Closed Bug 872240 Opened 11 years ago Closed 3 years ago

Replace "Restart with Add-ons disabled" with "Reset Firefox" in Help Menu

Categories

(Firefox :: Menus, enhancement)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
Menus
Type:
enhancement
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED WONTFIX

People

(Reporter: zfang, Unassigned)

References

Details

Replace "Restart with Add-ons disabled" with "Reset Firefox" in Help Menu to increase the visibility of "Reset Firefox". 

Current:
• In menu, click "Restart with add-ons disabled"
• see "Are you sure" confrimation dialog, click yes
• See dialog with explanation of safe mode and option to "Restart in Safe Mode"(default) and "Reset Firefox"

Proposed:
• Change Menu item to "Reset Firefox"
• When clicking on "Reset Firefox", show dialog that explains reset and option to "Reset Firefox" (default) and "Restart in Safe mode"
• If user click on "restart in Safe Mode", then show a dialog to explain safe mode and confirmation
Blocks: 872241
No longer blocks: 872241
Blocks: 872241
I don't think this is a good idea. Safe Mode keeps preferences and only resets some of them temporarily. Firefox Reset wipes all of a user's preferences (and this is not something we can really change very easily because it's a big part of why it's so often effective).
OS: Mac OS X → All
Hardware: x86 → All
I am also -0 on this one, because it's not clear to me what 'reset' actually does.

If this does go through, the dialog box needs to explain exactly what "reset" is, and what will happen.

'Reset' implies to me:  "take it back to initial state" which isn't what I want!  Instead I want my problem to go away (bad addon, non-responsive page, etc.)
(In reply to Gregg Lind (User Research - Test Pilot) from comment #2)
> I am also -0 on this one, because it's not clear to me what 'reset' actually
> does.
> 
> If this does go through, the dialog box needs to explain exactly what
> "reset" is, and what will happen.

I suspect we would want an ellipsis on the menu item and use the same dialog we use from about:support which lists the types of data which is saved (http://grab.by/nklg). Bug 833943 will add windows and tabs to the list.

> 'Reset' implies to me:  "take it back to initial state" which isn't what I
> want!  Instead I want my problem to go away (bad addon, non-responsive page,
> etc.)

When you reset we do take everything back to the new profile state except for the few pieces of data explicitly listed in the dialog. We don't currently have a better way to detect and repair problems.
I don't like this idea at all. Resetting Firefox should only be done if everything else has already been tried to fix a problem.
(In reply to Nathan2055 from comment #4)
> I don't like this idea at all. Resetting Firefox should only be done if
> everything else has already been tried to fix a problem.

Restarting with add-ons disabled doesn't provide instructions on how to troubleshoot and fix problems. For most people its function is a mystery. In order to actually use it a user will also have to visit support. If they follow all of those instructions they find there, chances are that they will end up doing everything the reset does. This is prohibitively difficult for most users and very time consuming. Providing the option to reset is much more efficient and effective. For those that like to troubleshoot, safe mode is still available with the keyboard shortcut (hold down the shift key while starting Firefox) documented in this support article - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode
(In reply to Verdi [:verdi] from comment #5)
> (In reply to Nathan2055 from comment #4)
> > I don't like this idea at all. Resetting Firefox should only be done if
> > everything else has already been tried to fix a problem.
> 
> Restarting with add-ons disabled doesn't provide instructions on how to
> troubleshoot and fix problems. For most people its function is a mystery. In
> order to actually use it a user will also have to visit support.

The same is true for "Troubleshooting Information". It's still useful for analyzing problems and more accessible / less magic than holding Shift while starting Firefox.

Why can't we add "Reset Firefox" and keep "Restart with Add-ons disabled" as a secondary option?
(In reply to Dão Gottwald [:dao] from comment #6)
> (In reply to Verdi [:verdi] from comment #5)
> > Restarting with add-ons disabled doesn't provide instructions on how to
> > troubleshoot and fix problems. For most people its function is a mystery. In
> > order to actually use it a user will also have to visit support.
> 
> The same is true for "Troubleshooting Information". It's still useful for
> analyzing problems and more accessible / less magic than holding Shift while
> starting Firefox.

Speaking of that page, we should add a button there that emails the contents to a mozilla address (or better yet, posts the information to SuMo), so that _we_ can use it to troubleshoot their browser (because most people can't actually use that information to analyze the problems they're seeing)…
(In reply to Blake Winton (:bwinton) from comment #7)
> Speaking of that page, we should add a button there that emails the contents
> to a mozilla address (or better yet, posts the information to SuMo), so that
> _we_ can use it to troubleshoot their browser (because most people can't
> actually use that information to analyze the problems they're seeing)…

SUMO already has a way to pull this information in a JSON blob from about:support via an extension[1].

