Canmove, confirm
2,079
edits
Changes
put into present tense and presesnt state, rather than future tense. Better summarize for authors the range of changes add-on may require, which in some cases is none or almost none
<big>'''Add-ons Guide for Thunderbird 57 to Thunderbird 60 ESR'''</big>
(For developer information about Thunderbird 62 61 and beyond please visit the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird/Add-ons_Guide_62 Add-ons Guide 62]. Note: Thunderbird 61 never existed, so we're skipping that numberand 62 betas have been skipped. The next beta will be 63.)
'''Legacy add-onsAsk Questions and Get Help''': Thunderbird 57-60 Developers are encouraged to get help and Seamonkey will '''<u>still support</u> legacy add-ons <u>if</u> add-on author makes modifications to adapt to advice in the mozilla.dev.apps.thunderbird newsgroup (the changed interfaces'''traditional venue) or in maildev mailing list. The items to be modified are listed below(see [[Thunderbird/CommunicationChannels#If_you. 27re_a_developer|Communication Channels]] (The reasons for these changes is Firefox platform have disabled "legacy" add-ons Please check this document and ask questions in Firefox 57a forum before filing a bug report. Also, test and fix your add-ons which are not based purely on using a [[WebExtensionshttp://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/channel/ beta version]], so Mozilla removed core interfacesof Thunderbird - do not use nightly builds (currently version 63) for testing changes for version 60.)
'''WebExtensionLegacy, pre-version 57 add-ons''' - '''Thunderbird 57-60 (and Seamonkey) <u>still support</u> legacy add-ons''', but all add-on authors must check to see whether code changes are needed. The complexity of the add-on determines how it is affected - many add-ons are not heavily affected, some not affected at all. '''Some add-ons do not need any code changes, and some only trivial or minor refactoring or name changes. Some many need to adapt to changed interfaces. Some only need changes to startup and intialization, others may need more extensive changes.''' Details of everything to be modified is listed below. Every beta from 57 to 60 delivered changes. So for example if your add-on is compatible with beta 58 you may still need to make further changes. Example changes to version 59 involve {{bug|1414398}} default preferences, and {{Bug|1419145}} menu to access add-on options and tab options. '''Why''': WebExtension does Firefox platform have disabled "legacy" add-ons in Firefox 57 (that is, all add-ons not exist yet in based purely on [[WebExtensions]]), so Mozilla removed some core interfaces which are also used by Thunderbird. However, unlike Firefox, Thunderbird will be adding has not killed legacy add-ons, because the Thunderbird team lessened the impact of those changes on Thunderbird add-on developers, where possible. '''WebExtension support in ''' aka futures: Thunderbird 60 does not have WebExtensions. {{bug|1396172}} will be add WebExtension support in Thunderbird beta 63, while maintaining "legacy" add-ons and hybrid add-ons.
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__TOC__
== Removed interfaces in mozilla57 ==
* Components.utils.import() has changed to ChromeUtils.import(). The old form still works (but is slower)
* Expression Closures have been dropped: https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Expression_closures (use arrow functions).
== Also Note ==
The list above only contains selected changes relevant to '''Thunderbird''' add-ons. The full A larger list , some of changes which are only relevant to Firefox, can be seen at [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox/Releases Firefox developer release notes] where all the details, bugzilla bug reports and patches implementing those the above changes , and more, can be found. If you find something missing in the list above, please tell us <tbd>.
