More tabs options needed for LinkThing

[Djeross]

Hi,

First of all, a big THANK YOU for making this extension ! It's a must
have, and I was searching for such an extension for a long time, in
order to get rid of Firefox.
But I would need a few more options to find it perfect... and I think
I would not be the only one :)
First, for reference, the ultimate firefox extension I use regarding
tabs is Tab Mix Plus. It has a lot of options, and give a complete
control on tab behavior.
The options I miss the most from it are :
- The options regarding opening new tabs : I want the browser to open
a new tab whenever I type an address in the address bar, when I click
a link in the history, bookmarks... anything not concerning the
current tab (for which I use the middle-click, when needed)
- The option to close all tabs / all tabs right of the current / left
of the current
- The option of closing a tab by double-clicking / middle-clicking it
- The multi-lines tab-bar when there are too many tabs open instead of
the right menu (yes, I'm kind of a tab-freak, sometimes about 120 tabs
open... :)
- The option of scrolling through tabs using the mousewheel

That's quite all, these are suggestions, you are not my personal
developer :D
But I think some of them could make some people happy (especially me),
and can give you hints about how to make your product becoming the
Ultimate Tab Manager, and make you rule the world

Ok, I'll stop there, thanks for reading me !

Dje

[Canisbos Computing]

Hi Djeross,

Thanks for the feedback.

While I am more than sympathetic to your desires, the limitations of
Safari's extension API prevent me from implementing just about all of your
requests. To wit:

> - I want the browser to open a new tab whenever I type an address in
> the address bar, when I click a link in the history, bookmarksŠ

This is impossible because Safari extensions can't hook into the browser
at a low enough level to affect actions involving the address bar,
bookmarks, etc. I can only suggest you get used to holding down the
Command key whenever you want to open something in a new tab...this works
just about anywhere.

> - The option of closing a tab by double-clicking / middle-clicking it
>
> - The multi-lines tab-bar when there are too many tabs open instead of
> the right menu
>

> - The option of scrolling through tabs using the mousewheel

These are impossible due to the same limitation of not being able to hook
into the browser at a low level. (Well, the last one might be possible,
but it would be very tricky.)

> - The option to close all tabs / all tabs right of the current / left
of the current

Okay, now these ones ARE possible to implement in a Safari extension. The
first one is almost the same as a built-in Safari command, Close Other
Tabs, which is available with a right-click on a tab. Do we really need a
command to close ALL tabs, when you could just close the window and open a
new one? Closing tabs to the left/right of the current one can be
implemented, but there's the question of what would be an acceptable UI
for those commands. Adding the commands to the tab context menu is out,
because it can't be done. Ditto the main menu bar. What about toolbar
buttons? That's feasible, but it would require taking up valuable toolbar
space with two buttons that wouldn't be used that much. Keyboard commands,
then? If you can settle for that approach, I can add the commands to my
TabKeys extension; I don't think they belong in LinkThing. Let me know if
you want that.

Finally, I would like to suggest giving an Input Manager-based extension
such as Glims a try, if you haven't already. Such extensions are not
limited by Apple's official API and can hook into Safari at a very deep
level, so they can do a lot more than API-based extensions can. I don't
use them because I'm somewhat of a purist, and these things are a bit of
an ugly hack. But if that doesn't bother you, those might be the best
route for you.

Best regards,
Chul

[Djeross]

Hi,

Thanks for your quick answer.

I didn't know that the Apple API was so limited... I think I will have
to get used to the cmd+T shortcut !
The close left/right tab would be nice, but I don't see a nice way to
add it if the context menu is a no-way.
All we have left is praying to saint S.Jobs for opening the API a
little :D

I know the input manager based plugins, but as you say, it is not as
nice and clean as extensions, and I thought "now there are extensions,
why use hacks to do those things ?"
But it seems I'm demanding too much.

Anyway, I'll follow your work, maybe some day all of this would be
possible !

Cheers,
Dje

[Canisbos Computing]

Hi again,

> I think I will have to get used to the cmd+T shortcut

Yes, you can always use that, but did you also know about the following
shortcuts, which are built into Safari?

- Enter a URL in the address bar and press Command + Enter.
The URL will open in a new tab.

- Hold down Command while opening a bookmark from the bookmark bar
or the bookmark menu. The bookmark will open in a new tab.

- The same goes for history items in the bookmarks window.

Please forgive me if you already knew about these shortcuts.

Regards,
Chul

[Eric Roth]

Hi,

You don't have to apologize for giving tips to me, it's kind of you !
And it turns out that I didn't know about these shortcuts, so thanks, it will help.

Regards,
Dje