1769896 - fix/hide useless/confusing toolbar elements

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: Toolbars and Customization, enhancement)

Description

[David Chmelik]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:100.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/100.0

Steps to reproduce:

Firefox (FF) made critical mistake cloning Google Chrome/Chromium (worst user interface, UI ever) so fell out of favour with many programmers/scientists, one thing being many older of us prefer classic interface (so thanks that status bar currently exists.) This includes the below.

• option to show classic menu but then also hide hamburger menu, and set these default for safe mode, perhaps clearer option/asking preference on initial run/setup.
• option for classic file_manager-/explorer-style history button (drop-down arrow) instead of clock (confusing: history was also filesystem access history when some file managers were web browsers (better ones are) so as such should be able to reflect you mean to go down and/or up levels, including within URLs, not 'time.')
• Allow hiding, or simply (redesign) permanently remove the about inch of whitespace between home button and URL bar. Often I see that and pause for a few seconds, wondering what's missing there... even Google didn't go as low as to remove useful space, now preventing you having as many buttons and as long URLs.

Of course, I don't/won't use Firefox much until RSS is restored, pocket is opt-in, and user-customization restored. I just do because some classic interface is still possible.

Actual results:

Saw confusing button, and aspect of horrible Google-inspired UI--worst in software industry--but amazingly exceeded that in one way, resulting in can't see as much of URLs, wasting time with longer ones.

Expected results:

Allow classic UI appearance in totality, despite if you feel you must regularly change things, which not just older programmers, but many users in general started to dislike, in general, 'UI/UX' designers/teams because of that reputation.

Comment 1

[David Chmelik]

Apparently the confusing history button may be from an addon, which would be good news you even still allow addons to do such things, but of course, FF should do many more things addons do. Maybe I'll just have to find a better addon, which isn't likely because the Firefox fork Pale Moon is still where best functionality/addons are.

Comment 2

[David Chmelik]

Alright, I was wrong; I don't use an alternative history button, just History In Threads, which doesn't replace yours.

Comment 3

[David Chmelik]

Options for history button should in fact include split down/up button (some better web browsers might've had but none do now because of dumbing-down by pad/tab(let) phone PC generation) which 'down' shows history (optionally threaded) and 'up' goes up one filesysten/URL level.

Comment 4

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto [:gcp]]

I'm not entirely clear which of these things are actual bugs, which of these are self-inflicted problems from add-ons, and which of these are "I disagree with your UX design and user studies", but maybe someone working on frontend is smarter than me.

Comment 5

[David Chmelik]

They're not bugs but also in safe mode.

Comment 6

[Oana Botisan, Desktop QA]

Can you please clarify the issue here?

I have a few suggestions on what I think the issue might be and how you could help us pinpoint the bug here.

1. If the issue is one of the add-ons, you could deactivate them in some kind of order and see the exact one that causes the issue.
2. If the issue is not one of the add-ons can you please attach an image with the issue, it will be much easier to pin point the problem.
   or
3. You could attach an image with what the browser looked like before and after all the changes to the UI.

Comment 7

[David Chmelik]

The issue isn't addons but happens also in safe mode (as already clarified in comment #5) so there's no 'before & after' and I won't see anything you won't.

Comment 8

[Oana Botisan, Desktop QA]

I can't seem to find any issue with the way the toolbar looks. I will mark this issue as WORKSFORME.

On a different note, you can customize the toolbar however you like by going to the App menu -> More Tools -> Customize toolbar... There you can take out whatever is inconvenient from the toolbar.

Comment 9

[David Chmelik]

It's only 1/3 fixed (getting rid of spaces.)
Seems unable to revert to understandable (or split down/up) history button nor get rid of hamburger menu.

Comment 10

[Oana Botisan, Desktop QA]

When did these changes occur? Because hamburger menu has been around for a long time or a form of the menu.
Also, what do you mean by understandable history button? I will ask you again to attach am image with the issue, because I am pretty sure we don't see the same thing.

Comment 11

[David Chmelik]

Attachment: Firefox_1_5_0_3.png

I've been a user since original Netscape; here's Firefox (FF) 1 with understandable drop-down history button. For people such as me (and friends/family) who think of URIs (URLs and many more types including some FF does and some it should add/restore) as places on filesystem (fs, including as navigable on webservers) original history button makes sense; clock history button makes zero sense to me (and some/many others.)

Please just be aware of FF (and web browser) history which: simply what I described.

Before FF 1 MS Internet Explorer (IE) was most popular and integrated with Windows file manager; file managers (FM) have left & right & up & down buttons: decent web browser direction navigator buttons need same four-way directions (simplest model is 1980s-90s calculator & desktop PCs such as Texas Instruments 82 (original, not revised), 85; probably some Casios; Nintendo Famicom which was Japanese but related Nintendo Entertainment System game console in the West had same direction buttons.)

I forgot which web browser, if any, has/had superior/best full four-direction URI navigation buttons: perhaps an old MS FM/IE or old FF, which FF also do more for other URIs like KDE Konqueror does for both files and Internet sites.

I use every web browser to navigate my own PC, but mainly Konqueror as can also go up & down. On Internet servers sometimes I also want to go 'one directory/folder up' and use a down button to see history.

The most powerful option would combined area with up & down buttons split at top & bottom.

Despite hamburger menu is widely-copied, computer science user interface (UI) classes (I doubt Google UI designers either paid attention in or took) state best UIs need fewest presses (so classic f̲ile e̲dit h̲iew v̲elp etc. are superior and hamburger menu is a worst critical UI mistake I never want to see again.)