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Ditching browser tabs for i3 tabs

asked 2013-04-07 14:44:13 +0000

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So I'm asking configuration tips on that, both on the browser side and i3 side. I'm sure you have some - please share.

I'm trying it and it works, looks and feels really well. This is a compilation of some tips and couple of minor annoyances I have come up with.

On the browser side:

  • Hide the tab bar.
    • Firefox: Can be set in the configuration.
  • Middle click on a link should open a new browser window, so that it becomes i3 window/tab.
    • Firefox: Can be changed in about:config - browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick.
  • Some windows would still open in browser tab, for example: add-ons window in Firefox.
    • Firefox: There is an extension (tab killer) for that. It feels outdated, so haven't tried.
    • Proper solution needed.

On the i3 side:

  • More contrasted color for tab titles and borders, so that the unfocused tabs appear more easily distinguishable one from another.
    • Can be done in the config.
  • Middle click on a tab to close.
    • Ticket #558 would solve this, but the priority is at the minimum, so we shall wait longer, unless someone prepares a patch sooner.
  • Site favicons in tabs - it would be really nice to have them in this configuration.
    • I know, the i3 author denied such a feature multiple times in the past.
  • Dragging tabs around.
    • Ticket #141 would solve this.
  • Dragging and dropping a link on a tab or between tabs. I think we should address these separately.
    • Dropping things on tabs - something we could request as feature:
      • When dragging something over to an inactive tab, switching to that client, so that one could drop that thing in the window area.
    • Dropping things between tabs.
      • I think it is not a window manager thing to do, or is it?
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Dropping things between tabs is indeed NOT a window manager thing. i3 is entirely D&D-unaware at the moment (v4.5.1).

Michael gravatar imageMichael ( 2013-04-07 14:52:53 +0000 )edit

So firefox tabs is bad and i3 tabs is superior?

Diep Pham Van gravatar imageDiep Pham Van ( 2013-04-18 04:09:57 +0000 )edit

The idea is to have a single set of commands and mechanisms for the same task - managing windows (and tabs for that matter), even browser windows and tabs. And to answer your question, yes.

dosimple gravatar imagedosimple ( 2013-04-18 23:58:10 +0000 )edit

I ditched firefox tabs for the i3 stack or tabbed layouts and everything is wonderful except one thing: undo recently closed tabs. So far I haven't found a way to restore recently closed windows easily; any advice on that?

geo909 gravatar imagegeo909 ( 2013-12-01 10:26:20 +0000 )edit

erroneous post

Michael Rose gravatar imageMichael Rose ( 2014-07-04 19:13:55 +0000 )edit

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answered 2014-07-04 19:44:14 +0000

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There are many things wrong with i3 tabs as ff tabs both in that firefox addons provide better functionality and that there are inherent difficulties involved.

Makes it harder to organize workspaces wherin firefox shares space with another app.

In stacked layout the next open window will be merely another item at the bottom of the stack if you want it to share space you now have to move it each time.

In tabbed layout moving to the next window on the side would require scrolling through all your tabs to that side and would cause you to lose your place in the browser.

No undo recently closed tabs.

Tree style tabs allows you to easily view a large number of tabs organized by a tree based on subject this is not possible to replicate with i3 tabs.

Pentadactyl allows you to show numbers on the right of each tab and can switch via :b # Enter if you have 12 tabs and you are on the first the alternative is to press <mod>direction 11 times.

In short i3 tabs would be only sort of crappy if you keep it in a stacked layout of 3-4 tabs and becomes really crappy compared to alternatives as you approach 10 tabs

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You don't have to scroll through all of the tabs; you can select parent and then move to the side

Rojo gravatar imageRojo ( 2014-07-05 01:40:38 +0000 )edit

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Asked: 2013-04-07 14:44:13 +0000

Seen: 1,419 times

Last updated: Jul 04 '14