Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++
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I always have at least several dozen files open in NP++, and I find it really difficult to keep them organized, because new file tabs always appear on the right end of the tab bar, and there is no way to select and move multiple tabs in NP++.
The doc panel on the left side seems to let me select multiple tabs, but they can’t be moved. That’s weird.Am I missing something (that’s entirely possible)? Maybe there is a plugin that improves the UI?
I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks! -
@R-J said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
I find it really difficult to keep them organized
I work with a lot of tabs open at all times, and my organization method is not to organize them. I don’t really see the point. Does it make you feel better to organize them? :-)
But…you’re right, Notepad++ doesn’t have great organizational skills when it comes to this, and I have never heard of a plugin that changes it.
Perhaps a better way is to organize your work into “sessions” (I do this sometimes). This is loosely defined as some number related tabs saved as a group. There’s a session manager plugin that makes sessions even easier to work with.
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@Alan-Kilborn said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
Does it make you feel better to organize them? :-)
I’ll take that as a joke :-)
Yes, generally speaking user-friendly UI and more control makes me feel better. Ordering my tabs to my liking, so I can access things faster would boost my productivity, which would definitely make me feel better :-)It seems like NP++ wasn’t made for tackling serious projects. It’s like the user isn’t supposed to open more than a few files that you can fit on the screen.
The session manager plugin is interesting but not very useful to me. Every day I work with totally different files, so saving sessions doens’t help.
I wonder, is there a place where I can suggest a feature to the devs? Like making the doc switcher actually useful…
It feels very weird to not be able to just move files around in the panel. -
Maybe you wanna have a look at the explorer plugin?
FRs can be opened at https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues. -
Hello @r-j, @alan-kilborn, @ekopalypse and All,
BTW, @r-j, did you tick the option
Preferences > General > Tab Bar > Lock (no drag and drop)by mistake ?BR
guy038
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Btw thank you guys for the quick responses!
@Ekopalypse I just popped in the Explorer plugin and I don’t see anything that makes it easier to re-order my open files. But thank you for the FR link, I’ll use that for sure!
@guy038
My tab bar is unlocked. I can definitely drag a single tab with the mouse. That doesn’t really help when I have several dozen or a hundred files open at any given time, and want to re-order a large number of them, because newly opened files always go to the right end of the tab bar. Also, that ‘lock’ setting doesn’t seem to affect the Doc panel, only the tab bar. -
@R-J said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
I’ll take that as a joke
As intended. ;)
It seems like NP++ wasn’t made for tackling serious projects
Hmmm. Big statement.
I’ve been using N++ for what I’ve thought of as serious projects for, let me think, 7 years or so now. Maybe my projects aren’t so serious?It’s like the user isn’t supposed to open more than a few files that you can fit on the screen.
Well, currently I have 35 open. I mean, you hear of people that want to have several hundred open at once; seems to me they’d be pretty hard to organize or even keep track of… At that point, I’d probably just Hide the tab bar and navigate files with the NavigateTo plugin…
Like making the doc switcher actually useful
TBH, I’m not really sure what is up with the DocSwitcher panel. I don’t think it has undergone any change in functionality during my tenure with N++. It may be like the human appendix – it’s there but its purpose is questionable. :-)
But really, in the main window, you can drag and drop tabs individually to do some organization. It’s not the best; for me it has always been a bit visually glitchy, but it does work.
Every day I work with totally different files,
Again, especially in light of this, is tab organization all that important? I guess this is rhetorical, as you’ve already made it plain that it is important to you. We all have “stuff” that is important. :-)
One thing to keep in mind, although you know it already: N++ is free software, and devs donate their time to work on it. Thus, not everything is 100% awesome and meets every need. Stuff that does get worked on is judged of high importance, and, well, probably the kind of tab organization stuff you are talking about just isn’t super high on the list.
@Ekopalypse has provided what is needed for you to make a feature change request, so I’ll wish you good luck. Cheers, mate.
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@Ekopalypse said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
Maybe you wanna have a look at the explorer plugin?
I use and like the Explorer plugin, but I’m not sure how it helps the OP with his desire? Maybe there is something about the plugin that I just don’t know (yet)?
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@Alan-Kilborn said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
Well, currently I have 35 open. I mean, you hear of people that want to have several hundred open at once; seems to me they’d be pretty hard to organize or even keep track of… At that point, I’d probably just Hide the tab bar and navigate files with the NavigateTo plugin…
Let me clarify - by ‘serious’ I just mean number of files that I need currently open, whether it’s to search them all, replace a string in all of them, whatever. (You can definitely have a serious project that involves only a few files. Maybe that wasn’t the best word choice on my part. )
The doc switcher can display about 45 files on a 1080p screen, which is nice. But that’s still difficult to work with because they are always in random order, with the last opened files on the bottom of the doc list. I would like to grab ‘chunks’ of the doc list files and move them around. That’s it. The doc switcher doesn’t even allow single file dragging, like the tab bar. Even that would have been nice to have, and would be better than dragging the tab in the tab bar. The tab bar displays the tabs horizontally, so dragging just one file requires some significant scrolling of the tab bar, when you have so many files. Imagine doing that for multiple files.
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@Alan-Kilborn Oh yes - I also have the NavigateTo plugin, but it also suffers from the same issue. The list of files can’t be re-ordered.
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@Alan-Kilborn said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
@Ekopalypse said in Working with multiple tabs is difficult in NP++:
Maybe you wanna have a look at the explorer plugin?
I use and like the Explorer plugin, but I’m not sure how it helps the OP with his desire? Maybe there is something about the plugin that I just don’t know (yet)?
Hmm … after reading it today I must admit it doesn’t make sense.
Not sure why I thought it made sense yesterday.
Sorry for the confusion. -
Here’s a new feature request ticket
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/8568It turns out this has been requested several times before dating back to 2016. Interestingly, @donho (I think he’s one of the devs?) stated in an old ticket https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/pull/2243 that this was already implemented, and the ticket was closed. I don’t know if this was supposed to be implemented back then and got removed for some reason (or he made a mistake?), but there have been more tickets since then requesting the same thing.
