Closed Bug 405461 Opened 17 years ago Closed 13 years ago

Go Button Missing! (A request to undo changes from Bug 398020)

Categories

(Firefox :: Address Bar, defect)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
Address Bar
Platform:
x86
Windows XP
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
VERIFIED WONTFIX

People

(Reporter: jab_creations, Unassigned)

References

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007112605 Minefield/3.0b2pre
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007112605 Minefield/3.0b2pre

The go button which no longer even had a text label when it was still visible is now completely missing! The star feature is now in it's place. Family members have bookmarked pages they never would but have no clue how to "go".

Reproducible: Always



Expected Results:  
No one knows how to go. Developers can't keep trying to minimize the GUI by removing unquestionably critical features that every day non-technical users rely on.
Confirming. I see this on today's nightly, but I am unsure of whether it is intentional or not.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Are you saying that it's missing after you've made a change to the URL, when there's somewhere other than where you are to Go, or just that you don't like the bug 398020 behavior of only showing it when it's going to be something other than a second refresh button?
Severity: critical → normal
Component: Toolbars → Location Bar and Autocomplete
QA Contact: toolbars → location.bar
Version: unspecified → Trunk
This is intentional by bug 398020

To get the Go button to appear, set focus in the location bar and start typing.

There are other bugs here, which I will file shortly.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 17 years ago
Resolution: --- → INVALID
Isn't it sly Phil to casually suggest a critical feature for people associating direct access to a website for the average every day person should be proclaimed my personal preference? I always make sure to bring someone else's personal feelings in to perceptively remove their objective statements instead of dealing directly with the issue at hand.

Tracy, intentional for who? Not only is the go button missing by default it's no longer even a button! Should we presume even a considerable percentage of computer users know and actively look for tooltips? Should we presume that non-technical people will actively know to press enter after entering an address? Should we also therefor presume people will take label-less icons as seriously as labeled icons and without those labels differentiate between a spyglass and a missing green triangle? Most people either don't know or don't obey a yield sign but they sure as heck know what go means.

Further still user's associate the go button with the address bar. Is there any actual research being done to justify removing such a critical feature or is this just to make blind Firefox fan boys happy at the expense of Firefox's potential market share?
Status: RESOLVED → REOPENED
Resolution: INVALID → ---
Using today's nightly Mac build, I don't get the Go button with either the default theme or the proto theme when I type something in the location bar.

(In reply to comment #3)
> This is intentional by bug 398020
> 
> To get the Go button to appear, set focus in the location bar and start typing.
> 
> There are other bugs here, which I will file shortly.
> 


Marcia: it's a green arrow on Mac, and I get it (are you using Proto?)
I finally see the green arrow on Leopard using the default theme. Using the proto theme it is barely recognizable because of another bug (Bug 405400).

(In reply to comment #6)
> Marcia: it's a green arrow on Mac, and I get it (are you using Proto?)
> 


With the latest Firefox 3 beta 2 the go button is there when typing but disappears when you are at the current url. I find that I need to go button still even to refresh the page at times and it is a bit of a hindrance not being there. Can we not have the go button stay there the whole time?

Before anyone asks: I've had plenty of times when I want to refresh the page without resending form data.
Indeed, there are times when refreshing the page would resubmit the posted data which might not be what I want. Having to focus the address bar and clicking enter is a 2 steps action instead of 1 and it is difficult to achieve this if no keyboard is available.
Another option is to have the go button in the customize toolbar dialog so that it could be manually placed if needed?
I agree with Mladen except for one thing: normal users need the button there by default but wouldn't know how to add it. Folks posting here obviously do know how to add or remove GUI items. The default should be catering to those who need it to work when they sit down for five minutes though have absolutely no desire to learn any of this stuff. The rest of us can remove GUI items if a 32x32 pixel item is really taking up too much space.
I don't understand the logic behind the Star and Go interchanging places. That's even more nutso than Safari's interchanging of Reload/Stop.

Vote for putting the Go button next to the drop down! Also vote to get rid of the Star!
Something else, if we are forced to have the Search "button" on the search bar, why not force the Go button on the location bar and not have to worry about broken customizable toolbars or whatnot?
the go button also doesn't appear when text is cut or pasted on the address bar, instead of adding more code to figure out when the it should appear or disappear why not restore old behavior?
I find it very confusing that the go button goes away once a page is loaded. I sometimes want to reload the page by re-visiting the url. Reloading is not the same, since it can re-submits data if you just submitted a form.

