WebGation is a lightweight, high-performance Chrome Extension designed to enhance your browsing speed. It provides intelligent, context-aware navigation controls in two distinct modes: Static (sleek sidebars) and Floating (draggable pill).
- Dual Modes:
- Static Mode: Minimalist red sidebars for Back/Forward and a hidden-until-needed Top Menu for Home/Reload/Close.
- Floating Mode: A fully draggable, glassmorphic pill that can be positioned anywhere on the screen.
- Smart UI (Auto-Hide):
- Top menus hide automatically when scrolling down to maximize screen real estate and reappear when scrolling up or hovering at the top.
- Floating controls fade to low opacity when idle.
- Advanced Tab History:
- Right-click any Back/Forward button to see a rich history list.
- Displays actual Page Titles (not just URLs) and step indices (e.g., -1, -5).
- Scoped strictly to the current tab for privacy and accuracy.
- Per-Site Customization:
- Toggle the extension on/off for specific websites.
- Save unique positions for the floating bar on every site.
- Native Experience:
- Home button redirects to a custom Homepage.
- Optimized for performance using Manifest V3 and the modern Navigation API.
- Download/Clone this repository to your local machine.
- Open your browser and navigate to
chrome://extensions/. - Enable Developer mode (usually a toggle in the top right corner).
- Click Load unpacked and select the folder containing the extension files.
- webgation is now ready! Upon installation, you will be greeted by the Welcome Page.
- Left Click: Instantly go Back, Forward, Home, Reload, or Close the tab.
- Right Click (Back/Forward): Opens the History Menu. Select a specific page title to jump multiple steps back or forward.
- Sides: Use the thin red sidebars to navigate.
- Top: Move your mouse to the top 60px of the screen or scroll up to reveal the Home, Reload, and Close buttons.
- Move: Click and drag any part of the pill (except buttons) to move it. It will remember its position on that specific website next time you visit.
- Idle: The bar will dim when you aren't using it to stay out of your way.
manifest.json: Extension configuration (Manifest V3).background.js: Handles installation/uninstallation and system-level tab creation.content.js: The bridge between the browser and the page; manages site-specific settings.static.js: The logic and styling for the sidebar-based UI.floating.js: The logic and styling for the draggable pill UI.popup.html/js/css: The settings menu accessible from the browser toolbar.
- History Management: Uses the
Navigation APIto access the tab's specificNavigationHistoryEntrystack. - Title Syncing: Employs
sessionStorageandMutationObserverto map history keys to page titles, ensuring the history menu is readable even on complex Single Page Applications (SPAs). - Persistence: Site settings and positions are stored using
chrome.storage.local.
We’re sorry to see you go! If you choose to remove the extension, you will be redirected to our Uninstall Page where you can provide feedback to help us improve.
Developed for a faster, cleaner web.