1990824 - Improve displayed strings related to account settings "fetch certificates" in email security settings

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Thunderbird :: Account Manager, enhancement)

Description

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Since bug 1981098, in account settings, server settings, below "connection security", if TLS is enabled, a new text label is shown that says "Fetch Certificate".

(a)
In my opinion this text should be changed, because a majority of users would not understand why they have that option at this place. It should be made clear what the purpose of that action is.

I suggest to change it to "Test Connection Security" or to "Test Connection to Server".

(b)
When the action is clicked, it currently shows a status/progress text "fetching certificate...".
For the same reason I suggest to change that to "testing connection to server..."

(c)
When the connection fails, an error message is shown which says "Failed to fetch the certificate".
I think that should be changed to "Connection to server failed".

(d)
When the connection fails, there is no "retry" button.

(e)
When the certificate validation passes, the following text is shown:
"The certificate for imap.kuix.de:993 appears to be valid."

I don't like that it says "appears" to be valid.
It's us who make the decision, it's our decision whether we consider it valid or not.
We should make a more specific statement.

However, for consistency with the above suggestions, I think it's best to show the following text in the success scenario:
"Successfully established a secure connection to the server."

For all other scenarios, when the connection to the server fails, I think It's fine to keep showing the existing error text.

Comment 1

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: Bug 1990824 - Improve text labels for email server certificate testing. r=#thunderbird-reviewers

Comment 2

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

After more testing, I have an additional change request.

When an exception has already been added, the UI still display a red label.
Instead of reporting that the connection has failed, it now warns that an exception is in place.

To me, when seeing the information in red, my immediate reaction is "what's going on, why is this still not working, I already did something to fix it".

I understand your intention. You want to warn the user that something isn't working right.
That's a good intention.

However, I'd consider this "warning level" and would rather display it in orange.

I think this warning also needs a better wording, my suggestion:
"Reminder: Thunderbird has been configured to accept an invalid security certificate for this server."

Comment 3

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Toby has requested that I present screenshot that show how the old and new strings appear in the user interface.

I will attach 10 screenshots, old plus new for each of the 5 changed strings.

Comment 4

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-fetch-old.png

Comment 5

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-fetch-new.png

Comment 6

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-fetching-old.png

Comment 7

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-fetching-new.png

Comment 8

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-failed-old.png

Comment 9

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-failed-new.png

Comment 10

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-valid-old.png

Comment 11

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-valid-new.png

Comment 12

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-exists-old.png

Comment 13

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-exists-new.png

Comment 14

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

I will make a small amendment to the text label for the "certificate exception exists" scenario, because of bug 1993215.

Instead of saying "the certificate" I want it to change to "a certificate" (avoid that the sentence could be considered a claim that we're currently seeing the same certificate that was configured in the exception).

Comment 15

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-exists-new2.png

Comment 16

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

I've changed my opinion for the "exception exists" scenario.
I'm no longer happy with the new wording, because of the scenario described in bug 1993215.

I think the existing wording is better, because it is more neutral, and doesn't try to explain the effect of the existing exception (which is tricky).

Comment 17

[Kai Engert [:KaiE:]]

Attachment: shot-exists-new3.png

Updated screenshot for the "exception exists" scenario.
Text label is kept.
Color reduced to warning (yellow).

The color is the only difference in comparison to what exists.

Comment 18

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/e5bffdcc237d
Improve text labels for email server certificate testing. r=arschmitz,rtaylor