1410031 - Section placeholders are no longer displayed if Search, Top Sites or Highlights are disabled

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, defect, P3)

Description

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Ecosystem QA]

Attachment: placeholders no longer displayed if search, top sites or highlights are disabled.gif

[Notes]:
- If you have Top Sites on two rows the placeholders force the sections to jump around because it only shows a single row of Top Sites. There should be two rows of placeholders if the user has Top Sites on two rows.

[Affected versions]:
- Firefox 58.0a1 Build ID 20171018220049

[Affected Platforms]:
- All Windows
- All Mac
- All Linux

[Steps to reproduce]:
1. Open the browser and open a new window.
2. Disable the Search bar from the customization panel.
3. Open a new window and observe the behavior.
4. Open a new tab and observe the behavior.

[Expected results]:
- Step 3 & 4: The placeholders are displayed before the content is loaded.

[Actual results]:
- Step 3 & 4: The page is empty and then content appears.

[Additional notes]:
- The issue became more apparent after bug 1383593 was fixed.
- The issue is also reproducible if the Top Sites or Highlights sections are disabled, or if any combination of two sections (eg. Search + Highlights) are disabled.
- Attached a screen recording of the issue.

Comment 1

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Ecosystem QA]

I was under the impression that this scenario represents a good way to see the effects of https://github.com/mozilla/activity-stream/issues/3367. 
I'd rather we keep the issue open so that it can be more easily verified.

Comment 2

[Ed Lee :Mardak]

Bug 1421436 has been backlogged, so unclear if this should be in 62