Firefox Sidebar and Vertical tabs: try them out in Nightly Firefox Labs 131

[asafko]

Hi folks,

Vertical tabs and a new sidebar experience that make multitasking and context-switching easier are now available in Nightly 131. To try them, update to the latest Nightly and go to Settings > Firefox Labs, and activate the Sidebar and Vertical tabs experiments.

After you do this, you will be able to see the new sidebar, but you will still need to add the sidebar icon to the toolbar to be able to expand vertical tabs. Click Customize toolbar in the toolbar right-click menu, and drag the sidebar icon to your toolbar. This is a temporary situation, and in the future the icon will be added to the toolbar automatically. 

A few things to keep in mind:

• This work is still very much in progress and has some rough edges, functionally and visually. You’ll see us improve and polish things over the coming months.
• We will be sharing our informal backlog of improvements in this post today, so you can get a sense for where we ultimately want these features to be.
• To design this first version, we conducted extensive research, talked to many Firefox users to understand their multitasking and context-switching needs, and prototyped extensively to find the best solutions to address them.

What we’re putting out there is something that we believe will help the majority of people using Firefox achieve their day-to-day tasks. We know there is no perfect solution for everyone and welcome your feedback to shape the direction we move forward in.

[R2V1215]

It's 133.0a1 (2024-10-10) version ,firefox nightly.

May  I ask what happen to this vertical tabs? Why the icons is  only half diplayed?

[Mordor]

As a very heavy multitasker with thousands of tabs that I need to go through (don't judge me, I think this started when I began to lose my mind from boredom, don't like feeling like I'm not doing anything with my time but a little out of hand now), such a multitasking addict that I had to upgrade to 64GB RAM...these new tab related features are a godsend, I knew this was made for people like me immediately.

I feel like it's Christmas, thank you guys really I mean that, it really gets very stressful knowing you have so many tabs you need to clear up and it can really make a big negative impact on your life because you always have that thought that you didn't go through all those tabs and you don't want some interesting website you saved for later years ago to now be gone or those interesting youtube videos to now be deleted. So you really want to get through all those tabs and you can end up putting most other things in life on the back burner until you've checked all those tabs.  Oftentimes people say "just bookmark all of those tabs". And they're right, I'm trying to do that more but I think my problem with storing tabs as bookmarks is it's tucked away out of view so I think that leads me to forgetting about them, especially when you're a multitasking addict jumping from one thing to another constantly. Tabs are right there in your face, you know immediately what's most urgent to you at the moment and I don't like the bookmarks sidebar just sitting there limiting my view constantly.

Just taking a quick look at these new tab features what really makes it appealing to me is how I can quickly take a skim through a much larger pool of tabs than what's normally in view in the horizontal tab bar. And going through the horizontal tab bar with the arrows is just pretty 'clunky' to use, which definitely is somewhat of a good thing I suppose so you have time to look through everything carefully but it's nice being able to just quickly skim through tabs for a much quicker overview of what you've been working on, what you may have forgotten about, etc

I haven't messed with the tab listing and tab searching, etc too much just yet but I actually came here because I thought you guys removed those new tab features already and I made an account to ask about that. But now that I look closer it seems you guys changed the icon? My first impression is I really don't like that dropdown arrow icon for such useful tab features, it's easy to overlook that dropdown arrow, like what happened to me. It deserves a prominent icon similar to what it used to have. Had it been this dropdown arrow initially, I don't think I would have ever even found out about these new tab features. It just doesn't make any sense to me to use such a simple, basic icon that is going to lead people to believe it's function is just that, something simple and basic like the other simple icons next to it with simple functions like opening a new tab.

