1816230 - Integrate the new "Extensions" button better with the button customize workflow

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 1795235

(WebExtensions :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Manuel Reimer]

Starting with, I think Firefox 109.* there came a new "Extensions" button which is forced into the toolbar. The idea behind this seems to be to make Chrome users have a similar UI as they know from the Chrome browser.

The problem, in my opinion, is that this new button feels like a "foreign object" which, currently, does not integrate with the usual Firefox workflow at all. In my opinion, Mozilla totally forgot to focus on the strengths of the Firefox UI, which is customizability.

Just one example where a user of one of my Add-ons was totally lost finding out how he can get the button to display after installing an Add-on which is supposed to be operated with its button: https://github.com/M-Reimer/undoclosetab/issues/38#issuecomment-1425061590

What I would like to discuss (and if it is a viable option also help implement) is the following idea:

• Move browserAction buttons back to the toolbar customize menu. If you really want to point out what was added by Add-ons, then just place a tiny puzzle piece to one edge of the Add-on provided icon. This "puzzle piece" should only display while customizing and disappear in regular browser usage.
• Allow browserAction buttons in the overflow menu. This allows users to combine Addon-provided and Browser-provided features, there, making this "customizable menu" much more powerful.
• Make the "Extensions" button a configurable button, allowing users to remove it if they don't need it.

If the "Extensions" button is enabled by default, Chrome users still have a familiar UI right from the start. Once they get used to the customizability of Firefox they maybe remove it at some point as everything can be managed in one environment in the "Customize toolbar" overlay.

I think most of the code, needed for this, is already there and just needs minor changes and better integration. If this idea has a chance of getting implemented, I could try to help with implementing it.

Comment 1

[William Durand [:willdurand]]

I am marking this bug as a dup of Bug 1795235, though some of what is written in Comment 0 is captured in other bugs, but there is nothing new per se here. Thanks!