Author Topic: Locking/Pinning Tabs  (Read 24396 times)

sleepless

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Probably a dumb question but is it possible to lock a tab so it can't be changed? I mean not just preventing it from closing (as the lock function seems to do) but preventing navigation to other areas from within that tab itself, by automatically opening new locations in a new tab. I have a terrible habit of navigating out of tabs I don't wan't to lose. I've tried getting in the habit of right-clicking>new tab, but I constantly forget.
Last Edit: March 01, 2016, 03:40:43 AM by sleepless

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Try the latest beta version, a new feature called pinned tabs was added.

sleepless

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The only thing  pinning appears to do is lock the position of the tab. It has nothing to do with navigation.

Steven

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why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically

hiccup

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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?

redwing

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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?

It's already supported.

why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically

I am confused. Is that because you don't know how to implement the way web browsers do for pinned tabs except completely disabling left sidebar? If that's the case, I think we must accept it. But if it's technically possible, I'm not sure why you don't like it. Do you have any better idea or a different notion of "pinning tabs"?. Currently the feature is not pin tab as a pinned tab soon gets unpinned (by being replaced with another node) as soon as you select another node.

hiccup

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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?
It's already supported.

In that case I think the left panel should not auto-hide.

Steven

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Wouldn't it be possible to have a pinned tab also remembering if the left sidebar was opened or closed?

It's already supported.

why not just collapse the left sidebar? then you cant navigate away so easily
However the definition of Tab Pinning is not defined yet and may change. I am 50/50 whether it should just collapse the left sidebar automatically

I am confused. Is that because you don't know how to implement the way web browsers do for pinned tabs except completely disabling left sidebar? If that's the case, I think we must accept it. But if it's technically possible, I'm not sure why you don't like it. Do you have any better idea or a different notion of "pinning tabs"?. Currently the feature is not pin tab as a pinned tab soon gets unpinned (by being replaced with another node) as soon as you select another node.
the way its implemented now is how it works on firefox. As far as i can tell the only thing firefox does is reduce the tab to an icon and places no restrictions on the location after that.
My own view is pinning should also lock the tab to the pinned location and hide the left sidebar. But then entirely locking a tab then puts an artifical restriction on doing global searches. So as you (i think, not sure) are suggesting, perhaps MB should just allow the user to navigate anywhere but on restart the tab always revert back to the pinned location

redwing

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the way its implemented now is how it works on firefox. As far as i can tell the only thing firefox does is reduce the tab to an icon and places no restrictions on the location after that.

No, it's not. It only allows to navigate within the site. Pin Wikipedia. You can navigate anywhere within the site. But as soon as you click on an external link, you get moved to a new tab.

Steven

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not for me - i can go anywhere in a pinned tab and on restart it will be at the new location. I dont recall changing any firefox settings around this

psychoadept

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No, it's not. It only allows to navigate within the site. Pin Wikipedia. You can navigate anywhere within the site. But as soon as you click on an external link, you get moved to a new tab.

I can't test Firefox right now, but I can navigate anywhere with a pinned tab in Chrome.

I think the issue of an easier way to open a new tab from the left navigator is important, though.  MB is a very different beast from a web browser, and making the tab fixed seems more useful here.
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redwing

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perhaps MB should just allow the user to navigate anywhere but on restart the tab always revert back to the pinned location

Not on restart but when you get out of the pinned tab to another tab. Would it be possible? Then I think that could be a compromise if you don't want to add the suggested way.

redwing

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not for me - i can go anywhere in a pinned tab and on restart it will be at the new location. I dont recall changing any firefox settings around this

I don't know if it's a setting. But that's not my firefox is working.

hiccup

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MB is a very different beast from a web browser, and making the tab fixed seems more useful here.

Very true.

I just checked the FireFox pinning option. Only now I understand where the idea of having only an icon showing in a very narrow tab came from.
But that only works in a browser where almost every website has it's own icon.
But that doesn't work for MusicBee.

redwing

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I can't test Firefox right now, but I can navigate anywhere with a pinned tab in Chrome.

I just installed Chrome and checked this, and you're right. It allows you to navigate even to external sites and remembers last visited web page when re-opened. I can see this way (current MB) has some merits in that it will ensure your last visited node won't be accidentally closed and will persist when reopened. So in that sense, they are certainly "pinned."

For Firefox, on the other hand, "Links to other websites open in a new tab so that your Pinned Tab doesn't change".
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/pinned-tabs-keep-favorite-websites-open#w_how-are-pinned-tabs-different-than-normal-tabs

This way guarantees you will always have access to pinned (favorite) nodes even when you're frequently navigating to different nodes within a pinned tab (because you will get moved to a new tab). Though Chrome's way has its own merits I think Firefox's way is more suitable to MB's pinned tabs especially to make them serve as an alternative means to left sidebar.