Firefox/Feature Brainstorming:Add-ons

« Firefox/Feature Brainstorming

Specific features	References
Add-on management Version compatibility Options management Integration with AMO Support for remote extensions (i.e. dev tools package) Allow user to disable plugins via "about:plugins", Options/Prefs, or Extensions Export/Import of Addons Information. Have "Extension Packs" available for download immediately upon completing a Firefox install (also see "Installer" notes) "Update All" extensions button When the plugin finder doesn't find any suitable plugin, show a description for making easier to the user to find it (show data type?) Make extensions "cleanware". Let all of their configuration lie in their own file directory instead of mashing it together with other extensions' configuration in One Big File. This reeks of Windows' "Registry Hell". Cleanly uninstalling an extension should be as simple as deleting its subdirectory. Dynamic loading/unloading of extensions. No more restarting just because an extension was installed/uninstalled/updated. (Like nglayout.debug.disable_xul_cache = true, only better.) Provide changelogs for extension updates (Do I really want to update?) «Visit Home Page» opens extension's home page in a new window; must have another context menu item to open it in a new tab. Limit amount of Plugins/Addons from overwhelming the Interface. Allow Firefox to limit 2-20 lines of toolbars for real estate recovery. Have Arrow Up and Arrow Down at the start of the Toolbar rotator or use the scroll wheel (when mouseover the Plugin toolbar) to rotate between plugins. Allow us to specify which order each plugin will sit in. Extensions should have compatibility mode to allow older extensions to run when a new revision of firefox is released and extension is not available. Maybe offer a "force install" to see if an out of revision extension will work. See Nightly Tester Tools extension that is able to force such install mode over any given extension (or at least over most of them). Send Theme name and version currently in use in the HTTP headers. Store XPI files in a central location so multiple users on the same machine do not have to download the same XPI multiple times. Maybe allow user to set location so only one download is needed for multiple users on a corporate network. Add a option to install plugin for Single User or All User mode while installing the XPI via the GUI. Swap any special feature to an extension and add an Extension Manager that works like the Eclipse Callisto Project, so Firefox would lightweight and functional Don't require full browser restart for new theme installation, and if possible, extensions too	- FAQ on forum - Extensions summary on TEM - "Extension Packs" from installer idea - Provide functionality to export and import addons-information using RDF - Extension compatibility ideas
External editing of text boxes Allow an external editor (emacs, textpad, etc) to edit text in form text boxes Currently supported by plug-ins, but only on some platforms; should be available everywhere As more and more apps move towards web services, the ability to effectively edit large blocks of text (wikis, blogs, forums, webmail) becomes more and more critical. Include ability to save/restore the text box contents.	bug 103767
Plugins Flash plugin to let the Windows version of Flash run using Wine (or similar.) Since the Linux version will always be several versions behind what is used on most web sites and honestly expecting this to change is bordering on insanity, provide a way to run the Windows version under Firefox. Fix the Flash Installation on Linux One always winds up having to do a manual install. If Firefox needs root permissions to do the install ask for the root password, don't just fail out.	n/a
"Open page in another browser" option Simple, useful, and easy to implement.	n/a
General tasks
Improve extension installation/management UI Unify add-ons management (extensions, themes, search engines, dictionaries, plugins) Improve interaction design around customizing browser interfaces	bug 339056 bug 338074 bug 335781
Plug-in for non integrated formats Allow plug-ins to add support for file formats not supported by gecko (in ex. PDF, iCalendar, MS .doc files) or supported but needed to render differently (in ex. XHTML, feed RSS, IE rendering support)