Campaigns/about:home

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getting started

There are many important steps and moving pieces to pushing a successful campaign on about:home. The information below is an outline of these moving pieces and related steps. The relevance of the content will depend on the scope and scale of your program - and the scope of this wiki does not extend to elements of your campaign outside of about:home. Please don't hesitate to ping x if you have questions.

about:home fast facts

  • this is the default home tab on Firefox
  • you can get to it by typing about:home in your URL bar.
  • this tab/page is only seen by existing Firefox users.
  • roughly 90% of FF users have customized their home tab and therefore will not see this.
  • this page gets roughly x impressions per x time.
  • it is one of our most visible in-product pages, a very powerful real estate.
  • great channel for: brand/user engagement and product marketing.
  • Once a snippet is pushed, it takes up to 24 hours before everyone sees the update (Firefox checks for updates once every 24 hour period).
  • Snippets can target languages (Firefox builds in a certain language) not countries.
  • Snippets cannot target timezones, but can detect time-zones.

content calender & lifecycle

Timing is everything, and about:home is a busy channel. Be sure to check the content calendar and reserve your slot in advance.

To discuss, contact:

  • Winston wbowden @ mozilla.com
  • Carmen ccollins @ mozilla.com

Considerations:

  • What is the snippet schedule for your program?
  • Is it a single snippet or several in rotation?
  • What's the desired rotation schedule?
  • What are the other snippets in rotation around your campaign? Are there any potential conflicts?
  • Campaign lifecycle:
  • Avoid long periods of time with the same graphic or animation on about:home.
  • If a longer period of time is needed, try to include phases and updates in animation/illustration so the user doesn't get tired.
  • Once a snippet is pushed, it takes up to 24 hours before everyone sees the update (Firefox checks for updates once every 24 hour period).

release channels

Which release channel(s) work best for your program? Depending on your target audience and goals, you may want to consider more than one. Keep in mind though that there are variations between the :home tab of each channel, and different functionality being showcased in each.

To gut-check your program against these channels, contact:

  • Winston from user engagement: wbowden @mozilla.com
  • Laura Forrest from PMM: lforrest @mozilla.com

Here are the channels:

  • Firefox GA
  • Beta
  • Aurora
  • Nightly

webdev

Be sure to ping webdev and brief them on your snippet program, especially if it involves special/new functionality. Their technical expertise will help guide the overall process, and they'll be sure to carve out the right resources for you.

To kick things off with webdev, contact:

  • Chris More cmore @mozilla.com
  • Christie Koehler ckoehler @mozilla.com

design & copy

There are ample opportunities to get creative with about:home, while respecting certain design principles for the page and UX considerations.

To kick off design and copy, please contact:

  • x @mozilla.com
  • y @mozilla.com

The three areas that can be touched with custom designs are:

  • The entire background of about:home
  • The hero graphic (FF logo by default)
  • The below the search box snippet icon

background canvas:

  • Much like Themes (formerly Personas), the background of about:home can be customized.
  • Customization can be pushed by default, or provided through restart-less add-ons.
  • Customizing the background of about:home with illustrations may conflict with other snippets in rotation.
  • File format: x
  • Max file size: x

hero graphic:

  • Identify the desired theme for your campaign and inspiration for the hero illustration.
  • The graphic needs to fit within same general space as the FF logo, with appropriate padding around chrome and search box.
  • Design should not be a "distraction" or overwhelm the page.
  • Recommendation: images should carry a similar style and feel consistent over time, and across campaigns.
  • File format: x
  • Max file size: x

snippet icon:

  • 40x50 (landscape or portrait orientation).
  • Image should be provided as transparent png.
  • Should capture the message / cta of snippet text.
  • If more than one snippet, icons should help differentiate.

copy:

  • The general guiding rule for snippet copy is to keep it short and sweet. Shorter strings are not only easier for localization, but also can be easily extended to social media channels (Facebook / Twitter)
  • When filing a copy bug, provide some direction as to what the desired message is and the CTA.

interactivity / animation

We're actively experimenting with about:home, exploring new ways to bring it to life while also showcasing modern technologies.

