Set Up Space-Saving, Permanent Gmail and Reader Tabs in Firefox

Harsha wrote Reader Kotcherlakota our tips box with a very detailed, very cool how to use the Add-ons, some suggested I build fast, always available-yet-subtle cards for Gmail and Google Reader. Here's how.

So here is the solution. I was glad when my Gmail is still open. (Who is right?) Is literally the first thing I go in Firefox. But I would be considered his home, and frankly, I do not like the fact I always leave full-sized tab to open just to watch your mailbox. I am a fan of minimal, yet functional and attractive interface.

So I went looking for the perfect setting, and I am glad to say that I found it! With the help of Better Gmail, Gina Trapani 2 add-on (especially favicon feature Unread Count) and two other additions, I found very easy and attractive way to keep an eye on Gmail and have it open all the time without a lot of space.

Here is what I did. (And all this in the night version of Firefox 3 / 7 with the Nightly Tester Tools installed and working well, so I'm sure it will work for all versions of Firefox 3.0 +.)

First I downloaded and installed Better Gmail 2, and activating a favicon, ended with this:Looks fantastic, of course, but still, since I am currently using a netbook, I want to save as much space as possible. So I searched and searched until I found the FaviconizeTab extension, also previously mentioned on Lifehacker. Essentially, it adds an entry to the context menu when you right-click a tab that allows you to shrink it down to ONLY the Favicon. Here's how it works.
Which gives you favicon-only tabs like you see in the screenshot. (I did this for both Gmail and Reader.)

Looks awesome, right? Well, I thought so too! Until I closed Firefox, and when I opened it again, I realized my faviconized Gmail tab did not stay faviconized. I also wanted a solution in which Gmail and Google Reader always appear when I opened Firefox. I knew how to set up multiple homepages in Firefox, but it's not quite right for what I want. For one, if i do that, every time I press the "Home" button, all those sites load up at once in multiple tabs.

So I went off hunting again for a permanent tab solution. But wait! Lifehacker, many moons ago, highlighted an extension called PermaTabs, an extension that preserves selected tabs through sessions and prevents accidental closing.

Sadly, the developer of that extension has long since forgotten it. I was annoyed, but after a bit more searching, I found another extension called PermaTabs Mod. It's the same as the original extension, however it's updated and modified to work with Firefox 3.5. Essentially, this add-on allows you to make a tab permanent—that is to say, it cannot be closed by accident, actions such as "Close other tabs" in the Tab context menu do no affect it, and better yet, the tabs stay where they are in the order they are even if you close/shutdown Firefox! Here's how it works:

Here's the skinny on what's absolutely awesome about this setup:

* Permatabs are not affected by closing Firefox, cannot be closed automatically, and can be "un-permafied" at any time when you want to get rid of them.

* When you first start up Firefox, the Permatabs DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY LOAD THEIR PAGE. They only load them when you click on them, which is insanely handy for me for when I'm on a terrible connection and I don't want all my Permatabs to load up instantly when I start up Firefox. (This is why I do not like having multiple homepages—I cannot control when they load.)

* With this setup, you don't have to make Gmail or GReader your home page. Your home page is separate; in my above example, I have about:blank set as my homepage, but this won't affect your setup at all.

* Permatabs are not set in stone as far as location goes. You can reorder Permatabs by dragging them around. (Be warned, you can also pop-out Permatabs, but once you do, you must pop them back in or add them again manually.)

* Using this setup, I don't need to use toaster popups from extensions like Gmail Notifier or any third party app. All I have to do is glance to the top right to see if there's any new messages.