irvinm / toggle-native-tab-bar

How to use Toggle Native Tab Bar

Here are some instructions on how to use this extension...

(REQUIRED) Enabling userChrome.css (Skip this section if you already use userChrome.css)

• First, go to "about:config" and set "toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets = TRUE" to enable userChrome.css usage
• Next, go to "about:profiles" and look for the profile that says "This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted"
• On the row for "Root Directory", click on "Open Folder" to open the profile folder in your file manager
• Inside the profile folder, create a new folder called "chrome" if it doesn't exist
• Inside the "chrome" folder, create a new file called "userChrome.css" if it doesn't exist
  • Make sure you do not create the file as userChrome.css.txt

(REQUIRED) Entering CSS to hide or show the native tab bar into userChrome.css

• Add the following text to your userChrome.css file:

#main-window #titlebar { overflow: hidden; transition: height 0.3s 0.3s !important; }

/* Hidden state: Hide native tabs strip */
#main-window[titlepreface*=" "] #titlebar { height: 0 !important; }

/* Hidden state: Fix z-index of active pinned tabs */ 
#main-window[titlepreface*=" "] #tabbrowser-tabs { z-index: 0 !important; }

• This addon populate\removes " " to the titlepreface property which is then acted on by your userChrome.css
• Mozilla reference: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/windows/update
• Save your "userChrome.css" file and restart Firefox

(INFO) Here are some items to be aware of ...

• The addon icon will change based on if the tabs should be displayed or not

  • -- This is what the addon icon will look like when the tabs should be displayed
  • -- This is what the addon icon will look like when the tabs should be hidden

• When the native tabs are hidden, you do not have direct access to the minimize\maximize\close buttons. Workarounds include:

  • Use this addon to show the native tab bar again to get access to the native buttons
  • Use the keyboard shortcuts (Alt+Space, N, X)
  • Use the right-click context menu on the taskbar
  • Use the Windows key + arrow keys to move the window around
  • Download and use Firefox addons the emulate these functions and place on the toolbar
    • Minimize: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/minimize-the-window/
    • Maximize: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/maximize-the-window/
    • Close: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/close-the-window/
    • -- These addons can virtually replace the native buttons

• When the native tabs are hidden, you do not have direct access to Firefox's menu.

  • -- This is the native Firefox menu
  • Use this addon to show the native tab bar again, then press "ALT" to get access to Firefox's menu

• The idea for this addon was inspired Sidebery's feature: Dynamic native tabs

  • Dynamic native tabs: https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/wiki/Firefox-Styles-Snippets-(via-userChrome.css)#dynamic-native-tabs/
  • Sidebery is focused on if Sidebery is displayed or not, this addon just toggles the native bar
  • This allows both the sidebar and native tab bar to be shown if you want
  • This also allows a more generic implementation that could be used with other sidebar addons like Tree Style Tab

• Atribution for base addon icon that I modified for this usage

  • Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com

toggle-native-tab-bar's Issues

Dragging tab to a new window always shows tabs in the new window

• ISSUE: If you are in a window that has the native tab bar hidden and (a) drag one of the TST tabs outside the window to open a new window or (b) use CTRL+N to open a new window ... the resulting window will show the native tab bar.
• WORKAROUND: Toggle the addon button once to show the tab bar, then again to hide it.
• I will continue to see if there is anything I can do to remediate this situation.