How do I work this Firefox-thingy again? December 20, 2004 9:11 AM   Subscribe

Could there be a customization option for Firefox users to have links open in a new tab?
posted by xammerboy to Feature Requests at 9:11 AM (57 comments total)

I just think it would be cool. That way while a link was loading you could continue surveying others.

I don't know if implementing this would be incredibly easy or hard or what, just thought I would mention it.
posted by xammerboy at 9:13 AM on December 20, 2004


Middle click.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:14 AM on December 20, 2004


Previously discussed.
posted by ascullion at 9:18 AM on December 20, 2004


*swallows snark at people thinking mefi controls their browsers, wonders how people can be so clueless about something as common as their own software, cannot fathom the stunning ignorance of basic web technology that is now almost 15 years old, wanders away mumbling*
posted by quonsar at 9:24 AM on December 20, 2004


download this and your world will be rocked.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:26 AM on December 20, 2004


I guess that I have become terribly jaded, but I agree with quonsar on this one.

And, did it not occur to xammerboy to try a search for this?
The wording is almost exactly the same as at least one previous question.
posted by milovoo at 9:49 AM on December 20, 2004


I'm never sure which MeFiNetwork links will force new windows to open, so I open everything in new tabs.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:17 AM on December 20, 2004


Whatever you do, don't ask about target="_blank".
posted by m0nm0n at 10:24 AM on December 20, 2004


It'd be nice if I could somehow mark my favorite MeFi threads. Like dog-earing a page in a book.
posted by Plutor at 10:37 AM on December 20, 2004


That's what delicious is for.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:44 AM on December 20, 2004


My bad for making a lousy search.

Quonsar,

WTF? I am looking for a Metafilter specific feature, the same as open links in a new window or same window within Metafilter. You could control this behavior through your browser as well, but you might NOT want all links you click to open in a new tab ALL the time. You might want this ONLY on Metafilter.

I don't get your comments. Why are you so sure you know more than anyone else posting? You are such an ass. Get a job.
posted by xammerboy at 11:07 AM on December 20, 2004


You could control this behavior through your browser as well, but you might NOT want all links you click to open in a new tab ALL the time.

Look into the extension mentioned by CunningLinguist. I imagine the "Previously Discussed" link also mentions TBE.
posted by yerfatma at 11:09 AM on December 20, 2004


Just use single-window mode in Firefox, xammerboy. There's a cost benefit analysis--Matt having to hardcode a new feature, versus you just learning to middle click when you're on Metafilter.
posted by gramcracker at 11:10 AM on December 20, 2004


Our Moderator
Who art in Portland,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy server come,
Thy will be done
In the Gray as it is in AskMe.
Give us this day our daily pony
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we lambast those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into deletion
But deliver us from fuckwits.
Amen.

posted by Danelope at 11:29 AM on December 20, 2004


Matt couldn't add this feature even if he wanted to. There is no target="_tab" in HTML.
posted by timeistight at 11:31 AM on December 20, 2004


Quonsar...Get a job.

There's a lot of turnover in D.C. right now. With everyone quitting, you might even try for president.
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:32 AM on December 20, 2004


MetaTalk: You are such an ass. Get a job.
posted by Plutor at 11:34 AM on December 20, 2004


Danelope, you missed:

for thine is the server
the logs and the coding
forever and ever
Amen.




I think I'm going to hell now.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:36 AM on December 20, 2004


Okay - so it sounds like this is something too difficult to develop. That's too bad.

I didn't see a Firefox extension that would allow me change my browser preferences within a specific domain.
posted by xammerboy at 11:38 AM on December 20, 2004


I like:

Metafilter: deliver us from fuckwits

better.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:39 AM on December 20, 2004


I didn't see a Firefox extension that would allow me change my browser preferences within a specific domain.

Well, you're probably not going to find one. It works like this: click on a link to open in the same tab, middle-click to open in a new tab. Domain-independent, but easy to learn.
posted by yerfatma at 12:18 PM on December 20, 2004


Xammerboy:

Monju Bosatsu said it best, but so succinctly you may have overlooked it:

Middle-click.
posted by Bugbread at 12:20 PM on December 20, 2004


Ah! What if xammerboy does not have a middle mouse button?

CTRL+Click.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:37 PM on December 20, 2004


Good point.
posted by Bugbread at 12:38 PM on December 20, 2004


Did anyone read the question? This is a feature request for this to happen automatically. on Metafilter only. as a preference. without having to right click.