I have to click on the url bar now and press enter to re-visit the URL. 

Is there any benefit of hiding the go button?
Flags: blocking-firefox3?
(In reply to comment #14)
> the go button also doesn't appear when text is cut or pasted on the address
> bar, instead of adding more code to figure out when the it should appear or
> disappear why not restore old behavior?

Yes, it does.

The Go button was removed, by design, to reduce clutter along the address bar. If you wish to revisit the page, simply click in the address bar and hit ENTER. We may wish to consider always showing it when there's focus in the address bar, but the current design reflects useful information: when the user can command the browser to navigate to a new location, the Go button is shown. When the user is at a location and can bookmark it, the Star button is shown.

Suggesting WONTFIX, definitely not blocking.
Flags: blocking-firefox3? → blocking-firefox3-
The new behavior creates inconsistency, wasn't it removed to reduce "clutter". This is the same concept as removing a gas pedal from a car because it creates "clutter"? So now when people click the go button they will instead be prompted (endlessly) to bookmark a page they are at though need to reload without resending post data? Who are the people who have the power to over ride common sense and implement things that should clearly be reserved for extensions? This isn't progressive, it's counter-intuitive. It's no different from the anti-logic of Vista: an organize menu requiring you to click TWICE to cut/copy/paste (if you use the GUI buttons) versus only once in XP.

This is a FIX and it is unquestionably a BLOCK!
What's with all this high-level unsubstantiated theory that's trying to tinker Firefox into something "better"? Sheeh.

I must say, considering that most people don't bookmark, isn't the new star even more clutter?

And I'm not using the FF3 betas, but isn't the search "button" in the search bar still there?

tsk tsk

"If you wish to revisit the page, simply click in the address bar and hit ENTER."

Yeah, and you can back/forward reload/stop with the keyboard...
"If you wish to revisit the page, simply click in the address bar and hit
ENTER."

Why 2 actions (with both the mouse and the keyboard) when only a mouse click would be enough?
The address bar is long enough by default to support the go button and the bookmark button at the same time.

And as a side note this isn't even implemented well: If I add a space to the url in the address bar then remove it I get the go button and no bookmark button anymore. It's the same url so I should get the bookmark button back. But no, the go button is there.


I find the bookmark button clutter on the address bar, not the go button. I never bookmark (what for when delicious and a millions other sites exist) so why would I want it there all the time?

Please at least make it configurable to always show the go button. The comments suggest that lots of people desire this functionality.
(In reply to comment #16)
> (In reply to comment #14)
> > the go button also doesn't appear when text is cut or pasted on the address
> > bar, instead of adding more code to figure out when the it should appear or
> > disappear why not restore old behavior?
> 
> Yes, it does.

In beta3 on XPsp2 it does not.  Are you saying this has already been fixed in later builds?

Many people have gotten used to the go button, please don't pull the rug from under them, at least provide an option to keep it always visible, what could possibly be an objection to that?


Whose idea was this new location bar anyway? I don't want that favorites widget in it, but I can't customize it - it is all or nothing. Very sloppy.
I find the Go Button very useful because it lets you reload a page with a single click, without resubmitting forms as the Reload Button does.

Mike Beltzener:
"The Go button was removed, by design, to reduce clutter along the address bar."

The address bar not only is very long on the average display, but more importantly is CUSTOMIZABLE.

I think the Go Button should be an optional element of the customizable address bar.
I agree that clutter is bad. In view of this, how about giving me the option of getting rid of the add favorite icon in the location bar? To re-iterate I have no use for it, particularly since it places the bookmark in "Unsorted Bookmarks" by default which I cannot change, but that's another bug.
I've been given some thought to this problem. At least for developers, the go button is very important.
Obviously, the best thing to do is to give us the option to enable the new behavior or stick to the old one where the go button is permanently enabled.
Even from the properties in about:config would be ok.

I see 3 problems with the current approach:
1. Some buttons are "real" buttons like the refresh and stop while others are "pseudo" buttons like the go button and the bookmark. They're not the same size and not the same look. This is an inconsistency, in my opinion all buttons should look and behave the same. 
2. The fact that the go button disappears could be annoying or confusing: sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not, sometimes you need to click it, other times you need to click the refresh button.
3. Accessibility: it's not as easy to see and click a small go button as it is to click a bigger button like the refresh or stop.

