343273 - Extension description is updated before new version is approved.

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 278639

(addons.mozilla.org Graveyard :: Public Pages, defect)

Description

[Christopher Finke]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060508 Firefox/1.5.0.4
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060508 Firefox/1.5.0.4

When uploading a new version of the extension, you can edit the description of the extension, making it seem as if the description you are entering is tied to the version you are uploading.  However, the description is updated immediately, while the extension it is actually described has not yet been approved.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Upload a new version of an extension.
2. Edit the description in step 2.
3. Submit.
4. View extension's download page.

Actual Results:  
New description is shown before new version is approved.

Expected Results:  
Description from previous version of extension should have remained until new version was approved.

Comment 1

[Michael Morgan [:morgamic]]

The extension description should be updateable -- if the new version notes showed up before the approval of that version, that's one thing.

But in order to "fix" this problem, we'd have to disallow author editing of the main description of the add-on, and I'm not a really big fan of that.

WONTFIX?

Comment 2

[Christopher Finke]

> But in order to "fix" this problem, we'd have to disallow 
> author editing of the main description of the add-on

Given how much an extension can change from the first version to the newest, I'd think that the description should be tied to the version, with the previous version's description defaulting for new versions.  Editing the description of the extension from the extension's main admin page would actually be editing the description of the most recent version.

If this behavior isn't changed, I think a note near that box saying that the description changes will be applied immediately would be nice.

Comment 3

[Mike Shaver (:shaver emeritus)]

Yeah, I agree with cfinke, it's pretty confusing, and we should let people stage descriptions along with updates.  I think we should just tie description to version instead of extension, and pre-fill the description at upload time from the previous version's description or something.

(You'd edit a version to change the description.)

Comment 4

[Michael Morgan [:morgamic]]

I think the description is a per-add-on thing and not something that should change dramatically between versions.

Version notes already exist to explain changes between versions and we'd just be reimplementing that, so I don't see the point.

Comment 5

[Mike Shaver (:shaver emeritus)]

It doesn't have to be a radical remaking of the extension for this to make sense.  An extension that shows IM presence info for your friends in the status bar, f.e., might well add support for MSN in a given version.  It should absolutely say "MSN" in the description when that update is available, and should absolutely not say "MSN" while that update is still pending.

Version notes are like a changelog, and useful for a different set of people but we shouldn't make it harder for authors to improve their descriptions -- to better describe what users should expect when they install the extension, and how to use it well -- by forcing them to play timing games with the approval process.

Comment 6

[alanjstr]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 278639 ***