I think 'pulldown' and 'pullup' arrows are needed because right now the tabs just run into the bottom of your browser then just sits there which is going to seem very weird for the average user who is just looking for something as easy to use as possible. You can use the scroll wheel which works fine sure but I'd rather have 'pulldown' and 'pullup' arrows so I'm not straining my fingers so much more than I already am and to help avoid any possible misclicks while using that scroll wheel so much. Much easier to just let that 'pulldown' arrow do it's thing and flow nicely through all those tabs but I know those 'pulldown' arrows sometimes come with their own issues.

I would really like to see some improvements made to the tab searching. Particularly for situations like if firefox or whatever extension decided to send me to the very end of hundreds or thousands of tabs after an update when I'm buried in the middle of them, maybe my place was near a gmail inbox tab but I have multiple other past gmail inbox tabs for the same email now I'm still lost and have to waste time going back to where I was at. Or I'm not so lucky and I have no clue what the exact name of the tabs were that I was last on, now tab searching is pretty useless to me just like that. Maybe adding some search filters like 'date last accessed' could help with that.  But when you're able to remember that specific tab you were on or nearby tabs, or tabs you wanted to go back to from months or years ago, maybe skim through all of your youtube videos in tabs, it's definitely a big help.

That 'Close all duplicate tabs' menu item is interesting. I definitely see the use of it because I open duplicate tabs all the time, it could help in getting rid of a good amount of tabs BUT this can also cause disasters because some or a lot of those duplicate tabs could be things like important or interesting articles from months or years ago that the user plans to read in the future when time allows, maybe it's important research or things they were learning about and they happened to open duplicate tabs for those sites. I'm sure many would agree that in general, heavy multitasker or not, no one wants to have to live with the thought that they just lost something that meant a lot to them. And in this case, that option can really do a lot of damage and cause people to lose tabs that meant a lot to them. I'm praying that this menu item at least has a confirmation dialog box and it's one of those things like 'clear history' that can wipe your entire session of hundreds or thousands of tabs that just don't belong anywhere near commonly used menus to me. And sometimes even the confirmation dialog boxes that only require a single click still are not enough because the user might just click whatever option not realizing they clicked the wrong menu item with everything else going on in their life, while being in the moment and being so used to clicking everything where you intended to until you're going a little too fast one day and just running on autopilot almost going through menus.

Also, a small suggestion that us multitaskers desperately need - an open new tab option that DOESN'T send us to the very end of our tabs causing us to lose our place. For years now I've just been having to do a dirty workaround by opening a new tab of the current site I'm on if that's available, would be nice to have a proper button that does that.

Thank you guys for these added tab features, I hope this feedback helps.

[PaintingPaul]

Hi there, I'm new to the mozilla community and just installed nightly to test it out.

Some thughts to the vertical tabs and the sidebar.

🙂
I really like the approach to add the sidebar toggle switch next to the back/forth arrwos.

😞
Currently, the behaviour for dragging and dropping links into the sidebar to open websites specifacely in a new tab is not so elegant. In the normal tab bar, a light bar indicates where the tab is going to be dropped. This is missing with the vertical tab-bar.

[Pfize183]

Todays nightly update (Build-ID 20241018211452) crashes the browser immediately when you enter discord.com, youtube and paramountplus on wwindows 11. Maybe other site are also affected.

[Zach_Here]

Great addition. 2 Issues :
1. Search suggestion overlap with bookmarks bar when searching (see attachment)
2. Unable to customize sidebar width
Attachment :

[D0m1n1c]

Seems to be complicated to solve this so little issue (your point 1), it's been there ever since they merged the navigation bar with the toolbar few weeks ago !!

[D0m1n1c]

So, finally !!! This annoying bug is fixed with Nightly 133.0a1 updated this morning (october 23) !! Thanks to the team !

[Des]

Loving the new vertical-tab styling so far. Seriously, I'm really happy with how it's shaping up—the toolbar is nicely laid out, with adequate blank spaces to be able to grab the window and drag it around. The sidebar itself is laid out nicely. I like how pinning works (adding the separator between pinned and unpinned tabs).