Now the go button appears only on a new address. So why is the refresh button always there, no matter if a new address or refresh? It could as well stay in the address bar like the go button now and appear only when a refresh is viable.

The same logic could be applied to the stop button. It is even less needed and used. It could appear in the address bar only while a page is loading. 
This would be a consistent behavior.



The problem is that developers are trying to be designers! Leave the buttons on with text-labels so that non-savvy non-technical users have something that is visually friendly and inviting for the common user to utilize features otherwise Firefox might as well be as plain as notepad.

Navigation Toolbar with icons/text labels...
Back Forward Reload Stop Home | Bookmarks Downloads History New Tab Print [space][space][space]Search Bar[space][space][space][space]

Bookmarks Toolbar
Address Bar Go Button Bookmarks Toolbar

The problem is that the wrong people have control over the design: developers feel that because they created the GUI their preference overrides the common sense GUI layout for the common people. "I made it so my preference should be the default"...a critical fault in getting normal users to use Firefox. The tech savvy know how to customize the GUI after installation and normal users do not.

I don't even bother to tell people to download Firefox any more, they will be convinced out of the box it's a waste of time because it doesn't cater to them thus making it even more difficult for market adoption! I'd rather manually set it up and give them a thirty second tour to show them the features when they are readily available in front of their face.

If you're a developer and you want to implement anti-design anti-consistent behaviors create an extension and limit your damage as opt-in. Developers are good at developing but for goodness sakes leave design to designers!
(In reply to comment #16)
> The Go button was removed, by design, to reduce clutter along the address bar.

What is a more common use case for regular users? To add a bookmark/subscribe to a RSS than navigating to an URL?
It's the worst idea we ever stole from IE7.

IE7 should be stealing good ideas from us, we shouldn't be stealing bad ideas from them...
i use the go button often to duplicate a tab using the middle button, it's not a problem in ff2, but in ff3 this feature has gone.

please add and option to include the go button in the toolbar.

thanks
I think a nice solution to address this is to do a alwaysShowGoButton userpref to about:config

I used to always use the old browser.urlbar.hideGoButton userpref, I'm sure the ones that want the go button can find the appropriate pref as well.

Either that or add a go button to the customize toolbar pallet, but I don't like that since it would lead to double go buttons unless we check if 'toolbar go button' is showing before showing address bar go button.
Why should a bad idea even be an option? Just fix it in the base product. And I strongly favor putting toolbar customization in "Customize Toolbar" than dumping it in about:config.
Netscape 2 didn't have a Go button. People figured it out anyway. It's the first button I remove from the toolbar in Windows Explorer or IE.

I don't think it takes that much to figure out that a button on the keyboard labeled "enter" will do just that: enter data. When there are already well-documented and cross-platform keyboard shortcuts for reloading (ctrl or cmd + R) I don't think that the issue of one button is really that big a problem.
The point is that the people who used the "Go" button don't want to use the keyboard, but are forced to now.
Netscape 2? What was the average technical know-how of a person on the internet during the glorious days of Netscape 2?

Can we say, 'Market Share'?

Firefox isn't being targeted at the tech savvy anymore, any one with something worth while to teach others on technical terms has by now picked their primary browser.

We're talking about catering to the common person who just wants it to work. The moment they are inconvenienced is the moment they go back to IE. You don't need to check any documentation to figure that out.

Now I ask you this: would you buy a car that doesn't have a gas pedal? Maybe, you'll figure it out.
I hated it when they took off the go button in IE7. Was depressed when I noticed that go button is not avaiable in firefox 3b4+. Very very much required to refresh or reload a page with a GET method (i dont want to use a POST method).

Now i am forced to use a keyboard.
I too hate the removal of the go button. There are actually several use cases for it.

1. Reload a dynamic page - I hate pressing the Reload button because it reloads every image, css, js and so on. The go button, in contrast, just reloads the page.

2. Jumping to an anchor - anchor links often don't work because images above it have not been loaded, and no dimensions are known. Using the go button after the images are loaded, is a good way to jump to the right location.

