Tabbed Window User Interface

March 14 2006 06:10:54 PM Add/Read Comments [2]
It seems that all the rage these days in Web browsers is to have a "tabbed user interface".   With tabs, users can click back and forth and get access to multiple windows of information quickly and easily.  While I guess this is an exciting new enhancement for Web browsers, Lotus Notes has had tabs since v1.0 in 1989!

Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

Let's take a look at some of the things you can do with Lotus Notes tabbed windows.

First, you can open many different databases, or multiple views of the same database all at the same  time.  The screen capture below shows switching back and forth from Inbox to Calendar to Journal.

Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

Second, to close a tab all you do is click on the "X" in the right side of the tab's title.

Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

Third, you can reorder tabs by clicking on the tab's title, dragging to the position you want, and dropping.   Below is an example of moving the "Inbox" tab from the first position to the second, and then back again.

Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

Also, by right clicking on a tab, you can access more advanced options, such as "Open In New Window", "Open In Domino Designer" (if you have appropriate access) and "Create Bookmark".

Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

There are also useful keyboard shortcuts available for tabs, such as:
  • CTRL+TAB to switch from window to window, and
  • ALT+W+#, where # is the number of the window you want to switch to.        

Finally, Lotus Notes 7 is adding even more enhancements to tabs, such as a new toolbar Icon for "Close All Open Window Tabs" allowing you to close everything with a single click...
Image:Tabbed Window User Interface

and a fantastic new option called "Save Window State On Exit" that causes the Notes client to re-open all windows that were open when you last exited the client.

I hope this has helped you learn more about the user interface of Lotus Notes... once again a product way ahead of the curve!  :-)