588720 - Addon preference dialog shouldn't be modal when opened from addon manager page

Status: RESOLVED INACTIVE

(Toolkit :: Add-ons Manager, defect)

Description

[Kraml Liu]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:2.0b5pre) Gecko/20100818 Minefield/4.0b5pre
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:2.0b5pre) Gecko/20100818 Minefield/4.0b5pre

When click the preference button for an addon in the new 4.0 addon manager page, the preference dialog is model. It just blocked the whole browser which is totally not necessary.
On the contrary, if the preference dialog is opened from other place, like from Tools menu, from statusbar/toolbar icon, it is non-modal.
And in older version of firefox, when the addon manager is in a separate window, the preference dialog did block that addon manager window, but will not block the browser window.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open the addon manager.
2. Click on preference button for any addon.
3. After dialog appeared, click on the browser window.
Actual Results:  
Heard system bell ding ding ding... and can not use browser window.

Expected Results:  
Should be able to go back to browser window and surf as normal.

Comment 1

[Henrik Skupin [:whimboo][⌚️UTC+2] (away 10/03 - 10/13)]

AFAIR there hasn't been made a decision yet. It's not a problem for OS X but for all Windows and Linux versions.

Comment 2

[Kraml Liu]

Many times when I installed a new addon I would like to open its preference and click around, then click apply to see the effect... but I can not...I have to close that preference dialog before I can do anything else. Please don't use modal dialog in UI design, please.

Comment 3

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

That has been this way since it matches platform conventions, I'm not going to consider changing it for Firefox 4. Beyond that I hope to see the simpler inline preferences become possible.

Comment 4

[Alice0775 White]

Modal dialog kills some addons function.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13320/ 

When I open Black list dialog , current tab URL is added automatically. 
However, the modal dialog kills abilities of switching  tab.

Comment 6

[dindog]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Many times when I installed a new addon I would like to open its preference and
> click around, then click apply to see the effect... but I can not...I have to
> close that preference dialog before I can do anything else. Please don't use
> modal dialog in UI design, please.

just report a duplicate for the same reason, that modal dialog make APPLY silly...and there is more frustrate reply:
"It's on our list but but will probably not make it for Firefox
4.0."...

Comment 7

[Jason Barnabe (np)]

My extension Stylish defines a new type of add-on ("user styles") and therefore user styles show up in the add-ons dialog. User styles, among other things, can change the way web sites look. They have option windows that include the ability to preview the style (including any changes made by the user) without enabling. The preview is effect as long as the dialog is open.

The fact that the dialog opens modally makes this feature useless. In addition, the windows are not resizable, which makes editing the styles a pain.

I would like the window options used in add-ons manager revised to be non-modal and resizable. If this isn't possible, I would like to be able to override the default window options (potentially by a property in the Addon object https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Addons/Add-on_Manager/Addon ).

If this is not fixed, I'm going to have to drop the use of the optionsURL property to provide the UI to open the dialog and roll my own overlay. Not the hardest thing in the world, but something that requires more coding and maintenance on my part.

Comment 8

[dindog]

(In reply to comment #4)
> Modal dialog kills some addons function.
> 
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13320/ 
> 
> When I open Black list dialog , current tab URL is added automatically. 
> However, the modal dialog kills abilities of switching  tab.

since GM use add-on manager to manager its user script, similar problem come up try to add include/exclude URL of current tab. Another popular extension Stylish, some feature is also disabled because of this bug. There is no doubt more of them.

(In reply to comment #1)
> AFAIR there hasn't been made a decision yet. It's not a problem for OS X but
> for all Windows and Linux versions.
Since Firefox 4 has been released, will you review this bug and try to change it?
I mean, that is totally harmless those option dialogue not modal.

Comment 9

[dindog]

(In reply to Henrik Skupin (:whimboo) from comment #1)
> AFAIR there hasn't been made a decision yet. It's not a problem for OS X but
> for all Windows and Linux versions.

so this bug remain status NEW since Fx4, and the points is state clear above, better make decision... mark wont fix or deal with it.

Comment 10

[dindog]

(In reply to Henrik Skupin (:whimboo) from comment #1)
> AFAIR there hasn't been made a decision yet. It's not a problem for OS X but
> for all Windows and Linux versions.

I strat using Fedora recently, found that the addon option window open in addon manager is NOT modal...

I don't see the reason why we need it be modal in Windows. We don't before Fx4, that means, for years. We don't in other two major platform (OSX & Linux)

Comment 11

[dindog]

(In reply to Henrik Skupin (:whimboo) from comment #1)
> AFAIR there hasn't been made a decision yet. It's not a problem for OS X but
> for all Windows and Linux versions.
 Henrik Skupin (:whimboo) 2010-08-23 07:00:24 PDT 

Would there someone explain why a change having no good reason to make but breaking some user experience, as well as make Firefox inconsistent behavior with different platforms, and last but not least, no one seem to deal with the follow up feedback, push to nightly for almost 2 years?

Comment 12

[dindog]

ehh, I was wrong, it over 2 years rather almost 2...
It's been this way since Day 1 of in page add-on manager landed in 2010-04-30

Comment 13

[Blair McBride [:Unfocused] (UNAVAILABLE)]

When a bug was filed has no bearing on when it will be fixed. There have been countless more important bugs to be fixed first. And this behaviour wasn't new with the new Add-ons Manager, it's consistent with the old Add-ons Manager from before 4.0, and it's consistent with how the application preferences currently work.

Firefox preferences are getting revamped, so presumably this will be something that'll be looked into soon too.

Comment 14

[dindog]

(In reply to Blair McBride (:Unfocused) from comment #13)
> And this behaviour
> wasn't new with the new Add-ons Manager, it's consistent with the old
> Add-ons Manager from before 4.0, and it's consistent with how the
> application preferences currently work.

Nice to know you will be looked into it.

Just one note, it's not consistent. Fx 3.6 and earlier addon's preference dialog were never modal. ( Unlike the Firefox's own preference dialog at Tools --> Options )

Comment 15

[BMO Automation]

Per policy at https://wiki.mozilla.org/Bug_Triage/Projects/Bug_Handling/Bug_Husbandry#Inactive_Bugs. If this bug is not an enhancement request or a bug not present in a supported release of Firefox, then it may be reopened.