407257 - GMail "older version" quick-contacts area overlaps inbox area in main pane

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Web Compatibility :: Site Reports, defect)

Description

[u279076]

Using Minefield 2007120604 on Ubuntu 7.10 32-bit, when I log into gmail, the area of the page that contains my quick contacts overlaps the area where my inbox displays.  This does not happen using FF 2.0.0.11 or FF 3b1.  Please see the screenshot for reference.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Start Minefield
2. Navigate to www.gmail.com
3. Sign into your account
4. Notice the Quick Contacts area of the page

Actual Results:
Quick Contacts area overlaps the Inbox area.

Expected Results:
Quick Contacts should not go outside the bounds of the side menu

Reproducible: Always

Comment 1

[u279076]

Attachment: SCREENSHOT: Quick Contacts Overlappage

Comment 2

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

Bizarre...  

I can't reproduce this using a fresh profile on latest nightly:
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007120604 Minefield/3.0b2pre

I'm also using Ubuntu 7.10 32-bit, just like Anthony.

For those who can reproduce it, I'm guessing it regressed as a result of the fix for Bug 402567.  dbaron said in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=402567#c25 that this same Gmail contacts bug happened the last time he tried to make a change like the patch for Bug 402567.  That bug was filed as bug 359510, and was very similar to this one.

I'd been assuming Gmail had changed since then, because I didn't see that bug... I'm not sure why I'm not still seeing it but Anthony is.

I'll definitely look into this in more detail tomorrow morning.

Comment 3

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

Dan, are you using the new version/style of Gmail, or the older one?  Anthony's using the older version...

Comment 4

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

New version/style, I think.  That must be it.

Comment 5

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

Yup, I can definitely reproduce this in Gmail "Older Version"

(In reply to comment #0)
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Start Minefield
> 2. Navigate to www.gmail.com

Added step:
  3b. Click "Older Version" in upper-right corner of page (if available)

> 3. Sign into your account
> 4. Notice the Quick Contacts area of the page

Comment 6

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(oops... 3b was supposed to come *after* step 3, not *before*. :)  You get the idea though.)

Comment 7

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

From looking over Bug 359510 and from working on Bug 402567, I'm not sure if there's a clean way to fix this on our end, aside from basically backing out Bug 402567. And backing out Bug 402567 would leave Zimbra calendars in a broken state, which is definitely bad.

A few thoughts:

 * Given that this only affects the "Older Version" of Gmail, not the Newer (default) version, it hopefully wouldn't affect too many users.  (unless there are lots of compelling reasons pushing people to use the older version... are there?)

 * Maybe we could ask Google to tweak their code for their "Older Version" Quick Contacts area...?  Particularly because they've already got an implementation that works (the new version) that they could use as a reference.

Comment 8

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(In reply to comment #7)
>  * Given that this only affects the "Older Version" of Gmail, not the Newer
> (default) version, it hopefully wouldn't affect too many users.  (unless there
> are lots of compelling reasons pushing people to use the older version... are
> there?)

Actually, it looks like the "New Version" is only available for en_US speakers. (with "Gmail display language" set to "English (US)" in Gmail settings)

Reference:
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-go-back-to-gmails-older-version.html

So, depending on how soon Google pushes out its newer version to the broader world, this could actually affect lots of people.

Maybe it'd be best to back the Bug 402567 patch out of beta2, and then possibly re-land it as part of beta3 while (hopefully) working with Google to make the Gmail-Old-Version compatible with it.

Comment 9

[David Baron :dbaron: (⌚️UTC-4, no longer working on Mozilla)]

If we want to ship the change, we're better off shipping it sooner rather than later.  Sites other than GMail may need to adjust, and we'd rather they start doing that when they see beta2 than when they see beta3.

Comment 10

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

Update to steps-to-reproduce, from Comment #0 and Comment #5

> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Start Minefield
> 2. Navigate to www.gmail.com
> 3. Sign into your account

  3b. Click "Older Version" in upper-right corner of page (if available)
  3c. Click the "standard with chat" link at the very bottom of the page

> 4. Notice the Quick Contacts area of the page

If nothing looks wrong yet, you probably don't have any Quick Contacts with long nicknames / email addresses.  From the "Contacts" link, click "Create Contact" at the top, and enter a really long, gibberish "Primary email address". (e.g. [e-mail] )

Then click "Save", and then "Back to Contacts".  Then, to the right of that long address in the contacts list, pick "Always." (under "Show in Quick Contacts?")

