Feature request: multiple tabs

I discovered the "multiple windows" trick/hack/bug to open 2 Zotero windows at the same time on a Mac, by minimizing the first window and then using Cmd+0 to "open" the main window which actually opens a second instance.

And it's been an absolute GODSEND -- I have a deep, tall folder library and often need to keep my space in multiple places at once -- so I can work in two far-apart folders at the same time, or keep one folder open while I search my library for a different document.

Now windows are great, but my laptop screen is only 13", so honestly what would be even more useful would be tabs. I can say I would normally use Zotero with 3-4 tabs open *always* -- one tab for my "main" folder I'm working in, a second and third tab for "related" folders, and a fourth tab kept open for looking up items in my library overall. And then be able to drag-and-drop between tabs by dragging to an open tab which would then, after a delay of a second or two, switch to that new tab -- just like Finder.

I don't know if the underlying Firefox engine makes it easy to expose native Firefox tabs? If not, it feels like it could be implemented by building a custom, relatively simple tab interface in HTML, and then embedded existing Zotero windows as iframes. That way you wouldn't have to worry about collisions of ID's etc. -- each iframe still operates entirely independently.
  • I think it would be a marvelous feature to be able to create tabs windows inside of Zotero [See extraordinary Opus for Windows File Manager] in order to research inside of personal libraries exceeding 10 Gyg of data : Thank you!
  • I support this request: tabs would be very helpful.
  • I support this as well: I see that Z now does this with pdfs opened within the application, but I would like to just be able to open tabs of the main window to be able to keep multiple places open at once.
  • edited July 2, 2022
    Wow @mjbaldwin you have changed my life. Yes please re: feature request multiple tabs!
  • This is amazing! Thank you @mjbaldwin for sharing this hack. Now we need official support for opening collections, searches etc. in tabs.
  • edited February 10, 2023
    Wow, I just stumbled upon this thread, through googling after realizing there's a now tab interface on my Zotero window but not being able to find a way to add a new tab.

    For me, personally, I prefer multiple *windows*, rather than just tabs (even though I do agree multiple tabs themselves will be super-helpful as well), so I'd like to feature-request for *both* multiple windows and multiple tabs, just as in Evernote or most browsers.
    (For now, super-thanks to @mjbaldwin for publicizing this very useful hack!)
  • Here is a script^[1] I have been using for a while to save and restore tab groups in zotero. Check it out if you are interested.

    [1]: https://gist.github.com/ifree/a91b68dbe1a6927bd9fd8ba4b67aad6a
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