User talk:Autodmc

Some ideas for Firefox 2 for this page: Firefox/Feature Brainstorming

Lean and Mean vs. Super Install

It would be neat if the Firefox Installer installed ONLY the barebones browser with NO EXTENSIONS. Then, after install, it would take you to a "finish this install" page.

That page would ask the question "What kind of browser are you?"

There would be four or five options, like:

• Speed Demon - Likes to browse the web at warp 9, and doesn't want any distractions!

• Sunday Driver - Enjoys browsing the web but takes their time on pages. Likes to see the web, not just dash through it.

• Developer - You don't just surf the web, you MAKE the web! You want all the tools necessary to write cutting edge cross-browser applications.

• Casual Surfer - You don't surf the web much, but when you do, you want a pleasant and secure browsing experience.

• IE 7 - IE fan to the core, you want to take a peek at what makes Firefox a real alternative to The Browser from The Company.

• Power User - You want a lean and mean browser with no "extra functionality..." just render the HTML! If I want something extra, I'll put it there myself!

Each of these options would download a "recommended extension pack" designed for "that type of user." That way the browser "comes installed with everything they want!" However, if you have your own personal list, you don't have to take any extension you don't want.

Another cool idea would be to have a system where people can make their own "extension packs" that they feel cater to a specific user, like a control freak or unix programmer...

Text Only Mode

It would be spectacularly neat if you could make a tab a "Text Only" tab; it would display the site similarly to tools like "lynx" and "links," text only browsers. For example, the Lighttpd "You've Correctly Installed the Site" looks like this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Placeholder page

   The owner of this web site has not put up any web pages yet. Please
   come back later.

You should replace this page with your own web pages as soon as possible.

   Unless you changed its configuration, your new server is configured as
   follows:
     * Configuration files can be found in /etc/lighttpd. Please read
       /etc/lighttpd/conf-available/README file.
     * The DocumentRoot, which is the directory under which all your HTML
       files should exist, is set to /var/www.
     * CGI scripts are looked for in /usr/lib/cgi-bin, which is where
       Debian packages will place their scripts. You can enable cgi
       module by using command "lighty-enable-mod cgi".
     * Log files are placed in /var/log/lighttpd, and will be rotated
       weekly. The frequency of rotation can be easily changed by editing
       /etc/logrotate.d/lighttpd.
     * The default directory index is index.html, meaning that requests
.
.
.

[[1]]: This site renders pages with Lynx by proxy, so you can see the layout text-only.

I'm thinking more of a links2-command-line type rendering, that renders tables and fields, etc, using only the typewriter font, no graphics. This should load really fast, and is nice when you want a distraction free no graphics view of the page. Allowing you to switch between Text Only/Full Graphics modes would let you also view those bad, bad pages that don't work without graphics.

Another advantage should be a much smaller hit on Firefox's cache and much better download/render times, as no graphics are downloaded or rendered except when explicitly told to do so.

It would also give developers a new view of their site; their site without all the extra graphical niceties or fluff.

Here's a screencap from Links2 that demonstrates what I mean:

Here's a crude hack-and-slay-microsoft-paint mockup of the proposed mode: