# The end of the URL bar



## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

So Mozilla and Google both are experimenting with removing the URL bar, and frankly, I think I love it. I've always been a fan of minimalist UI, and combined with extensions that move the tab bar up to the titlebar, I've got a browser viewport that is as minimal as it possibly can be.

Behold:





<3 Compactness. In particular, LessChrome HD removes the URL bar, and Nav Bar on Title Bar gives options for either the URL bar or the Tab bar to be placed in the titlebar (I have the Tab bar set to be in the title bar).

How does it work? Press F6, hover over the tab bar, or click the tab bar, and you get a URL bar. It's there when you need it, gone when you don't.


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## Mallard (Jun 30, 2011)

Awful! I use the URL bar, particularly Firefox's AwesomeBar to pretty much store the entirety of my browsing habits and give me one/two letter access to almost everything I look at online

True, the design principle of "a design is not perfect when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" may ring true, but with the whole chrome-styled UI wave through internet browsers, I truely think we've reached that point. Anything else would be transferring control away from the keyboard and to the mouse, and that makes for a universally slower experience.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

The URL bar isn't gone; It's just hidden until you need to use it. It's all still there. Hit F6, hover over the tab bar, or click the tab bar, and bam, URL bar.

Long story short, there's a HUGE amount of wasted space in traditional browser chrome, and the URL bar is frankly part of that. If you're browsing a site, the last thing you need nine times out of ten is the URL bar. Once you've arrived at a site, you no longer really need it.


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## Browder (Jun 30, 2011)

Well I like it. I don't remember the last time I've typed out a full URL with the ubiquity of search engines and I don't see any reason to have it be on the top of my screen. 

Still kinda arrogant of Google though. This is just a new way to show how much of internet browsing has become their bitch.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

Browder said:


> Still kinda arrogant of Google though. This is just a new way to show how much of internet browsing has become their bitch.


 Kind of. Mozilla's doing it, too; I'm running Firefox, and that's how my browser looks right now. The nightly builds of Chrome, apparently, do this by default (so I've heard?), and really, the things Google did with Chrome really actually worked for the most part. If they didn't, nobody would have any reason to follow after them.


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## Ikrit (Jun 30, 2011)

not sure if want...

i'll have to try it out


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## ToeClaws (Jun 30, 2011)

I dunno... only good if there's an option to disable it.  Personally I look at the URL constantly because I like to see specifically where I'm at, and edit it all the time to jump around.  For me, having it hidden would just be annoying, but for most folks that probably would be a nicer visual.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

ToeClaws said:


> I dunno... only good if there's an option to disable it.  Personally I look at the URL constantly because I like to see specifically where I'm at, and edit it all the time to jump around.  For me, having it hidden would just be annoying, but for most folks that probably would be a nicer visual.


 I get that, and I'm the same, but I generally feel that the more space I have available for the viewport, the better.


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## Volkodav (Jun 30, 2011)

Will someone please explain to me what the hell an "AwesomeBar" is


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

Clayton said:


> Will someone please explain to me what the hell an "AwesomeBar" is


 AwesomeBar = Mozilla's supposed "smart" address bar that tries to guess your most often accessed sites based on how you type addresses. Which in itself isn't amazing, but it also works as a keyword search through history and bookmarks. That's kind of awesome, but not really. I prefer the Omnibar that Google Chrome has, which doubles as a search bar when a non-URL is given. You can get add-ons for Firefox to do that, too (one in particular is aptly named Omnibar).


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## Volkodav (Jun 30, 2011)

ohhhh i c

Thanks


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## Andy Nonimose (Jun 30, 2011)

Personally, I hate having to unhide things just to access their functionality. I quickly changed my style to older Firefox when I updated to 4.0 and it mongled my layout. Minimalism's great for coding and all, but can be a bit of a hassle at times with GUIs. (Then again I'm a *gasp* clicker)


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## Jashwa (Jun 30, 2011)

I would be bothered by it. I look at my URL bar pretty often and I have a feeling that the hidden until hovering over thing would get on my nerves. 

It looks pretty, though. There's no denying that.


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## Ley (Jun 30, 2011)

do NOT want.

I can give a crap if it's more streamlined or not- it's a simple click to and a couple letters to go to the next place I want to go to. None of this minimalist bullshit.


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## BRN (Jun 30, 2011)

I honestly see nothing wrong with Opera's UI, myself.

It's decisively minimal. However, in place of _removing_ the address bar, you'll notice it merely bolds the important part of the URL and fades the rest.


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## Takun (Jun 30, 2011)

Learn your shortcuts and you don't really need it. :3

control+t, control+n, control+L


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## Captain Howdy (Jun 30, 2011)

We're...devolving technology? You don't remove or hide primary functionality (could you imagen the majority of people waking up their computer that updated their browser, and suddenly their URL bar is gone :v) . That'd be like having to pull and hold a lever while accelerating in a car _every_ _time. _It's not necessary, and it hinders the user/driver.