Now you should see the bug.

Comment 12

[Mats-Olof Sander]

This bug is also present in Google Apps mail and there is no way to use the "old version interface" there.

A duplicate bug is probably 412587.

Comment 14

[daniel maiochi]

Attachment: quick contacts

Comment 15

[daniel maiochi]

I'm using Firefox 3.0b2 and have the same problem
Windows XP SP2

screen shot:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=297521

Comment 16

[SG]

The newer Gmail version has not been implemented in other locales. People using other languages (eg. English UK) face this problem as soon as Gmail is opened. The language can be changed in the Gmail settings page.

Comment 17

[Dmitriy Geels]

Attachment: today screenshot

Looks like google fixed this page today.
So, issue may be closed?

Comment 18

[u279076]

(In reply to comment #17)
> Created an attachment (id=303483) [details]
> today screenshot
> 
> Looks like google fixed this page today.
> So, issue may be closed?
> 

Please confirm that you were not upgraded to the new gmail.

I am still seeing this using 2008021504 on Ubuntu 7.10.

Comment 19

[Matt]

I confirm also with b3 as well as the latest daily.  Repeat, this one has not been fixed.

Thanks

Comment 20

[M Henri Day]

Confirm that this annoying problem with the older version of the Gmail user interface persists in the latest beta release, # 4, of Firefox 3.0. *Please* fix this before the version designed for the general public is released - many Firefox users also use Gmail and, given the bugs in the new user interface, many of us will be using the older interface for quite some time to come....

Henri

PS : I see this problem on each of the following OS : Ubuntu 7.10, Ubuntu 8.04 a 6, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.... 

Comment 22

[Martijn Wargers (dead)]

Attachment: testcase

This is basically what the old-style GMail contacts is using.
I'm pretty sure this is a Tech Evangelism issue, since I think I've been battling with the same issue in bug 407016.

Comment 23

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

dbaron contacted someone at Gmail about this a little while back.

Basically, dbaron found that old-style Gmail's quick-contacts pane only works if one of two bugs is present.  FF2 & old trunk builds had one of the bugs (bug 407016) and IE has the other bug, so Quick-Contacts looks nice on those browsers.

But now we've fixed bug 407016, so old-style gmail's Quick-Contacts div looks broken in trunk builds.

Like current-trunk, Safari has neither of the two bugs.  To accommodate them, old-style Gmail just doesn't show quick-contacts at *all* to Safari.

Conclusions:
 1. This is indeed a Tech Evangelism issue -- not a bug in Firefox.
 2. The easiest way for Gmail to fix this would be to make Old-Style Gmail treat FF3 like Safari, and not show us the Quick-Contacts pane.

Comment 24

[Martijn Wargers (dead)]

(In reply to comment #23)
>  2. The easiest way for Gmail to fix this would be to make Old-Style Gmail
> treat FF3 like Safari, and not show us the Quick-Contacts pane.

Indeed, I can't see the Quick-Contacts pane in Safari. What a bizar solution!

Fwiw, I think I'm beginning to like the old behavior of Firefox more. See for instance bug 415533, there is no solution for that.

Comment 25

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

I've gotten back in contact with some Gmail people, and we're getting it resolved ASAP.

Comment 26

[M Henri Day]

Let us fervently hope that the Gmail people whom Daniel Holbert has contacted do *not* adopt his «solution» # 2, above ; i e, removing the Gmail «Quick Contacts» pane in order to resolve the problems concerning the manner in which it is displayed in FF 3 ! Somehow, I deem it unlikely that most Gmail users would find this satisfactory. If, as seems to be the case, the new Gmail user interface succeeds in presenting the pane without distortion, wouldn't the most reasonable solution to the bug be to modify it along the same lines in the old interface as well ? Or is this last unfeasible, for reasons which I fail to understand ?...

Henri

Comment 27

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(In reply to comment #26)
> Let us fervently hope that the Gmail people whom Daniel Holbert has contacted
> do *not* adopt his «solution» # 2, above 

Don't worry -- Gmail's addressing the issue -- I'm not sure how much I'm at liberty to tell you about *how* they're addressing it, but I'll say that it's more than simply doing what I suggested in Comment 23.

