 2006 most web browsers support tabbed browsing. Browser tabs were introduced by NetCaptor in 1998, later by IBrowse in 1999, following by myIE2 and MultiZilla (an extension for the Mozilla Application Suite[1]) and Opera in 2000, Mozilla Application Suite in 2001, Konqueror and Safari in 2003, Internet Explorer 7[2] in 2006 and Google Chrome in 2008.
Usage
Using Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Chrome or Safari, a link can be opened in a new tab by using the keyboard shortcut CTRL (⌘ Cmd on Macs) and clicking on the link. Opera uses the shortcut ⇧ Shift; the tab then automatically becomes active. In several browsers, clicking a link with the third mouse button (usually the Scroll wheel) will open the link in a new tab.
Browsers also have menu buttons for opening new tabs. In addition, right-clicking a link gives the option to open a link in a new tab. The Opera browser also has the option "Open in Background Tab", meaning that the tab will not be automatically activated. Firefox's user interface, which is XML-based, allows for middle-clicking right-click menu options to open or execute the options in a new tab.
Color-coded tabs are also available in Internet Explorer 8, as well as in Firefox as third party add-on . Tabs opened from the same page or from each other appear in the same color.
Presentation and management of tabs
Due to the de-facto standardization of tabbed browsing as a feature in most web browsers by the end of the 2000s, many different concepts for the presentation and management of the tabs in the browser have been conceived in order to counter limitations in the tabbed browsing interface.
One concept of tabbed browsing presentation is the "titletabbar" or "tabtitlebar", which places the tabs inside the title bar of the browser window. This was first introduced by Google Chrome in 2008 and picked up by Safari 4 Beta in early 2009.
Another concept, pioneered by Firefox 2.0, is the "tab overflow", a button which allows one to view the titles of all opened tabs in a vertical, scrollable list. This coincided with the "unscrunching" of visible tabs in the Firefox tabbar, in comparison to almost all other modern browsers (Opera, Safari, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc.) which, when at least four tabs are open, "scrunch" tabs tighter and tighter with the addition of new tabs, a process which (depending upon the screen width) can result in the lack of discerning visibility for tab titles and favicons. If you right click on the Opera tab bar and roll your mouse wheel, a scrollable list of open tabs appears. You roll to the one you want and let go to bring that tab to the forefront.
Other, more novel means of tab presentation and management have been made available through browser extensions or plugins:
- Tab Mix Plus (Firefox add-on) allows users to set many different options for tabbed browsing such as where a new tab opens relative to the tab the user is on.
- Ubiquity (Firefox add-on) allows users to use the "tab {search input}" command to locate tabs quickly.
- FoxTab (Firefox add-on) allows for 3D navigation through tabs.
References
- ^ van Rantwijk, HJ. "mozdev.org - multizilla: histrory". Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ "Internet Explorer 7 - Tabbed Browsing: An easier way to switch between Web sites". Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-10-09.