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/troubleshooter/
(In reply to Dão Gottwald [:dao] from comment #6)
> The same is true for "Troubleshooting Information". It's still useful for
> analyzing problems and more accessible / less magic than holding Shift while
> starting Firefox.

We find that the main uses of this page are to copy the info to submit to support and to click the reset button. We're trying to make these tasks easier and more discoverable.

(In reply to Matthew N. [:MattN] from comment #8)
> (In reply to Blake Winton (:bwinton) from comment #7)
> > Speaking of that page, we should add a button there that emails the contents
> > to a mozilla address (or better yet, posts the information to SuMo), so that
> > _we_ can use it to troubleshoot their browser (because most people can't
> > actually use that information to analyze the problems they're seeing)…
> 
> SUMO already has a way to pull this information in a JSON blob from
> about:support via an extension[1].
> 
> [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/troubleshooter/

Yep. That was the first part of the plan. That increased submission of about:support info from 5% to 30%. We have bug 732527 on file that would create an api so that we can make this even easier. That would pretty much negate the need for Troubleshooting Information to remain in the help menu.

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [:dao] from comment #6)
> 
> Why can't we add "Reset Firefox" and keep "Restart with Add-ons disabled" as
> a secondary option?
We're trying to give users clear options. The reset will fix things for upwards of 80% of users and eliminate a trip to support. That is a beautiful experience in comparison to searching though the support site, finding this article https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems and then probably having to resort to the reset (if you have the time and ability to make it that far). Generally the other option to "fix" things like this is to switch to one of the other browsers you have on your computer. By leaving troubleshooting information in the menu we just clutter things and make it less likely the user will click on the thing we want them to - reset.
(In reply to Verdi [:verdi] from comment #9)

Can't this Report's Intention be changed to add the Reset entry in addition at first (meaning no loss of functionality) and then let's have a discussion about removing/keeping the Safe-Mode entry later in a Firefox newsgroup?

Verdi, I see your point of getting a better SUMO-centric support workflow, but it seems non-SUMO User2User support get's needlessly ignored by this :-(.
(In reply to XtC4UaLL [:xtc4uall] from comment #10)
> Verdi, I see your point of getting a better SUMO-centric support workflow,
> but it seems non-SUMO User2User support get's needlessly ignored by this :-(.

Yep. There are different use cases for the Help menu. "Restart with Add-ons disabled" is for diagnosing problems so they can be reported to the relevant parties (e.g. Mozilla or add-on authors).
(In reply to Verdi [:verdi] from comment #9)
> (In reply to Dão Gottwald [:dao] from comment #6)
> > 
> > Why can't we add "Reset Firefox" and keep "Restart with Add-ons disabled" as
> > a secondary option?
> We're trying to give users clear options. The reset will fix things for
> upwards of 80% of users and eliminate a trip to support. That is a beautiful
> experience in comparison to searching though the support site, finding this
> article
> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-
> problems and then probably having to resort to the reset (if you have the
> time and ability to make it that far). Generally the other option to "fix"
> things like this is to switch to one of the other browsers you have on your
> computer. By leaving troubleshooting information in the menu we just clutter
> things and make it less likely the user will click on the thing we want them
> to - reset.

I understand this, but at the same time, as Dão pointed out, the "hold shift while starting Firefox" alternative to the menu option isn't particularly easy to use/discover. If we're swapping reset and safe mode in the menu, can we do the inverse on about:support (id est add a button there to restart in safe mode) ?
about:support might as well have buttons for both. You've got enough room to have actual descriptions of their functions to make things more clear.
Talking about Safe Mode... could you guys look on my bug #656720 - Add Safe Mode option in START under Task feature,
so even restart in safe mode will be useless and can even be removed when my bug will be fixed if you're started cleaning Help menu...
This is a bad idea. Menu items that are easily accessible with a few clicks should be the ones the user uses often/can make use of repeatedly, and I know people use "Restart with Add-ons Disabled..." way more often than "Reset Firefox" since the latter feature is more "destructive" to the way the user works with the browser (deletes his/her add-ons and their preferences, forcing the user to set it all up all over again, which is annoying task for most users).
Terrible idea. Reset Firefox is a flawed heavy handed concept anyway removing the option to restart with addons disabled is another bad decision obviously made in secret
Awful, nonsensical idea.  "Reset" is ambiguous and will result in inadvertent data loss.

What would be more useful is "Troubleshoot a problem" that either attempts to troubleshoot the problem or instructs to attempt restarting with add-ons disabled, or a new profile (this would be the place for a "reset Firefox" button).
Type: defect → enhancement

WONTFIX per bug 1689632 comment 5.

Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 3 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.