The Phials window

The Phials window keeps the files you are working with in the center and supporting tools around the edges. The major surfaces can move, but their roles stay the same.

The center

The center contains tabs. An Explorer tab browses one location and owns its own navigation, selection, and file view. When a file opens in the center, Phials creates or focuses a file tab for that file. Other features, such as Help or Terminal, can also appear as center tabs.

A tab belongs to one tab group. When the center has more than one tab group, the groups form a split view, so several active tabs can remain visible at once.

Docks and panels

The left dock, right dock, and bottom dock are placement areas for movable panels. A panel is a named surface such as Navigator, File, Page, Tags, or Terminal.

The default arrangement puts the Navigator panel on the left and the File, Page, and Tags panels on the right. The bottom dock starts closed. You can show, hide, resize, or rearrange these areas without changing your files.

The File and Page panels follow the selection in the active Explorer tab. Selecting a different file updates these panels; opening the file creates a persistent file tab in the center.

For the next part of the mental model, see Browsing in Phials. For complete placement controls, see Arrange docks and panels.