[Discussion] Suggestions for vertical tabs feature

[input-Here]

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Reason for blank: Although this fits the feature request category, it didn't fit the constraints of the template, which was designed with individual suggestions in mind.

Edit: Collapsed this section so that people focus on the issue info when skimming.

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About:

This issue is a place to centralise feedback on Helium's vertical tabs implementation. This could be requests for new features, suggestions for improvements, etc.

The main functions of this issue are to provide a convenient place to find community suggestions, and reduce chatter in the main vertical tabs PR (which should be reserved for development only).

Important

Please read through the existing suggestions before adding your own suggestion. This helps keep the issue tidy.

Note

I am visualising some suggestions using a Figma prototype. This is basically a fancy mockup, not a working implementation.

It does not imply a feature will be added, nor is it indicative of what a potential implementation might look like (I am making it independent from the Helium team). The aim is to explore suggestions, which might help the devs make a judgement on what they want to include. Please keep this in mind.

[celgost]

• New Tab button:
  • If new tabs open first in tab list, place it on top
  • If new tabs open last in tab list, place it at the bottom
• Position:
  • Option to display on Left/Right edge
• Pinned vs normal tabs:
  • Separate pinned tabs into their own sticky section at the top
  • Scrollbar appears only on the unpinned section
  • Add a separator line between pinned and normal tabs
  • Show a pin icon on pinned tabs (in place of the close "x"). Clicking the pin icon can unpin.
• Option to Hide tab titles/Show tab icons only
• Show Tab notifications (to see unread emails/messages)
• URL bar location:
  • Option to have URL bar in the sidebar
  • Option to Hide URL bar
• Bookmarked tabs grid in the sidebar above pinned tabs (Arc/Zen-like)
• Sidebar toggle shortcut
• Nestable tab folders
• Rename tabs
• Open sidebar on hover
• Active tab remains fixed during tab list scroll

Legend:

• Checked = Planned/WIP/Implemented
• Unchecked = To discuss
• Unplanned (for archive purposes):

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I will update that list with any missing request/new suggestion.

[ChristinWhite]

I'd love it if you considered adding nestable tab folders and indented tabs like Sidebery, Treedent, Arc and Horse support. It helps me visualize how I got to a tab and provides additional contextual information. It's also helpful as an accessibility feature that allows me to manage distractions by collapsing groups of tabs that I don't need to see right now, it's a godsend for ADHD.

When combined with workspaces it's extremely helpful to get back up to speed on a project you haven't worked on for a few weeks or more.

[celgost]

Added to list

[ChristinWhite]

I'm not sure if this should be a separate request but I think it's related. There are a lot of vertical tab extensions of various types available that implement their UI as a sidebar. Some browsers do support vertical tabs but do not provide an option to completely hide tab UI in favor of an extension.

That's actually how I'm currently using vertical tabs in Helium using Treedent but the horizontal tab bar wastes space and looks pretty bad with 40+ tabs.

[celgost]

The current implementation that's been worked on hides the tab bar at the top, so it's either vertical or horizontal tabs. @ChristinWhite

[brendn]

Being able to rename tabs would be helpful. Sometimes at work I'll have multiple tabs open for internal pages with non descriptive titles so I'll rename them to avoid trouble finding what tab I was on. Kind of a niche use case but something I really like about Arc

[celgost]

Being able to rename tabs would be helpful. Sometimes at work I'll have multiple tabs open for internal pages with non descriptive titles so I'll rename them to avoid trouble finding what tab I was on. Kind of a niche use case but something I really like about Arc

This feature might be a bit unrelated to vertical tabs specifically, but I added it to the list anyways as tab names are mostly visible in vertical tabs rather than horizontal

[input-Here]

@wukko could you pin this issue? Might help people discover it since suggestions are still being made in the PR

[wukko]

done, hopefully it stops spam in the PR lol

thank you for organizing everything in one place, it's really appreciated!

[Zandaland]

am not sure if you have this already planned but it would be great if the sidebar have auto hide and show on hover. I love helium and
I love vertical tabs browsing like zen etc. But i think auto hide and show on hover is more important than keyboard shortcut for me because am one-handed lol. others might not think its important but its nice to have. i hope you consider it! thank you and keep up the good work.

[input-Here]

thank you for organizing everything in one place, it's really appreciated!

Agreed. @celgost has done a fantastic job organising everything

[input-Here]

@Zandaland please read through the collected suggestions above. This is already suggested as "Option to Hide tab titles/Show tab icons only"

Edit: My bad, misread the suggestion.

[waynehoover]

It should be noted that the chrome team is working on a native solution to this right now: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/q/message:+vertical+tabs