If it's "off" by default, and has that switch, not a problem, but if they try to force it initially onto people with an upgrade to an official release - I'll be irked.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

Jashwa said:


> I would be bothered by it. I look at my URL bar  pretty often and I have a feeling that the hidden until hovering over  thing would get on my nerves.


 If you actually look at it a  lot, then it makes sense to keep it shown. It does show up when you  change domains to let you know where you are, and it's easy to pull up  via F6. I feel that in the same vein as the status bar not being  necessary to show all the time, the URL bar isn't something that's  always needed, either, and this way provides the same functionality  without having a chunk of screen real estate dedicated to it.



Ley said:


> I can give a crap if it's more streamlined or not-  it's a simple click to and a couple letters to go to the next place I  want to go to. None of this minimalist bullshit.


 It's  literally exactly the same thing. Frankly, I usually hit F6 to focus the  address bar anyway, so I really don't see a difference in terms of  functionality.



SIX said:


> I honestly see nothing wrong with Opera's UI, myself.


 Opera's UI I never got the feel for, probably because it focuses too  much on its own theme and not enough on blending in with the desktop UI.  That said, its speed dial concept and the way it handles URL's are both  handled for me by Firefox add-ons.



Lastdirewolf said:


> We're...devolving technology? You don't remove or hide primary functionality (could you imagen the majority of people waking up their computer that updated their browser, and suddenly their URL bar is gone :v) . That'd be like having to pull and hold a lever while accelerating in a car _every_ _time. _It's not necessary, and it hinders the user/driver.


The URL bar isn't 'gone' entirely, it's hidden until it's needed. It'll show on new tabs, it'll show when you change over to a new domain via an external link, and it'll show if you click or hover over the tab bar, or if you hit F6 to focus the URL bar. It's like saying the status bar is gone, except it still shows up when it's pertinent to show it.


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## BRN (Jun 30, 2011)

Runefox said:


> Opera's UI I never got the feel for, probably because it focuses too  much on its own theme and not enough on blending in with the desktop UI.  That said, its speed dial concept and the way it handles URL's are both  handled for me by Firefox add-ons.


 
I've always just appreciated the 'minimalism as standard' design of Opera. I suppose it comes down to personal preference in the end, though; and I absolutely love the Speed Dial. Opera Turbo's pretty useful, too.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

I figure since it's not entirely obvious how easy it is to bring up the URL bar, I should go ahead and make a short video about it:

[video=youtube;o4e65l3R8-A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4e65l3R8-A[/video]


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## Captain Howdy (Jun 30, 2011)

You know what's even easier than bringing up the URL bar? 

Not hiding it :v


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

Lastdirewolf said:


> You know what's even easier than bringing up the URL bar?
> 
> Not hiding it :v


 Yeah, and you know what's easier than having to open your bookmarks folder? Keeping it open all the time! Same thing with your history. Hell, why stop there? Install every toolbar you can and load 'er down as best you can until you've got a 300px viewport on a 1080p screen. :V


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## BRN (Jun 30, 2011)

Runefox said:


> Yeah, and you know what's easier than having to open your bookmarks folder? Keeping it open all the time! Same thing with your history. Hell, why stop there? Install every toolbar you can and load 'er down as best you can until you've got a 300px viewport on a 1080p screen. :V



http://i54.tinypic.com/2vsrjgm.png 
Fuck bookmarks, I have Speed Dial. Fuck History, I have a URL bar that remembers where I've been. :3


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## Andy Nonimose (Jun 30, 2011)

Runefox said:


> Yeah, and you know what's easier than having to open your bookmarks folder? Keeping it open all the time! Same thing with your history...


 
Guilty of the bookmark thing!

Also...people still have history settings that aren't "Never"?


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

Andy Nonimose said:


> Also...people still have history settings that aren't "Never"?


 By "Never" do you mean "Never record history"? Because if so... Uh... Well, let's just say that if I were looking for something specific, found it, and, say, I had to restart, I'm not going to bookmark it for the sake of restarting. So in that situation, I'd have to figure out how the hell I got there, rather than just typing part of the URL or diving into my browsing history. I mean, it's great for security to never record history, but a pain in the ass.


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## Stratelier (Jun 30, 2011)

...

Is it just me or does something smell phishy?


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## ToeClaws (Jun 30, 2011)

Runefox said:


> I get that, and I'm the same, but I generally feel that the more space I have available for the viewport, the better.


 
Why not just get a bigger screen?  Right now, I'm using a 1680x1050 screen, yet even with that, my browser window is just a window, probably around the 1154x864 mark.  On the extremely rare occasion that I need a larger window, I just maximize it.


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## Runefox (Jun 30, 2011)

ToeClaws said:


> Why not just get a bigger screen?  Right now, I'm using a 1680x1050 screen, yet even with that, my browser window is just a window, probably around the 1154x864 mark.  On the extremely rare occasion that I need a larger window, I just maximize it.