The single biggest thing I would like to see next is—you can probably guess it—Edge-style hovering. I want to be able to hover over the sidebar and have it expand to show me the tab titles (and give me close buttons) so I can easily scan the list of tabs to find the one I want to switch to and/or the ones I want to close.

As things stand now, I still have to have the little "List all tabs" toolbar icon handy, because it's easier to open a menu, scan through the tabs, do what I need to do, and let the menu close itself than it is to pop open the sidebar and then explicitly fold it away again afterwards (which requires one extra click).

I've also noticed a few minor visual quirks:

• On macOS, the background color of the toolbar does not match the background color of the sidebar. This looks weird, honestly—these should be the same color. (I'm using the default light theme, no special styling/theming applied.)
• The shadowed border between the page and sidebar looks a bit weird and is, I think, unnecessary. Get rid of the shadow, and ideally, the border as well to be consistent with the toolbar. Also consider doing what others have suggested and give the page a small rounded corner in the upper left.

And one bug:

• When a Firefox window is displaying full-screen content, and a new tab is opened in that window (e.g. because of an external link that was opened from another monitor), the sidebar seems to be devoid of tabs. I noticed this a week or so ago and haven't tested it again recently, but wanted to mention here for awareness.

Thanks again for building this and great work!

[kendlbat]

When typing in the search bar with the bookmarks toolbar visible, the bookmark toolbar conflicts with the search suggestions.

[Andruszka]

Guten Tag,

ich habe lange Zeit auf solche Tabs gewartet. Danke 1000 x. Tuen Sie, bitte, alles nach dem Microsoft Edge wo Tabs gut funktionieren.

Große Grüsse

Kai Dedo

Hello,

I have been waiting for such tabs for a long time. Thank you 1000 times. Please do everything according to Microsoft Edge where tabs work well.

Best regards,

Kai Dedo

[yoasif]

Private windows are defaulting to the sidebar being expanded. Is this by design? Why?

Frankly, it makes less sense in private windows than non-PBM since the tab titles may reveal more than you want them to (e.g. if you have switched to a more innocuous tab in PBM).

[yoasif]

I've been using this for a while (with some time off due to a bug), and this feature should not overload the sidebar in "expanded" mode.

The tab strip isn't part of the sidebar in horizontal tab mode, why is it part of it in vertical tab mode?

Edge (as others have pointed to as desirable - I am not endorsing, simply observing) does not do this - the vertical tab strip is its own thing in that browser, not part of a sidebar (sometimes).

This looks really janky and if released is going to be rightly criticized as being so.

The expanded mode is also very slow (can provide performance profiles if interesting) to scroll through using the touchpad like a mousewheel.

[madefade]

I wonder if a full size (overlay over the webpage) tab grid/list overlay with a mappable keyboard/mouse shortcut is useful and faster. Seems like it would lead to less mouse movement for tab switching and faster than using the keyboard shortcut for those with a high number of open tabs. Group tabs with custom hotkey for each group would be of help as well? 

Understandable that it will very likely take a lot of work to get this done.

[chrizli]

1. A short key or a button to switch vertical tab
2. Auto expend vertical tab panel when cursor hovers on it

[Pfize183]

Nightly 134 is expected to release tomorrow. Hopefully at least we get auto expand.

[BelFox]

This exactly!

[CapedCrusader]

Please, remove these two scrollbars, use just one, like Edge.

[CapedCrusader]

These two buttons should be one, like Edge. Also the "setting" buttons in the vertical tabs should be inside this new button.

[JBrickelt963]

I'd like to thank Mozilla for this initiative, I've been trying for a long time to eliminate tabs from my field of vision when I'm concentrating.

After several weeks of testing on the Nightly version and with Firefox classic on the side, I've noticed a feature I'd like to have, even with vertical tabs in the sidebar. It's called Firefox View.

I think it's a really nice feature, even when the tabs are on the side (I admit I'm having trouble with the new side history approach) and it refreshes the Library - History view a bit.

