Download Manager

This page is primarily related to defining and planning the Firefox 3 PRD line item CON-004a, possibly also involving CON-005a, CON-006a, CON-007a.

Please do not edit this page unless you are directly involved with the design and planning of thise feature. If you would like to comment, please use the talk page, thanks!

Goals + Solutions

• Make it easier for users to organize files they download from the Web.
  • Multiple optional customizable download directories -- by default everything would still go to a single default directory
• Make it easier for users to find files they download from the Web.
  • Search
  • Advanced Search
  • Saved Searches (Smart Folders)
• Make it easier for users to flag and download files at a later time.
  • Download queue
  • Multiple download queues
  • Scheduling download queues
• Reduce the pain caused by downloading over slow dialup or unreliable network connections.
  • Pause/Resume
  • Auto-pause/Auto-resume on network failure
• Allow users to automatically download Web feed enclosures (audio, video, images, etc) associated with Live Bookmarks.
  • Option to auto-download Live Bookmark feed enclosures to a specified directory (Web Feeds pref?)
• Make it easier for users to revisit the original source of downloaded files.
  • File location and other details included in download history with one-click revisit
• Make it easier to archive/save web pages for offline use and organize those as if they were downloaded content.
  • One-click archiving/saving of pages and manage these through the downloads management interface (as if they were just another downloaded file)
• Make it easier to get the status of current downloads
  • Put status indicator into primary chrome

Non-Goals

• Do not build a full file manager system into Firefox.

Mockups/Designs

Download History/Manager

Random Download window mockup (dria):

Displaying Download status in Status bar

Displaying Download status in Primary UI idea (dria) - Status bar addition...

Use Cases

• I use Google Image Search to find and download hundreds of images from the web for personal use in scrapbooking. I organize these in a bunch of different ways, but wish there were a more flexible way to group and find them.

• I download a videoblogger's posts to watch offline -- these are daily postings but I'm only on the web via dialup once per week and cannot wait at the machine to download them all one-by-one.

• I download dozens of articles off the Web to use in thesis research. Some articles are PDFs, some are Word documents, some are scanned images from old out-of-print journals, others are HTML with images and multiple pages. I must be able to archive these for later use if necessary, and also must cite them accurately including original download location.

• I download 6 specific TV shows every week via Bittorrent.

• I download at least 10 new (legal!) indy tracks from artist and label sites every day.

• I download and print dozens of posted photos of my nephew to show off to friends and family.

• I archive dozens of real-estate listings from MLS.ca -- including private realtor information, maps, and linked photos -- to a laptop for offline use. (Bonus points: automatically updating the archived listings when reconnecting to the network.)

• I download dozens of useful applications and utilities to install or use when diagnosing friends' computer problems. I store these on a USB key so I always have them regardless of network connectivity.

• I download and install dozens of new (often alpha/beta) applications and extensions often enough that original sources for these are lost or forgotten. I need to be able to check for updates, find documentation, or report bugs, so I need that original source information.

• I forgot that I downloaded this file before, and Firefox sees that the files are the same after I've downloaded it and offers to delete the excess copies

• I have a download going when I restart to apply an update, and Firefox resumes my download when my session comes back up.

References

• Firefox:Download_Manager - Ben Goodger's (old?) page
• Download_resuming - Biesi's page