Closed Bug 553460 Opened 14 years ago Closed 6 years ago

Consolidate "Restart Now" buttons to just one entry

Categories

(Toolkit :: Add-ons Manager, defect)

defect
Not set
normal

Tracking

()

RESOLVED WONTFIX
Future
Tracking Status
blocking2.0 --- -

People

(Reporter: tchung, Assigned: Unfocused)

References

Details

(Whiteboard: [rewrite])

Attachments

(1 file, 2 obsolete files)

if installing 2+ addons before restarting browser, the pane shows a "restart button" for each separate entry. We need to consolidate that to one button for the whole page. 

Repro:
1) install addons branch build: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; rv:1.9.3a3pre) Gecko/20100318 Minefield/3.7a3pre
2) open addons manager
3) install 2 or more addons to the pane, but Don't restart
4) Verify the Features pane, each addon you installed has a "Restart Now" button to the right of the addon.   This can be confusing, as a user might think picking one addon to restart means only enabling that addon.

Expected:
- Have one consolidated "Restart Button" someplace for all unrestarted addons.   This will avoid the confusion of someone thinking they have to restart each entry.

Actual:
- Restart now after each entry.
No longer depends on: 553457
Whiteboard: [rewrite]
Assignee: nobody → bmcbride
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
Flags: in-testsuite?
Keywords: uiwanted
Flags: in-litmus?
Boriss, do we have some mockup for how this is meant to look?
Version: unspecified → Trunk
I think this is a part we should consider for the final version. Asking for blocking.
blocking2.0: --- → ?
A little background: 

The current mockups display a message relating to an add-on above that add-on in list view with a differently styled background.  Removing an add-on that requires a restart, for instance, would display a message that the add-on will be removed after restart with the option to restart now.

Removing two add-ons in this way without restarting would produce two similar messages, both prompting a restart.

Creating duplicate messages in this way shouldn't be too confusing: only one message is created at a time, and the user has the option to ignore it and create another. 

If the user has performed many actions on add-ons, such as installing and removing, they could see several messages to restart for several add-ons. 

Where this could become a problem is when multiple actions are taken at once.  There’s currently no way to install many add-ons at once, but many add-ons could be removed at once by selecting them and then clicking the X at the top right of an entry.

Proposed Solution:

If multiple actions are taken at once, we could show some global message at the top of the add-ons manager.  But this would break the consistency of showing messages within the relevant add-on, and would also conflict with Firefox's global-level notifications.

Instead, why not show the total sum of the actions on the add-on where the action was taken?  If the use selects three add-ons and clicks the removal X, the message to remove all three add-ons would be shown on the add-on where the X was selected.  The other two add-ons could be styled in the same soon-to-be-removed manner, but without the message.  This way, the user still only sees the message once per action, consistently with removal one add-on at a time.
I don't think this makes it very clear which of the other add-ons are marked to be removed. The only clue is a button on them.
(In reply to comment #5)
> I don't think this makes it very clear which of the other add-ons are marked to
> be removed. The only clue is a button on them.

And the differently colored background.  Though to make it more clear, you could change the titles of the add-ons, just as we would when they were disabled. Only problem is that it would be redundant with the message above.
The text behind the Add-on name can become a problem for localized builds. English is one of the locales which has short content. But there are others which would fill all the space or even would require more space. Do we wanna crop parts of the content here?

Personally I like the little trash bin icon. If we could display it for each add-on which should get removed we could initiate an undo if the user clicks on it. Would it be sufficient to only have the icon, or is a text absolutely necessary?
Current UI is not ideal, but is not *broken*, so not going to hold the release for this. Would take a well-tested patch.
blocking2.0: ? → -
I like the mockups, but feel two changes are called for.  First, when addons will be added, disabled/enabled, or removed during a restart; put them up top in a special group.  Second, add the option for a restart button to always be visible.  If something was requested that requires a restart, have it animate.
I was going to file a separate bug, but I came across this one and it seems like the place to mention it, to avoid repeated minor revisions to this GUI element. I really like the new Add-ons Manager; it feels much easier and more lightweight to use. A few thoughts:

1) Regarding comment #4: While it's more consistent to put the Restart button with the add-on rather than on the top (or some other central location):
 - It's hard to find on a long list of add-ons (e.g., if I disable one, do something else before I restart, and then come back to it); it could easily scroll off the screen.
 - It's easy to forget that a restart is pending (again, on a long list, it could scroll off the screen).
 - It could be confusing to the end user: Are they restarting that add-on or the whole browser? (Users don't know that they can't restart one add-on.) A more central location seems more consistent with retarting the browser, rather than one add-on. At least change the wording to "Restart Firefox".

2) Also, using something that looks like a link rather than a button seems inconsistent with the rest of FF's interface, where every command is a button or in a menu. Links are for navigation (e..g, the "More ..." button). I would expect questions from some of my users.

3) Finally, at least on my system, the the "Restart Now" button is easy to overlook, though the mockup above helps. It's just some small blue text, that seems more like navigational element (see #2).

I don't know your other requirements, but looking at these narrow considerations, an obvious button (that looks like a button) at the top seems easiest for the user. It's easy to find; makes it clear that the browser, not the addon is restarting; and reminds the user that a restart is pending.

I'm using FF 4.0b6 on Win7 x64, with small fonts on a high res screen, FWIW.
To be revisited after 4.0.
Assignee: bmcbride → nobody
Status: ASSIGNED → NEW
Target Milestone: --- → Future
The old mockups and the new Australis mockups clash on this, so Boriss says to go with the new Australis mockups. Gonna try working on this sometime soon, as it makes restart notifications in new Appearance pane (bug 520124) sane.
Assignee: nobody → bmcbride
Attachment #462488 - Attachment is obsolete: true
Attachment #462522 - Attachment is obsolete: true
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
Flags: in-litmus?
We no longer support non-restartless addons
Status: ASSIGNED → RESOLVED
Closed: 6 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
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