702202 - Some users think they lose important functionality when less useful extensions get disabled

Status: RESOLVED INACTIVE

(Toolkit :: Add-ons Manager, defect)

Description

[Henri Sivonen (:hsivonen)]

From dev-usability:

User: "I just downgraded my wife's FF8 to 3.6.24, because the Skype plugin won't work with FF8."

Me: "I'm curious, why do you or your wife need the Skype extension (as opposed to initiating or receiving Skype calls from the UI offered by the Skype app itself)?"

User: "Well, if it was clear that you don't actually need the FF Skype extension, I wouldn't have bothered. But that was not clear. See, the obvious inference is that Skype somehow needed the browser to function properly, else hwy would there be an extension for it? So I just dumped FF8, Just In Case. Foolish by hindsight, but wotthehell, I wasn't about to waste my time trying to figure that out."

The Skype extension isn't the only one that makes users think that they lose significant functionality when it gets disabled. There are credible anecdotes that users think they won't be able to use sites that require Java if the Java Console extension is disabled (and they might think more sites use Java than actually do). Also, there's been concern that users think their anti-virus software won't work if Firefox says the extension for an anti-virus package gets disabled. I have a vague recollection of reading about a user being concerned about not being able to search on Google without the Google Toolbar, but I don't know how real that concern is.

I think we should do something we aren't currently doing to mitigate user concern about disabling the following extensions or when offering the user the opportunity to disable them (including in Add-ons manager itself):
 * Skype
 * Google Toolbar
 * Java Console
 * Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant
 * Various anti-virus packages.

One possible way of mitigating the concern would be providing clearly visible Mozilla-written short and accurate explanations about the impact of disabling each of these extension when Firefox shows UI about any of these getting disabled or an UI that allows the user to disable any of these. (A more drastic measure that would probably go against the principle of keeping the user in control would be disabling the most useless ones silently without bothering the user with UI at all.)

For Skype, Firefox should let the user know that disabling the extension does not affect the ability to use the Skype app to initiate and receive Skype calls.

For Google Toolbar, Firefox should let the user know that Google Search is built into Firefox and that Firefox has a built-in bookmark sync feature, but the user needs to migrate bookmarks out of Google's storage *before* letting the toolbar be disabled.

For Java Console, Firefox should let the user know that disabling the extension does not prevent the user from using Java applets.

For Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant, Firefox should let the user know that disabling the extension affects only starting downloadable .Net desktop applications from within Firefox but doesn't affect Silverlight content.

For various anti-virus extensions, Firefox should let the user know (fact-checked on a case-by-case basis) that if the extension is disabled, downloaded files will still be checked for viruses using the anti-virus program and Firefox will use its built-in features for blocking attack sites. On a case-by-case basis, there would probably also need to be advice about migrating passwords from the anti-virus software's password manager to Firefox's built-in password manager.

Comment 1

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

Where exactly would you expect this information to appear?

Comment 2

[Henri Sivonen (:hsivonen)]

(In reply to Dave Townsend (:Mossop) from comment #1)
> Where exactly would you expect this information to appear?

I expect the UX team to come up with better answers that what I can think of.

In the case of Add-ons manager itself, I expect the information to show up under or next to the extension-provided one-line description.

In dialogs that pop up when updating, I'd expect each add-on line item to be higher to accommodate this information so that the line items would become visually more like the ones in Add-ons manager itself.

Comment 3

[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.