Great! Hoping to see it in 3.1!

Tab Mix Plus has this a feature too. I’ve been using it since 2.0. It’s good to see it finally making it into the included features. It means one less thing to frustrate me while at a friend’s house.

No, this is wrong, well, I think mainly that it is wrong to change the behaviour of something that far on the road and making it default without the ability to make this optional, even as an about:config option (you didn’t say if it was going to be one).

I’m used to the old method and I don’t like the idea of a new tab directly right of the current tab especially because it breaks the chronology of the currently opened tabs. When I will close the current tab to check out the newly opened tab, it will go to the last link I opened in a tab and not the first.

@nitwit88: Well, since I use not only the “relative” tab position but also the multi-row tab capability, I never go out without an .xpi for TabMixPlus in my UFD.

I would REALLY like to have this in 3.1

Haha, Google Chrome has this as well. Coincidence? :P

Whilst that is nice the ‘behaviour’ I would prefer to see changed is ‘Tab Tearing’. Or at least some better control over the ‘feature’.

[...] New Source: Mozilla Links [...]

I hope it’s an option. I don’t want my tab behaviour changed.

As one who often has many tabs open during heavy research (albeit on Wikipedia), I know the annoyance of having new tabs appended to a long list of tabs. I look forward to seeing this becoming a standard feature!

Cool, I could really use that implemented in 3.0. Hopefully it will be in 3.1

This is a feature I’ve always wanted in Firefox. I keep Tabs Open Relative with me every profile I create. I actually forgot I installed it the first time I did so, and over time, thought it was default functionality, and managed to get annoyed when I created my second profile. It would be excellent to see this in it, as it means I won’t need one more extension.

Not a problem. “With the new behavior, new tabs opened from a tab will be added to the right of the parent tab, unless there is already a child tab. In this case it is added to the right of the last child tab.”

Probably, but considering a Firefox add-on has had this before Google Chrome, id say its Google copying here.

Hi there! I am a mac user (Leopard) and a bug appeared yesterday: when I click a e-mail link at a website, hundreds of tabs are generated and Firefox crashes. I’ve searched Support and didn’t find any help. I’ve downloaded Firefox again, uninstalled the previous one and intalled again. The bug is still there. Does anyone know what is going on?
Tks!
Ba

i really hope this will be entirely optional and not hardcoded, it would be a shame for the mozilla team to do this…. i LIKE tab behaviour as it is NOW.

[...] had to look back at the original article from Mozilla Links. According to the article, the new behaviour would be “will be featured in [...]

I understand all the ways in which one can find a link and open in a New tab, including use of the scroll wheel button of even rt. mouse button presents a drop down menu w/ “Open in a New Tab” option.

What I’d like to do is set Firefox to do that as a DEFAULT (= always). There is this setting in Tools | Options | Tabs:
Open new windows in a new tab instead

which I “thought” accomplished this and I have it checked. But it doesn’t work! Actually, several versions ago, I think it DID work, but no longer.

Why the functional disconnect?
Anybody run into this?
Any solutions?

This new behaviour is really annoying… Furthermore event the new tab button and ctrl+t opens new tab on the right of current one instead than on the far right of the tab bar!!!

Hope there will soon be an extension to fix this and bring me back the old tab policy…

I just upgraded to 3.6 Firefox (had been using 3.0 which doesn’t have this as a standard feature). Is there any way around child tabs opening next to parent tabs? When I am using an RSS Reader, sometimes I would rather the tabs to open at the end rather than right next to the reader tab.

To restore the old behaviour, go to about:config, and change browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent to false.

This change is a big mess. Prior to this you always knew where the new tab would be. Now you have to know which tab you’re on. The new ways works, but it’s the MS Office Ribbon, in that it’s slower to use.

BTW, Kay thanks for the solution!!!

Just got this feature in 3.6 and I HATE it. Now I never know where my tabs are.

Yeah I really don’t like this. I like to have my first 5 tabs (2 email, digg, etc) to be fixed. Having child tabs off them for new links sucks. Changed it back via about:config, but seriously, that is pretty bloody stupid. What about non-savy people out there. Should be in the options. Poor work mozilla. You fail at UI changes.

Thanks Kay for the solution, but I have to agree with Beren. Please can this be included as an option as it changes fundamentally how one goes about browsing. I have been using and loving Mozilla since the early days and I have spent the last week getting v frustrated and not sure what was happening when I opened a tab. This is only the 2nd time I have used the about:config section. I know it’s not as scary as it looks but generally I don’t mess with what normally works really well, but this update is so fundamental to the way most of us use the browser it really, really, really, should be easy to set up.

Agree with all the comments on the fact that Mozilla has a shitty policy concerning implementing UI changes with no option to use the old behaviour (I’m also thinking of the AwfulBar here). I can see why it’s good for some, it’s not good for me, why hide all the configuration options in some cryptic list of unclear goobledygook when you can just make a check box in the options??

