Gmail has it. An email extension called Boomerang provides it. Chrome has an extension that does the same job. What are we talking about? A snooze button!
It sounds like a vanilla idea, but the hidden power to put off tabs till later and make them come back on command is a much-needed anti-distraction device, especially when you're hit with tabs overload. It also allows you to deal with the urgent over the not-so-urgent.
Firefox has introduced an experimental feature called Snooze Tabs that removes a tab from view and brings it back whenever you want. The still-experimental feature is part of the Test Pilot program Mozilla introduced last year.
You can download and install the add-on from Firefox's Test Pilot page.
The Snooze Tabs is like a browser valet. It helps you postpone your work on a specific tab and have it re-appear at a time you choose. Maybe you want to read an interesting article but don't have the time for it right now. Or maybe it's a recipe you want to catch up with on the weekend.
Here's how you can use the Snooze Tabs feature to come back to the information in your spare time:
- Click the Snooze Tabs icon on the upper right spot on the toolbar and then choose from the options in a pull-down menu.
- Select and set the time when you want the tab to return. It can be later in the day, the next day, the weekend, after a week, after a month, or the next time you open Firefox after closing it.You can manually select a specific date and time too. The tab is dismissed and isn't seen again till the snooze time is up.
- When it's time, Firefox re-opens and loads it as a background tab so as not to disrupt whatever you are working with on the browser. An alarm icon notifies you when the hidden tab re-appears.
The Manage Snoozed Tabs button at the bottom of the menu lets you edit the timing of your snoozed tabs. From here you can delete them or open the tabs right away.
Remember, this is an experimental feature. But it should be made a default feature to cure our irksome habit of bookmark overload. The benefits of the add-on are obvious against the bookmarks as the latter don't pop back on their own.
Is Firefox still the browser you would pick over any other? Is Snooze Tabs an elegant solution to an everyday problem?