NB: For me, these are two complementary things.
I hope that my opinion will be listened to or that the functionality will last.

[JBrickelt963]

Edit: For Firefox View, I found where it was

Thanks.

[dawdaw]

I am a long time user of vertical tabs with "vertical tabs reloaded" and user styles to hide horizontal tabs. I have tried out the new sidebar but don't like it:

1) hard links at the bottom of the side panel

    - waste of space and distracting visual clutter. I am quite sensitive to it as it affects my concentration. When trying to find something, I just keep reading the text on buttons again and again and again. I need to remove such permanent warts.

    - it makes no sense having it's own "settings" button and page when Firefox has integrated settings for everything else.

2) hiding the side panel turns into icons

    - when I hide the panel it's because I care about the space because e.g. I am tiling narrow windows or because I going into a low distraction mode for reading or media. I want it properly gone.

    - a dizzying mess of favicons from across the web is the last thing I want and it's rarely usable. I typically have multiple pages open from a single site so a favicon alone tells me very little.

3) indication of the currently active tab

    - it's a bit too subtle to notice at a glance. Erring on subtle is my preference instead of something glaring and distracting but it's just a bit too hard to discern at the moment

[OutlawHusbando]

Please take a look at how Zen implemented it and study from them, the current implementation of Firefox is too barebone, Zen is by far the closest browser that made perfect vertical tab, along side with Arc

Zen Browser's Vertical Tab 

[sartori-diego]

Zen has not been updated since 2022, I'll try Arc for now. Brave works nice with vertical tabs, don't understand why FF delay that feature.

Waterfox, palemoon, Basilic and others FF variants, what can you say about? thanks for the tip.

[tilwiti]

Why? https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop

[red_diter]

While Horizontal Tabs look awesome, I felt like Vertical Tabs in Nightly were completely out of place layout-wise. It feels like a totally different browser to me. So, I chopped it out a bit and tried to "fix" it:

1. Topbar was disconnected from everything. And with Sidebar being fixed width that can't be changed, I aligned top icons in a similar manner to Arc or SigmaOS, and URL bar with the page.

2. Vertical Tabs themselves had a lot less padding, more radius and different shadow than Horizontal Tabs. I just kept it as-is, and it's a lot easier to scan, click target is larger, and it's prettier to look at.

3. I lowered the contrast for bottom sidebar items, they're a bit less distracting this way.

What do you think? Let me know!

[BelFox]

Hi there!

1. I like how you moved the sidebar icon to the left (logical place) and left-aligned the address bar with the right sidebar border. It is easier on the eyes👍. However, I think it is important to respect and maintain the changes a user made to the toolbar icons (position, visible or not), address bar and sidebar (width). I'm not sure that I want Firefox to move items in the toolbar when it switches to vertical tab mode. There are a few solutions:
   
   * The sidebar icon can be placed on the left or right by default (depending on the position of the sidebar: left or right). I don't think users need to be able to change its position manually, only to hide it (e.g. for those who use a keyboard shortcut and don't want extra icons on the toolbar).
   
   * The default setting for non-customized Firefox installs and when first switching to vertical tab mode could be to align the sidebar width with the left border of the address bar. But allow users to change the width of the sidebar (and snap to the left border of the address bar when you drag the border within a certain margin, for easy alignment).
   
   
2. Not sure I would increase the padding on vertical tabs. I'd rather have as many tabs visible in the Sidebar as possible.
3. I think it's a good idea to visually discriminate between tabs and other sidebar options. Your solution could work, if readability is ensured for visually-impaired users (enough contrast).

My 2 cents.

[BelFox]

Hi again,

Kudos to the Firefox team for the great work on the Sidebar and Vertical Tabs! With enough polishing and taking into account community feedback, these features will turn out great! 🧡

I don't know if this is the right place for this kind of feedback, but I found the tab group and container indicator lines in the Sidebar a little overwhelming. Possibly, I'm not looking at the final design, but I created a quick mock-up in Paint to suggest how it could be made easier on the eyes (see attachment).