The same way users can choose now to have links open in a new window or the same window without having to right click.

Why? Because it's easier to make this selection once than to have to right click all the time. The same rationale behind the other customization features.

Also, if this is easy - great. If it's hard to implement (as it seems to be) then no worries - forget it.
posted by xammerboy at 2:10 PM on December 20, 2004


Middle clicking requires no right clicking. And neither does ctrl-clicking. And is totally website-specific! And telepathic!
posted by Plutor at 2:17 PM on December 20, 2004


"Could there be a customization option for Firefox users to have links open in a new tab?"

Did anyone read the question? This is a feature request for this to happen automatically. on Metafilter only. as a preference. without having to right click.


Well, shucks no, you used so many big words in the original question that we must have gotten confused.
posted by milovoo at 2:20 PM on December 20, 2004


Did anyone read the question?

Did anyone read the sodding responses? IT CAN'T BE DONE. HTML HAS NO CONCEPT OF TABS. TABBED NAVIGATION IS ENTIRELY A CONSTRUCT OF THE WEB BROWSER AND IS NOT -- AND CANNOT BE -- GOVERNED BY HTML. IT IS NOT HARD TO IMPLEMENT; IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. STOP INSISTING THAT PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE ASKING.
posted by Danelope at 2:23 PM on December 20, 2004


Danelope, take a deep breath. Relax. Everything will be fine.
He's just arrogant and perhaps a bit thick-headed, let it go.
posted by milovoo at 2:34 PM on December 20, 2004


To iterate in a more polite fashion: MeFi (or any website, for that matter) can't open pages in new tabs (it's not part of any HTML standard, and the Mozilla dev team have repeatedly refused to recognise any proprietary HTML to allow it), so you'll have to make them do that yourself.
posted by John Shaft at 2:40 PM on December 20, 2004


Did anyone read the question?

Have you ever ever ever ever seen a site that does what you're asking for?

No, no you haven't.
posted by o0o0o at 2:42 PM on December 20, 2004


WHAT DANELOPE SAID!!!
posted by jpoulos at 2:47 PM on December 20, 2004


It's like this:

You know how (in, say, Outlook) you can organize your email into little folders? I want to put all my mail mefi-related email into a folder called "Mefi", for example. I can do that with Outlook. Your request, xammerboy, is like asking everyone you know "whenever you send me email, please have it jump into my 'Mefi' folder, k thx by". Tabs happen on your end. Matt can't do anything about it.

Is that clear? Or are you going to snark back that I'm just...not ...getting it?

Also, the thread ascullion linked to in the third comment above makes this abundantly clear, so the fact that you continued to get all pissy after the fact really makes me want to call you all sorts of names. But I won't. Because of Jesus.
posted by jpoulos at 2:54 PM on December 20, 2004


Since I couldn't figure out what middle-clicking was when I first heard about it, I thought it might be worth mentioning that middle-clicking is pushing down on the scrollwheel on your mouse.
posted by hootch at 2:58 PM on December 20, 2004


jesus
polevaulting
christ
posted by jpoulos at 3:11 PM on December 20, 2004


What danelope said, with fewer capital letters and a bit less anger.

Hootch: Good point.
posted by Bugbread at 3:13 PM on December 20, 2004


For the record, I was neither angry nor excited, as exemplified by the lack of exclamation points in my earlier post. Nay, friends, the caps were provided solely for the purpose of visibility, since it is abundantly clear that the (very high-fidelity) signal was being lost in the (near-silent background) noise.
posted by Danelope at 3:40 PM on December 20, 2004


Jesus H Christ.

I FUCKING UNDERSTAND. CANNOT BE DONE IN HTML. DIDN'T KNOW - THAT'S WHY I ASKED.

I did NOT ask, because I did not understand that I couldn't right click.
posted by xammerboy at 5:05 PM on December 20, 2004


You need to get "tabbed browser extensions", and then you can tell Firefox to redirect new windows to new tabs. Mine works exactly the way you want, no middle clicking or anything. All you has to do is turn on "open in new window" on MeFi and your links will open in tabs.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 5:10 PM on December 20, 2004


Aw damn, apparently I'm too late for this lynching.

