1979133 - Expose a pref and a Nimbus pref/variable for new link handling behavior

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, task, P2)

Description

[Ania]

To do a controlled introduction of the new link handling behavior, we need:

• a pref associated with it,
• have this pref exposed to Nimbus via Feature Manifest.

Rationale: We want to introduce new external link handling behavior in the following way:

• Offer the setting for everyone as an opt-in (off by default)
• In parallel, launch an experiment, making it ON by default for new users,
• In case of no negative impact is detect, make new link handling behavior a new default for new users.

We would still need to figure out how to offer/switch existing users to this behavior (messaging, else).

Comment 1

[Stephen Thompson [:sthompson]]

Attachment: Bug 1979133 - integrate Nimbus for experimenting with opening external links after the active tab r=dwalker,jswinarton

Direct pref access to browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external is replaced by a Nimbus variable openBehavior in a new Nimbus feature, externalLinkHandling. The Nimbus variable falls back to the pref value.

I also enabled the Glean metric tab_movement and event open_from_external_app. I had them start disabled because I believed that Glean's Server Knobs could turn on the telemetry just for people enrolled in the experiment. It doesn't seem like that's true, so it's easier right now to just have these pieces of telemetry enabled for everyone. These telemetry need to be in place to measure the results of the Nimbus experiment, so I included these changes in this patch.

Comment 2

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/9a9da20b36d2
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/0c43190b74fb
integrate Nimbus for experimenting with opening external links after the active tab r=jswinarton,tabbrowser-reviewers,Gijs

Comment 3

[Cosmin Sabou [:CosminS]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/0c43190b74fb

Comment 4

[Phabricator Automation]

firefox-beta Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: Low. If this patch is declined, our team will have to delay an experiment with providing the new "Open links from apps next to the active tab" optional feature as a default for new users.
• Code covered by automated testing: yes
• Fix verified in Nightly: yes
• Needs manual QE test: no
• Steps to reproduce for manual QE testing:
• Risk associated with taking this patch: low
• Explanation of risk level: Replaces a pref lookup with a Nimbus API call for a variable that is backed by the same pref. Fallback behavior has automated test coverage.
• String changes made/needed: No
• Is Android affected?: no

Comment 5

[Stephen Thompson [:sthompson]]

Attachment: Bug 1979133 - integrate Nimbus for experimenting with opening external links after the active tab r=dwalker,jswinarton

Direct pref access to browser.link.open_newwindow.override.external is replaced by a Nimbus variable openBehavior in a new Nimbus feature, externalLinkHandling. The Nimbus variable falls back to the pref value.

I also enabled the Glean metric tab_movement and event open_from_external_app. I had them start disabled because I believed that Glean's Server Knobs could turn on the telemetry just for people enrolled in the experiment. It doesn't seem like that's true, so it's easier right now to just have these pieces of telemetry enabled for everyone. These telemetry need to be in place to measure the results of the Nimbus experiment, so I included these changes in this patch.

Original Revision: https://phabricator.services.mozilla.com/D269130

Comment 6

[Pulsebot]

https://github.com/mozilla-firefox/firefox/commit/9a804a45a7bc
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/0a9c6f7bd684