112647 - Cookie Manager: remove and block UI ambiguous

Status: VERIFIED WORKSFORME

(Core :: Networking: Cookies, defect)

Description

[Alec Flett]

I was just looking through my cookie list and I saw a bunch of sites where I
said to myself "Hey, I don't even want cookies from them!" - I was able to
delete the specific cookie, but there should be a way to block cookies based on
a cookie that I've selected...

for instance, I have a cookie from ads.admonitor.net or somesuch. I might remove
the cookie, but I might have no idea where I got it, or if that site will ever
put more cookies on my machine. The only way to add it to the 'blocked sites'
list is to type the site into the url bar, and then go to
Tasks->Privacy..->Cookie..->Block..

I do see the checkbox "Don't allow removed cookies to be reaccepted later" but I
have no idea how long that persists? does that only apply for sites that I've
removed while that checkbox is checked? Does the checkbox have to remain check
in order for the specific cookies to continue to be blocked? does that apply to
all cookies that I've deleted ever, or just the ones since I checked the box?
Anyway, its confusing :)

My suggestion is to add a 3rd button "Remove and block" and then immediately add
it to the "Blocked sites" list (i.e. so that it's visible if I click the other
tab) - but I'm flexible - another option might be to pop up an alert each time
"Do you wish to block all future cookies from this site?" (though that would get
tedious if you were deleting more than 2 or 3 cookies) - I'm flexible on the UI,
just provide a way to do it :)

Comment 1

[Stephen P. Morse]

You were right in focusing on the "don't allow removed cookies to be accepted 
later" checkbox.  It does exactly what you are asking for.  To answer your 
specific questions:

> how long does it persist

The site has been added to the list of blocked sites.  So the decision to not 
accept cookies from that site persists until you change your mind -- i.e., until 
you go to the list of blocked sites and delete that site.

> does that apply only to sites that I've removed while the checkbox is checked

Recall that when you press the remove button, you are not really removing a 
cookie but rather selecting it as a candidate to be removed.  These selected 
candidates don't get removed until (and unless) you exit the dialog by clicking 
on OK.  If the checkbox is checked at the time that you click OK, then the 
decision to permanently reject applies to all those selected cookies that are 
being deleted.

> does the checkbox have to remain checked in order for the specific cookies to
> continue to be blocked

No.  Once you clicked OK, those sites get on the blocked list.  Once on the 
blocked list, those sites remain there regardless of what state the checkbox is 
in on future visits to the cookie manager dialog.

> Does that apply to all cookies that I've deleted ever, or just the ones since
> I checked the box

It "applies to" (i.e., blocks) the sites of those cookies that are being deleted 
when you press OK.  If you exit without pressing OK, it doesn't add any new 
sites to the blocked-sites list.

Marking as invalid since the feature requested is exactly the checkbox that 
already exists.

Comment 2

[Alec Flett]

oh! cool. I'm psyched to see that the capability is there and I'll definitely
start using it. I was trying to use it by leaving the checkbox checked as I
deleted items, and then unchecking the checkbox before hitting ok, which, while
obviously wrong now that I know how it works, was not obviously wrong to me
previously.

that said, I think we need to reevaluate the UI here, look at all the questions
this generates...I don't know what UI person to reassign this to? 

I think we're expecting a lot from the user to be able to intuit all these
things because they might not have the same mental model as how it actually
works...for instance, it may be that deleting a cookie technically doesn't
delete the cookie until you press ok, but many non-technical users might think
of it as "deleting the cookie, but if I hit cancel, bring it back"

Comment 3

[Stephen P. Morse]

I think the whole problem could be cleared up by rewording the text on the 
checkbox.  Maybe something like "cookies being removed when OK is clicked will 
not be reaccepted later."  But I'll leave that up to UE.  Reassigning to marlon 
to come up with a proposed UI change.

Comment 4

[Diego Biurrun]

I had the same problems Alec Flett had.  This is nonintuitive, I was never sure
when to leave that box checked and what its exact effect would be.  Furthermore
it does not allow you to delete+block some cookies and at the same time only
delete a few others.  I have done this sometimes to delete my bugzilla cookies
(I have had random problems with queries that disappeared after deleting
bugzilla's cookies) and delete+block some other cookies from some adsite that
somehow creeped in.  I had to open the cookie manager twice to accomplish that.
 This is too much of a hassle.  Why not just add a button that reads "Delete +
Block" (or something similar)?  That should be unambiguous and would allow
mixing "delete" with "delete + block" in one go.

If we can agree on that I will gladly come up with a patch for that.

Comment 5

[Diego Biurrun]

Changing summary to differentiate this from bug 75915 (Cannot block all cookies
EXCEPT for those sites specifically allowed access to place cookies.)

Comment 6

[Kevin Chen]

I filed bug 161128 a few days ago, since I didn't see this one.

In that bug, I suggested looking at the value of the checkbox as each cookie is
being removed, and if it is checked, adding it to the banned list immediately,
instead of clicking OK.

There are comments in this bug which mention this problem, though the bug seems
to focus on adding a new button, instead of looking at the checkbox.  But that
seems better to me anyway, so I guess I'll just mark bug 161128 as a dup of this
one.

Having a "Remove and Block" button IS definitely much better than that checkbox.
 It would be best, as I mentioned in the other bug, to place the site on the
banned list right away, though, instead of when clicking OK.  That's what you
would expect, especially since the cookie is removed from the list right away.

Comment 7

[Kevin Chen]

*** Bug 161128 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[Michiel van Leeuwen (email: mvl+moz@)]

The cookie is now deleted right when you press the button, not when closing the
dialog. So the site is added to the list immidiatly, and with the current status
of the checkbox.
cvs blame suggests this is since fixing bug 156922.
Closing as worksforme, please reopen if it still doesn't work.