Article
About the Author
Cheah Chu Yeow
Chu Yeow is an aspiring J2EE developer and Web developer studying at the National University of Singapore. He wrote FireFox Secrets, which lifts the lid on Firefox's lesser-known functionality, for SitePoint. In his free time, he watches anime and traverses the blogosphere for the most obscure tips. Visit his weblog.
You Don't Know Jack About Firefox!
If you feel that the Web has lost its sparkle, that's probably because you're slogging across it in an old browser. I'm over here on the other side, and the grass is not only greener: there are none of those microscopic grass bugs that cause nasty rashes!
Firefox Secrets
This excerpt is taken from Firefox Secrets, SitePoint's new release, by Cheah Chu Yeow. Firefox is revolutionizing the way people browse the Web. Don't get left behind: grab yourself a copy of Firefox Secrets and be part of the revolution!
The title contains over 290 pages of Firefox tips, tricks and hacks, providing invaluable pointers to help you customize the browser to your specfic preferences.
It starts with some of the better-known tweaks, such as search customizations and favourites, password, and history management. But later chapters challenge even the most hardened Firefox devotee, revealing the inner workings of Web developer extensions, RSS feed subscripton, and the little-known about:config interface.
This sample should give you a taste of the action. It begins at Chapter 2, Essential Browsing Features, which outlines the must-have functionality that any Firefox user should use to their advantage. We then skip to samples from Chapter 6, Tips, Tricks, and Hacks, and Chapter 7, Web Development Nirvana, through which you can roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty tweaking the behind-the-scenes capabilities of this powerful browser. To find out more about Firefox Secrets, visit the book's information page, or review the contents of the entire publication. As always, you can download this excerpt as a PDF if you prefer. And now, to Chapter 2.
Chapter 2. Essential Browsing Features
This chapter is all about moving forward to browse the Web with a new sense of style. We'll investigate the major features of Firefox and I'll show you how to use them. You'll learn how to explore the Web more efficiently, and with fewer interruptions. You'll also see how you might (if you so choose) let go of a few old Web surfing habits that may be holding you back; window management habits and Web search habits are two very important examples. There may even be pictures of attractive models, both male and female. Okay, there are no models. Let's explore Firefox!
Tabbed Browsing
Tabbed browsing has been called "the best thing since sliced bread and the biggest fundamental improvement in Web browsing in years," by Walter S. Mossberg, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal. It has also been criticized, rejected and labeled a useless non-innovation. You must be wondering what the big deal is with tabbed browsing and which point of view is right. You might also be curious about which side of the argument I, your intrepid author who pretends to know what's best for you, am on. You'll find out soon enough!
If you're a stranger to tabbed browsing, you're probably trapped in a somewhat old-fashioned Web surfing pattern. Perhaps you click on an interesting link, wait for that link to load, then press the Back button when you've finished reading that new page. Alternatively, perhaps you right-click (or context-click on Mac OS X) on a hyperlink and select Open in New Window on those occasions when you don't have time to wait for the new page to load.
Either way, prepare to be blown away when you see how effectively tabbed browsing eliminates waiting and unnecessary backwards and forwards tracking. You'll be wondering how you could ever have been satisfied browsing one Web page at a time in a single window. Those who have already made the leap may still need some convincing as to why tabbed browsing is better than browsing with multiple windows. I'm here to encourage you to consider the benefits.
Let's learn everything about use of tabbed browsing in Firefox. But remember: you are not forced to use it. If you're more comfortable with a single window per Web page, then that's your choice. Don't deny yourself the possibility of a better alternative, though.
A Short History and a Warning
Tabbed browsing is not that new an idea; in fact, it wasn't invented by Firefox. It's probable that NetCaptor, a third-party program that provides an alternative tabbed browsing interface for Internet Explorer, pioneered this approach. The Mozilla Application Suite followed hot on the heels of that tool, and more recently, Opera has, too. Opera developed a Multiple Document Interface (MDI), which is not the same as the Tabbed Document Interface (TDI) of tabbed browsing; Opera has added a faux-tabbed browsing interface in Opera 7.60 preview 3 (and later). Firefox, being a derivative of the Mozilla Application Suite, naturally inherited its tabbed browsing capability. Of course, spreadsheet tools like Microsoft Excel have used tabs in the worksheet display area for a long time.
Currently, most graphical browsers support tabbed browsing. A quick (and incomplete) list of tab-enabled browsers reads: Firefox, Opera, Mozilla, Safari, Konqueror, Netscape, OmniWeb, and Camino. This list doesn't include programs like NetCaptor, Maxthon, Avant Browser, and Crazy Browser, which add tabbed browsing functionality to Internet Explorer. The only notable exception is Internet Explorer itself, which may possibly be feature-enhanced with tabs in version 7.0.
