Closed Bug 146122 Opened 22 years ago Closed 16 years ago

change "disable cookies in mail" to "enable cookies in mail"

Categories

(SeaMonkey :: Preferences, defect)

defect
Not set
trivial

Tracking

(Not tracked)

VERIFIED INVALID

People

(Reporter: rmathew, Unassigned)

Details

The checkbox to prevent JavaScript in mails/posts to store cookies
is labelled "Disable cookies in Mail and Newsgroups" (Mozilla 1.0
RC2 "Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Cookies").

Therefore, when you uncheck it you are effectively saying:

"Do not disable cookies in mail and newsgroups"

Double negatives tend to confuse users, even "power users"
who might not look carefully enough - I found myself
unchecking the checkbox when I really meant doing the
exact opposite.

Ranjit.
What do you mean is the double negative here?

The text reads "Disable cookies in Mail and Newsgroups"
I find it logical that when such a preference is checked, it does what it says -
namely "disables cookies in Mail and Newsgroups".
reporter :-
according to my understanding, you mean the label should be changed to "Enable
cookies in Mail & Newsgroups" right?

R.K.Aa :-
> What do you mean is the double negative here?
I think his/her meaning is that when the box is unchecked, when a user read the
option, the user may think of "[Do not] Disable cookies ...", which the [Do not]
part is from the user's interpretation of unchecked checkbox.

If I am right, the reporter think it is better to change the word disable to
enable, as a result, when the option is :-

checked: [Do] Enable cookies ...
unchecked: [Do not] Enable cookies ...

and this avoids the double negative in "Do not disable cookies ...".
Yes, in effect I am requesting you to change the label to "Enable 
cookies for Mail and Newsgroups". To make my point clearer, 
consider the following scenarios for checked and unchecked 
options in either case:

1a [YES] Enable cookies...
1b [DO NOT] Enable cookies...

v/s

2a [YES] Disable cookies...
2b [DO NOT] Disable cookies...

Although both cases are perfectly valid linguistically and
semantically, 2b is confusing for most users and sometimes
even for unsuspecting "power users".

For a better exposition on what I'm trying to get at, try
searching for "user interface" and "double negatives" on 
Google.

Ranjit.
It's a good point.  Most of the other options that are checkbox items are
positive ones, where checking it enables something, and unchecking disables. 
The suggested change here would make the Prefs UI more consistent, too.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Summary: Avoid double negatives in preferences description → change "disable cookies in mail" to "enable cookies in mail"
Keywords: mozilla1.1
OS: Windows 2000 → All
Hardware: PC → All
[Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:1.3) Gecko/20030312]

Bug still there.

NB: Obviously, the label should be changed, and the underlying (checkbox)
preference setting code accordingly.
PS: What does the "mozilla1.1" means in Keywords ?
It's an outdated keyword formerly used for nominating a bug to be fixed for a
release. Removing.
Keywords: mozilla1.1
mail, not browser, so me, not ben.
Assignee: ben → sspitzer
Product: Browser → Seamonkey
Assignee: sspitzer → mail
This doesn't exist in Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Cookies anymore.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → INVALID
[Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.13) Gecko/20060414] (release) (W2Ksp4)

UI already gone in 1.7 branch:
http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla1.7/search?string=able+cookies&case=on

V.Invalid
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
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