351153 - "Close Tab" button in 2.0b2 default theme imitates form but not function of "Stop" button on toolbar

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 347691

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[Basil Fritts]

In Firefox version 2.0 beta 2, the new "close tab" button on the active tab looks almost exactly like a miniature version of the "Stop" button on the toolbar, but the function is entirely different.

An "X" in the "close tab" button is entirely appropriate, but the use of a red octagon (ie, a stop sign) is not, since the function is not to stop the load of the page but to close the tab, an action not easily undone. Stopping the loading of a page accidentally can usually, except with POST data, be recovered from with a reload.

Experienced Firefox users will probably immediately recognize the button with an "X" styled as a Stop sign on the active tab to be a close button. New users may, in fact, mistake the similarity in form to indicate a similarity in function --- as they should. Similarity in form should indicate a similarity in function.

Recommended corrective action: imitate the "close window" icon in an OS specific fashion.

Comment 1

[Phil Ringnalda (:philor)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 347691 ***