1323077 - Display the extension name when a keyword is active.

Status: NEW

(WebExtensions :: Frontend, defect, P5)

Description

[Matthew Wein [:mattw]]

Right now when a keyword is active we don't indicate which extension it is associated to. Instead we show the default extension icon and the string "Extension: " which both aim to indicate that the results are coming from an extension. I think the latter is not needed, and that space should instead be used to display the extension name, which is what Chrome already does.

Comment 1

[bucklereed]

Comment on the Chromium behaviour: it actually annoys me greatly how they have implemented this on two counts; I think both are anti-patterns that Firefox should dodge (second-mover advantage, ahoy).

First, after you activate an omnibox keyword, it takes an extra backspace to get out of it. e.g., if your keyword is 'cs', then you might type c, s, space--but if you then decide to deactivate it and start typing something else, it's four backspaces, not three.

Second, while a keyword is active, selecting all of the text in the location bar  (e.g., by leaving it and re-entering it by hitting F6 twice) and clearing it (e.g,, pressing delete, or just starting to type) doesn't deactivate the keyword: either backspaces or hitting escape are strictly required.

Both of these make omnibox keywords in Chromium awkward to use and, if Firefox implements something similar, I would ask that it doesn't follow suit with these particular decisions.