1274210 - SUMO article should only show "Refresh Firefox" button if reset is supported

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(support.mozilla.org :: Knowledge Base Software, task, P3)

Description

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

For context see the discussion in Bug 1126559.

TL;DR - there's a new getConfiguration("canReset") call being added to UITour API that allows a web page to determine if the users' browser supports reset. Once this is in release channel, the following SUMO article should be updated to only display the "Reset Firefox" button if the users browser supports reset.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

Comment 1

[Alice Wyman]

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings and other SUMO articles use a template* to show the Refresh Firefox button so it's the template that will need updating.

* https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps

Comment 2

[Joni Chan]

Need info'ing myself as a reminder. If anyone from the community wants to take this on, please contact me.

Comment 3

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #0)
> For context see the discussion in Bug 1126559.
> 
> TL;DR - there's a new getConfiguration("canReset") call being added to
> UITour API that allows a web page to determine if the users' browser
> supports reset. Once this is in release channel, the following SUMO article
> should be updated to only display the "Reset Firefox" button if the users
> browser supports reset.
> <snip>

(In reply to Joni Savage ("need info" me) from comment #2)
> Need info'ing myself as a reminder. If anyone from the community wants to
> take this on, please contact me.

Bug 1087856 added the ability to include a working Refresh button to support articles. Template:Resetsteps [*] has this first step for fx35 and above: 
# Click this [[Button:refresh]] button directly, if you are viewing this page in Firefox 

What exactly needs to be done "once this is in release channel"(for fx49 ?) to remove that button from articles that use the template when reset is not supported? 

* https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps

Comment 4

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

(In reply to Alice Wyman from comment #3)
> (In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #0)
> > For context see the discussion in Bug 1126559.
> > 
> > TL;DR - there's a new getConfiguration("canReset") call being added to
> > UITour API that allows a web page to determine if the users' browser
> > supports reset. Once this is in release channel, the following SUMO article
> > should be updated to only display the "Reset Firefox" button if the users
> > browser supports reset.
> > <snip>
> 
> (In reply to Joni Savage ("need info" me) from comment #2)
> > Need info'ing myself as a reminder. If anyone from the community wants to
> > take this on, please contact me.
> 
> Bug 1087856 added the ability to include a working Refresh button to support
> articles. Template:Resetsteps [*] has this first step for fx35 and above: 
> # Click this [[Button:refresh]] button directly, if you are viewing this
> page in Firefox 
> 
> What exactly needs to be done "once this is in release channel"(for fx49 ?)
> to remove that button from articles that use the template when reset is not
> supported? 
> 
> * https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps

As I understand it, the SUMO article is currently offering the reset dialog to all Firefox users, even if their channel or user profile does not support the feature - resulting in some broken behavior. The button should only really be offered to users on release channel (you can use getConfiguration("appinfo") to query this), and also only if getConfiguration("canReset") returns "true".

Comment 5

[Alice Wyman]

Thanks, Alex.  I'll leave this to Joni or another member of the community, then, since it looks like something other than editing the template content for fx49 is involved.

Comment 6

[Joni Chan]

Alice is correct in that we offer the Refresh button to version 35 users and above.

Alex, what alternative method should the article offer if a user's browser doesn't support reset/refresh? Should we tell them to uninstall and reinstall Firefox?

Comment 7

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

(In reply to Joni Savage ("need info" me) from comment #6)
> Alice is correct in that we offer the Refresh button to version 35 users and
> above.
> 
> Alex, what alternative method should the article offer if a user's browser
> doesn't support reset/refresh? Should we tell them to uninstall and
> reinstall Firefox?

I'm not best suited to answer this question I'm afraid. Perhaps ask someone who works on Firefox.

Comment 8

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

I see Matt is CC'd here, maybe he can help advise.

Comment 9

[Joni Chan]

Ben, are these code changes something your team can help us with?

Comment 10

[Alice Wyman]

I see that https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ only displays the "Refresh Firefox" button for the latest Firefox release channel version (currently 46.0.1). I tried that page in Firefox 38.8.0 ESR and Firefox 47.0b7 Beta: no Refresh button appeared. I gather from bug 1126559 comment 1 that this is expected (by the way, bug 1126559 now shows status-firefox48: affected → fixed).

