542546 - Different dialog windows for adding a bookmark

Status: VERIFIED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Bookmarks & History, defect)

Description

[Frank]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6

When I press CTRL-D to bookmark a page a non-movable, non-resizable dialog window appears in which the bookmark details may be edited. When I select Bookmark this link from the context menu a Firefox1/2 style, normal window appears for editing the bookmark. I have tried this on at least three independent XP systems.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Press CTRL-D and remember bookmark dialog window appearance
2.Right-click on link in web page and remember
3.Compare bookmark dialog windows
Actual Results:  
Bookmark dialog windows are different depending on origin

Expected Results:  
Bookmark dialog windows should be identical, irrespective of origin because the purpose is the same: add a URL to the list. A normal Firefox1/2 style window is preferred over the inconvenient Firefox3 window that has no border.

Comment 1

[Tim (fmdeveloper)]

Can confirm on XP SP3 w/ FF 3.6 -> Right click, 'Bookmark this link' uses a different dialog then other bookmark methods. Bookmark this link uses the modal dialog, while Ctrl + D or clicking on star use the 'new style' bookmark dialog.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729) ID:20100115144158

(Discrepancy still exists in latest nightly trunk)

Comment 2

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

This is by design, when you CTRL+D you are bookmarking the page you are currently viewing. That dialog is a contextual dialog since it's about bookmarking the current page.

When you right click a link and choose bookmark this link, you are instead bookmarking another page, and would be crazy to use the Star panel dialog, since it's not about the page you are on.

Comment 3

[Frank]

How can something that is inconsistent be considered a proper design? The inability to move the CTRL-D dialog window is also a design flaw as it sometimes covers up information needed for the bookmark. In the past you could go back to the page text and copy information that could subsequently be pasted into the bookmark dialog. That sadly has gone, so now you have to type over text that could be and was available at a mouse click. That does require that you can see that text.

Comment 4

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

(In reply to comment #3)
> How can something that is inconsistent be considered a proper design?

it would be clearly wrong to use the contextual panel to show/edit information that is not contextual, and we won't discard the contextual Star panel in favor of the old dialog window.
That said, to discuss design you can create a discussion in moz.dev.apps.firefox where our user experience team can answer and collect your ideas, filing a bug saying it's not as you like it is not really useful, unless you attach a detailed proposal, mockups and reasoning. We have millions of users and it's obviously hard to satisfy everybody, that said, suggestions are welcome but removing the Star panel is not a valid suggestion (so if you prefer instead of invalid is a wontfix).

> The
> inability to move the CTRL-D dialog window is also a design flaw as it
> sometimes covers up information needed for the bookmark.

that will be handled in bug 524071.