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WyldVeil
New member
Status: New idea

I use vertical tabs and I like them, but only when the window is full screen. As soon as I snap Firefox to half the screen (or less) the sidebar takes up far too much of the page (even though i actually want more horizontal space, when the window becomes small its the web page itself that usually takes the hit) and I end up turning vertical tabs off, then turning them back on later when I go full screen again.

The idea is an optional setting for users, or perhaps even a third setting under Tab layout, alongside Horizontal and Vertical, called Automatic? e.g. Vertical tabs when the window is wider than half the screen, horizontal tabs when it's half or less. The half point could be adjustable in about:config for anyone who wants it somewhere else, or in the setting.

The same idea could work the other way round for people who normally use horizontal tabs: go vertical when the window is short and rows are precious, so possibly have that as an option too in the same area.

I have wrote something that accomplishes it myself, for my own use at the moment so far, as an autoconfig script: https://github.com/WyldVeil/really-responsive-tabs. It couldn't be a normal extension (which I did go down trying that path) because add-ons don't seem to have a way to change the tab layout, which is the other reason I think this belongs in Firefox itself as it's something a lot of folk would find useful but not something that can be done by an extension. The screenshot I included shows how it would work, automatically switches between horizontal and vertical tabs depending on the window size, and obviously would be completely optional to enable/toggle if implemented as a setting.

All it really needs is the browser watching  the window size and flipping the existing vertical tabs setting. And naturally it's only a setting so no need for it to be on by default, but there as an option for anyone who would like this.

1 Comment
Status changed to: New idea
Jon
Community Manager
Community Manager

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