586109 - use helper addon enhancements to improve test experience

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Mozilla Labs Graveyard :: FlightDeck, defect)

Description

[Myk Melez [:myk] [@mykmelez]]

Now that the helper addon has been updated in bug 574685, we should finish optimizing the experience of testing an addon without the helper addon installed.

The optimizations are described in bug 574685, comment 4, to wit:

5. Once the helper addon has been installed and loaded, FD notifies the user
that it is proceeding with the testing of the addon via a temporary
notification that disappears after several seconds (and thus does not need to
be dismissed manually).  That notification reads: Now that you have installed
the Add-ons Builder Helper, loading the add-on into your browser for testing...

6. FD tells the helper addon to load the addon into the user's browser, and the
helper addon does so.

Note that there are no page reloads as part of this process, as reloads can
lose the user's context on a page (scroll position, unsaved changes, the test
request) or require cumbersome additional steps (a prompt about saving unsaved
changes, once we add that feature).

Instead, the helper addon should notify open FD pages when it is installed and
inject the necessary globals into them.  And FD pages should start using those
globals the moment it receives those notifications.

Comment 1

[Piotr Zalewa [:zalun]]

I created a doc about it as the UX is a bit complicated. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Jetpack/FlightDeck/Development_Docs/AddonBuilderHelperIntegration

Comment 2

[Piotr Zalewa [:zalun]]

Fixed http://github.com/zalun/FlightDeck/commit/fdafe21bc9c05f01210239b5ceaa7a7fbaa5ca6a

Running on http://flightdeck.zalewa.info/