The feature request that came 30 seconds after Tabbed Browsing was a way to save and restore your tabs upon restart. This is particularly useful after a browser crash when you want to get back to all those websites you weren't quite finished with.

I usually have so many tabs open at any given time that reloading them all on startup is a test in patience (and of my Internet connection), so I tend to not use it. But it is a popular feature.

There are no less than six ways to get your Safari tabs saved and restored, some have been around for a long time in the form of plugins. Others are new to the scene running as newborn Safari Extensions.

Safari's Built in Restore Tabs

Some people (including perhaps some extension developers) may not realize that Safari actually has a restore tabs option available as a core feature. You can choose "Reopen all tabs from last session" from the History menu. This won't happen automatically, so you have to choose it manually. But if you don't like to always have your previous session restored, this might be all you need.

Glims

The Glims plugin (see our Glims page) a tab save and restore feature with a few options (see the screenshot). This plugin has some behaviors that I like to see, like a prompt to restore or not if the browser had just crashed, and it saves the window sizes and positions as well as the tabs.

You're probably already using Glims (and if not, why not?), so you get this feature for free with a bunch of others.

Saft

The Saft (see our Saft page) plugin also has an option to save and reload windows. Otherwise, it is very no-frills and it works well enough. If you're using Saft already, look no further. But I wouldn't get Saft just for this.

SafariStand

The SafariStand plugin (see our SafariStand page and SafariStand English Documentation) will restore the previous session or you can configure it to prompt you to specify which tabs to open, and in all one window. When restoring multiple window sessions, window size and position are not restored.

SafariTabs

If you prefer not to have all the other features that come along with Glims or Saft, SafariTabs is a special purpose tab save/restore SIMBL plugin that does the job. It restores tabs and windows, but doesn't restore the window locations like Glims does.

SafariTabs, like SafariStand, gives you the option to choose which tabs you want to open.

Glims, Saft, and SafariTabs have been saving and restoring Safari's tabs for years. Now that Safari has extension support, a few other tab savers have appeared on the scene.

SafariRestore Extension

The SafariRestore Extension came out pretty quickly after Safari 5 hit the streets with extension support. It has a few options in its bag of tricks such as opening all tabs in one window (if you open multiple windows, it does not preserve their locations) and an option to prompt before restoring.

Tabs Safari Extension

Finally we have the most recent extension to appear on the extensions scene, aptly named Tabs. It will automatically or manually open all tabs, though it doesn't preserve window position. This extension comes with a bonus toolbar button to duplicate the current tab. And if you speak ?esky (Czech), or just want to learn enough to talk to uh, nobody, this is the one for you.

So there you have it. At least six ways to save and restore tabs in Safari. A wealth of options.

One important note is that extension API doesn't have visibility into whether Private Mode is running in your browser. So the two extension based tools will restore all tabs, including those that were opened in private mode. So if private browsing is your thing (which isn't all that private anyway), stick to the old school plugins for this functionality to avoid the embarrassment of having your old (formerly) private tabs start up for someone else.

Updated: 12.11.06 License: Freeware URL: SafariStand 2.0b17 Requires: 10.4+ Safari 2.0+ (older versions available for Panther)

An InputManager plugin that adds various useful functionality, such as bookmark/history searching, thumbnail tab sidebar, view related cookies/css/images for a site. Features

Source view:

syntax colouring editable HTML source (this allows you to alter the HTML source and redisplay the result) change keyboard shortcut for View Source back to "cmd+opt+v" in Safari 1.3

Omniweb style thumbnail tabs (!!!!)

• choose between 2 sizes of tab. - reorder tabs by drag and drop. - open link in new tab by drag and drop. - each tab has property called "Mark". toggle mark, "Close Unmarked Tabs", "Close Marked Tabs" from context menu. - create new tab by double click blank space. - context menu has alternative item. (press option key while tracking) - Toggle the sidebar with either the toolbar button (add via 'customize toolbar') or via menu item in "Stand" menu.

