Firefox:2.0 Product Planning

This page is intended to collect ideas for features that we'll be investigating and evaluating for inclusion in Firefox 2 and 3.

Brainstormed Feature List

note: these lists are not prioritized in the slightest!

Features requiring new UI design

Feature	Target	References
Identity Management password and cookie management next-generation identity systems single sign-on	FFx2/ext	Identity 2.0 at OSCON
Session Saver	FFx2
RSS Reader/Viewer	FFx2
Omnibus "Status" Area download status popup/cookie/XPI blocker status security/trustworthiness status see "Artifact/Resource Detection"	FFx2
Phishing Protector	1.5ext?
Content Manipulation (like GM) persistant site-specific view options tie-in to accessibility for consumers annotation/personalization of the web	FFx3
Artifact/Resource Detection make it easier to find linked/embedded content media type detection microformats rss detection	FFx2
History/Bookmark Overhaul leverage power of DB-based history/bookmarks heirarchy vs. tag-based (social web tie-in?) scrapbook/grabbag concept history navigation search using meta-data/full text from cache relevance based filtering remote/sharing APIs & integration points auto-linking/smart tagging preserving DOM state baysian training/pruning portable profile every bookmark as "live" (page change notification)	FFx2	dria's on tagging
Intro/Tutorial Mode	FFx2
Bluetooth support (send content to device)	FFx3
Extension Security whitelist & blacklist third-party signing and authentication by Mozilla	FFx2/3	Extension Blacklisting UI Spec
Stub Installers	FFx2

Features requiring changes to existing UI design

Feature	Target	References
Tabbed Browsing select on close behaviour close buttons tabs instead of windows	FFx2
Search Improvements find in text areas find integration points for web applications adding/managing search engines	FFx2
Spell Check	FFx2
Download Manager schedule p2p support (locating/participating)	ext
Aging Population Accessiblity smart font sizing page zoom	FFx3
Zoom/panning/scaling for images
Extension Management version compatibility options management update/install/remove	FFx2
Improving Theme Capabilities	FFx3

Features that do not require UI changes

Feature	Target	References
Text Area Auto-Save
Improve App/OS Integration
Transactional DOM	FFx3
Adblock and Remote Filter Sets	ext
Base on XULRunner	FFx3
Autocomplete URL from middle of word local filenames using history frequency for relevance	FFx2
Offline Mode/Use of Cache browsing apps (supercookies)	FFx2
Instrumentation history navigation install/uninstall	FFx2
Precognitive Fetch

Background Materials / Suggestions

Tutorial mode

There's a bit of a dilemma where explanitory and cautionary messages are concerned: They are essental for novices but frustrating for pros, even if only shown once. At the moment, a good example within Firefox eludes me (though I'm sure there are some), but the one that comes to mind is the drive root hiding that WinXP does on first startup. Novices really shouldn't be messing with that, but any experienced user has a pretty good idea what's safe and what's not, especially if they're coming from another installation of WinXP. In fact, WinXP has a bunch of that kind of message, to the point where you find yourself wishing for a button somewhere labelled "I am not an idiot!"

The problem here is that the company that shall not be named has decided to be user friendly to the point where you expect an airbag when it crashes, leaving the experts banging their heads on the padded walls. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the command-line *nixes, which come with no obvious user instruction at all. The novice is left perplexed, especially as the only obvious command (help) is usually of no help at all.

Now, both ends of the spectrum have their uses, hence it makes sense to use both. I suggest giving a prompt on first launch (per profile) that allows you to select from "Full tutorial / New to the web", "Firefox tutorial / New to Firefox", "New feature tutorial / New to this version", and "No tutorial / Guru" (aka my "I am not an idiot!" button from above). Basically, they all specify a level of messages to show. Full Tutorial should include everything that a new user needs to know to start browsing the web. Firefox tutorial should concentrate on pointing out where the elements that they're familiar with have gone, including that Bookmarks=Favorites, Options(=Preferences) is under Tools, etc. New to this version points out new features and changed behaviors (might want to include a way to specify which version they're coming from rather than assuming the most recent). No tutorial, naturally, turns it all off.