Maybe next time!
posted by xmutex at 5:34 PM on December 20, 2004


I thought he was asking for a firefox extension specific to mefi. I've not looked at the api, but I don't see why that would be "impossible". ("If at metafilter.com, check cookie for preferences and, if desired, open all links in new tab instead of however it's set as default.")
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:08 PM on December 20, 2004


I wasn't trying to be mean when I pointed out that it had been previously discussed, I was trying to be helpful. Some of the above comments are mean. Although i've had too much Xmas cheer tonight, so I'm a bad judge..
posted by ascullion at 6:28 PM on December 20, 2004


ascullion,

Thank you, no I didn't think you were being mean at all, though I do now reserve a special hate for certain posters.

Pretty Generic, Ethereal Bligh,

Thank you so much!

Matt,

Wouldn't it be great to state this in a one-liner on the preferences page?
posted by xammerboy at 7:35 PM on December 20, 2004


oh yeah - jpoulos,

I guess you just didn't get it.
posted by xammerboy at 7:47 PM on December 20, 2004


Wouldn't it be great to state this in a one-liner on the preferences page?

State what?
posted by yerfatma at 5:39 AM on December 21, 2004


I hope I'm not in the hate-list there.
posted by Bugbread at 5:52 AM on December 21, 2004


Yeah, and Matt, please post on the preferences page that Mefi is not a first-person shooter or a bittorrent client. And all the other things you can't do with the site.

If you seriously hate people because they criticised you on a web site, you've got some hardcore issues m'friend.
posted by jpoulos at 6:44 AM on December 21, 2004


I think it would be a good idea, on the customization page, by "open links in" to add the following text as a link:

Open links in new tabs with this Firefox extension.


jpoulos, you can do it with the site, and a link allowing people to do so on the customization page would be a nice thing to have.

I don't "hate" you. Just think you're an asshole. Why? Because you're unhelpful. When someone brings up as innocuous a suggestion as "can this be done?" and has to hear back all kinds of crap about how the web works and how everyone on MeFi should be as technical as they are and on and on and on.

Now that it turns out that everyone can have this behavior, where's your apology for shitting in my thread?

I refuse to be bullied by asswipes like you for asking simple questions.
posted by xammerboy at 7:32 AM on December 21, 2004


Open links in new tabs with this Firefox extension.

I still don't understand why you need an extension to do this for you. If you middle-click a link in plain vanilla Firefox, right out of the box, it opens the link in a new tab. No extension, no context menu, no nothing. I'm not bullying, I just genuinely don't understand why this is a problem.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:59 AM on December 21, 2004


Some people (including myself) may prefer for this to happen automatically. That's all. Some people do not have a middle click.
posted by xammerboy at 9:33 AM on December 21, 2004


Some people (including myself) may prefer for this to happen automatically. That's all. Some people do not have a middle click.

Hire an illegal immigrant to do all clicking. Maybe even work out a deal re: pr0n sites. Alternatively, invest $19.99 in a mouse with a wheel (the wheel doubles as a middle click). It's well worth the cost. Hell, it might be worth 4 memberships to Our Glorious Leader just to buy you one.
posted by yerfatma at 10:02 AM on December 21, 2004


If there were a feature allowing one to delete their own threads, I would have done this the minute I saw this had been discussed before.

I am not going to be posting to Meta again.
posted by xammerboy at 10:03 AM on December 21, 2004


I am not going to be posting to Meta again.

Please reconsider. Comedy like this is a rare and precious thing.
posted by timeistight at 10:09 AM on December 21, 2004


If there were a feature allowing one to delete their own threads, I would have done this the minute I saw this had been discussed before.

Honestly, xammerboy, the problem isn't the thread itself, but the fact that, after people had already shown you the answer, you continued to be all indignant: "Did anyone read the question?" when, apparently, you hadn't read the answer. The question itself is reasonable if you don't understand the intricacies of the web (others may disagree). I think some of us objected to what happened afterwards.
posted by jpoulos at 10:15 AM on December 21, 2004


Whuh? Did I just see a speed flameout?!
posted by Bugbread at 10:19 AM on December 21, 2004


jpoulos, I read the answers and the previous thread. What I wanted to know was whether or not there could be this feature on Metafilter. What I got instead was a bunch of crap about how I don't know HTML and am ignorant of Firefox.

Why? Because people like you (some of us believe) ruin Metafilter by jumping on a snark or a putdown before looking to honestly answer the question.

Enough of this. If you have more to say to me - email me.
posted by xammerboy at 10:24 AM on December 21, 2004


you just posted to metatalk again.

i mean i'm just saying.
posted by glenwood at 6:01 PM on December 21, 2004


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