• Login
    • Search
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Rules
    • Help

    Do more on the web, with a fast and secure browser!

    Download Opera browser with:

    • built-in ad blocker
    • battery saver
    • free VPN
    Download Opera

    Workspaces as separate sessions

    Suggestions and feature requests
    44
    112
    55624
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • leocg
      leocg Moderator Volunteer @Allex50 last edited by

      @Allex50 See https://www.reddit.com/r/operabrowser/wiki/opera/new_profile, check Create Multiple Profiles for Opera

      Reply Quote 0
        1 Reply Last reply
      • edmarcio
        edmarcio @leocg last edited by edmarcio

        @leocg but you can't use them in Workspace.
        You need to have 2 windows opened... that way is the same as having two browser opened (Opera and Chrome).

        I don't know how people use their browsers... but I have one browser for Work and another browser for Personal because the authentications in the sites are different (aka my Work profile should be different from my Personal profile)... when I say one browser it means one of instance of any browser running with a profile (so it can be two Operas).

        The best way to organize that is to have one workspace for Work, one workspace for Personal and even have options to have others workspaces like University for example.
        But without profiles / session per workspace it will never works... so it become useless to use Workspaces because in the actual state of Opera you will need to have two Windows opened.

        Workspace is suppose to allow you to have grup of tabs without need to have another windows (browser instance)... but not having profiles / sessions kills it purpose.

        In simple terms if I already have to open two, three, etc browsers to deal with different "working subjects" then why I need workspaces at all? Unless these workspaces allow to have different "working subjects" wihtout need a new windows / browser opened it will be useless and redundant.

        PS. It become even more trick if you work with several clients... so for example the Salesforce authentication for one client is different from others clients... in that case you could have one workspace per client but how Opera works you need to have one browser window (instance of opera) per client.

        I have no ideia how when we ask for workspaces with different profiles some here understand that we want just different profiles lol

        Like I said if I need a new window to have different profiles then it will be same as having several browsers... it doesn't organize anything at all.

        Reply Quote 0
          leocg 1 Reply Last reply
        • edmarcio
          edmarcio @Allex50 last edited by edmarcio

          @Allex50 It can't be done... he just mistook you want to have different profiles.

          You can't have workspace with different profiles in Opera... that is why we have this feature request thread.

          Reply Quote 0
            1 Reply Last reply
          • leocg
            leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

            @edmarcio Yep, you got the point, you can't have a different profile for each workspace. However, you can have different profiles, each one with its workspaces.

            Workspaces, as said, it's just a way to have tabs grouped and separated by category,nothing more than that.

            Reply Quote 1
              edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
            • edmarcio
              edmarcio @leocg last edited by

              @leocg that is the reason we are asking Opera to add profile / session to workspaces... that is how it become useful in organize the tabs.

              Reply Quote 0
                leocg 1 Reply Last reply
              • leocg
                leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                @edmarcio The point is that it can't be done, unless Opera/Chromium change the way they work today.

                Reply Quote 0
                  edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
                • edmarcio
                  edmarcio @leocg last edited by edmarcio

                  @leocg the point is... there are example of Chromium browsers that does it... so it is possible... I explained that before.

                  That has nothing to do with Chromium... it was about Opera.
                  Before that excuse was used here but today we have Chromium browsers with Workspace that have different profiles.

                  Explain to me how can The Browser Company can do it and Opera not?

                  Reply Quote 0
                    leocg 2 Replies Last reply
                  • leocg
                    leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                    @edmarcio Yep, there are other browsers with workspaces and with profiles, but can you change the profile for each workspace? Can you do that without opening a new instance of the browser point to the data directory for that new profile?
                    If so, any examples?

                    Reply Quote 0
                      leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                    • leocg
                      leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                      @edmarcio I see that you mentioned Arc browser. I've downloaded and installed it to test but it requires that I create an account jus to use the browser and it's highly suspicious, even more from an unknown browser.

                      Based on what what I read on their page, their workspaces seems more of an (sidebar) extension.

                      Reply Quote 0
                        edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
                      • leocg
                        leocg Moderator Volunteer @leocg last edited by

                        When you create a new profile in Arc Browser, it creates a new profile directory as expected from a Chromium based browser.

                        Couldn't find out how Arc change from a profile to another when the user changes to a space that uses a different profile.

                        Reply Quote 0
                          burnout426 1 Reply Last reply
                        • burnout426
                          burnout426 Volunteer @leocg last edited by

                          @leocg According to comments I've seen in r/browsers, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5BzkowY_B8&t=186s, in Arc, you're supposed to be able to assign a non-default profile to a specific workspace or number of workspaces if you want. But, I've never tested Arc myself and I'm not sure if the feature is only in the macOS build or not.

                          Sounds like a neat feature at least. I would guess it'd be a lot of work to do in Opera though. Maybe some of the guest tabs work in Opera GX would help as a foundation.

                          Reply Quote 0
                            edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
                          • AnilVcube
                            AnilVcube last edited by

                            Workspaces are generally used in two main ways:

                            1. Virtual Desktops
                            2. Development Environments
                            Reply Quote 0
                              1 Reply Last reply
                            • edmarcio
                              edmarcio @leocg last edited by edmarcio

                              @leocg trying to reply your two posts.

                              I won't talk about others browser not based in Chromium because I think we should focus in what Opera is based... so I only know Arc that does Workspace with different profiles.

                              And yes you can do in the same windows... you change anytime the Profile used by an Workspace... it doesn't open a new browser windows and you can have several Workspace with several different profiles.
                              Not sure how it does internally but it works pretty well.

