Suggestion for Enhancing the File Manager Tab Bar in Webmin

Authentic Theme
1
SYSTEM INFORMATION
Version Webmin 2.610
Version Usermin 2.510
Version Virtualmin 7.50.2 GPL
Version Apache 2.4.65
Firefox 146.0

Hi,

For several years, I have been bothered by something in Webmin > File Manager, so I would like to propose an improvement to the tab bar.

Here is a GIF image showing the proposed improvement:

capture d'écran en gif2

The changes were made using CSS only:

.file-manager .container-fluid .tabs-top > .nav-tabs {
	position: absolute;
	z-index: 1;
	right: 0;
	/* display: -webkit-inline-box; */
	/* display: -ms-inline-flexbox; */
	display: inline-flex;
	/* overflow: hidden; */
	max-width: 80%;
	margin-top: -8px;
	margin-right: 13px;
	overflow-x: auto;
	white-space: nowrap;
	overflow-y: hidden;
}

Added:

.nav-tabs > li,
.nav-tabs > .nav-item {
	flex-shrink: 0;
}

This makes it more readable.
What do you think?

Important: I haven’t tested it further, such as opening or closing new tabs, or running it with no tabs at all.

2

Thanks for the heads-up! Interesting suggestion. I’ll have to look into this a bit later.

Why do you need so many tabs though?

3

I’ve always been used to this since I started using the File Manager, even before that in Java, around 2009.
And thanks for taking a look, because the more tabs there are, the more they overlap and become very small.

4

Maybe tabs should disappear after a session or after a period of time like a web browser.

5

It must not disappear - for a long-time user like me, it’s really needed. It’s much faster to click on tabs than to browse deep paths starting from ‘/’ (root).
Otherwise, I would have to make more than 100 clicks by navigating through paths every day. With tabs, I only need about 10 clicks.

6

Oh, I laughed when I read this question… I, too, don’t like a “lot of tabs” but my bosses have like 50-80 tabs open (no kidding) at a time and I’m like “WHY OH WHY”…

7

I see, I rarely use it I just get on and and see the tabs I use 3 months ago that I don’t need :slight_smile:

8

as one who probably spends (seems to) all working hours in File Manager, I quite like the concept.

the one caveat is too many tabs. all optional of course

I didn’t even realise that this could be done - opens up a whole new can of thought :worm:

9

No one will ever be able to beat my wife in the number of open tabs! No one! Not a soul!

What about a favorites feature in File Manager itself? It would always take just two clicks. :slight_smile:

10

When you go on a Linux computer, there is a window where you can see the full list of directories:
/
/home
/etc
/root
etc.

I really like this kind of view, and the only tool I know that does this is Webmin > File Manager.

Sometimes I’m advised to do this via FTP, for example with WinSCP, but there are a lot of permission issues, so I didn’t go any further with it.

With Webmin File Manager, it’s a bit like my “main FTP”. I directly edit files using the editor, zip or unzip files from the File Manager, upload, download, I do this very often.
Also, the tab bar at the very top that keeps track of the folders you’ve visited is great—very useful. It avoids having to make hundreds of clicks per day. Sometimes I can spend up to 4 hours a day in the File Manager.

However, the top tab bar is sometimes buggy. Here are all the issues I’ve noticed:

  • The more tabs are open, the less readable the tab titles become, which makes it hard to find the right tab.
  • If a tab is already open on a directory containing around 500 items, the File Manager becomes very slow to load. Only when you have just started Webmin and go to “File Manager” while it is loading for the first time.
  • If you reload the “File Manager” a second time because it is slow to load, you can lose all your tabs—they get cleared. Only when you have just started Webmin and go to “File Manager” while it is loading for the first time.
  • When you load File Manager for the first time, during the initial session, the tabs load as if they were in a loading state and appear progressively one by one. Why don’t they all appear at once in 1 second?

If you have an idea on how to use WinSCP as a File Manager, with a single parameter/login without having to change it every time, I’m interested and willing to try to get used to it. Otherwise, I’ll stick with Webmin’s File Manager.

11

Alright, the upcoming Webmin 2.620 with Authentic 26.20.1 will have proper support for multiple scrollable tabs in the File Manager.

13

Interesting, huh? Can you share a concrete example of how will you use it with this new feature in place?

14

It’s spam. They’re just bullshitting as an excuse to post their links. And, they’ll be banned in 12 seconds.

15

I’ve updated Webmin, and the new tab bar looks really stylish. I was thinking about something: when you scroll the mouse wheel while the cursor is over the tabs, would it be possible for it to scroll left/right depending on the wheel direction? Alternatively, maybe allow dragging left and right with the mouse (click and drag) to move through the tabs.

I’m going to create a new topic to report another issue that I’ve noticed for a long time in Webmin, also related to the tab bar.