It's important to realize that the add-ons that provide tabbed browsing functionality in Internet Explorer (such as the aforementioned NetCaptor, Maxthon, and kin) carry the same faults as the Internet Explorer engine, since they are no more than superficial "skins" over this product. This means that, when you use one of these variant browsers, you remain open to the set of security risks implied by Internet Explorer.
Tabs vs. Multiple Windows
Here I am, stepping onto my soapbox and making the case for tabbed browsing against the alternative: multiple browser windows. Naturally, I'll use Internet Explorer as the prime example for the case of multiple browser windows, since it's the most popular tab-free browser. I'll make objective arguments (I hope!) for both tabbed browsing and multiple windows, and leave it to you to make the decision as to which option suits you best.
Organizational Differences
Tabbed browsing doesn't prevent the use of multiple windows; in fact, you can opt to use a browser that supports tabbed browsing in the same way as you use Internet Explorer (i.e. displaying a single window per Web page). You can use this compatibility to your advantage, mixing and matching both styles to suit your needs. Tabbed browsing groups related tabs in a single window, so you can have one window of tabs for work, another window for email and personal stuff, and so on. Tabbed browsing also lets you keep related tabs in a logical group. Multiple windows, on the other hand, are just that: a single window displays a single Web page.
There's not much I can say to help the old-style multiple window case, even though I want to be objective. One small advantage is that closing a non-tabbed window dismisses only the single page it displays. Closing a tabbed window can dismiss a whole set of pages, some of which you may have meant to keep.
Managing Multiple Web Pages
It's second nature for most of us to work with multiple windows simultaneously. Naturally, we expect that those windows can be operated in a manageable way, but the crunch really comes when we have a large number of Web pages open. Does Figure 2.1 below, which shows the Windows taskbar, look manageable to you? There are 14 browser windows open!
Figure 2.1. Using multiple browser windows in IE.
I know I'd have a hard time finding the Web page I wanted here, particularly as each taskbar button shows the same unhelpful Internet Explorer icon. One solution, of course, is to use the "Group similar taskbar buttons" option that's available on Windows XP; Linux KDE and Gnome users have an equivalent feature. Grouping helps—at least you can see the page titles, as shown in Figure 2.2. Personally, though, I dislike this feature because it requires me to click twice to reach the particular window I want.
Figure 2.2. Grouping IE windows makes browsing slightly easier.
In my view, tabs are a better solution. Figure 2.3 shows the same Web pages opened in tabs in Firefox.
Tabbed browsing suffers the same page title truncation problem as the taskbar, although a few more letters show in the given tab space. But, with the same number of windows open, it's still hard to work out which page is the one I want. At least the tabs display helpful icons (called favicons) for Websites that provide them. You can see that about half of the tabs displayed in Figure 2.3 have favicons.
Figure 2.3. Multiple tabs displaying in Firefox.
Another redeeming feature of tabbed browsing is that this system allows you to juggle more Web pages than would be possible using multiple separate windows. You can handle more Web pages because there's no competition for space on the tab bar (the section of the display that holds the tab names and icons). Multiple window browsing requires each IE window to compete with other open programs for space on the taskbar. That includes non-IE windows, the system notification area at the bottom right, the Start bar, the Quick Launch bar, and any other bars you may happen to have configured.
Which solution stands out? Well, both have merits. Firefox helpfully displays an indicative icon (a favicon) for different Websites, which, to my mind, is much more helpful than the showing the same "e" icon for every page. These displays vary a little between the Macintosh and Linux desktop environments, but I'm sure you get the picture.
Avoiding Context Pollution
There is a little issue I like to call "context-switching pollution." Application context-switching occurs when you switch from one window to another on the desktop. My apologies to techies for this simplification and my abuse of the term "context-switching." In Windows, you do that by clicking on a taskbar item, or by pressing Alt-Tab to bring up another window. Mac OS X users are probably big fans of Exposé. In Linux, depending on your Desktop Environment, you may have Windows-like Alt-Tab context-switching, or even an Exposé-like feature. When you context-switch, Windows displays an icon (a context object) for each available window; you then pick the one you want.
Now, if you have tabbed browsing in place, you'll probably have a few windows open at most. In fact, most of the Firefox users I know have no need for more than a single window to hold all their tabs. I usually stick to a single window, myself. You can open as many tabs as you want within a window, and the bonus you receive is this: you have just one context object for that set of tabs. One window: one context object. By comparison, imagine that you have multiple IE windows open: one for each Web page. Each of these windows counts as a context object. And you have a bad case of context-switching pollution, my friend! Figure 2.4 shows what context-switching pollution looks like.
Figure 2.4. Context-switching pollution in Windows XP.
How are we ever going to quickly find the window we want without some furious Windows-style Alt-Tabbing? Figure 2.5 shows a similarly cluttered summary delivered by Exposé on Mac OS X.