So,  the plan for this bug is to restrict showing the Refresh button in SUMO articles to the latest Firefox release channel version?  I don't know if that's such a good idea.  That would make it harder for users on Firefox ESR, Beta, and outdated Firefox versions, since they would have to navigate away from the article to find a working Refresh button. For example, we now tell Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 users to switch to Firefox ESR as an option since Firefox 48 is the last version that those Mac systems can use - see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-osx

If this bug is fixed then https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps step 1 will have to be updated, to tell users that a working Refresh Firefox button will only appear if they're using the latest Firefox release.  Users of other versions would have to use the Refresh button on about:support page or in the Firefox Safe Mode window.

Comment 11

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

(In reply to Alice Wyman from comment #10)
> I see that https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ only displays the
> "Refresh Firefox" button for the latest Firefox release channel version
> (currently 46.0.1). I tried that page in Firefox 38.8.0 ESR and Firefox
> 47.0b7 Beta: no Refresh button appeared. I gather from bug 1126559 comment 1
> that this is expected (by the way, bug 1126559 now shows status-firefox48:
> affected → fixed).
> 
> So,  the plan for this bug is to restrict showing the Refresh button in SUMO
> articles to the latest Firefox release channel version?  I don't know if
> that's such a good idea.  That would make it harder for users on Firefox
> ESR, Beta, and outdated Firefox versions, since they would have to navigate
> away from the article to find a working Refresh button. For example, we now
> tell Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 users to switch to Firefox ESR as an
> option since Firefox 48 is the last version that those Mac systems can use -
> see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-osx
> 
> If this bug is fixed then
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps step 1 will have to
> be updated, to tell users that a working Refresh Firefox button will only
> appear if they're using the latest Firefox release.  Users of other versions
> would have to use the Refresh button on about:support page or in the Firefox
> Safe Mode window.

For mozilla.org we only show it for the current release version. For what you do on SUMO, that is more up to you. The important thing is that you use getConfiguration("canReset"), so you don't inadvertently display a broken button to users.

Comment 12

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #4)

> As I understand it, the SUMO article is currently offering the reset dialog
> to all Firefox users, even if their channel or user profile does not support
> the feature - resulting in some broken behavior. The button should only
> really be offered to users on release channel (you can use
> getConfiguration("appinfo") to query this), and also only if
> getConfiguration("canReset") returns "true".

(In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #11)

> For mozilla.org we only show it for the current release version. For what
> you do on SUMO, that is more up to you. The important thing is that you use
> getConfiguration("canReset"), so you don't inadvertently display a broken
> button to users.

I'm trying to figure out what's an "unsupported" Firefox browser using getConfiguration("canReset")  for the purposes of this bug.

I see that bug 1126559 was filed as a result of this support question from a Firefox Nightly user: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1043695 Does the Refresh Firefox feature behave differently in nightly?
Was the problem in this case channel-related or profile-related?  (The nightly case could be considered as profile-related since I gather nightly and aurora use separate channel-specific profiles.) Another case:

I started a "test" profile in Firefox 46.0.1 on Windows using a shortcut with the target, 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P test (rather than going through the Profile Manager).  Since it isn't the default profile there was no "Refresh Firefox" button on the about:support page.  I then went to the https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings page and clicked the "Refresh Firefox" button. The process seemed to work but it turned out to be "broken" in that using it just created a new "default" profile with nothing saved ... and the "test" profile I tried to refresh is still available in the Profile Manager.

For Firefox browsers, then, if we  choose NOT to use getConfiguration("appinfo") and only use 
getConfiguration("canReset") for SUMO articles, that would mean that this bug would be to fix broken Refersh buttons in SUMO articles caused by profile-related issues only? Any others?

Comment 13

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

The refresh feature is not supported in Nightly. Please see Bug 1126559 for other areas where this issue can occur.

Comment 14

[Alex Gibson [:agibson]]

(In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #13)
> The refresh feature is not supported in Nightly. Please see Bug 1126559 for
> other areas where this issue can occur.

Correction, it's profile related not necessarily tied to the channel (see related bugs for more context). If you are still unsure of what you need to do, best ask someone there.

Comment 15

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #14)
> (In reply to Alex Gibson [:agibson] from comment #13)
> > The refresh feature is not supported in Nightly. Please see Bug 1126559 for
> > other areas where this issue can occur.
> 
> Correction, it's profile related not necessarily tied to the channel (see
> related bugs for more context). If you are still unsure of what you need to
> do, best ask someone there.

Hopefully Matt or Ben can help clarify what's an "unsupported" Firefox browser in connection with using the Refresh Firefox button in SUMO articles.  They've both been NeedInfo'ed on this bug.

Comment 16

[Ben (:bensternthal)]

Looking into it...