The only issue is timing -- whether Gmail's changes will make it to production before the final release of FF3 -- but that's out of our hands.

Comment 28

[M Henri Day]

Thanks, Daniel ; that sounds encouraging, indeed ! I think it would be wise for Google and Mozilla to coordinate their efforts here (as no doubt they are doing), as many users experience the services offered by the two organisations as complementary....

Henri 

Comment 29

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(In reply to comment #27) 
> Don't worry -- Gmail's addressing the issue -- I'm not sure how much I'm at
> liberty to tell you about *how* they're addressing it

The bit I wasn't sure if I reveal has in fact already been blogged about:
  http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-version-of-gmail-soon-available-in.html
so it's public knowledge.

So, for those who are interested, Gmail is resolving this bug's issue in two ways:
  1) "Gmail Older Version" will disable Quick-Contacts/Chat for FF3 users (as suggested in comment 23)
  2) "Gmail Newer Version" will be released in other languages veryvery soon, per the blog post linked above.  The new version's Quick-Contacts/Chat supports FF3, so it'll fix these issues.  So anyone who wants to use Quick-Contacts/Chat can just switch to the new version. (In fact, Gmail will probably default to the new version, I'm guessing.)

I'm not sure which order #1 and #2 will arrive in, but they should both be happening soon.

Comment 30

[M Henri Day]

Daniel, you will note that Robby Stein's blog was posted on 13 February, i e, over a month ago. In the meantime, the Gmail accounts of some of us foreigners, including your humble interlocutor, were in fact changed by fiat to the new user interface, but this was so buggy that after a few days (at least in my case) - again by fiat from Google - they were changed back !...

While I should dearly love to have access to many of the features found in the new user interface, I am far more concerned that it work adequately with, e g, the Google Toolbar, so I am hoping that Google will wait until all the bugs have been ironed out before rolling it out to me. Thus I'm still hoping for a real fix (not a denial of service !) to the overlap between the Gmail «Quick Contacts» panel and the inbox on the old interface. I'm sure I'm not the only user who follows this issue - whether considered primarily as a Mozilla or as a Google problem - with some interest....

Henri 

Comment 31

[Martijn Wargers (dead)]

The thing is that the newer Gmail version has various problems that make it much more difficult to use than the older version. But if they're going to disable features in the older version, then I guess I'll be forced to move over.

I'm really beginning to wonder why Mozilla changed it behavior for scrollframes in bug 402567.
It seems as it's causing more problems than then new behavior and it also seems as if the old behavior is more useful.
But I guess this is perhaps not 'exact science', just carefully looking at what would and would not break?

Comment 32

[M Henri Day]

From what I've seen on the Gmail user fora and from my own brief (involuntary) experience, you certainly seem to be right about the new Gmail user interface, Martijn - I can only draw the conclusion that while excellent in concept, it was released to soon. For this reason, I think it important for both Mozilla's and Google's reputation that this annoying bug in FF 3's interaction with Gmail be repaired as soon as possible. Given the signal competence of the developers in both organisations, this goal should be attainable - *if* it is assigned the appropriate priorities and resources....

Henri

Comment 33

[M Henri Day]

To my great disappointment, if not my particular surprise, the annoying overlap between the Quick Contacts list panel and the main panel (Inbox, Sent Mail, etc,) in the old Gmail user interface persists in Firefox 3 b 5. It should perhaps be pointed out that this bug affects no small number of users, as all Gmail users who do not have their respective «Gmail display language» set to «English(US)» - and we are not few - see it. Moreover, given the buggy nature of the new interface, which is still experiencing considerable problems despite being released some four months ago (check the Gmail users fora !), it seems likely that the roll-out of the new interface to all users will be delayed for quite some time to come. It would be wonderful if this bug could be crunched before FF 3 is released to the general public !...

Henri

Comment 34

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(In reply to comment #31)
> I'm really beginning to wonder why Mozilla changed it behavior for scrollframes
> in bug 402567.

Because the new behavior arguably makes more sense, and because that's what other browsers are doing.

(In reply to comment #33)
> To my great disappointment, if not my particular surprise, the annoying 
> overlap [...] in the old Gmail user interface persists in Firefox 3 b 5. 