Although Exposé fares better than the Windows context-switcher, you're still left to perform laborious squint-and-click selection.
Tabbed browsing reduces those nasty multiple windows into individual tabs in a single window—two or three windows at most. Bye-bye, context-switching clutter!
Productivity Differences
When you read a Web page in a tabbed browser, you can open interesting links in "background" tabs, which will load those pages as you continue to read the original. You can access those new pages in your own time, once you've finished with the current page. By then, they will likely have finished loading, and will be ready to view.
When you use a single window per Web page, you have to open interesting links in new windows to achieve the same effect. In Internet Explorer, this will open a new window, which then has the "focus:" it's brought to the front of all other windows. This stealing of focus may or may not be what you want. If it isn't, too bad, you just have to navigate back to the original window again. You can't change this behavior in IE; in Opera, at least, there is an 'Open behind' option that keeps the focus on the current page. In a tabbed system, you're able to tell the browser whether or not to open new tabs in the background, and when you want them to steal the focus. We'll see how to do both later.
Figure 2.5. Exposé pollution on Mac OS X.
I've found opening links in background tabs to be the most productive and efficient method of Web browsing. There is a near-perfect match between the basic concepts of Web browsing, and of opening interesting links in background tabs. Think about it: Web pages are built on hypertext, which means that there are always hyperlinks to other Web pages. Some links may interest you; most probably won't. You'll want to visit those links you do care about, so you click on them. But, wait! We're talking about "links," not "a link." Usually, more than a single link will catch your attention (especially when using Google or one of the other search engines). You'll want to visit all those interesting links, and it's a natural process to open those links as you read the current page, so that you aren't distracted from the current task, and visit them when you're done. Tabbed browsing allows you to do that. IE doesn't, because it steals focus when you open links in a new window.
The Verdict
Needless to say, tabbed browsing makes a very strong case for itself. I loved tabbed browsing the first time I tried it (in the Mozilla Application Suite). To me, it feels like the way the Web was meant to be browsed!
There is more to tabbed browsing than tabs alone, as we'll see as we review the other features of Firefox. Firefox is built around the tabbed browsing paradigm, and, throughout this discussion, we'll explore instances of how this integration can be used to further improve your browsing experience.
Using Tabs
By now, you're probably convinced of the superiority of tabbed browsing—or are, at least, willing to give it a try! In this section, we'll see how to use tabbed browsing in Firefox.
Opening, Closing and Changing Tabs
Opening a new tab is easy; it can be done in many ways.
The simplest way to open a new tab is the middle-click. Middle-clicking (or scroll wheel-clicking) on a link creates a new tab and loads the linked page into it. This is also the most efficient way to open links, so it's worthwhile to learn to middle-click if you aren't used to doing so. Most people aren't even aware that scroll wheels are clickable, but you can simply click the wheel as if it were a button, as the wheel has both button and scrolling functions. If you have a three-button mouse, just click away. If you have a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel, middle-clicking can be a bit disconcerting at first. On Mac OS X, use command-left-click instead. If you like middle-clicking, you can make this a standard on the Macintosh by reassigning command-click to the mouse wheel (middle button) via the Mac OS X mouse driver.
Note that if you miss the link with the mouse pointer when middle-clicking, Firefox goes into "free scroll" mode, which is probably not what you're after. If that happens, click again while the mouse pointer is still away from any links, and you'll be back to normal.
Here are a few other ways to open tabs:
- Ctrl-T opens a new, empty tab.
- Right-click (or context click on the Mac) a link, and select Open Link in a New Tab from the resulting context menu.
- Hold Ctrl down while clicking a link.
- Type a URL into the location bar, then hit Alt-Enter. This loads the URL in a new foreground tab.
- Press trl-Enter when a link is selected (for example, after you've run a page search for it and the link is highlighted).
- Drag a URL (from a Web page or an external application) and drop it onto the tab bar.
Closing tabs is also easy and flexible: simply middle-click on a tab's description (the bit that sticks up above the tab content). You can also use Ctrl-W to close the current tab, or you can right-click on the tab and select Close Tab. Choose whichever groove suits you. Finally, you can click on the Close Tab icon, which appears as an "X" on the right-hand end of the tab bar, and "Poof!"—no more tab. Figure 2.6 shows the Close Tab icon as it appears on the tab bar.
Figure 2.6. The Close Tab icon adjacent to the tab bar.
Once you've got your tabs set up, switching focus between them is easily done: just click on the required tab. Less obvious ways to switch tabs are to use Ctrl-Tab to switch focus to the next tab (to the right of the current tab), and Ctrl-Shift-Tab to access the previous tab (to the left of the current tab). This is very useful if you've got your hands on the keyboard most of the time.