Here is the solution for opening new tabs at the end of the tabs
row like it was at the earlier versions of Firefox:
- open a new tab or window,
- write about:config to the url window, so that you get configuration settings of Firefox,
- find the “browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent” by writing this Reference Name to the ‘Filter’ window,
- default value is ‘true’ which makes it “open-new-tab-next-to-active-one”.
Now change it to “false” by double-clicking on it, which makes it “open-new-tab-at-the-end-of-the-tabs-row”.

Thanks for the advice Kay and Sadeddin!!

I searched all the menus and options “for a few times” but did not find this option anywhere in the Firefox menus. I think user should be able to choose this in tag options.

I don’t like this. I want all my tabs to open at the end and i can’t find a way to do that. Anyone know how to make ALL tabs open at the end?

I usually work the same way that I read (from left to right). And when suddenly tabs get inserted I just get confused. So I was very happy to see that I can turn this off. But I can image scenarios where the insert tab function would be useful. So why not have two ways to handle tabs? Ctrl+Left clicking a link inserts or appends (whichever way is chosen in about:config) then Ctrl+Shift+Left clicking a link does the opposite.

it was VERY bad idea, at least not giving an option to customize if I really want that new tab to be opened next to the parent one or not…

VERY disappointed, so illogical and stupid, you guys gotta learn big time how Google does usability tests and implements changes ;)

I would also prefer this to be switchable, as I too like the original tab behaviour.

I Don’t know why they add a new feature WITHOUT the option to disable it! It is very disappointing! I used to the OLD (good) way. Please bring it back, or make it possible to disable it. It is annoying and irritating mr Firefox.. you push me back to other browsers…

about:config

then

browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent

Thanks!!!

Opera has had this for years, so it’s not like Firefox is the first one, either.

True but Opera messed up when it became adware and has since not been able to recover now that they got rid of the ads only because of declined use. Not the kind of browser I want to support.

I prefer the old way as I can keep track of the tabs easily – I open many similar-named tags and its chronology is useful for me to keep track. Please make an option to switch between the 2 behaviours.

ive been using firefox for over 5 years. i really loved the way tabs were arranged because it was like a whole new OS just for browsing inside my Windows, changing the entire cluttered taskbar into something neat. its fine if this is to be changed as an “improvement” for firefox but there should at least be a bloody option right? how the hell do u expect me to get used to this stupid parent-child tab thing when ive been stuck to firefox for 5 years?

Dont really like the feature right now, but no one really likes change. I would like to see some type of grouping (tab color; circle around the group) if there will not be configuration options. At least in about:config.

I hate it.

At least give me a setting to be able to change it back, geez.

I HATE THE NEW TABS, PLEASE LET ME CHANGE IT BACK! I OPEN MY TABS IN ORDER OF RELEVANCE, I WANT THEM IN SECTIONS NOT NEXT TO MY ORIGINAL GOOGLE SEARCH! The new system makes no sense, it mixes up the order. How hard would it be to make this an option or leave it like you had it, as an add on!!

This is great, but it needs to happen to tabs created by Ctrl+T as well. I hate when they open up at the end of a long list of tabs, and I have to drag them back over to where I was working.

“New tabs opened via the new tab button, File/New Tab… menu, Ctrl + T, etc. will still be opened to the end of the tab bar, as it is not possible to know if it’s contents will be related to the current tab or not.”

Nooooooo wrong. It needs to open up those tabs next to the current tab.

Now the tabs open in reverse-chronological order, with absolutely no organization of groups or ‘projects’ of tabs. There is no option to modify the behavior.

Awful.

With effort exerted to change, why was another approach not used:

* Certain tabs can be marked as “Group heading” tabs, and will for example be colored differently, or have some visual marker

* New tabs opened within that group, will be opened, at the end of the group, that is in chronological order

These options could be modified easily, in the Options menu (ex: the new reverse-chronological “improvement”, within a group, if one so wishes)

This is one of a range of possibilities. Imitation will likely prove to be a failure.

Updated to 3.18 tonight and immediately noticed that tabs now go to far right with no option in about:config to have them open next to the current active tab.

A very disagreeable change if you have many tabs going.

Please give an option so the position of new tabs can be selected.

This new behavior is very annoying! Please add an option to change it back to the way it used to be.

i agree…this new behavior is VERY annoying. Let me change it back. until then, I’m downgrading my firefox

Nice! I like this app coz v. 3.6 doesn’t satisfy my requirements but at the same time I would like the new tab to show on the right of my current tab that is available only on v. 3.6.

I really used to love Mozilla. . .

I HATE you bastards. . . with a passion. This is ridiculous, what’s next, what next are you going to do so that I have to change a setting in about:config every time I go to a new machine again, eh?