Context menu items:

Copy Image URL Copy Link HTML Tag Reload/Reload Frame Move to Trash Go Back Go Foward "Go Back" changes "Go Back in New Tab" when press option key

Action Menu - added via 'customize toolbar', it allows the following options:

View HTTP Header View Related Cookies View Sub Resources Copy link as Markdown View Page Info (similiar to Firefox's page info) Save As Web Archive option Arrange Tabs 

Site Alteration - Specify these options per site:

Encoding Default Font Size Minimum Font Size Load images Block pop-ups Enable Javascript Java enabled Plugins enabled Kill Gif Animation User StyleSheet 

Download options:

Tidy by date order sub folder for download file Auto close downloads window

Preferences:

Open "_blank" Link in New Tab Block referrers Disable favicons Disable Gif Animations Disable 'Draw StatusBar' Javascripts Load Plug-ins manually Switch tabs with mouse wheel "Ignored Key Action" variation. When display image, change scale to type "+" or "-" or "=" (ten-key) enable Debug Menu 

Bookmarks finder Boomarks shelf: Save current browsing sessions and recall them later Load Plug-in Manually - for example flash movies are disabled until clicked. Bookmark separators Add bookmark properties (color label, category, comment, rating) 'Stand Bar' (Bookmark, History, Side Bar compatible, Simple RSS Reader) "New Tab" button (appears in Customize Address Bar…) "Stand Search" (enhanced "Bookmarks Finder")

search bookmarks, history and local files (Web Archive + HTML file) with Spotlight.

Omniweb style thumbnail tabs in toggle-able sidebar "Show Form Destination in StatusBar" option (default is OFF -acts as protection against the "Safari Image Control Status Bar Spoofing Weakness" issue) '=' key toggle image size original between fit to window Option to remove metal window appearance "Unified" variation to remove metal texture option Download Youtube videos Restore Last Workspace

Changes for 2.0b17

Restore Last Workspace : supports unexpected clash Sidebar : accepts drop raw "http://~" text Downloading .flv now works not only YouTube but also almost Flash (command + click on Flash, and follow context menu)

Jan 31, 01:30 am

I only discovered these options the other day. Via SafariStand's Setting panel, you can apply a variety of themes. Originally, this was just to remove the metal texture from Safari Windows, but at some point the list grew to give you all these options: Light

Medium Dark Unified Unified Light Unified Medium

I'm currently using the last one, Unified Medium - I love it!

Posted by Jon Hicks Comment

At last, a reason to use SafariStand! I like the thumbnail tab sidebar, but am confused as to why the standard tab bar is retained??"a little redundant (not to mention, space-wasting). The stand bar RSS still cannot handle my del.icio.us feed, for some reason. # Christopher 31/01/2006

There is a hack to remove the standard tab bar so that only the thumbnails are left. I use it on my Safari and it works great. I'm also getting ready to see if I can remove the Google search field. It's redundant with SafariStand also. # Phill Kenoyer 31/01/2006

I'm not catching the difference between the standard and "Unified" themes. # Stephen 31/01/2006

Yep, Unified Medium is the main reason I use Stand. :)Stephen, the difference in the Unified themes is in the tab bar… # Jeff Croft 01/02/2006

John, what do you think about Smoothstripes 5.1.1, from Maxthemes.com? It offers a new theme to Safari, inspired by iTunes 6. I think it is ok, but it does not work very well in the installable version: the bookmarks view appears to have a repeated horizontal pattern. Even though, I think the theme is the best attempt to give consistency to the already inconsistent Tiger GUI. # Sergio MORA 07/02/2006

My only beef is that when using the custom themes, the bookmarks bar does not fade out when it isn't active. # Rad S. 15/02/2006

Yeah, that's the only thing I don't like about using the custom themes. It's minor, but somewhat annoying. # John P. 16/02/2006

Oct 10, 10:31 pmA few days ago, I was contacted by someone who suggested that we put together some English documentation for SafariStand. This was a superb idea, except that I've promptly lost that email, and can't remember who sent it! Doh!If this was you, please get in touch again - I won't lose your email again, promise!

