diff --git a/src/guiengine/engine.cpp b/src/guiengine/engine.cpp
index 19d8b4a2d..bf7535e9c 100644
--- a/src/guiengine/engine.cpp
+++ b/src/guiengine/engine.cpp
@@ -96,10 +96,15 @@
  \li The "tabs" subcategory will show a tab bar. behaviour is same as normal ribbon, only looks are different.
  Orientation of tabs (up or down) is automatically inferred from on-screen position
  
- \note Ribbon widgets are of spawn type (\<ribbon\> ... \</ribbon\>) and may contain icon-buttons or buttons as children.
- \note Property PROP_SQUARE can be set to tell the engine if the ribbon's contents are rectangular or not (this will
- affect the type of highlighting used)
+ \note Ribbon widgets are of spawn type (\<ribbon\> ... \</ribbon\>) and may contain icon-buttons or buttons
+       as children.
+ \note Property PROP_SQUARE can be set to tell the engine if the ribbon's contents are rectangular or not
+       (this will affect the type of highlighting used)
  \note All elements within a ribbon must have an 'ID' property
+ \note Text-only ribbons (e.g. tabs) can have their elements dynamically added at runtime, too. Just add
+       no children to the ribbon in the XML file, and add them at runtime through the method for this.
+       Dynamic contents creation for other types RibbonWidget is currently NOT implemented because we had
+       no need for it. It can be added as needed.
  
  \n
  \subsection widget2 WTYPE_SPINNER
diff --git a/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.cpp b/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.cpp
index ca958cc63..14d4eddf0 100644
--- a/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.cpp
+++ b/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.cpp
@@ -248,6 +248,18 @@ void RibbonWidget::add()
 }
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+void RibbonWidget::addTextChild(const wchar_t* text, const std::string id)
+{
+    ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
+    item->m_text = text;
+    item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = id;
+    
+    m_children.push_back(item);
+}
+
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 void RibbonWidget::select(std::string item, const int mousePlayerID)
 {
     const int subbuttons_amount = m_children.size();
diff --git a/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.hpp b/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.hpp
index 3c3fd5bb9..9465904e2 100644
--- a/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.hpp
+++ b/src/guiengine/widgets/ribbon_widget.hpp
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ namespace GUIEngine
         
         /** Returns the ID of the item, or -1 if not found */
         int findItemNamed(const char* internalName);
+        
+        /** \brief        dynamically (at runtime) add a text item to this ribbon
+          * \precondition this must be called before RibbonWidget::add, while the widget is not yet displayed
+          * \precondition only valid for ribbons that take text-only contents (e.g. tab bars)
+          */
+        void addTextChild(const wchar_t* text, const std::string id);
     };
 
 }
diff --git a/src/states_screens/arenas_screen.cpp b/src/states_screens/arenas_screen.cpp
index 9415a1bf1..29dfa542b 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/arenas_screen.cpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/arenas_screen.cpp
@@ -51,19 +51,14 @@ ArenasScreen::ArenasScreen() : Screen("arenas.stkgui")
     const int group_amount = groups.size();
     for (int n=0; n<group_amount; n++)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
-        item->m_text = groups[n].c_str(); // FIXME: i18n ?
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = groups[n];
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        //FIXME: group name not translated
+        tabs->addTextChild( stringw(groups[n].c_str()).c_str(), groups[n]);
     }
     
     if (group_amount > 1)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
-        //I18N: name of the tab that will show tracks from all groups
-        item->m_text = _("All");
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = ALL_ARENA_GROUPS_ID;
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        //I18N: name of the tab that will show arenas from all groups
+        tabs->addTextChild( _("All") , ALL_ARENA_GROUPS_ID);
     }
     
 }   // ArenasScreen
diff --git a/src/states_screens/kart_selection.cpp b/src/states_screens/kart_selection.cpp
index 4bb3bc965..d5035100e 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/kart_selection.cpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/kart_selection.cpp
@@ -713,7 +713,6 @@ KartSelectionScreen::KartSelectionScreen() : Screen("karts.stkgui")
     m_player_confirmed = false;
     
     // Dynamically add tabs
-    // FIXME: it's not very well documented that RibbonWidgets can have dynamically generated contents
     RibbonWidget* tabs = this->getWidget<RibbonWidget>("kartgroups");
     assert( tabs != NULL );
     
@@ -724,19 +723,14 @@ KartSelectionScreen::KartSelectionScreen() : Screen("karts.stkgui")
     const int group_amount = groups.size();
     for (int n=0; n<group_amount; n++)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
-        item->m_text = groups[n].c_str(); // FIXME: i18n ?
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = groups[n];
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        //FIXME: group name not translated
+        tabs->addTextChild( stringw(groups[n].c_str()).c_str() , groups[n]);
     }
     
     if (group_amount > 1)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
         //I18N: name of the tab that will show tracks from all groups
-        item->m_text = _("All");
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = ALL_KART_GROUPS_ID;
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        tabs->addTextChild( _("All") , ALL_KART_GROUPS_ID);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/states_screens/tracks_screen.cpp b/src/states_screens/tracks_screen.cpp
index bb2f5216b..c054a54fc 100644
--- a/src/states_screens/tracks_screen.cpp
+++ b/src/states_screens/tracks_screen.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ DEFINE_SCREEN_SINGLETON( TracksScreen );
 TracksScreen::TracksScreen() : Screen("tracks.stkgui")
 {
     // Dynamically add tabs
-    // FIXME: it's not very well documented that RibbonWidgets can have dynamically generated contents
     RibbonWidget* tabs = this->getWidget<RibbonWidget>("trackgroups");
     assert( tabs != NULL );
     
@@ -52,19 +51,14 @@ TracksScreen::TracksScreen() : Screen("tracks.stkgui")
     const int group_amount = groups.size();
     for (int n=0; n<group_amount; n++)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
-        item->m_text = groups[n].c_str(); // FIXME: i18n ?
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = groups[n];
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        // FIXME: group name is not translated
+        tabs->addTextChild( stringw(groups[n].c_str()).c_str(), groups[n] );
     }
     
     if (group_amount > 1)
     {
-        ButtonWidget* item = new ButtonWidget();
         //I18N: name of the tab that will show tracks from all groups
-        item->m_text = _("All");
-        item->m_properties[PROP_ID] = ALL_TRACK_GROUPS_ID;
-        tabs->m_children.push_back(item);
+        tabs->addTextChild(_("All"), ALL_TRACK_GROUPS_ID );
     }
 }