348994 - Close buttons on inactive tabs too vague

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Firefox :: Theme, defect)

Description

[Ria Klaassen (not reading all bugmail)]

When I want to focus an inactive tab there's a big chance that I inadvertently click on the close button. And when I want to close backgrounds tabs, it is not very clear (not as clear as before) where exactly I should click.
I think buttons should be clear as possible.

Comment 1

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

*** Bug 349051 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 2

[Alex R.]

I agree (I'm the author of the dupe bug). The appearance of the close button on inactive tabs makes it appear that the close button itself is inactive, when it in fact isn't.

Comment 3

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Plussing to discuss, but the answer might be a wontfix.

Comment 4

[Peter Kasting]

My inclination is that functional buttons should probably never look completely greyed out.  A dim red might be a better choice.  I realize the buttons redden on hover, but when you didn't realize the button was active in the first place, you've already clicked the button before you've realized it turned color.

Comment 5

[Alex R.]

(In reply to comment #4)
> My inclination is that functional buttons should probably never look completely
> greyed out.  A dim red might be a better choice.  I realize the buttons redden
> on hover, but when you didn't realize the button was active in the first place,
> you've already clicked the button before you've realized it turned color.
> 

My thoughts exactly. The entire URL bar looks rather dull with so few colors as well.

Comment 6

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

The new background tab images make this a lot better, but there *is* a missing state here. It's not going to block a release, but adding an "inactive but hovered" state (which should be a darker grey) would help here a lot.

Comment 7

[Wayne Ellery]

I think the close button on inactive should still be red but a much lighter red. This seems to be the standard for everything else.