[skagon]

I like that! +1 from me!

[Pfize183]

I dont really like the new floating adressbar on fullscreen mode (F11). If I on fullscreen I dont want to interrupt with such an unnecessary thing like the adressbar. Please make a toggle to deactivate it and please hide the sidebar in F11 mode.

[pakempf]

Great work team, makes a lot of sense and definitly going it the right direction !

I understand some may have already been raised, but here are some feedbacks and insights on what could come to make this great :

• Top Toolbar fully moved to side-bar: having the omni-bar, the extention icons, the bookmarks all in the same place is a must, and would allow to regain the top space of the screen.
• A short-cut to make the side bar appear/disappear would facilitate quick-usage integration greatly
• a "reduced" mode (where only the icon of tabs are displayed, à-la pinned-tab) could help keep an eye on the workflow while regaining space
• Auto-display of the meny when mouse-overing could be great ?
• An option to display the omni-bar on top, "floating", that appears only when mouse passes over it could also be a nice touch and ease of use
• tab-grouping, please: this would make so much sense in that mode, having a "tab-tree" view would help so much organizing

All in all, this is definitely going in the right direction, and I'm really looking forward to where it lands ! Kuddos folks !

[g13n]

I've been playing with vertical tabs and the new sidebar and I'm loving it so far. Initially it was very rough but now I'm seeing a much more polished UI. Yes, there are some fundamental things (like having a close button on each tab) that need to be rolled out but I don't mind the little annoyance.

Kudos to the team for bring these features in my favourite browser.

[Darkfangs]

Honestly, all I really want is the ability to use Sideberry instead - currently activating Sideberry with Vertical Tabs causes you to have two sets of vertical tabs at once which is annoying.

[fuseteam]

isn't that because you activated two vertical tabs implementations?

[pakempf]

Following up on my last comment, I realised it was possible to activate Tabs-Grouping in dev options, which I did.

When reducing the sidebar, all tabs name are hidden, but the icons are visible, which is expected behavior, perfect !

BUT : tabs-group names prevent the sidebar to totally reduce. It would be great if the font size was reduced a lot or the name were more truncated so no space is lost :

Also, when several tabs are in the same group, they are all underlined (which i suppose replicates the behavior of "top-tab" grouping mecanism). It'd be better if they were "boxed" together.

Also, when clicking a group-name to contract it (and hide all tabs in it), it does... nothing. When sidebar  is contracted, it hides the icons. When sidebar is not contracted, it just changes the color of the group tab but doesn't hide the tabs themselves.

Grouptab + Sidebar working together is just what it takes to make it AMAZING !

Pinned tabs behavior looks good both in expended and contracted views, kudos !

 

[Pfize183]

Where are the dev options to activate tab groups?

[Pfize183]

Found it in about:config.

[caturbgs11]

woah doesn't know that hidden config

[Ripperley]

Maybe this is a bit niche but I'd love the option to have the tab layout swap between horizontal and vertical layouts dynamically with window size (vertical when the window is wider than tall, horizontal when it's taller than wide) or even just set it on a per-window basis for those of us who have our windows snapped in different layouts on different screens.

[zkby]

Okay, first of all, side/vertical tabs are great, always are

now that's out of the way, this is my first impressions (worth about 30 mins) using firefox's vertical tab options, really good, just that the way to close them is a bit of a hindrance, needs a close button, maybe when hovering over the tabs it expands just a tiny bit to show the X? just a bit of feedback, yep, that's all, because right clicking and then clicking "close tab" is annoying, if there's a better option it isn't obvious enough so there's that too

[zkby]

okay wait, i'm a bit stupid, let me rephrase stuff, just make it expand a tiny bit when hovering over the tabs imo, to show the close button, because having to either right click or actively click the expand side bar button is a hassle long term