Firefox - No More Tab Groups [2015 - 2019]

Wat! Noooooooooo.
That is a really fucking stupid and annoying decision to do that.

The decision to hide the icon was insane.
People I've known who have lots of tabs, don't know about it & are shown it by me get very excited about it.
A little promotion would make it much much more used.
Removing it is going to be absolutely devastating to those of us who use it in a big way.

:runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway::runaway:
 
It is so sad they are making Firefox objectively worse and more like Chrome. There's a reason I use Firefox and not Chrome.
 
From the bug thread
- when we remove panorama, we will be:
-- linking to a SUMO page that will have suggestions about how to work with Firefox without panorama, including links to add-ons that are already in development/review (cf. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-groups/ and https://github.com/Quicksaver/Tab-Groups )
-- saving all your groups as bookmarks
-- offering you the possibility to restore hidden groups into separate windows similar to what about:sessionrestore lets you do after a crash
-- make a full backup of your session JSON to the desktop

- as for "the usage is because you didn't promote it" - that is probably not unrelated. But the reason it is so hidden / unpromoted is not our love of easter eggs, but the fact that the feature has serious issues, and that we haven't invested in it for years. The data model is horrible, the UI is incompatible with many usecases, the internals break easily when confronted with things like e10s, which is holding up development and complicating us landing other patches which are important for core functionality in Firefox (like rendering web pages).
Didn't promote it because couldn't be assed fixing bugs in it for years -> remove vital key Firefox feature.

Moving groups into separate windows is all well & good but I use Tab Groups rather than that because separate windows gets difficult to manage and I like to have a fairly clean Taskbar.
Even as is I have 6 groups in 2 windows at home & had I think 12 groups in 1 window at work where my screenspace was much more constricted & I frequently filled 2 rows of taskbar with other programs/IE windows (we used a report system that didn't display properly in FF) already.
 
Reading the bug threads I'm unimpressed with the attitude of the Devs to this feature & the people who use it in the absence of a proper alternative.
They said 'use one of the Addons', then it was pointed out that most of the Addons reference the code which is being removed -> 'we shouldn't recommend any Addon -> link to Addon search for 'tab'' :???:
 
Tab groups? How have I not seen these?

...You hadn't exactly gone out of your way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually telling anyone or anything.'

But the plans were on display...'

On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.'

`That's the display department.'

`With a torch.'

`Ah, well the lights had probably gone.'

`So had the stairs.'

`But look you found the notice didn't you?'

`Yes,' said Arthur, `yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the Leopard".'​
 
Sounds like a Fusion Core location out of Fallout4 :D

Arrrghh I'm still absolutely mad about this :-x
I dunno how I will be able to cope.
And There Is No Alternative.

Even if that guy implements the current code as an Addon it won't work for long as Mozilla are intending to rework the internals in several ways that will break it.
They should hold off on any of that work until they have reimplimented Tab Groups in a proper way that is integral to the stuff they want to rework and actually advertise the feature :yep2:
 
I found the feature slow and confusing, i.e. where's the menu bar? help button? and my inner thought "I hope this doesn't crash and lose all the tabs!" - "Let's get out of here, hoping closing the window doesn't just close the tabs"
 
Even if that guy implements the current code as an Addon it won't work for long as Mozilla are intending to rework the internals in several ways that will break it.
They should hold off on any of that work until they have reimplimented Tab Groups in a proper way that is integral to the stuff they want to rework and actually advertise the feature :yep2:

Why can't you do that then? Or pay someone to do it?
 
Davros, do you exit games without saving?

One thing that bookmarks do spectacularly badly is enable you to have a roving place in forum threads or youtube channel videos.

So, I'm watching 4 or 5 let's plays on youtube, each with dozens of videos. Oh, I want to come back to this video tomorrow. K, make a bookmark. Delete the old one. Then do that for every channel after I've watched one or many videos. It's fucking tedious.

Or, there's this forum thread that's 800+ pages long and it's gonna take me a week or two to rummage around in it. So, OK, every time I change page, I'll delete the old bookmark and make a new bookmark for where I've got to. Oh, hang on, there's about 20 forums I like to look at, I'm gonna have to manage bookmarks on all these different forums for each thread specifically. Fuck it.

Persistent tabs, in groups, make these usage models effortless.
 
44.0 is out & has the Tab Groups Removal warning.
Links to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tab-groups-removal

Removing the Tab Group function will make it easier for us to improve Firefox.
Improve it by making it massively worse via killing THE FEATURE which makes it stand out vs other browsers, nice one asshats :mad:

The Tab Groups Addon guy has gone live https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-groups-panorama/
Seems confident that the addon will keep working
You don't need to wait for Firefox 45 to install this add-on. In fact, you shouldn't! Get it now, it works even in the current Firefox version, by replacing Firefox's Tab Groups mode with its own. You'll still have all your tabs and groups right there where you put them.
- With the removal of Tab Groups, Firefox will create backups into your bookmarks and to a file in your profile folder, and remove all the groups data from your profile. But if you install the add-on now, it will also prevent this migration process! So when you update to Firefox 45, you won't even notice anything is different, it'll be as if nothing happened.
- If you didn't install the add-on before updating to Firefox 45, don't despair. The backup file created in your profile folder by Firefox is fully compatible with the add-on's backup and restore feature. With it, you can just import your groups back into the browser.

Notice: while much of the code was based on previously existing code in Firefox, this add-on is not maintained by Mozilla. While it is unfortunate that such an awesome feature had to be removed from the browser, I firmly believe this decision was not taken lightly, and it had only the best interest of the browser, and most of all its users, behind it. I created this add-on only to provide this functionality for those that still want it in their updated browser.
I've installed it, hope that it won't just stop working some time in the future when the FF Devs start messing with the core of the browser more.
 
RIP Tab Groups :(

Not sure quite when (start of March?) but 45 is out & Tab Groups is gone :cry:

Fortunately with the Tab Groups addon installed I didn't realise they'd actually released that version :yes:

Still think it was an incredibly poor decision to remove it as a core feature & apprehensive that future changes to the Firefox core will break it or Quicksaver will stop supporting it.
On the bright side looking at the Addon page comments & his Github he is actively working on improvements to function & GUI which is pretty exciting since the Mozilla guys left it untouched for so long.

Long Live Tab Groups!

Edit: Oh boy, in the last week he's been implementing the main parts of this proposal for GUI rework http://readyformozilla.com/panorama/
I've installed the latest beta of that & its a pretty exciting improvement.
 
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Thanks hoom, I have installed this new addon and, well, I'm impressed. Couldn't even tell that it had swapped in! I've made a backup.

I shall now venture forth from 43.0.4...
 
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