Having a browser that can open multiple tabs is a great thing, but Firefox as it is makes finding the tab you want to switch to difficult at best if you have more tabs open than can be displayed in that awful horizontal tab list. Those hidden tabs force you to use the drop down list to find the tab you want.
Now there is an Add On for Firefox that makes switching between tabs a joy, and it will also keep them organized for you in the bargain. To see it in action, watch the video below. To really see what is going on, watch it in Full Screen mode.
This Add On is called Tab Kit. Here is the Tab Kit Add On page, where you can simply click the "Add to Firefox" button to install Tab Kit.
Make sure you allow Tab Kit to display your tabs on the left side of the browser, and you will wind up with an arrangement of color coded tabs.
Each tab highlight color will indicate tabs opened from their parent page via "Open Link in new Tab" from the context menu. Any tab opened this way will be right below the parent page's tab you opened it from and indented.
The Preferences for Tab Kit allow you to change many of it's settings, but the default set up works so well, why bother to change it? The one change I did make, was to tell it to show the currently selected tab in a black highlight, as shown below
Using your scroll wheel while over Tab Kit's scroll bar will scroll the list of tabs up and down. You can also simply click the tab you want once it is in view.
Hover over any tab momentarily and you will be presented with a pop up of the entire title of the page if it is not completely visible in the tab list.
You may also change between open tabs by simply mousing over the tab list, then using your scroll wheel to change from tab to tab until you find the one you want. It changes very quickly.
If you want all of your screen real estate back to view a web page, hover over the right edge of the tab list scroll bar, and the cursor will change to a double ended arrow. While the double arrow cursor dispays, click, hold down, and resize the tab list window to nothing. Now when you mouse close to the left edge of the browser, the tab list will pop out for use, and mousing away will give the web page full use of the browser window.
Since installing Tab Kit yesterday my web surfing has become twice as productive, and twice as easy now that I can easily find, and change to, that tab I am always looking for next.
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