Tabs like web browsers or Clover

Share any ideas you have on improving Explorer++
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danleif
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:06 pm

Tabs like web browsers or Clover

Post by danleif »

The tabs in Explorer++ function well enough but are outdated in both appearance and functionality. It would be great to have tabs like those in modern web browsers:

-position tabs the topmost layer (in the title bar)
-allow tabs to be dragged and dropped out of the tabs area to open them in a new window
-have a close button (x) on the right side of each tab
-have a new tab button (+) to the right of the last tab
-for users in dark mode, allow tabs to be dark too

Take a look at Clover to see how they implemented this.
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David Erceg
Site Admin
Posts: 933
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:46 am

Re: Tabs like web browsers or Clover

Post by David Erceg »

I agree that those sorts of additions would be good. The trouble has always been that Win32 controls are difficult to style and customize. Which means that these sorts of changes might be technically possible but difficult to implement well.

If there was an open source library that offered a tab control that could be styled in that way, I'd be happy to use it, but as far as I'm aware, there isn't. Writing it myself isn't necessarily something I want to do, as it has nothing to do with the core functionality of the application and it would likely be a project within itself. Also, any implementation I write would never be as polished as a library dedicated to it.
danleif
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:06 pm

Re: Tabs like web browsers or Clover

Post by danleif »

Thanks for the quick reply. I figured that might be the case. Perhaps some enthusiasts on here would be up for it... I wonder if there's a way to draw some ideas from Clover's code.
I153_Chaika
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2019 1:52 am

Re: Tabs like web browsers or Clover

Post by I153_Chaika »

It's true that it would be great! The present form of Explorer++ is fine, but the experience would be made easier with with feature.
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