Closed Bug 833506 Opened 11 years ago Closed 11 years ago

CTP: Java activation menu doesn't always appear

Categories

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

18 Branch
x86_64
Windows 7
defect
Not set
normal

Tracking

(Not tracked)

RESOLVED WONTFIX

People

(Reporter: ddyer, Unassigned)

References

Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:18.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/18.0
Build ID: 20130116073211

Steps to reproduce:

The new menu associated with activating java for individual sites doesn't always appear, leaving java silently disabled.  Visit http://boardspace.net/english/guest.shtml
There should be a java applet on the right side.  If the "allow" pop-up does appear,
click to allow this time and the current java version will be displayed by the applet.
Now, reload the page.  


Actual results:

The applet will disappear when you reload the page. The permission to run prompt
doesn't appear again.

Alternatively, close and reopen the browser, go the the guest page again, continue
by clicking on "login" on this page.  There is another applet on the new page which should be prompted for, but it is not.


Expected results:

All applets should trigger a permission prompt. 
This works correctly in chrome and safari
Also, if you use the "always allow fror this site" instead of the "allow once" all is ok.
Component: Untriaged → Plug-ins
Product: Firefox → Core
Summary: Java activation menu doesn't always appear → CTP: Java activation menu doesn't always appear
Dave - even though the popup doesn't open, is there an icon in the urlbar to the left of the globe icon? If so, clicking that should open the popup. If you like, you can click to drop-down button in the popup and select "Always activate plugins for this site", which will automatically allow java for that site.
Flags: needinfo?(ddyer)
Yes, there is a mysterious red button which activates the pop-up.  Way to
subtle a clue when the pop-up is expected!

You can't get to the "always activate" choice when the pop-up itself doesn't appear.

Also, there's no way to UNDO the always activate choice, so it's difficult to 
revert back to the broken state.
Flags: needinfo?(ddyer)
(In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #2)
> Yes, there is a mysterious red button which activates the pop-up.  Way to
> subtle a clue when the pop-up is expected!

That means you have a vulnerable (blocked) Java version, in which case (AFAIR) the popup isn't shown (but the red plugin icon is flashed).

> You can't get to the "always activate" choice when the pop-up itself doesn't
> appear.

You can click on the red plugin icon to open the pop-up for activation. Or are you saying that doesn't work?

> Also, there's no way to UNDO the always activate choice, so it's difficult
> to revert back to the broken state.

That is being looked into, please use the plugins setting for the site in about:permissions for now.
(In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #0)
> Visit
> http://boardspace.net/english/guest.shtml
> There should be a java applet on the right side.  
The click to play UI isn't showing up because the plugins are too small. Try with 200x200

> The applet will disappear when you reload the page. The permission to run
> prompt
> doesn't appear again.
The red icon is shown only once per session to not be so annoying - bug 819992
>That means you have a vulnerable (blocked) Java version, in which case (AFAIR) the >popup isn't shown (but the red plugin icon is flashed).

Not true, it's version 1.7_0_11, also the same version it was before I hit
refresh.  Anyway, the complaint is not about the pop-up but about the fact
that it doesn't pop-up..
(In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #5)
> >That means you have a vulnerable (blocked) Java version, in which case (AFAIR) the >popup isn't shown (but the red plugin icon is flashed).
> 
> Not true, it's version 1.7_0_11, also the same version it was before I hit
> refresh.

Currently all Java 7 versions are soft-blocked, that's why you have the red plugin icon in the location bar.
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Blocklisting/PluginBlocks#Java

> Anyway, the complaint is not about the pop-up but about the fact
> that it doesn't pop-up.

As i understand what you wrote in comment 0, the activation prompt pops up when you first opened the site and didn't show up on subsequent loads. That is what's expected and currently implemented (as Paul corrected me).
To open the activation prompt manually, click on the red plugin icon in the location bar.
>
>The red icon is shown only once per session to not be so annoying - bug 819992

The overall logic in place doesn't work.  If I refresh the page or go
to a new page, either the same decision about activating the plugin ought
to apply, or I should be asked again.  There's no way can it be correct that 
the plugin is automatically inactive in these circumstances.
(In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #7)
> >
> >The red icon is shown only once per session to not be so annoying - bug 819992
> 
> The overall logic in place doesn't work.  If I refresh the page or go
> to a new page, either the same decision about activating the plugin ought
> to apply, or I should be asked again.  There's no way can it be correct that 
> the plugin is automatically inactive in these circumstances.

To clarify, when you go to a new page with java, the icon in the URL bar should still be there, it should just not open the dropdown automatically. You can still click it and activate vulnerable plugins as desired.
(In reply to Georg Fritzsche [:gfritzsche] from comment #3)
> (In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #2)
> > Also, there's no way to UNDO the always activate choice, so it's difficult
> > to revert back to the broken state.
> 
> That is being looked into, please use the plugins setting for the site in
> about:permissions for now.

This is bug 832445 (see also bug 821892).
>To clarify, when you go to a new page with java, the icon in the URL bar should >still be there, it should just not open the dropdown automatically. You can still >click it and activate vulnerable plugins as desired.

I don't see how this can be perceived by the end user as anything but
a bug. If he said "run applet", it's not intuitive that firefox 
enters a new state where it assumes you want to run that one applet
and don't want to run any other applets. 

Also note that all the other browsers agree with my interpretation.
(In reply to Dave Dyer from comment #10)
> I don't see how this can be perceived by the end user as anything but
> a bug. If he said "run applet", it's not intuitive that firefox 
> enters a new state where it assumes you want to run that one applet
> and don't want to run any other applets. 
> 
> Also note that all the other browsers agree with my interpretation.
The auto dropdown notification proved to be very annoying (many complaining users) and that's way was reduced to only 1 per session. But the red fading in/out animation has this purpose to get your attention and make you click on it.
After you have said "no", a red pulsating button to remind you might be
acceptable, but after you have said "yes", assuming all subsequent answers
will be "no" is crazy.
The issues initially referenced will be obsoleted by the new click-to-play UX.

Allowing plug-ins will have them activated as long as the user stays active on the site.
Alternatively plugins it will still be possible to activate plugins for the site long-term.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 11 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
Product: Core → Core Graveyard
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