Is there a way to force windows to be floating *except* if I explicitly launch the program that creates the window?
I'd like all the windows that I create myself (terminals, browsers, other programs) to be tiling, but all the windows that my OS nags me with (system updates, browser popups, network applets, etc) to appear as floating. Is there a way to do that?
This is an odd question, as any notification or pop-up windows should (unless I'm mistaken) pass the correct EWMH info to the window manager and appear as floating. What applications cause problems? Are you perhaps using an outdated i3 version?
Windows that aren't floating properly for me include (but aren't limited to): Firefox dialogs, Chrome/ium apps like Google Hangouts and Ubuntu's Software Updater. Pretty much everything, really. I'm using the standard i3 from the Ubuntu repos for 14.04, version 4.7.2-1.
4.8 does a better job at detecting whether a window should be floating. I think updating will resolve your issues.