Of course -- as has been made clear above, this is a bug in *Gmail*, not in Firefox 3.  Mozilla releasing a new beta doesn't magically fix Gmail's codebase.

> It would be wonderful if this bug could be crunched
> before FF 3 is released to the general public !...

I agree.  But to repeat, this is a bug in Gmail, not in Firefox, so there's not much we can do aside from contacting Gmail and asking them to fix it.  As far as I know, Gmail will be "fixing" this as best they can per comment 29 before FF3 is released.

Like you, I'd love it if Google fixed their old version as well.  But my understanding is that this would require some major under-the-hood reworking on their end, which I think is more than they're willing to do on an "old" product (particularly one for which they've got a mostly-working newer version in development.)

Hopefully, by the time FF3 is released, the issues you & others have with "newer" gmail will have been ironed out, and this won't be a problem.

Comment 35

[David Baron :dbaron: (⌚️UTC-4, no longer working on Mozilla)]

(In reply to comment #34)
> (In reply to comment #31)
> > I'm really beginning to wonder why Mozilla changed it behavior for scrollframes
> > in bug 402567.
> 
> Because the new behavior arguably makes more sense, and because that's what
> other browsers are doing.

I've been thinking about this a bit recently, and I think both behaviors make sense -- for different cases.  We really ought to be giving authors a way to choose between them, since there are important use cases for both.  (Lacking that, though, consistency with other browsers is best since it means authors can at least rely on one of the two.)

Comment 36

[Martijn Wargers (dead)]

(In reply to comment #34)
> (In reply to comment #31)
> > I'm really beginning to wonder why Mozilla changed it behavior for scrollframes
> > in bug 402567.
> 
> Because the new behavior arguably makes more sense, and because that's what
> other browsers are doing.

Opera9.24 and Opera9.50 don't. And IE doesn't count, because IE is always making boxes larger when the content doesn't, when the box has overflow visible. That makes IE unsuitable t test with.

(In reply to comment #35)
> I've been thinking about this a bit recently, and I think both behaviors make
> sense -- for different cases.  We really ought to be giving authors a way to
> choose between them, since there are important use cases for both.  (Lacking
> that, though, consistency with other browsers is best since it means authors
> can at least rely on one of the two.)

See bug 415533, comment 5 of a case where the old behavior seems really necessary, I think.

Comment 37

[Ryan Kelly]

Same Problem on my browser

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008032620 Firefox/3.0b5

Comment 38

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

Unassigning myself, as there's no active work going on on this bug, on the Firefox side.

This should probably be WONTFIXED, with a follow-up bug filed to implement what dbaron suggests in this chunk of comment #35:
> I think both behaviors make
> sense -- for different cases.  We really ought to be giving authors a way to
> choose between them, since there are important use cases for both.

Comment 39

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(In reply to comment #38)
> with a follow-up bug filed to implement what
> dbaron suggests in this chunk of comment #35:
> > I think both behaviors make
> > sense -- for different cases.  We really ought to be giving authors a way to
> > choose between them, since there are important use cases for both.

Filed bug 433621 for this. 

Comment 40

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

oops, didn't mean to resolve as fixed.  reopening.

I'm not sure which of these makes the most sense:
 - to WONTFIX this (since no Firefox changes are being made here)
 - to mark it FIXED (per the evangelism & resulting changes that Gmail has made per comment 29)
 - to leave it open until Gmail has migrated everyone to the "Gmail newer version". (with any outstanding kinks worked out of their newer version)

Anyway, leaving it open for now.

Comment 41

[Karl Dubost💡 :karlcow]

I have the feeling that this issue is probably long gone by multiple redesign.
Daniel could you confirm?

Comment 42

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

I'm calling this FIXED, since:
 - Google adjusted their "older version" to no longer hit this bug (by removing the quick-contact list) per comment 29.
 - In the ~7 years since then, they've removed their "older version" entirely. (I can't find a way to trigger it anymore, at least.)
 - Their newer version uses "overflow:hidden; text-overflow:ellipsis" in the quick-contact list, and I can confirm that it's working correctly. (Long contacts get truncated with an ellipsis, instead of forcing the list to be wider like in the initial screenshot here.)

Comment 43

[Daniel Holbert [:dholbert]]

(Er, s/7 years/6 years & change/. Anyway. FIXED! :))