275658 - Add scrollbar to bookmarks menu

Status: VERIFIED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Bookmarks & History, enhancement)

Description

[shaun]

If I select Bookmarks, Firefox brings up a list of my Bookmarks of which I have
a large list, the list is larger than the screen height. Normally I use my
middle mouse button to scroll the list up and down, about one in 3 times a bugs
appears there the list scrolls up and down by it’self. What would be nice is if
there is a simply slider control on the right of the Bookmarks window.

Comment 1

[Chris Blore]

This is the kind of customization that should be left to the extension authors
to sort out, I believe as not all people will necessarily want it. There is
already the functionality whereby you can use the bookmarks scrollbar (Ctrl+B)
and the arrow markings at the top and bottom of the bookmarks list to scroll
through your lists of bookmarks and to add a slider to the menu could add clutter. 

You could try a post in the extensions forum on Mozillazine to see if anyone has
or is planning such an extension.

Comment 2

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

The directional arrows are what we're going to continue to support.  If you want
a scrollable list, use the sidebar.

Note that the menupopup code doesn't support something like this, and I don't
think its expected that menus have scroll widgets, under any OS.

Comment 3

[Jesse Ruderman]

I'm frequently frustrated when i want to get to a recently-added bookmark in my long bookmarks menu.  I think this is a case where breaking with the normal Windows behavior would be a huge usability win.

Comment 4

[Peter Kasting]

Note that the dropdown for the location bar already uses a scrollbar rather than arrows, at least on Linux (and I think it's more usable for it).

Comment 5

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

The auto-complete drop-down has a scrollbar because it is, in Windows lingo, a "drop-down listbox". These invariably emanate from text fields.

I think the Bookmarks menu has been out of date since Google and its imitators solved the "where's that site" problem, the Bookmarks Bar (after vanquishing its ads) tackled the "sites I visit frequently" problem, and Web feeds have largely assumed the "sites I check for updates" problem. The remaining problem is "I might possibly want this page later", in which case a Bookmarks menu is far too short whether it has a scrollbar or not.

Comment 6

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

(And by "text fields", I meant "text fields, or things that look exactly like text fields but aren't". Ahhh, Windows.)

Comment 7

[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