3. Middle clicking to duplicate the current page - I don't use this feature but that's just me.

Is there an about:config option for this now? Doesn't seem like there is. At least, I found this workaround to bring it back: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=645605
Replacing the "old good" go button with "add favorite" button was definitely NOT a good idea.

+ to be honest, you'd better leave toolbar UI unchanged - FF already has its unique style and feel, there was no need for "enhancements". So 1st prize for UI goes to FF2.
I thought Mozilla was above the, "let's make changes without regard for the people who like things they way they are" approach.  Are they turning into Microsoft?  I used the go button constantly and see no reason there couldn't be an option to display it.  And I think it's a shame the geniuses who got rid of it aren't willing to take the time to help out those of us who want it.
you can add the go button adding this lines to your userChrome.css 

go-button {visibility: visible !important} 

or this one:

#urlbar[pageproxystate="valid"] > #urlbar-icons > #go-button {
  visibility: visible !important;
} 


I, too, used the Go button very often in Firefox 2 and miss it in Firefox 3.

Opera 9 also doesn't have a Go button, but it can be added by customizing toolbars. Why is it that Firefox 3 requires you to tweak a chrome css instead? The lack of an easy way to customize your browser to show a Go button or not definitely sounds like a bug to me.

Personally I don't care that the Go button became an icon in the URL bar and I don't even mind if the current Firefox 3 behaviour remains as default, but I miss an option to enable the always-on Go button in Firefox 3, and think there should be such an option at least in Firefox 3.1 (if adding one in a Firefox 3.0 point release is out of the question).

As already pointed out, a Go button is very handy in some cases, and I always used it often up to Firefox 2, and will continue to do so by enabling it with the chrome css above or an extension. I'm used to the Go button to perform the following actions which can't be done by hitting Reload:

1) reloading the page without submitting POST data
2) reloading the page without sending a Referer URL

and I don't fancy having to reach the keyboard just to hit Enter, or to type something so that the Go icon appears.

Middle-clicking it for a new tab of the same page also sounds like a good thing to be able to do, though I figure it's probably less often needed.

The notion that *each and every* user (at any experience level) would never use a Go button, and would regard it as clutter, is simply not true.
Summary: Go Button Missing! → Go Button Missing! (A request to undo changes from Bug 398020)
We're not going to do this.  I'm sure there's an extension to handle this case, but this isn't worth the code complexity/overhead of including it in the core app.
Status: REOPENED → RESOLVED
Closed: 17 years ago → 15 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
How much overhead can there be on an about:config pref that sets "go-button {visibility: visible !important}"?
@Mike Connor I've seen numerous extensions become absorbed in to Firefox but you people won't fix a simple button that is a critical GUI component used by millions of people! The willingness to add new technology but not support fundamental parts of the browser is completely unacceptable!
The GO button isn't a new feature request. You just deleted it with the version 3. I wanted to clarify this point.
(In reply to comment #42)
> We're not going to do this.  I'm sure there's an extension to handle this case,
> but this isn't worth the code complexity/overhead of including it in the core
> app.

Switch to Tab has been implemented and it's CLEARLY much more complex than a go button.

Tabs on top? That seems more complicated than reimplementing a go button.

Tab groups? That has to be more complicated than a go button.

Sync? Yep, more complicated than a go button.

Web Console?

Private browsing...

All of those features could have easily been implemented as extensions though were built DIRECTLY in to the browser. There is STILL no go button extension and the show-go button extension doesn't count.
Status: VERIFIED → REOPENED
Resolution: WONTFIX → ---
John, please see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html, specifically 2.2.  This is the second time you've reopened this bug, and I would ask that you respect the process and etiquette rules if you are going to be a participant in our community.

(note: "other features are complex too" is not new information)
Status: REOPENED → RESOLVED
Closed: 15 years ago → 13 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
I'd even say this bug is actually RESOLVED FIXED as there are GO buttons at the end of the URL and the search bar.
Or, better said: WORKSFORME Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; rv:2.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/4.0
I don't see any go button at the end of the url bar. I only see a go button after you've typed something or opened a new tab.
I can see a Go button as a small blue arrow within the URL bar and as a small blue magnifying glass within the search bar when I open a fresh instance of Firefox, without having to open a new tab or type something or do anything else.
(In reply to comment #51)
> I can see a Go button as a small blue arrow within the URL bar and as a small
> blue magnifying glass within the search bar when I open a fresh instance of
> Firefox, without having to open a new tab or type something or do anything
> else.

