Tab Mix Plus Firefox Extension

I’m using the Tab Mix Plus Firefox Extension for one simple purpose mainly. I don’t like the way Firefox handles if you open more sites in tabs than the width of your screen can display. The default way is that Firefox makes the tab list scrollable which is not a perfect solution. I was looking for an extension that would create an additional row and place all the new tabs in that row. Tab Mix Plus supports this feature, you can select the maximum number of rows that should be added, the default value is three rows which means that two additional rows will be added if necessary.

The extension has so many options that it is hard to focus on some that could be worth mentioning. Playing around with it revealed several ones that I did activate and like. You may specify a minimum and maximum width for all tabs, changing the default Firefox values of 100 to 250 pixels to different values. I have great success with 80 to 150 pixels which should be enough to identify most websites.

It is furthermore possible to change the erratic behavior that downloads sometimes open in blank tabs which do not disappear after the download finishes. Tab Mix Plus is able to prevent this from happening. You can select which events should open a new tab and which should not, I have selected to open all javascript popups in tabs, all links that normally open in new windows, all links from other applications and when I want to open bookmarks.

You may also set the behavior for mouse clicks. Define actions when double-clicking, middle-clicking, shift-clicking, ctrl-clicking and alt-clicking a tab and the tab bar. Actions range from closing, duplicating and reloading tabs to merging and protecting them.

Unread tabs and the current tab can be displayed in different colors and fonts to distinguish them from the rest of the open tabs. A progress meter will be displayed in tabs that are currently loaded which is a nice feature as well.