Dolphin should have tabs

[molloollom]

While I find it admirable that the developers are taking such actions to have a streamlined file manager in KDE's new Dolphin manager, it's been my experience that not having the ability to use tabs in Dolphin hinders its usability as much as if my web browser didn't have tabs. I'm all for making a file manager less bloated, but I believe that this is one feature that not only I, but a great many people use and enjoy, the reasons for which are immediately obvious. Personally it's one of the main reasons I use KDE over Gnome, because konqueror has tabs and nautilus does not.

I know what some may say. Just keep using konqueror. But konqueror is slow, and there's a lot of bloat going on in that application, and besides the tabs issue I like Dolphin very much. If the KDE devs choose not to implement tabs functionality into the soon-to-be default file manager, will Kubuntu consider doing so, in the interests of usability?

[jankushka]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

i too use dolphin as a file manager.
i too would love tabs.
though, for the time being, split view covers most of my requirements.

i'd love a way to configure dolphin to start up with the filter bar.
and i'd love the filter bar to be just another tool bar that i can place...at the top.
i hate it to have to travel all the way down to the bottom with the mouse to use it...

mtcs

[disturbedite]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

i agree with everything you said molloollom. i too would love tabs in dolphin. i do see it as a hindrance that it doesn't have them. i wish you could further adjust the spacing of files too, but thats just a cosmetic thing.

[taisao]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

every graphical software should make use of tabs I love tabs

[blobfish]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

For what it is worth I don't plan on using any file manager without tabs. No way I am going back to windows explorer!

[Fintan]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Well, dolphin does have tabs of sorts. you can toggle between "tabs" view and address line view by clicking on the little icon with a vertical line under the symbols view icon. Not total tabs but a start.

[integr8e]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Ehhh, it's not quite the same thing, but I do agree its a start. I do like that feature, but also would love to have actual tabs so I could change from, say, my /home directory to my /usr directory at a mouseclick, instead of manually navigating each time I want to open a different directory.

[Fenyx]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

This topic has been discussed/debated to death, not only by users, but by developers as well. Let me add more fuel to the fire.

Just as a pre-note, the version of Dolphin on Kubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is not the real Dolphin. It is actually D3lphin, a "fork" of Dolphin for KDE 3.5.x when development stopped in that area to focus on Dolphin for KDE 4. You could say that Dolphin/D3lphin on KDE 3 is almost lightyears behind Dolphin on KDE 4. But it still doesn't have tabs.

I use tabs in file management. I love tabs in file management. One of the things that endeared me to Konqueror is tabs. Paired with unlimited split views, it makes Konqueror a powerhouse. But that's just it. It's a power use case. Regular/ordinary use of file management features don't require/involve tabs. At most, it can require a split view. But in simple cases, it doesn't. Yes it is inconvenient to have many file manager windows open. But if you have more than 2 windows, it's not a simple use case anymore. But that's what Dolphin is all about. It is focused on simple use cases (not simple users). It is a very focused app. And it will most probably remain that way.

And it will remain that way because the people who do the heavy coding on Dolphin have decided so. Like I said, it has been discussed to death even by developers. Someone even made a patch to include tabs. But it was gently denied. Like most FOSS projects, KDE runs on a "he who codes, decides" basis. So it's not likely we will ever see tabs in Dolphin, unless the those who code change their mind, or someone else takes over.

That said, I'm glad Dolphin doesn't have tabs, but for a very selfish reason. Dolphin's inadequacies/missing features will shed a beautiful light on Konqueror. To put it bluntly, Dolphin's failures will make Konqueror shine even more. Perhaps some KDE users will realize that it's Konqueror that they love. Perhaps some developers will finally give in and give Konqueror much needed love. And that's exactly what Konqueror needs right now, more love. Konqueror will start using the Dolphin core as the part that does file management (no it's not running Dolphin inside Konqueror). But right now, Konqueror's file management mode is soooo fscked up that you would give up in frustration and tie yourself to Dolphin and drown.

So I don't see myself using Dolphin that much in KDE 4, but most specially in KDE 3/Kubuntu Gutsy. I'm sticking with Konqueror even if it it kills me.

P.S. I don't want Dolphin to utterly fail either. A lot of the work on Dolphin will trickle down into Konqueror and other areas of KDE. So the innovation that Dolphin has made and allows (much easier to code Dolphin than Konqueror) is a great benefit to KDE itself.

[disturbedite]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

yeah, i was gonna mention that dolphin in kde 3.5.x is a fork & not the "real" dolphin, (hence the name d3lphin), but i forgot.

[lowey23]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Thanks for that, Jucato. A great explanation. I do like the "preview" of Dolphin we have though. It makes one really look forward to the final version. Actually, it is really nice little preview of KDE4 and really makes me look forward to the final release.

Cheers, my friend,

Lowey

[molloollom]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Someone even made a patch to include tabs. But it was gently denied.

Wait, what? There's already a patch out there? Any idea where I could get my hands on this patch?

[Fenyx]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Wait, what? There's already a patch out there? Any idea where I could get my hands on this patch?

No the patch is not out there. It was just proposed and rejected. The creator of the patch gave me a chance to test it and it works fine. Sort of. But it's not for the KDE 3 version (D3lphin) and it now doesn't work on KDE 4 either. You see, everyday, almost every hour, KDE 4 still changes. So he has to constantly update his patch to make sure it works w/ every change. If ever the patch still does get out, it will be practically useless until KDE 4.0 is released.

But again, it won't solve anything for D3lphin.

[molloollom]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Well thank your buddy for me, because I have to have tabs in a file manager. I use konqueror's tabs all day, and its the one feature I could not bear to give up, even though I feel Dolphin on the whole is a great step forward.

Will he be updating the patch for the release? Can I see a screenshot of what dolphin looks like with the patch?
By the way, that's surprising that kde 4 is still in such heavy development when the release date is 2 months away. I'd have thought they'd be just polishing it off this close to release.

Oh and I agree that split view is something of a substitute, but tabbed browsing is so much better. Thanks to Firefox even a new KDE user can easily grasp the concept of navigating between tabs in a window. So the learning curve is less..If anything that should increase the usabilty, right? Certainly from the perspective of not having users relearn how to use some basic functionality it must be better to have tabs instead of some new concept of navigation that cripples its usefulness while claiming to focus on usabilty.

[marshallbanana]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

Yes it is inconvenient to have many file manager windows open. But if you have more than 2 windows, it's not a simple use case anymore.

I have to disagree with that. I often use konqueror for filebrowsing and the most common reasons for me having multiple tabs open is that one is actually filebrowing and I have then opened up a picture or somesuch in a new tab. That is definitely simple use, and requires multiple tabs.

Its kind of disappointing though, I was looking forward to dolphin having seen the screenshots. But without tabs I will definitely be sticking with konqueror (not that I don't like konqueror, but was interested to see if dolphin could do even better).

[roseway]

Re: Dolphin should have tabs

The thing which stops me from using Dolphin is that I want a treeview in the left hand pane. This makes navigating around the file system so much quicker and more transparent, and for me it's the main thing which makes Konqueror stand out from other file managers.