Because you have hacked the user chrome CSS file, THAT is why and you intentionally left that out of your comments to falsely suggest this bug is invalid.


> This is the second time you've reopened this bug, and I
> would ask that you respect the process and etiquette rules if you are going to
> be a participant in our community.
> 
> (note: "other features are complex too" is not new information)

The process is SECOND to and serves the ultimate purpose of the goal. One of the fundamental goals of Firefox is customization. I would ask that you respect the GOALS of Firefox. The goal of customization serves people.

I've had hundreds of visitors to my site over the past few years looking to restore the go button and continue to this very day because to them it is also a VERY valid bug. Yet Mozilla in the face of an overwhelming 88% negative feedback went AGAINST users in removing the status bar in Firefox 4 proving that Mozilla has no issue with going against what the community wants. Mozilla is not the community, WE are the community. Your wording suggests that I am the outsider and I find both offensive and threatening in the way it was worded.

I have been a part of the Firefox community and have contributed in the discovery and aided in the process of fixing numerous bugs in Firefox over the years. My efforts have ultimately been to ensure that other Firefox users have a choice.

Your position as like anyone else's at Mozilla is to serve the community, not dictate to us. If you don't want to fix the bug then you don't have to. If you don't want a go button then you are welcomed to participate in the community to ensure that an option to hide it is made available. However the community has dictated that the go button is a critical GUI component which should not be hidden by default and creates unnecessary need to take excessive steps to restoring this critical GUI functionality.

This bug is reopened and valid unless the community dictates otherwise.
Status: VERIFIED → REOPENED
Resolution: WONTFIX → ---
> Because you have hacked the user chrome CSS file, THAT is why and you
> intentionally left that out of your comments to falsely suggest this bug is
> invalid.

You are right about the CSS hack (assume good faith, by the way), but I did it long ago and I forgot about it. It even survived the upgrade to Firefox 4.
However it's a very easy and effective workaround for this bug.
(In reply to comment #52)
> Your position as like anyone else's at Mozilla is to serve the community, not
> dictate to us. If you don't want to fix the bug then you don't have to. If you
> don't want a go button then you are welcomed to participate in the community to
> ensure that an option to hide it is made available. However the community has
> dictated that the go button is a critical GUI component which should not be
> hidden by default and creates unnecessary need to take excessive steps to
> restoring this critical GUI functionality.
Mozilla is not a democracy, and just because you don't like a decision doesn't mean you will get your way by contentiously nagging.  The community is welcome to create an add-on; we aren't stopping them from doing that.  However, the module owner said this bug will not be fixed and closed the bug as WONTFIX.

If you reopen this bug again, your bugzilla account *will* be disabled for failing to follow bugzilla etiquette.
Status: REOPENED → RESOLVED
Closed: 13 years ago → 13 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
However, these are some workarounds for this bug:

Add this code to userChrome.css in your Firefox profile:

/* Restore Go button in Firefox 3.0.x and above */
#urlbar[pageproxystate="valid"] > #urlbar-icons > #go-button {visibility: visible !important;}

Or you may use the following Add-ons:

Show Go! for Firefox 3.x
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/show-go/

Show Go! - Updated for Firefox 4.x
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/show-go-updated/
> You are right about the CSS hack (assume good faith, by the way), but I did it
> long ago and I forgot about it. It even survived the upgrade to Firefox 4.
> However it's a very easy and effective workaround for this bug.

Okay, I'm used to having people be deceptive to avoid fixing bugs in other bug reports.

(In reply to comment #54)

> If you reopen this bug again, your bugzilla account *will* be disabled for
> failing to follow bugzilla etiquette.

And who are YOU? Leveraging threats to forcibly avoid fixing a bug! Who has forced you to fix this bug? No one! People want this bug fixed and Mozilla is intentionally blocking it! Threatening contributors who aren't paid a penny on top of that!
Thank you Valerio Capello @55 for the simple & quick fix.
What a big deal for just a line of code to include in the main app. Mozilla has made some pretty bad choice lately, like deleting status bar or some other things. This talk is dumb, the community wants the go button, you add the go button. That's all. And it's not like we are asking to develop a brand new feature, it's just a 8 bytes change.
You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.