Also, if you're interested in helping us out with this, let me know via email. It'd be great to have a couple more writers on board.

Update, I've found the chap who wrote to me, but do let me know if anyone else wants to contribute!

Posted by Jon Hicks

Apr 5, 05:08 amWith the release of SafariStand 1.2b3, comes an important new feature in the action menu - "Arrange Tabs". Choosing it makes another window drop over the top of the main Safari window (just like Saft does with its bookmark and history searching), where you can re-arrange the current set of tabs or close individual tabs:

As well as re-arranging, this is a useful feature when you have a lot of tabs open. Much like Omniweb's tab drawer, you can scroll the list and click the tab you want to view. The slider controls the size of the thumbnails. I love it!

Posted by Jon Hicks

SafariStand English Documentation

Introduction

The stand menu itself is added to the right hand side of the Safari Help menu-bar location. This drop down menu enables you to change the text encoding as well as accessing the preferences for Safari Stand. (See SafariStand settings above) Installation Instructions

Quit Safari.?# Place the SafariStand folder inside */Users/YOU/Library/InputManagers/ # If the *InputManagers folder does not exist you will need create it manually.?# If the modification date of SafariStand/SafariStand-loader.bundle is same as you have used, youneed only replace the SafariStand/SafariStand.bundle.

SIMBL Method (recommended)

Quit Safari.?# If you used the old version and installed it by the usual method then move /Users/YOU/Library/InputManagers/SafariStand to trash (or other location)?# move SafariStand/SafariStand.bundle into your SIMBL plugin folder, like this.?# The resulting path is /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/SafariStand.bundle.?# SafariStand-loader.bundle and Info file are not needed.?# The recommended SIMBL version is 0.8 or later.

SafariStand Settings Window Within the SafariStand settings there are the following tabs: General Stand Search

Stand Search Shortcut - user definable hot-key to bring up the stand search window. Window Close Auto Delay - set how long the Stand search window should remain open.

HTML Source Window Gives you the option of colourising your HTML with your own selected font.

Colorise HTML Source - whether HTML is colorised when viewing a sites html source. Change font - change the source windows default font. Editable - Select if the source windows content is editable or not.

Other options

Tidy by date for downloads - This option will organise Safari downloads into dated folders. Downloads window auto close delay - set the amount of time the Safari downloads window remains open after a download has finished. Change Wheel scroll amount - alter the amount scrolled within a Safari window when a scroll wheel is used. Stand Bar shortcut - user definable hot-key to bring up the Stand Bar. Kill all favicons - removes websites favicons from address bar. Kill Draw Status Bar by Javascript - prevents status bar drawing. Kill Gif Animation - prevents animated gif's being shown. Load Plug-in Manually - Blocks plugins like Flash movies or java applets. Open blank link in new tab - new links from pages will open in a new tab rather than a new window. Block Referrer from Local Host - Prevents referral URL being sent. Switch Tab with wheel - allows tabs to be switched via the use of a mouse wheel. The mouse must be hovering over the tabs for this to work. Include Debug Menu - reveals the hidden Safari Debug menu after the next restart. This gives you access to features such as the Javascript console and User Agent chooser (allowing you to pretend to be a different browser to sites that use browser sniffing).

Sidebar This tab controls settings for SS's "Omniweb" style thumbnail tabs. These are shown in a sidebar at the right . The sidebar is equipped with OmniWeb style thumb-nailed tabs. It can be switched on and off with the 'Toggle Sidebar' option from the menu bar, or you can add a 'button' to the Safari Toolbar via Safari's customise Address bar option.

Each new tab opened will appear in the sidebar with a windowed image of the site. To open a new window just double click in the sidebar, then enter the required URL or click on the appropriate bookmark. Thumbnails can be re-ordered by dragging and dropping them into the positions you require.

Within the Safari Stand settings you can choose either regular or small window sizes. You can also alter their width by dragging the Sidebar separator bar to the left or the right.

