Similarly , we could add a standard keyboard shortcut for open in a new foreground tab, e.g. shift+click opens in a new foreground tab.
On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Adam Barth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > == Overview == > > We should add a "Open link in foreground tab" menu item to the context > menu for hyperlinks. > > == Use Cases == > > There are two main use cases for opening a link in a new tab: > > 1) Breath-first: You're viewing the Digg home page and you'd like to > open up a number of articles to read. This use case is well-served by > opening links in background tabs (the current behavior). This use > case treats the tab strip as a queue of pages to read. > > 2) Depth-first: You're reading a Wikipedia article and you come across > a link that interests you, but you know you'll later want to read the > rest of the Wikipedia article. This use case is well-served by > opening links in foreground tabs. This use case treats the tab strip > as a stack of pages to return to. > > Another common variation on the depth-first use case is comparison > shopping. Imagine a page listing a number of similar products, such > as refrigerators. You select a mid-range model, read the information, > and return to the product list to view information about a higher-end > model. > > == Existing Behavior == > > Currently, we do not offer to ability to open links in new foreground > tabs. To support the depth-first use case, the user can either open a > background tab and then activate the tab or use the back button to > return to an earlier page. Opening links in background tabs and then > activating the tab is slow and irritating because it requires the user > to shift their focus to the tab strip and hunt down the newly opened > tab. > > The user can use the back button to perform a depth-first traversal, > but the back button gives the user no visual reminder that there is a > page to return to. For example, in exploring Wikipedia, the user > could easily forget to return to an earlier article on refrigeration. > Additionally, the comparison shopping use case is poorly supported by > the back button. Compare these two flows: > > Back button: > 1) View product list > 2) Click mid-range product description > 3) Read description > 4) Click "Back" > 5) Click high-end product description > 6) Click "Back" > 7) Remember which mid-range model was viewed in step (2) > 8) Remember which high-end model was viewed in step (5) > 9) Open mid-range model in background tab > 10) Open high-end model in background tab > 11) Compare models > > Foreground tabs: > 1) View product list > 2) Open mid-range product description in new foreground tab > 3) Read description > 4) Activate product list tab > 5) Open high-end product description in new foreground tab > 6) Read description > 7) Compare models > > Notice that the gap in complexity between these two flows grows as the > user compares more models because the user has to remember which > models he or she has already compared. In the foreground tab flow, > the tab strip maintains this state for the user. (Visited hyperlink > coloring address the memory issues to some extent, but only the first > time the user views these items.) > > Creating new windows is an alternative flow for this use case, but > then the user is forced to use the Window's task bar to manage the > tabs and the experience becomes unmanageable if the user wishes to > compare more than a handful of items. > > == Proposal == > > Other browsers offer users an option to open all new tabs in > foreground windows. This forces users to make a global choice between > the breadth-first and the depth-first use cases. Instead of offering > users a global choice, we should add a menu item to "Open link in new > foreground tab" to the hyperlink context menu. The menu would then > look as follows: > > Open link in new background tab > Open link in new foreground tab > Open link in new window > Open link in new incognito window > Save link as... > Copy link address > Copy > --------------- > Inspect element > > This has the cost of increasing the complexity of the context menu. > However, I believe the benefit of supporting the depth-first use case > outweighs this cost. > > Adam > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chromium-dev" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/chromium-dev?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
