The tab feature in Yahoo Mail was one of the mail service provider's most popular features. However, when Yahoo redesigned its mail client last October, long time users had to deal with the fact that the popular feature was discontinued.
For the uninitiated, the Yahoo Mail tab feature allowed users to multi-task. Users could open received emails on one tab while composing outgoing messages on another tab.
Due to the popularity of the feature, Yahoo has decided to bring it back, making many Yahoo Mail users happy. Yahoo Mail users can now enable the tabs feature by tweaking their Yahoo Mail settings. On the other hand, users who prefer a more Spartan mail service can simply opt to leave the tabs feature disabled.
The move was announced in a blog post on Yahoo Mail's Tumbler page with the simple headline "Yahoo Mail Tabs Are Back." Along with the announcement, instructions on how to enable the tabs were also included in the blog post.
"To turn on the new Tabs, go to View, Multitasking and select Tabs," says Yahoo Senior Vice President for Communications Jeff Bonforte. "Emails you want to read, emails you are composing, Calendar and Contacts all appear as individual tabs. If you use the preview pane, double-clicking an email will open it in a tab." Bonforte adds.
One of the reasons the Yahoo Mail Tabs feature was shelved in the first place was because some users were complaining about how confusing things could get when too many tabs were opened. To address this problem, Yahoo has also added a few improvements to its Tab feature, such as a "preview all" option that can be used to view thumbnails of all open tabs. This way, users can easily navigate through their open tabs with ease. According the Yahoo's blog post, users from around the world can expect the feature to be available "over the next few days."
Yahoo is trying very hard to please its users, especially after an incident last week when a relatively small number of Yahoo Mail users were unable to access the service over a number of days. According to Yahoo, the problem was caused by malfunctioning hardware issues, which have now ben resolved. While Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer herself apologized for the incident, the damage was done and some users were dismayed. Yahoo Mail's October redesign was also widely criticized by many long-term users leading to online petitions and a barrage of complaints on Yahoo support forums.