 I'm running 1680x1050, and my browser's sized at 1440x900. I just like to make the most of what I have. Back in the Firefox 1 days, I used to try to get as much of the clutter gone and leave my browser window with just what I needed. Fast access to bookmarks, stop/refresh, homepage, etc etc aren't high on my priority list seeing as I can hit those pretty easily with hotkeys or a new tab.


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## Lobar (Jun 30, 2011)

What would be neat is replacing the URL bar with just a small clickable button that expands to become the URL bar when it's clicked (or you hit F6 too I suppose).


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## Onnes (Jun 30, 2011)

ToeClaws said:


> Why not just get a bigger screen?



Laptops. If you are running an ultra-portable with a 12.5" 16:9 screen, vertical space is the most valuable commodity in the world. There is world of difference between working on a large 16:10 screen and a tiny 16:9 screen.


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## Azbulldog (Jul 1, 2011)

Oh my god. Somewhere yesterday I saw a screenshot of Chrome with the URL bar integrated into the top bar of Google (which is now black), and now I can't find it. It basically had the bar to the right of all the Web, Images, Videos, Maps, and the other few buttons aligned on the left. It wasn't Chrome OS either. I'm not sure if it was real or just a mockup, but frankly it was intriguing.

Not too long ago after seeing a screenshot of someone else's UI, I decided to try and cut down on my Firefox UI as well. I ended up taking off the search bar and moving all my bookmarks (which are only favicons, no text) from the separate bookmarks toolbar to the right of the URL bar. I like having dedicated buttons to my most important websites right there. If I needed I could definitely cut down some more, but it's fine where it's at. I don't feel I have to remove the URL bar from view just yet.

As for the rest of you I'm surprised you don't just hit F11 and browse in fullscreen all the time.

On another topic this guy has been making some great UI concepts for a wide range of applications and programs all using Microsoft's metro theme. Below is his latest take on a web browser that has a single bar at the top.


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## Runefox (Jul 1, 2011)

Browsing in fullscreen is neat and all, but I do also like to be able to control my other windows at the same time. :V


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## Rakuen Growlithe (Jul 1, 2011)

I like having the bar. I type there instead of worrying about searching through history. I also hate minimalist interfaces. I want menus and stuff where I can get to them, not hidden away so I have to go searching.


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## Runefox (Jul 1, 2011)

Rakuen Growlithe said:


> I like having the bar. I type there instead of worrying about searching through history. I also hate minimalist interfaces. I want menus and stuff where I can get to them, not hidden away so I have to go searching.


 That Firefox logo on my browser is a menu, and the URL bar comes up when I bring my mouse up to the tab bar, or when I hit F6. I also have all of my most-used buttons in the top right corner. Beyond what you see in my screenshot, I don't really ever use anything else.  Or, if I do, I use shortcut keys. I don't think I've ever actually hit the reload or stop buttons in recent memory, and the only reason the back/forward buttons are there (my mouse has those anyway) is because I can rifle through the immediate history and if needed open a previous page in a new tab without losing my position pretty easily.


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## FF_CCSa1F (Jul 2, 2011)

I don't like it, I don't like it one bit. I'm all for space-efficient user interfaces, but not at the cost of accessibility. Say what you will, it is inarguably harder to access a hidden feature than it is to access a displayed one. 

This is all because of this widescreen garbage. Screens with aspect ratios wider than 16:10 have no place in computing, for the love of all that is sacred. If we would still be using proper displays, there would be no need for workarounds such as this.


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## thoron (Jul 2, 2011)

I hate hate hate the idea of no URL bar, even if its only hidden, if there's a way to disable the feature so the URL bar is always displayed (pushing F6 when you need it doesn't count if it disappears after your done) like in a normal browser I'll be a happy man.


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## Rakuen Growlithe (Jul 3, 2011)

Runefox said:
			
		

> That Firefox logo on my browser is a menu, and the URL bar comes  up when I bring my mouse up to the tab bar, or when I hit F6. I also  have all of my most-used buttons in the top right corner. Beyond what  you see in my screenshot, I don't really ever use anything else.  Or,  if I do, I use shortcut keys. I don't think I've ever actually hit the  reload or stop buttons in recent memory, and the only reason the  back/forward buttons are there (my mouse has those anyway) is because I  can rifle through the immediate history and if needed open a previous  page in a new tab without losing my position pretty easily.



I've got three lines of live bookmarks at the top of my page. Don't like having to look through menus for them, or just have icons of them. I use reload and stop, not so much the reload but the stop if I open a page accidentally. I don't have unlimited bandwidth or a huge amount of speed so I can't really afford to waste it loading unnecessary things. My laptop mouse doesn't have extra buttons (though they are awesome but the fact that they are extra should tell you something about building an interface around them).


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