Try streamlined tab menu in Nightly Firefox Labs 154

[asafko]

Hi folks,

We’re working on some early improvements to the Firefox tab context menu, and we’d love feedback from those of you using Nightly.

The current menu is familiar, but it has grown over time. It can be hard to scan, frequently used actions are mixed in with less common ones. We’ve also heard that some of the current grouping and ordering can feel unintuitive, especially for people newer to Firefox.

This week, a streamlined tab context menu will become available in Firefox Labs in Nightly – as of Thursday, July 16th, it is available in all locales / countries. Our first pass focuses on:

• making frequently used actions easier to find, 

• improving scannability through clearer grouping,

• minimizing disruption to existing muscle memory.

These changes are still early, and we don’t take changes to familiar browser surfaces lightly, so we'll be iterating based on your feedback before considering offering the updated menu in the Labs Release. 

We’d be grateful if you gave it a try once it goes live and shared your thoughts. You can turn the menu on by navigating to Firefox Settings > Labs section, and checking the checkbox near Streamlined tab menu option.

[Synchro]

One can't change a preferred language in Nightly?

[s_hentzschel]

I like the streamlined context menu because the context menu had really gotten a bit long by now.

I wonder if the option to add to a tab group isn't a bit buried in the Move menu. For me personally, it's fine because I know where to look, and I don't use tab groups that much anyway. But for others, it might be a bit hidden.

I briefly wondered whether "Send to Device" could also be part of the Share menu if we wanted to streamline it even further. But I'm undecided myself, because that might make the submenu a little too long.

All in all, I think it's an improvement.

[asafko]

Thank you for your feedback! 
Most tab group actions are taken via drag-and-drop and many folks reported reaching for Move menu when trying to Add a tab to a group. 
So after much deliberation, we decided to try this approach, and see whether it has any negative impact on tab-groups-related actions.

[asafko]

@Synchro unfortunately, Nightly and Dev Edition do not support switching languages like other channels  (here's a link with more details). The easiest way to test would likely be to download a version in another language from Mozilla org. 

[denyshon]

Love the simplified menu! The only thing looking a bit off is "Open in a New Container Tab": it's now the longest entry and IMO can be easily shortened to something like "Open in a Container" / "Duplicate in Container".

[asafko]

Thank you, @denyshon. I think it's a great idea, I added it to the list of tweaks we'd want to consider for the post-feedback round of updates to this menu.

[Kvin]

Привіт Asafko, я дуже прошу, розгляньте цю можливість, чи продвиньте її, мені потрібна можливість переміщення панелі горизонтальних вкладок вниз в мобільній версії Firefox🙏

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2012357
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/tab-access-from-the-bottom-of-the-phone-screen-firefox-an...

[myspace]

Agreed that it's much better more being precise, it's gotten a bit messy. 

[bjherbison]

I like the shortened menu.

One suggestion: Why is New Tab to Right at the top? Is is really used significantly with the current menu? There are two easier ways to create a new tab, Control-T and clicking the + at the end of the tabs.

[s_hentzschel]

---

@bjherbison wrote:

There are two easier ways to create a new tab, Control-T and clicking the + at the end of the tabs.

---

I don't know how many people use it. But as you already said: at the end of the tabs. It's not the same as right of the selected tab.

[Xufox]

I always use middle-click on the New Tab button to open a tab to the right (with browser.tabs.searchclipboardfor.middleclick disabled). Also, duplicating a tab can be done with dragging and Ctrl-dropping. So, right off the bat, the top two entries are kinda redundant for me.

[TechHorse]

I am not a user of Nightly.

Wondering if anyone can confirm whether "Bookmark Tab" and the "Close Multiple Tabs" options are staying on the top level of the menu?

[bjherbison]

Yes, both stay at the top level.

[geofflawrence]

It looks and feels much better, so will be nice to see this rolled out.

One observation, I still have "Summarise Page (New)" but it is top level, and "Choose an AI Chatbot" and "Remove an AI Chatbot" are missing. Putting the missing items to one side, I preferred the summarise option being under a menu with AI in the title, makes to clearer what it is/does.

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

To see, about:config, I enabled, the preference, browser.tabs.contextmenu.altstructure.enabled, value, true

[Agentvirtuel]

Sorry, i see in Firefox Labs, Streamlined tab menu, i have this option. I hadn't had it recently.

[Agentvirtuel]

I like, Move Tab to -> Move to Profile.

[4rzachy]

I find the "Move tab to > Select all tabs" option a bit strange.

Once multiple tabs are selected, the entire context menu changes when you reopen it, not just the "Move tabs to" entry. So, why place this item in that submenu?

[wellington1993]

Awesome! Could you do something similar to page context menu?
There is a lot of add-on entries, will be welcome new ways to hidden ou manage that. 

 Thanks!

[wellington1993]

Hi,

In that tab menu, could the add-ons itens be collapsed by default? Like the windows right click menu. 

Thanks! 

[Pseudoryx]

Another potential improvement in the same vein is to have more controls in terms of add-on context menu built into Firefox so that users can choose not to have those entries injected into their context menu, as not all extensions offer that flexibility.

