264224 - "Block Popup" option is randomly disabled, possibly by a site.

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(SeaMonkey :: Preferences, defect)

Description

[Jim Moe]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (OS/2; U; Warp 4.5; en-US; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040918
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (OS/2; U; Warp 4.5; en-US; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040918

"Edit->Preferences->Privacy&Security->Popup Windows->Block unrequested..."
option is spontaneously cleared, apparently by the site so that it can pop up
unrequested windows. This has also happened with www.nytimes.com on occasion.
When I check the block popup option, it is unchecked..., usually.
  Unfortunately I have not found a repeataable method of demonstrating the problem.
  It seems most likely to happen if the browser has been restarted after
enabling the option. Re-enabling it and going back to the site does not always
cause it to de-select.

Reproducible: Sometimes
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Go to www.jibjab.com
2. If popups appear, check Block popup option. It will be unchecked.

Actual Results:  
Popups windows are not blocked.

Expected Results:  
There should be no popup windows.

Comment 1

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

Do you use an extension like TBE ?

Comment 2

[Keith S.]

FWIW, I was having this problem too for quite some time. It turned out that any
time I clicked a link to open a popup (that being the deliberate kind), the
preference was 'toggled' so that popups were no longer blocked.

I believe this behavior was due to a bug in TBE: when I upgraded to TBE
1.11.2004101201, the problem went away.

Comment 3

[Keith S.]

Actually, I stand corrected. The problem may not have been because of TBE.

It turns out to be harder to reproduce than I thought. When I start up the
browser, the problem doesn't reproduce. If I use an extension like Preferences
toolbar, I can see the popup preference is being toggled and immediately toggled
back. But after the browser has been open for a long time (not sure if it's from
visiting a certain site, or some extension code that was loaded/fired off
dynamically), that "toggle back" doesn't happen.

I've uploaded a tiny test case. Perhaps the filer can determine if clicking the
link in the sample causes his preference to change, and whether it is
reproducible all the time, or only sometimes. If not, we're probably
experiencing different issues.

Comment 4

[Keith S.]

Attachment: Simple popup test

Comment 5

[Jim Moe]

I tried the test. A window opened to Yahoo; no other windows opened. And the
Popup Block option stayed set. Argh. The setting has been stable ever since I
posted the bug.

Comment 6

[Stephen D. Burleigh]

Starting with v0.9 (v0.8 does not have this bug), I have observed that Popups
are disabled for a specific site after 20, 30, or 40 popups (don't know the
exact number) are requested on a specific page.  In my case, I am editing a
webpage over the internet.  This editor used popup windows to edit a page.

v0.9 and v1.0 both have this bug in it.  (v0.8 works OK)

Some code in Mozilla overrides the setting to allow popups on this site.  No
matter what I did to change the settings (enable, disable, enable, disable),
popups would NOT be allowed.  The only way out of this popup disabled lockdown
is to terminate all Mozilla windows and then restart.  The first attempt to
request a popup window is block with a message - then I am able to Enable popups
- popups start working again.

Comment 7

[Stephen D. Burleigh]

Today I edited a website that uses popup windows for each change requested. It 
stopped working as I described above.  But I also discovered that after 
shutting down all FireFox windows, and re-starting FireFox, code in FireFox 
disabled popups after about 3 or 4 popup windows were used.

This bug forced me to change back to version 0.8 so I can continue to edit 
websites.  BUT 0.8 DOES NOT WORK now.  I reinstalled v1.0 and it runs OK, but 
when I uninstall it and re-install v0.8, v0.8 does not work.

SO unfortunatel, I am forced back to IE v6.0, until this BUG is fixed.

Comment 8

[Peter Weilbacher]

Stephen, when commenting on a bug please take note under which product and
platform it is filed for and give the full version string of your browser. (This
bug is for Mozilla 1.7 under OS/2 not for Firefox under Windows.) As for your
problem, try a fresh profile.

Jim, if you do not see this any more, can you please resolve this bug as WORKSFORME?

Comment 9

[K.C. Baltz]

I'm also seeing this problem (Block Popup Windows gets unchecked) with Firefox
1.0 and TBE 1.11.2004111302.  I have not found any way to reproduce it (the
attached link doesn't do it).  

Comment 10

[Peter Weilbacher]

So please try without TBE and/or tell the TBE author. Don't blame it on Mozilla.

Comment 11

[K.C. Baltz]

I'm not "blaming" Mozilla; I'm contributing a corroborating report to a bug.  I
will try without TBE, and I understand your frustration with bugs that may not
be your fault.  However, realize that people use extensions like TBE and
MultiZilla (I wish that worked in Firefox) because they provide features not
available natively.  I know that if I can't make TBE or some substitute work,
I'll probably want to go back to Moz 1.7

Comment 12

[Peter Weilbacher]

You are contributing at the wrong place then, instead you might want to add
comments to the correct bug then (like e.g. bug 268591). This one _is_ about
Mozilla and not Firefox (on OS/2, you didn't say what platform you are using).

Comment 13

[Jim Moe]

My mistake.
Someone had asked if I had "TBE" installed. I did not recognize TBE as the "Tab
Extensions", um, extension. After removing it, the Block Popup flag does not change.