PostHog: Open In New Tab Feature For Enhanced Navigation

Oct 30, 2025 by Admin 57 views

Hey PostHog users! 👋 I've got a feature request that I think could seriously level up your workflow. It's all about making the most of those handy tabs in the PostHog app. Let's dive in and see how we can make your experience even smoother.

The Problem: Losing Your Place in PostHog

So, you know how PostHog recently introduced tabs? Honestly, it's a lifesaver! Instead of cluttering up your browser with a million tabs, you can keep everything nice and tidy within the app. But here's the rub: when you're deep diving into your data, things can get a little clunky. Let's say you're checking out an event or sifting through survey responses. You spot a user who's super interesting, and you want to dig into their activity. Right now, when you click to open that person's profile, it usually replaces your current tab. Poof! Your original view is gone, and you have to retrace your steps. This can be a real headache, especially if you've got a complex filter setup on your events or a specific view you want to preserve. It can be super frustrating to lose your place and have to start all over again, and this is where the new tab feature comes in.

The Annoyance of Losing Filters and Context

Imagine this: you've spent time carefully crafting a filtered list of events to analyze a specific user behavior. You've got all the right filters in place, and the data is just what you need. Then, you click on a person to view their profile, and bam – your carefully curated event list disappears. You're left trying to remember all the filters you used, and it takes time to get back to the same point. This is a common situation for anyone using PostHog to analyze user behavior. This constant back-and-forth and the need to re-establish your context can really slow down your analysis. The loss of context is one of the most significant challenges in data analysis. It disrupts the flow of your work and forces you to spend more time setting things up and less time understanding the data.

The Solution: Open in New Tab Option

My suggestion is simple: give us the option to open new objects (like person profiles) in a new tab within the PostHog app. When you click on a person's name from an event, survey, or activity list, a dropdown could appear. This could provide an option to open that profile in a new tab or the existing tab. This way, you can easily bounce between a person's profile and the context you were in. This would preserve your place in your data exploration while also allowing you to delve deeper into specific user details. Think of it as a much more efficient way to explore your data. This would not only save time but also eliminate a lot of frustration. Users could seamlessly switch between different views without losing their train of thought.

Benefits of the New Tab Feature

Enhanced Navigation: Easily switch between different objects without losing context. This feature would significantly improve the app's overall navigation. You could analyze user behavior in more detail without the constant need to retrace your steps.
Improved Efficiency: Save time by quickly navigating between different data views. Users could effortlessly jump between different data points without the need to reload or re-filter.
Better Data Exploration: Encourage deeper dives into user data without the fear of losing your place. The feature would encourage more in-depth exploration of user data. With the ability to easily navigate between different views, users can conduct more comprehensive analysis.
Preserved Context: Keep your filters and settings intact while exploring different aspects of your data.

Alternatives Considered: The Current Workarounds

Currently, the workaround is to open a new browser tab. It works, sure, but it's a bit clunky. It involves leaving the PostHog app and managing separate browser tabs, which can quickly become a mess. You might even forget to do it, and then you're back to square one, losing your context and having to start over. It's not a seamless experience, and it takes you out of the flow of your analysis. There's a lot of room for improvement here. Even though opening a new browser tab is an option, it's not the ideal solution. It disrupts the user experience and can lead to inefficient workflows. It does the job, but it isn't a great user experience.

Why Current Workarounds Fall Short

The current workaround, which involves opening new browser tabs, disrupts the flow of your analysis. Instead of staying within the context of PostHog, users have to navigate outside the app, manage multiple browser tabs, and potentially lose their focus. The cognitive load of switching between apps and tabs can also be significant. Users will need to remember where they were, and it takes longer to get back to where they were before. While it's functional, the constant switching can break the concentration and reduce productivity.

Additional Context: Clear and Simple

Honestly, the concept is pretty straightforward. By giving us the ability to open links in new tabs, we would get more control over how we explore our data. It would be a game-changer for anyone who frequently jumps between different views and analyses within the app. I think this feature will be a big win for user experience and make everyone's lives a little easier.

The Importance of a Smooth User Experience

In the world of data analytics, a smooth user experience is critical. The easier it is to navigate and analyze data, the more time users can spend deriving insights. The proposed new tab feature directly addresses this need. By making it easier to switch between different data points and preserve the context, it enables analysts to focus on what matters most: understanding user behavior and driving actionable decisions.

Debug Info

Here's the debug info for the feature request.

- [ ] PostHog Cloud, Debug information: [please copy/paste from https://us.posthog.com/settings/project-details#variables]
- [ ] PostHog Hobby self-hosted with `docker compose`, version/commit: [please provide]
- [ ] PostHog self-hosted with Kubernetes (deprecated, see [`Sunsetting Kubernetes support`](https://posthog.com/blog/sunsetting-helm-support-posthog)), version/commit: [please provide]

I hope this feature request gets some love from the PostHog team! Let me know what you think, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to ask! Let's make PostHog even better, one tab at a time! 🚀