                              The browser works as a sidebar like Opera... the difference is that there is no other option it is all in the sidebar (it only has vertical tabs not horizontal)... the Workspace and sidebar part is very similar to how Opera do it.

                              Said that Arc on Windows is not good... the UI is bad and lacks some key features.... on Mac it is pretty great.

                              My point was it is not impossible because we already have somebody that did it... and as a consumer it is not up to me to realize how it works... maybe Opera engineers can understand better how it works and how to do it even better.

                              Reply Quote 0
                                leocg 2 Replies Last reply
                              • edmarcio
                                edmarcio @burnout426 last edited by edmarcio

                                @burnout426 Arc Windows is bugged and has less features than the Mac one... the UI is worst on Windows too.

                                But the Workspace part works on Windows for these that wants to see how it is.

                                You can assign a different profile to any Workspace, and change it anytime you want... and you can change between Workspaces just like you do in Opera... it is ver snap without any delay at all.

                                In fact the Workspace is very similar to Opera... the difference is that you can use different profiles that is basically what we are asking to Opera add.

                                UI side Opera is way better than Arc... and that is even more evident in Windows.

                                Reply Quote 2
                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                • leocg
                                  leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                                  @edmarcio If we take in consideration that no major browser has anything like that, I guess we can say that it may not be something easy to implement and maintain.
                                  Só the question may be: There are enough demand to justify the costs?

                                  Reply Quote 0
                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                  • leocg
                                    leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                                    @edmarcio What I've noticed so far is Arc uses directories and files that I don't see in other Chromium based browsers.

                                    It seems to use one of those files, StorableSidebar.json, to store information for spaces, such as space names, folders, pinned tabs, etc.

                                    Reply Quote 0
                                      edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
                                    • edmarcio
                                      edmarcio @leocg last edited by edmarcio

                                      @leocg Chrome doesn't have sidebar configuration so these are where Arc store it... same for Opera that has files to store sidebar configs.

                                      That has nothing to do with the profile for each Space.

                                      When you create a new profile to use in Space it create a full new Chrome profile... so inside Arc userdata you have that:

                                      Default (the default profile it comes)
                                      Profile 1 (the first profile you create)
                                      Profile 2 (the second one)
                                      ...
                                      Profile N

                                      This is a default Chromium profile folder... that is what is used to different profiles in each Space.

                                      The files there are 99% similar in name to what you found in Opera profile folders... there is some files different but Opera has some of them too.

                                      Arc is not doing something magical... it is just linking a Chromium profile to one Space... just imagine Spaces as being like another window in Opera (with it own profile) but displayed as a workspace instead window.

                                      When you shift Space everything shift with the data of the other profile... folders, pinned tabs, cookies, bookmarks, etc... the StorableSidebar.json probably holds the configuration of the Spaces and the profiles linked... not the info of what is inside the Space / profile (that data is probably inside each profile folder like Opera has a folder for each profile and display the windows with the data of that profile folder).

                                      See here the Arc data folder: https://i.ibb.co/sj7h9Z6/image-2024-08-26-154538664.png

                                      Arc Default profile: https://i.ibb.co/2dXGZB8/image-2024-08-26-154708011.png

                                      Arc Profile 1: https://i.ibb.co/19b3dyh/image-2024-08-26-154807274.png

                                      Opera Default profile: https://i.ibb.co/Tv3nn33/image-2024-08-26-154909746.png

                                      They probably could even link a profile to a Tab if they wished but I think that should create a mess in terms of organization... linking profiles to Workspace is how Workspace should always work since start.

                                      About demand... I guess there is market for that... at least a bigger market than Opera markeshare because Workspace doesn't make sense at all without different session / profiles... the market share of Opera today is very small... any gain is good.

                                      Reply Quote 0
                                        leocg 2 Replies Last reply
                                      • leocg
                                        leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                                        @edmarcio If there is that much demand, why no major browser implemented such feature until now?

                                        Reply Quote 0
                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                        • leocg
                                          leocg Moderator Volunteer @edmarcio last edited by

                                          @edmarcio And Workspaces were designed to be just a way to group tabs, so it makes sense even without different profiles.

                                          Reply Quote 0
                                            edmarcio 1 Reply Last reply
                                          • edmarcio
                                            edmarcio @leocg last edited by edmarcio

                                            @leocg we will agree to disagree here.
                                            You say that but it is utter useless without profiles.

                                            And like I said before this is a place to ask for new features...

                                            Reply Quote 1
                                              1 Reply Last reply
                                            • First post
                                              Last post

                                            Computer browsers

                                            • Opera for Windows
                                            • Opera for Mac
                                            • Opera for Linux
                                            • Opera beta version
                                            • Opera USB

                                            Mobile browsers

                                            • Opera for Android
                                            • Opera Mini
                                            • Opera Touch
                                            • Opera for basic phones

                                            • Add-ons
                                            • Opera account
                                            • Wallpapers
                                            • Opera Ads

                                            • Help & support
                                            • Opera blogs
                                            • Opera forums
                                            • Dev.Opera

                                            • Security
                                            • Privacy
                                            • Cookies Policy
                                            • EULA
                                            • Terms of Service

                                            • About Opera
                                            • Press info
                                            • Jobs
                                            • Investors
                                            • Become a partner
                                            • Contact us

                                            Follow Opera

                                            • Opera - Facebook
                                            • Opera - Twitter
                                            • Opera - YouTube
                                            • Opera - LinkedIn
                                            • Opera - Instagram

                                            © Opera Software 1995-