Are you going to force a skin on us too? Like Chrome tries to? You going to set some fancy pretty little crap theme as default with no menubar and it’s own window manager?

This is stupid, why are you following the underdogs? You have THE second most popular browser on the market, part of the reason I have always hated Safari, Chrome and Opera is BECAUSE of their strange non-firefox-like tab behavior and then you go and pull this crap.

To quote a brilliant man, “If change is unnecessary, it is necessary NOT to change.”

thankyouthankyouthakyou!
After months of honestly trying to get used to it, I finally decided to look up some sort of solution. this post was the first I’ve found. And it works!

Maxthon has had this for years, and it was the strongest point vs Firefox beside its “drag & open”

I am using Chrome instead of Firefox for this reason ONLY.

To open a link in a new tab press both left and right click simultaneously.

I think many people here are way to conservative.

The first tabbed browser I used was Maxthon (heavily modified IE). Maxthon had this behaviour, where the new tab would open next to the parent tab. This was great if you have say 3 tabs with 3 different topics, because they would remained grouped no matter the order you open them in.

Example: Topic A, B, C
Maxthon: A0,A3,A2,A1,B0,B2,B1,C0,C3,C2,C1
old firefox: A0,B0,C0,A1,B1,A2,C1,C2,B2,C3,A3

I find the initial sequence to be more organized.
When I started using firefox (because on Linux there’s no Maxthon), I had a lot of FRUSTRATION because of this behaviour, but I got used to it eventually, despite some nostalgies.

Now, I see Firefox is realizing people used tabbed browsers for tabs (sometimes a lot), and are trying to improve the user experience.
Some of you are so conservative, you don’t know what’s good for you. I am pretty sure if Firefox was like Maxthon from the beginning and now they decided to be like you are used to, there would be at least the same amount of frustration.

Really, your arguments are very subjective.

On top of all this, Chrome arranges them even better:

A0,A1,A2,A3,B0,B1,B2,C0,C1,C2,C3

where higher numbers indicate tabs opened later.
The last sequence is probably the ideal one.
This way your tabs are grouped by topic, and the last tab from a topic is the last opened tab.

If Firefox implemented this, then if you Open Google, do a search and open a bunch of things in new tabs, it would be like the old behaviour.

And if you have TWO Google and search TWO Different Things, it would behave like TWO different browsers, so the search results will never mix.

I know I wrote a lot, but if you think about it you will realize how RIGHT I am.

Alex G.

Why this feature is not configurable? I do not like it, and I want the old approach back. It is really frustrating and not in the best traditions of firefox.

I gave it a good long try but I hate it. I can’t figure out where my tabs are. I use a lot of tabs. The OP’s opinion that the old behavior requires you to keep in your head where tabs are, I find to be all the more so with the new behavior.

Now I have to keep in my head: When I added the tab, was it a child? Was it the n’th child? Was it a child of the n’th child? Where did the n+1th child go if I added a child to the n’th child? I can’t find anything. Way too many rules.

With the old behavior I could remember approximately where tabs were based on how long ago I opened it. The more recently opened, the farther right. Simple!

Alex G, the scheme breaks when you go to children of children. I agree if there were only two levels of hierarchy: parent and child, it could be useful. Perhaps if a child were promoted to parent, and detached from it’s parent, if a child were created on the child. For instance

A0,A1,A2,B0,B1,B2

If a child were created on A1, the result would be:

A0,A2,B0,B1,B2,C0,C1

Where C0 was formerly A1.

Or

A0,A2,C0,C1,B0,B1,B2

In addition to all this, the user really needs to be able to move tabs around on the tab bar.

THANKS FOR THE WORK AROUND…my tabs are now opening at the end so I know what i’m doing when I open 10 in a row…they are all in order, phew!

Suggestions

=== Parent identity ===

Use case: opening tabs from multiple pages of search results

I google something, glance thru hits 1-10, right click 1 3 and 4, click Next page, glance thru 11-20, right click 13 14 and 19, Next page, glance thru 21-30, right click 22 and 29. Now the tabs are ordered

A0 A22 A29 A13 A14 A19 A1 A3 A4

(where A0 is the search result, and A(x) is hit number x). The tabs essentially appears in random order. I usually want to read them in the order i found them.

Partial solution: relax the “identity” concept of what a parent is.

Clearly, in google an many other contexts, going to Next Page should not change the parent status of a tab. It should still be the head of its group or sub-group. What about a solution where a tab always keeps its parenthood when its content changes (following a link)? It will work in the google case, but it might break other use cases. Deciding what is a tab’s or a page’s identity requires a lot of thought.

=== Visual clue ===

There is no visual clue (ver 3.6.8) how the tabs are grouped. Firefox obviously has an internal representation of “parents” or “groups” of tabs, and one should not be surprised that users get confused if it is invisible to them.

For this feature to be useful as intended, there should at least be an easy way to see what tabs are parents, or where the group boundaries are.