Is it me or is it Ancestry?

[PhilGee]

Good spot, Peter, should have been "tab"

 

[Susan48]

New tab or new window? Multiple tabs are generally easier to handle than multiple windows.

Showing my ignorance again, but what's the difference between a new tab and a new window?

 

[peter]

Showing my ignorance again, but what's the difference between a new tab and a new window?

Tabs appear within the same browser window, so you can quickly go from one to another. I keep all of the key websites permanently open in different tabs - this is just a small selection:



The main advantage of separate browser windows is that you could have two or more windows open on the screen at the same time (if there's a way of doing that with tabs I'd like to know about it).

But the simplest thing is to try each of them out - then the difference will be obvious.

 

[At home in NZ]

(if there's a way of doing that with tabs I'd like to know about it).

You can drag a tab out but this only works with one tab, I tried to do two and they joined up which is the same as having two instances of Chrome open.
I hope that's clear, it's a bit difficult to explain.

 

[PhilGee]

... (if there's a way of doing that with tabs I'd like to know about it).

It appears that it may be available: Firefox through an extension - "Side View", Chrome via the "Split Screen Extension" and Vivaldi through the built-in "tab tiling".

This is based on a quick look at search results, though!

 

[peter]

You can drag a tab out but this only works with one tab, I tried to do two and they joined up which is the same as having two instances of Chrome open.
I hope that's clear, it's a bit difficult to explain.

I've sometimes dragged a tab out by mistake, but it created a new window and I couldn't put it back again. Maybe you have a tip for that as well?

 

[At home in NZ]

I've sometimes dragged a tab out by mistake, but it created a new window and I couldn't put it back again. Maybe you have a tip for that as well?

You can drag it back again by grabbing the tab and sliding it along into place. That works for me.

 

[peter]

You can drag it back again by grabbing the tab and sliding it along into place. That works for me.

Thanks. Perhaps I've misunderstood, but it only works for me so long as I keep the mouse button held down - unless I put the tab back into place, as soon as I release the button the tab becomes a new window. If all I wanted to do was a quick comparison between screens that would be fine, but if I wanted to copy information across from one tab to the other (eg setting up a new payment from my bank account) I'd run out of hands.

However a Google search revealed how to merge tabs from one Chrome window into another, which is just what I need.

 

[At home in NZ]

it only works for me so long as I keep the mouse button held down

That's what I meant by 'grabbing the tab' sorry if it wasn't clear. Not to worry, you've found out how to do what you want and I am happy with the way I do it.

 

[peter]

Perhaps I've misunderstood, but it only works for me so long as I keep the mouse button held down - unless I put the tab back into place, as soon as I release the button the tab becomes a new window.

Now I've managed to get it to work even if I release the mouse button. But I'm not quite sure why it works some times and not others.

 

[Susan48]

The solution is to open the match in a new tab - this will not only work better for you, it reduces the load on Ancestry's servers so helps the rest of us!

I've successfully opened a match in a new tab, but after checking shared matches, trees, etc, and going back to the original tab, the new match I've just checked still has the blue button indicating it's unviewed. So unless I'm looking at a match I've already viewed and want to check again, I shall carry on looking at NEW matches in the same tab and not in a new one.

 

[peter]

I've successfully opened a match in a new tab, but after checking shared matches, trees, etc, and going back to the original tab, the new match I've just checked still has the blue button indicating it's unviewed

That's right - because it hadn't been viewed at the time you carried out the search (the same is true if you use this technique at Findmypast). But the next time the same match appears it won't have the blue button (similarly, the next time you see the same search result at Findmypast it will have a tick against it).

It's a very small and very temporary inconvenience in exchange for a useful time-saving and a significant reduction in the load on Ancestry's servers. You can, of course, refresh the page at any time.

 

[At home in NZ]

Now I've managed to get it to work even if I release the mouse button. But I'm not quite sure why it works some times and not others.

Perhaps it's the way you hold your tongue?
It's sometimes difficult for me to do too. I think it's all to do with keeping it on a straight path across the tabs, if that makes sense!