Comment 17

[Matthew N. [:MattN]]

The answer is: "Refresh isn't supported when running a profile which isn't in profiles.ini".

That can mean --profile was used or some other unusual setup (with environment variables maybe?)

If Refresh isn't supported users should do a refrehs manually by creating a new profile and copying data to it: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile#w_create-a-new-firefox-profile

The users who are using these unusual profile setups are likely capable of following those instructions which is what we used to tell people before Refresh existed.

Comment 18

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Joni Savage ("need info" me) from comment #9)
> Ben, are these code changes something your team can help us with?

Is fixing this bug still being considered? If this bug requires code changes, should it be moved to the "Knowledge Base software" component (same as bug 1087856)?

Comment 19

[Joni Chan]

Maybe we can resolve this in the new platform, but for now, we'll link to the instructions from comment #17 in this template (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps).

Comment 20

[Alice Wyman]

(comment #12)
> I started a "test" profile in Firefox 46.0.1 on Windows using a shortcut
> with the target, 
> "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P test (rather than
> going through the Profile Manager).  Since it isn't the default profile
> there was no "Refresh Firefox" button on the about:support page.  I then
> went to the
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings
> page and clicked the "Refresh Firefox" button. The process seemed
> to work but it turned out to be "broken" in that using it just created a new
> "default" profile with nothing saved ... and the "test" profile I tried to
> refresh is still available in the Profile Manager.

This is no longer the case as of Firefox 49, since the issue was fixed in bug 1265368.  The Refresh Firefox button now works in the SUMO article and the button now appears and works on the about:support Troubleshooting Information page, even though Firefox 49 is started with a non-default profile.

Comment 21

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Alice Wyman from comment #1)
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings
> and other SUMO articles use a template* to show the Refresh Firefox
> button so it's the template that will need updating.
> 
> * https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps

The Refresh Firefox button no longer appears in support articles. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/135447 Comment: hid the refresh button until Lithium can find a way to support it.

Comment 22

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Joni Savage ("need info" me) from comment #19)
> Maybe we can resolve this in the new platform, but for now, we'll link to
> the instructions from comment #17 in this template
> (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps).

(from my 2016-11-22 06:42 EST reply in comment #21)
> 
> The Refresh Firefox button no longer appears in support articles. See
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/135447
> Comment: hid the refresh button until Lithium can find a way to support it.

Template:resetsteps is now here: https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Firefox/Template-resetsteps/ta-p/25344 

Joni, you revised the template back in November and its content was carried over the KB articles that included it in the February 1 2017 Lithium migration.  The "Refresh Firefox" button no longer appears in KB articles such as https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Procedures-to-diagnose-and-fix/Refresh-Firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings/ta-p/23405 or others that included that template.  Can we resolve this bug as fixed?  I'm moving this bug to the support.mozilla.org - Lithium product in the meantime.

Comment 23

[Alice Wyman]

We're not moving back to Lithium so I'll return this bug to the original product.

Comment 24

[Alice Wyman]

I'm resolving this bug as invalid and clearing the NeedInfo flag.  The [Refresh Firefox] button no longer appears in SUMO articles since (as was mentioned in comment 21) the associated template was revised to remove it from view in this revision:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/135447

Comment 25

[Alice Wyman]

(from comment #24)
> I'm resolving this bug as invalid and clearing the NeedInfo flag.  The
> [Refresh Firefox] button no longer appears in SUMO articles since (as was
> mentioned in comment 21) the associated template was revised to remove it
> from view in this revision:
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/135447

I'm reopening this bug. There's a revision pending to add the "Refresh Firefox" button back to the related template" with the comment, "Reverting to previous revision, since we're back at Kitsune".
See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/144817
Joni, can you review the pending revision? 

If you decide that we should no longer use the "Refresh Firefox" button in KB articles then we should remove the related code but that would require developer support.

Comment 26

[Alice Wyman]

(from comment #25)
> I'm reopening this bug. There's a revision pending to add the "Refresh
> Firefox" button back to the related template" with the comment, "Reverting
> to previous revision, since we're back at Kitsune".
> See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps/revision/144817
> Joni, can you review the pending revision? 

For the record, Joni approved the pending revision to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/templateresetsteps on Oct 22, 2017. 

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings and other articles that use that template again include a working "Refresh Firefox" button.

Comment 27

[Seburo]

Closed as per https://blog.mozilla.org/sumo/2019/06/07/sumo-platform-roadmap/