[Pseudoryx]

It is a welcome direction, but ultimately this streamlined menu is still a band-aid solution. Firefox should aim toward having a truly customizable context menu. For example, I only have 9 items in my context menu using css, but I can see that other entries that I don't need can be crucial for other users' experience.

I also concur with some other comments that having "Select All Tabs" nested in "Move" is not intuitive.

[s_hentzschel]

I disagree that this is a "band-aid solution" just because you can't customize it. What you're suggesting is simply a completely different thing. Even if there were a feature to customize context menus, a good default still matters.

[Pseudoryx]

I don't disagree that a good default matters. We just have different framework and priorities.

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

Ability to edit context menus, remove unnecessary options
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/ability-to-edit-context-menus-remove-unnecessary-options/idi-p/...

For illustration split tab is annoying
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/split-tab-is-annoying/td-p/126488
With the help of userChrome.css

[Krsjs]

Can someone share a screenshot of the before<>after this setting?

[bjherbison]

[andrecosta]

I assume submenus are also being considered on this reorganization, right? (haven't tried the nightly version yet). IMHO the "Move to New Window" option not being the first one on the "Move tab" version is very annoying, I had to resort to CSS tweaking to put it first (but I understand this might be a very biased opinion).

Also, not directly related to tab context menus, but the recent tab groups context menu could also see some love as well; having "Open Group on This Window" as the first option doesn't make sense since it is already the action you would get by simply clicking on the tab group name, IMHO the first option here should be "Open Group on New Window"

[Tawn]

I have to agree that 'Select All Tabs' does not seem to belong under 'Move Tab to'. Wondering what the reasoning is behind that. Perhaps it's mostly used to move  them all to another window or group? Only possible justification I can think of...but perhaps one might want to Bookmark them all or share them all.

[krisbalintona]

I liked it a lot! On the first right-click I noticed an immediate improvement.

[sosasees]

"Select All Tabs" semantically does not belong in the "Move Tab to" Submenu.
It should be its own Entry, like in the non-streamlined Tab Menu.

Also, the Actions "Pin" and "Reload" and "Mute" and "Bookmark" would benefit from having an Icon.

[asafko]

Hi folks, 
Thank you all for your thoughtful feedback! We've incorporated many desirable updates you've mentioned, and we're going to offer the updated version in Release Labs soon. You can follow the implementation bug here and I've attached an image showing the updates. 

One thing I want to comment on – Select All is one of the least used options in the menu and it's available in the tab strip context menu, so for Firefox Labs Release rollout, we decided to remove it from the tab context menu.

[Tom_VZG]

I don't have a specific issue with "rounded corner" but I really dislike the fact the top bar and the "workspace" are floating inside a background window. It feels weird, floaty, and it give the impression the actual window is smaller than it is

[sosasees]

It doesn’t just look wasteful.

The thick Borders really are taking too much Space for no Value.

[LizardInBigCoat]

Thoughts and feedback:

I agree the current menu definitely needs to be improved. However, I disagree with some changes, and made my own mockup to show my preferences.

 (1) I don't like [Duplicate] being at the top of the menu. I don't use it enough to warrant that. I do think it should be separated from the Tab Controls section, but a divider is sufficient for that, and its function is similar enough to "Open in New Container Tab" creating a new tab and removing the old one that it fits in the category.

(2) [Add to New Group] and [Add Split View] are rearranging existing tabs while keeping them in the tab bar. [New Tab to Right] is a bit messy there, but it isn't completely out of place, and it is different than the standard New Tab button. All the Split Menu options when right clicking a split tab are more convenient at the top as well instead of halfway down the context menu. 

Both of these options should be at the top, right by where the mouse will be on right clicking a tab.

(3) I was unsure about the tab controls being shortened to single word items at first, but I think it works, reducing unnecessary visual clutter in that section.

(4) I approve of [Select All Tabs] being in the "Move Tab To" submenu, but I suggest renaming the menu to "Tab Move" so it fits as an overarching category for both moving tabs and selecting all tabs, whether you're selecting them all in preparation for moving them or bookmarking them.

I also think [Select All Tabs] should be at the top of the "Tab Move" submenu, not below the list of browser profiles. I do not approve of it being removed from the context menu entirely. Yes, you can still shift click to bulk select. Yes, it is present in the tab strip context menu, but with enough tabs, that area is completely unclickable. 

(5) The ellipsis after [Bookmark] or [Bookmark Tab…] has a long history of indicating an additional menu will appear on clicking it versus immediately doing what the label says it will like with the tab controls (Pin, Mute, Reload, Unload). In the new menu, it should retain the ellipsis.

(6) On that note, for those who have Ai chatbots enabled, (thus making it present in the context menu at all), [Summarize Page] should also have an ellipsis added, as it opens the sidebar on click.

(7) Share and Send to Your Devices can easily be combined if you are sharing with your devices when you send a tab, which you are, and I doubt people are sending tabs to their devices enough to warrant top-level placement.

I approve of [Close Duplicate Tabs] being moved to the "Close Multiple Tabs" submenu.

[sosasees]

"Tab Move" reads strangely. It should be "Move Tabs".