263434 - Opening new browser window is tricky when bookmarks manager is only window open (OS X)

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Bookmarks & History, defect)

Description

[posita]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040913 Firefox/0.10
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040913 Firefox/0.10

If the only window you have open in Firefox is the bookmarks manager, then
opening a new browser window can be tricky.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open the bookmarks manager.
2. Close all other windows.
3. Click in the bookmarks manager window (notice the menu bar changes to the
bookmarks manager context).
4. Try to open a new browser window.
Actual Results:  
It's hard. Since the bookmarks manager changes the menu bar, there is no CMD-N
or File -> New Window. The only two ways I've found how to do it are:

1. Close the bookmarks manager window and try again.

2. Hit CMD-TAB until you select the super-secret invisible window (see #168692
and #223545), then the menu changes back and you can try again.

Expected Results:  
You know what? I have no idea. I expected to be able to open a new browser
window, but I haven't the foggiest idea how to be presented with the opportunity
that retains any kind of UI consistency.

It's probably useful to note that workaround #2 (above) is probably no longer
going to work since the super-secret invisible window is no longer accessible.

It may be that the best thing is just to leave the behavior and require that
people close the bookmarks manager to open a new browser window. Or perhaps put
a "New Window" command in the bookmarks manager's File menu? I dunno. It's late.
My head hurts. :-)

Comment 1

[Ben Fowler]

This is a dup

Comment 2

[Ben Fowler]

See the discussion in bug 239218 (there are others). This is usually reported 
with the Downloads Manager or other Windows opened from the Tools Menu.

Comment 3

[Frankie]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 239218 ***

Comment 4

[Asaf Romano (gone)]

not a dupe, bug 239218 was about menuless windows

Comment 5

[atiscia]

This bug also appears in the more common situation where the Download window is
open, downloading a large file.  When the Download window is the only window of
Firefox, hitting Apple-N and using the File Menu to create a new browsing window
does not work.

The work around I have found is to click a link in another program to spawn the
browsing window.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1.) Launch Firefox.
2.) Open Downloads dialog
3.) Close all other windows, other than Downloads
4.) Attempt to open new browser window.

Comment 6

[Asaf Romano (gone)]

(In reply to comment #5)
> This bug also appears in the more common situation where the Download window is
> open, downloading a large file.  When the Download window is the only window of
> Firefox, hitting Apple-N and using the File Menu to create a new browsing window
> does not work.

That's fixed for 1.1 (see bug 239218).

Comment 7

[optional]

Likewise with the download manager.

Comment 8

[zug_treno]

*** Bug 325841 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 9

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

*** Bug 327718 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 10

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

sorry for bugspam, long-overdue mass reassign of ancient QA contact bugs, filter on "beltznerLovesGoats" to get rid of this mass change

Comment 11

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

basicly same as bug 137509, but apprently accel+N should work on Mac

Comment 12

[Stefan [:stefanh]]

This works fine for me with a recent trunk build (Mac OS 10.6.5). If I open the library window and then close all other windows, I'll have the main menubar visible (with File, Edit.. etc). I can then choose File --> New Window or hit Cmd+N and a new browser window opens.

I suspect this was solved a long time ago.

--> WFM.