GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 550909
options to open folders in tabs by default
Last modified: 2021-06-18 15:18:01 UTC
Originally posted at Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/264816 I'm using the latest Nautilus on Ubuntu Intrepid. Now that nautilus supports tabs, I would like it to have an option to open folders in new tabs instead of new windows by default. So that, for example, if you already have one nautilus window open and you click an item in the Places menu, it opens on a new tab instead of opening a whole new window.
*** Bug 553442 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Being able to have only one file manager window open at all times seems to be a logical oposite to spatial mode. I, for one would realy like this, drag&drop is way easier(faster) when you can drag to another tab instead of having to find another nautilus window first. Now the tab title becomes very important to navigate to the right tab!(the tab menu could probably make this easier) Perhaps this 'mode' should stay hidden behind a gconf key to prevent it from confusing people.
I agree with this request.
*** Bug 560779 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 560782 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I second this request and think it should be a option in the Preferences dialog. Many users know tabs from their browser and won't have trouble understanding the concept.
*** Bug 561330 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I would like this too.
I don't like this kind of behaviour for a file manager (and I'd be for WONTFIXing this), but I don't like tabs in general when used outside of a web browser or a terminal, so I might be biased here. Let's CC usability guys, as they are doing a research on tabs these days.
I disagree with you cosimo, basically on netbooks this kind of stuff could be really useful. Imagine this user case: I'm working with my nautilus window when I attach an usb pendisk or I extract an archive. With the current nautilus behaviour I will get many windows opening, and due to the small size of the screen those windows will overlap each other making drag and drop quite complicated. So, if you're not sure about exposing this option directly in the user interface, maybe placing it inside gconf could be an idea too. Waiting for the usability feedback :)
Still on usability, can you imagine how tools like gnome-do would benefit from such feature ? You type a few folders on it and they are opened in different tabs in the same nautilus window..
I support this request too.
I support this request too. Feature suggestion : options related to default behavior should be accessible on a specific nautilus options-tab, and let the user choose different default-behaviors depending on the context : when browsing into folders, and when mounting an usb-device. This could improve user's impression that his system is highly configurable from GUI.
I support this request as well. If this will not be added in the preferences dialog, please add it as a gconf key at least.
I also support this request. no matter if enabled in gconf-editor or nautilus-preferences.
I'd also like to see this added
I also request this option.
Any news on this request? I'd like to second it, too.
I vote for this.
+1 here
+1
@Cosimo Cecchi, ok, you don't like that behaviour. So there should be a choice, or in tabs or in windows, and Damiens suggestions in a second step.
Hi :) In Nautilus Edit - Preferences - Behaviour allows people to select "Open in new window" perhaps being able to select "Open in new tab" would be another good option there? In FireFox it is also the 2nd preferences tab that deals with tabs so this would make some sense to some people. I noticed that if you right-click then you get the choice to open in a new tab so i guess this as a default is not tooo far into science-fiction? Thanks and regards from Tom :)
The reasons given for this so far are: * It prevents window multiplication. * Drag and drop is easier between tabs than between windows, particularly on netbooks. I'd add some disadvantages: * The tab bar uses vertical space - bad on netbooks. * Tabs are actually pretty poor drop targets. Panes or aerosnap style window positioning is better for this. * It's (potentially) another item in the preferences. And some more general reservations: * Modes buried in the preferences or gconf benefit few users. * It is already possible to open directories as tabs using the context menu or the middle mouse button, so it's already possible to achieve something approximate to the requested behaviour. * Is window multiplication *really* a problem for a file browser? I'd like to see some evidence of this. * If the dnd issues are real, there are probably better design solutions out there - solutions which would benefit all users.
I would prefer tabs to be down the right-hand-side (or maybe the left) like paper address-books or paper files rather than at the top like filing cabinets. It has only jsut occured to me that it could be done as it is difficult to break free from years of Windows "put up and shut up" attitude. Regards from Tom :)
In my opinion, this idea is brilliant. I must admit I have a hard time seeing why everyone (including myself) can embrace tabbed web browsers so much, but at the same time think it's a bad idea when it comes to file browsers. What is the difference between these two programs that makes it right for one but not for the other? What about tabs in gedit, what's the general feeling about this? If people like it in gedit, why not in nautilus too? I must admit I had never though of the idea myself, until today actually. When, for example, I have three nautilus folders open in separate windows, it is quite time consuming to actually find the nautilus window (folder) I am looking for. I think an application-specific handling of multiple instances reduce clutter, because it confines multiple instances to the application, so you know always know where to look. Ie. folders are always "in nautilus", not spread out between terminal windows, E-mail clients and other programs. Because of this potential clutter, most "Window List"-type applets already include a function to group similar windows into the same button (both MS Windows and Gnome's "Window List" do this), because it obviously reduces the clutter. So it actually wouldn't even be that big of a step to let the applications handle this, it would just move the functionality from the "Window List" to the application itself (assuming it's optional, of course). I really like gedit, the way it opens documents in the same window in new tabs. It's much easier to get an overview of which documents are open, instead of mixing open gedit documents in with all the other applications. Imagine if we had three open folders, two terminals, three documents and five web pages open and we didn't have tabs at all, it would be one hell of a clutter. I guess my main motivation for advocating this, would be that it seems more intuitive to confine folders to the "folders program" (nautilus), even for new users. Of course new windows should be able to be spawned, at the user's request. But I think it would be very useful if a folder opened in nautilus in a new tab, exactly the way a new web page opens in the browser in a new tab.
Hi :) I do use tabs in the file-browser, and in gedit, but it is not as easy to open as tabs in a web-browser. In a web-browser you can also tear a tab out of 1 instance and transfer it to another, or create a new window by trying to drop the tab into empty space. There is another bug-report covering that option. This bug-report just covers opening folders within an existing file-browser window/console. Regards from Tom :)
This is not a voting contest. If you have technical comments feel free to add them, but "+1" / "me too" comments are not welcome here as they trigger bugmail for everybody and don't add any value. Thanks for your understanding.
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 481823 ***
Actually, bug 481823 was poorly described and was unrelated to this. Reopening.
*** Bug 551682 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 698773 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org. As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately quite limited so not every ticket can get handled). If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent and supported software version of Files (nautilus), then please follow https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines and create a new ticket at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/ Thank you for your understanding and your help.