408244 - show opensearch plugin availability same as feed availability in location bar

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Search, enhancement)

Description

[Ivan Ičin]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007121108 Minefield/3.0b2pre
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b2pre) Gecko/2007121108 Minefield/3.0b2pre

While it is generally agreed that feed availability shold be shown as icon in location bar, opensearch plugin is not shown that way. I can't see any difference from functional or even technical perspective.

Thus, if site has option to add search engine, its site icon should appear in search bar. I guess it is much more discoverable than current solution.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
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Comment 1

[Andrés Delfino]

This is a duplicate of bug 405443.

Comment 2

[Ivan Ičin]

Almost duplicate. I am proposing to show icon in search bar, and that bug is proposing icon in address bar.

Comment 3

[Andrés Delfino]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Almost duplicate. I am proposing to show icon in search bar, and that bug is
> proposing icon in address bar.

Oh, sorry :P

I think the search bar is so short that adding an icon to it when a new search engine is offered would result in less space for text.

Comment 4

[Jason M]

Problem is, some websites don't have favicons, or their favicons are blank squares. If we were to pursue this idea (which I like in general), I'd suggest a simple '+' symbol instead.

Increasing the standard length of the search bar by, say, 15px to compensate for this shouldn't be a problem, should it?

Comment 5

[Jason M]

Just for kicks, I threw together a mockup using '+'. You can see it at http://lessthan3.netraptor.org/siemova/ff/.

Comment 6

[Lucas Malor (mail: c6kfnkn2uc AT snkmail DOT c0m)]

Attachment: Screenshot: alternative search bar positioning

Currently search engine availability _is_ signalled. Not with an icon in search bar, but with a change of colour for the dropdown button.

I think it doesn't signal very clearly that. And IMO the search bar can be positioned at menu level, so it will have more space. See the attached screenshot.

Comment 7

[Henrik Skupin [:whimboo][⌚️UTC+2]]

Ryan, I don't think that we wanna go this way regarding the work on bug 482229?

Comment 8

[Alex Faaborg [:faaborg] (Firefox UX)]

>While it is generally agreed that feed availability shold be shown as icon in
>location bar, opensearch plugin is not shown that way. I can't see any
>difference from functional or even technical perspective.

I actually believe that in the future neither should be shown.  The rational is that the cost of notification is not worth potentially distracting the user given the actual likelihood of action (which is exceedingly small).  So both actions would be something the user has to actively explore and carry out, like going to a sub menu to find out if the action is enabled.  I have more information about views on notification here: http://blog.mozilla.com/faaborg/2009/03/24/notifications-and-flow/

Comment 9

[Henrik Skupin [:whimboo][⌚️UTC+2]]

Thanks Alex. Given by UX this will be a wontfix for the future. If someone disagree feel free to reopen but please add detailed reasons. Thanks.

Comment 10

[Ivan Ičin]

(In reply to comment #9)
> Thanks Alex. Given by UX this will be a wontfix for the future. If someone
> disagree feel free to reopen but please add detailed reasons. Thanks.
Actually, this bug will be fixed - the feeds and search plugin will be shown in the same way, as feeds won't be shown :)

But OK, it can stay wontfix.

Comment 11

[Henrik Skupin [:whimboo][⌚️UTC+2]]

This bug is about showing the notification in the location bar. So slightly updating the summary so it will fit with the resolution. Thanks Ivan.