1417523 - store if a Refresh wasn't able to copy over places.sqlite, then restore from a backup

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Bookmarks & History, enhancement, P3)

Description

[guigs [:guigs] PST (please needinfo me!)]

Main thread https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1183889
Other examples: 
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1183894
Waiting on response
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1183978
Window 7, ‘unable to process the backup file’ 
Lost bookmarks from the encryption change when updating to Firefox 56



That is the main example, and further investigation is needed as we answer quesitons from Firefox 57 launch. 


But the two concerns are

After I update, my bookmarks do not appear in my Bookmarks menu 

Anticipated causes of loss;
(1) A Refresh started but the migration of data from your old profile to your new profile was incomplete, or
(2) Your old profile was locked, so Firefox ignored it and created a new one. 


What we would like to happen: 
After an update the user data is migrated or restored if there is an issue that did not complete the update. 

Based on the lovely working document https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HVJWQin26n64VxktdUn-Z0jKvuf5QGDy0C8dhHyDyMM/edit#

Comment 1

[guigs [:guigs] PST (please needinfo me!)]

Another example for Windows 7: 
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1183978
Window 7, ‘unable to process the backup file’ 
Lost bookmarks from the encryption change when updating to Firefox 56

Comment 2

[Marco Bonardo [:mak] (Away Apr 25 - May 5)]

The ‘unable to process the backup file’ problem should have been addressed by bug 1404631. Unfortunately it's only fixed in 58, so users could be suggested to temporarily move to 58 Beta and import their backups.

I'll look into all the reports.

Comment 3

[Marco Bonardo [:mak] (Away Apr 25 - May 5)]

(In reply to guigs [guigs] PST (please needinfo me!) from comment #0)
> After I update, my bookmarks do not appear in my Bookmarks menu 
> 
> Anticipated causes of loss;
> (1) A Refresh started but the migration of data from your old profile to
> your new profile was incomplete, or
> (2) Your old profile was locked, so Firefox ignored it and created a new
> one. 

I also saw some case of users being confused by 2 other things:
1. Firefox Refresh doesn't reopen the bookmarks toolbar, so those bookmarks look lost (Bug 1415692)
2. Photon removed the bookmarks menu button and replace it with the Library. Provided the user can understand bookmarks are in the Library, it's not the same view as before. I've seen some cases on Twitter saying "I couldn't find my bookmarks" and then "Accessing bookmarks takes too much effort". In general, users don't seem to be aware of Customize and the fact it still contains a Bookmarks menu button. Not saying we should restore it, but bookmarking needs some UI love.

> What we would like to happen: 
> After an update the user data is migrated or restored if there is an issue
> that did not complete the update. 

In practice, we should store somewhere in the new profile if a Refresh wasn't able to copy over places.sqlite, and then restore from a backup (provided those have been copied).
The cases where a mere copy would fail are quite limited, and likely caused by third parties (maybe AV?) I guess.

Regarding usability of bookmarks in Photon, I'm not sure how we should proceed, we likely need UX to evaluate the problem.
Passing the UX ball to bbell, it's likely the UX team is already at work on something.

Comment 4

[Marco Bonardo [:mak] (Away Apr 25 - May 5)]

As a side note, the animation when bookmarking helps understanding bookmarks end in the Library, but that doesn't happen until the user bookmarks something, that is usually far after getting scared due to "lost" bookmarks.