FasTabs are what I call the system of tabs and associated panes that you see here. First, notice that as you click on a tab, the switch takes nearly no delay time. The pane content changes just about as fast as you can click. This is because the content for all the panes are contained within one webpage. So no page refreshes are necessary. The content in the inactive tabs are simply hidden from view.

Now I didn't invent the concept of hot-switchable content. It's been around for years in various forms. However, to my knowledge, this is the first time that a free and easy-to-use system has been made available to the public, for creating your own tabs. it is called the FasTabs Designer.

Who is it for?

While it has been written for web designers, website owners, managers, and others in the industry, there is no reason anyone who's interested can't play with this tool.

Why use it?

Aside from its' speed, it can:

• significantly reduce the number of pages in a site, simplifying the site topology and making life easier;
• enhance the user experience by providing a more desktop-like, more intuitive interface; No waiting for page refreshes or having to use the 'back' button.
• Prettify the site via the use of color.

And, by the way, I created the tabs in this help page using the very same FasTabs Designer. So, yes, we eat our own dogfood here at FasTabs Central.

To get started, notice the Tab Management box near the top of the page. Here's where you can insert additional tabs as well as move and delete them.

To edit a tab name, click the down arrow key and an edit box will appear. When you're happy with the new tab name, click down arrow again, or simply click on another tab. If you want to revert to the original name, press the escape key.

To edit content in a particular pane, simply click the tab of the pane you want to edit, then click anywhere in the pane. Notice that a grey border appears around the pane, and notice a set of editing buttons appear at the bottom (you may have to scroll down to see them). If you're happy with the content you can press the 'save' button below, or simply click on another tab. To abort your changes, click on the 'close' button below, or press the escape key.

There is an excellent editor called tinymce, produced by a company called Moxiecode, which I've integrated in this system.

To switch panes, either click on a tab, or press the right or left arrow keys.

To set one or more tabs to different colors, open the color controls, move the sliders, and press the 'apply' button. Feel free to experiment; you can't break anything.

Note that the editor has an undo/redo feature, which you can access via ctrl+z and ctrl+y respectively. These are for changes within an editing session. Once you close the editor, not to be confusing, but FasTabs has its' own undo/redo system. It can be used for any non-editor related changes, and to take you back to a state before you opened the editor. For that, use the undo/redo buttons in the Tab Management Box.

Once you have the tabs labeled, colored, and edited just the way you want, Pressing the Go To Preview Page button in the Tab Management box, will allow you to see how the tabs will appear and work the same way your users will. In addition, it will provide the HTML code you can copy and paste into your own page(s).

Another thing you can do with the Preview Page is save it to your own computer. This may be helpful if you want to create several projects, with a preview of the tabs along with the code needed to produce them, conveniently stored on a single page. Also, after navigating to a saved page, you can go back to the editor to make additional changes.

Note that using this system, there's nothing to download. No registration process. I keep none of your information. So, by you saving your own pages on your own system, if you desire, you have some of the benefits of a user registration system without the hassle.

And by the way, there is no adware, spyware, or malware of any kind. I can't stand that stuff and would never foist it upon unsuspecting users!

I use only JavaScript, which is a relatively safe technology, and PHP on the back end.

Right now I have no 'contact me' section. I'm thinking to install a forum, where users can ask for help, help each other, and post questions, bug reports, feature requests, etc...

Since this is a first stab at a help page, I've doubtless left many questions unanswered. I appreciate your patience in these early days of this fledgling tool. I hope to provide further details as soon as possible. Stay Tuned.