Each tab has a context menu with the following options:

New Tab - creates a new tab Close Tab Reload Tab Mark - Is for marking a tab you want to keep. Close all Unmarked tabs - This option is only revealed once you've 'marked' a tab, allowing you to quickly close all but the marked tabs. Mark All Tabs Unmark All Tabs

Show sidebar by default - allows you to always show the tab sidebar Thumbnail size - switches between a regular or a smaller height of tabs Thumbnail Scale - defines how much of the page is shown in the tab. Moving the slider to the left zooms in (showing more detail), while to the right zooms out (showing more of the page)

Quick Search Allows modification of quick-search shortcuts and links for contextual menu. Key Action This feature uses ignored keys to provide functional enhancements. Bookmark Settings for the colorisation and categorization of bookmarks. These settings can only be applied to bookmarks added via SafariStand's menu item 'Add Bookmark' (see below) Site Alteration This tab gives users the ability to define preferences per-site, such as stylesheets, font-sizes and script blocking. In order to use it, first check the box top left 'Enable Site Alteration'. SafariStand Menu Items Site Alteration A global preference for whether site alteration is allowed. Load plugin manually A global preference for whether embedded content (such as Flash movies) has to be clicked to play Encoding Allows you to choose a different encoding for a page Toggle Sidebar Shows/hides the sidebar The Stand Bar The stand bar feature is similar to that of the side bar of Mozilla. With SafariStand this sidebar appears as an independent window. It can be toggled on and off by way of a user definable hot-key (defined in the SafariStand settings). It gives users four options, Bookmarks, History, Side bar, and a simple RSS Reader. How to use RSS in SafariStand Create new bookmark folder in the collections (not in the Bookmarks Menu or Bar) named "Stand Bar RSS". Put a bookmark of RSS feed into it. The 4th button of Stand Bar can be used if select "Rebuild Menu". Stand Search This feature enables you to search through your bookmarks and history with a simple search box or through an emulated Spotlight tab. The Bookmark Shelf This feature allows a 'snapshot' to be taken of a users current web 'workspace' by way of bookmarks. It gives the ability to return to those pages at a later time. Add bookmark This allows you to add bookmarks, applyling a colour label, category and rating at the same time. The label colours and categories are defined in SafariStand's Settings > Bookmark tab. The Action Menu This menu is accessed via the action menu button on the Safari toolbar. Add the action menu icon to the toolbar by choosing View > Customize address bar, or control clicking the toolabar. Drag and drop the action menu icon onto the toolbar.

Copy URL - copies the current URL into the clipboard. Copy Title - This copies the current pages title into the clipboard Copy Link HTML Tag - this copies the current URL into an HTML format e.g. Hetima:SafariStand Show Page Info - Opens a new window with information such as server kind and the option to view the pages sub resources. Sub Resources - shows links to the current pages sub resources such as its CSS file and associated page images. Arrange Tabs - This allows the current tabs to be rearranged and viewed at different sizes.

Tips

Making a bookmark separator in Bookmarks Bar and Bookmarks Menu - Create a Bookmark {URL="title=""} or create folder {title="-:-"}. It makes sparator. Making a labeled separator - Create a new folder or bookmark and name it: "-:-label here".

SafariStand keyboard shortcuts F4: Stand Search window* F5: Stand Bar window* ^ -Apple-D: Add Bookmark Alt-Apple-,: SafariStand Settings Window

These can be changed in SafariStand Settings > General. Disclaimer This software is provided as freeware. For Safari 2.0.1 (Mac OS X10.4.2) it is operational testing. A large amount of testing has been done but there is no guarantee that it will operate normally. Please use with this in mind, and that you are responsible for any effects to your system resulting in the use of SafariStand. SafariStand is not compatible with Safari 1.x. In addition, there maybe issues with versions of Safari later than those SafariStand has been tested with.

Note - This version of SafariStand is a beta edition so please use with caution. For an up-to-date functions list please consult the history.rtf file. If there is a crash then please send a bug report to the above email address.