To see if animation is right for your program and discuss options please contact: Tara and Barry

  • barry @mozilla.com
  • tara @mozilla.com

considerations:

  • Avoid endless loops that consumes CPU, become annoying or causes fatigue.
  • Try to incorporate an opt-in / opt-in mechanism.
  • Simple hover states and interactivity are a plus.
  • Less is more in some cases. We recommend focusing on subtle smooth (if not simple) animation sequence executed beautifully, vs. a lot of motion.
  • Supply art direction, storyboard, and any raw assets to animation partner as soon as possible in order to begin motion tests and exploration.


localization

Localization is a key step to any campaign and one that takes time. So, be sure to get the l10n gears in motion as soon as possible to ensure a globally friendly campaign.

The l10n leads to contact are:

  • Pascal Chevrel pchevrel @mozilla.com
  • Jeff Beatty jbeatty @mozilla.com
  • Milos milos @mozilla.com

The l10n alias list to have handy are:

  • web@localization.bugs
  • world-ready@mozilla.org

If snippet program is limited to about:home:

  • File an l10n bug with the snippet strings
  • File an l10n bug for any copy within the graphic
  • Identify the priority locales, and specific dialects to be covered.
    • cc: jbeatty@mozilla.com, pascalc@gmail.com, milos@mozilla.com, web@localization.bugs
    • cc: your technical project manager from webdev.
    • cc Winston as snippet channel owner.

If snippet program is part of larger campaign:

Considerations:

  • l10n begins once the copy strings are completed, but it's best to contact the l10n drivers early in the process so they can help guide copy direction as needed and/or plan ahead for your program.
  • l10n needs at least 2-3 weekends advance notice for snippets.
  • Ability to respond to request depends on length of strings, scope of program, and desired coverage.
  • File bugs as soon as possible, and send an email to Pascal when you are ready to begin l10n.
  • If your graphic / campaign carries any geo-specific sensitivities, email the worldready alias for feedback: world-ready@mozilla.org
  • about:home snippets target languages (Firefox builds in a certain language) not countries. It's important to keep this in mind as it impacts the content being presented.

metrics

How will you know your program was a success? With meaningful metrics! Currently we have some limitations in what we can measure, and in some cases metrics is not automatically set up. Be sure to discuss metric goals upfront and loop in webdev to have the appropriate measures in place.

To discuss metrics, contact:

  • Winston wbowden @mozilla.com
  • Christie Koehler ckoehler @mozilla.com

What we can and can't do:

  • Can: measure impression data
  • Can: measure clicks on snippets / conversion (with the right set up)
  • Can't: measure video plays. Videos hosted on our servers are not properly set up for metrics.
  • Can't: measure engagement with hero graphic
  • Can't: measure time spent on about:home
  • Can't: measure interactivity (clicks on hero image, hover states, animation plays, etc)

bugs to file

Pending the nature of your program, scope and scale... the following bugs may be relevant to you:

  • Design bug for hero illustration
  • Design bug for snippet icon
  • Design bug for animation (storyboard, motion tests, and final code)
  • Copy bug for snippet strings
  • L10n bugs(s) for localization
  • Snippet implementation bug with webdev
  • Adding Snippet to staging with webdev
  • QA review of snippet implementation on stage.
  • MDN blog post behind the scenes + MDN homepage promo.
  • Master tracking bug upon which all campaign bugs are set as dependencies

open issues

We're actively working on improving the experience on about:home. Here's a quick list of bugs we're aiming to fix, and issues we're exploring further.

These are being discussed and tracked on this etherpad: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/abouthomebugs

past campaigns

july campaign

  • Campaign outline:
  • Metrics:
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