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Extension Manager:UI Update: Difference between revisions
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The addons manager has been largely unchanged in Firefox, while the scope and functionality of addons has increased dramatically. Especially in light of new addons functionality and projects, such as Personas and Jetpack, the addons manager could be improved and redesigned in order to better assist users personalising their browsing experience. | The addons manager has been largely unchanged in Firefox, while the scope and functionality of addons has increased dramatically. Especially in light of new addons functionality and projects, such as Personas and Jetpack, the addons manager could be improved and redesigned in order to better assist users personalising their browsing experience. | ||
== Past work == | == Past work == | ||
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Madhava's wiki describes how addons would easily download from within the addons manager through controls in the right "expanded view" panel. After installing an addon and then restarting, the user would see the addons manager with the addon they recently installed highlights, its options visible in the right panel for easy configuration. | Madhava's wiki describes how addons would easily download from within the addons manager through controls in the right "expanded view" panel. After installing an addon and then restarting, the user would see the addons manager with the addon they recently installed highlights, its options visible in the right panel for easy configuration. | ||
== | == Prioritized Goals == | ||
There are five main areas of the addons manager that this redesign will involve: | There are five main areas of the addons manager that this redesign will involve: | ||
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The minimum level of success would be to substantially improve the basic functionality of the Addons Manager, while developing a plan of action for fixing current problems and adding new features. | The minimum level of success would be to substantially improve the basic functionality of the Addons Manager, while developing a plan of action for fixing current problems and adding new features. | ||
== Current Addons Manager == | |||
=== Positives === | |||
;Pre-populated Featured Addons | |||
:The current design's constant inclusion of five featured addons provides a benefit especially to new users, by giving them both an idea of what addons can do and possibly suggesting one he is interested in downloading. This also provides a huge benefit to the developers whose addons are featured | |||
;AMO-wide Search | |||
:The addons manager allows users to search through all addons on AMO, get search results back within the addons manager, and install them - all without visiting AMO. This is excellent functionality for people who know exactly what addon they want to install. Unfortunately, because this feature is not very discoverable, many experienced users are not aware it exists. | |||
=== Negatives === | |||
;Category confusion | |||
:Addons are currently categorized by terms such as "extensions" and "addons," which are similar to each other and not necessarily meaningful to users. While some separation of addons by category is probably necessary, expanding the correct category is currently the only way to find a desired addon. This leads to the common current user behavior of clicking categories until he finds the addon he is looking for, rather than finding it obvious where the desired addon will be. | |||
;Finding an addon is difficult | |||
:related to the above, currently category selection and then scanning is the only way to locate a particular addon. In many cases, the user knows exactly the name of the addon he wants to find, but not what category it is in. Compounding this problem, users sometimes go to the Preferences page first, which handle similar issues as many addons. | |||
;Little room for addon information | |||
:Addons are currently displayed in one line each, with a one sentence description. Potentially useful information such as the author, size, or options for an addon are not displayed. | |||
;Redundancy, especially in installing updates<br> | |||
:Currently the category pages say if updates are available, and a separate Updates tab does as well. A "Find Updates" button on category pages links to the Updates page. | |||
;Inconsistency | |||
:The current addons manager looks very much unlike other parts of Firefox's UI. The user encounters interactions in the addons manager that they do not see anywhere else in Firefox, leading to the user taking longer to complete a task. | |||
== Redesign Themes == | == Redesign Themes == | ||
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While getting every Firefox user to install addons is not the goal, making them more accessible to more users would benefit both users and developers. A common criticism of the current addons manager is that it is easy to find an addon by name, but less so by functionality. This redesign will seek ways for users to find addons based on how they browse or functionality they want rather than only by addon type. | While getting every Firefox user to install addons is not the goal, making them more accessible to more users would benefit both users and developers. A common criticism of the current addons manager is that it is easy to find an addon by name, but less so by functionality. This redesign will seek ways for users to find addons based on how they browse or functionality they want rather than only by addon type. | ||
== Wireframes == | |||
=== Storing/Managing Addons === | |||
==== Two-Pane System ==== | |||
The default Addons Manager view will be in a two-panel basic hierarchy view within the content area of the browser. Addon categories, search, past searches, and recommended addons will be in the left panel, and expanded view will be on the right. This increasingly common format is a familiar layout in operating systems and applications, and follows a larger planned design plan for Firefox's auxiliary controls. | |||
[[File:Outline1 for addonsmanager1.png]] | |||
For viewing installed add-ons, the Detail View in the right pane will either show the contents of a category or an individual addon, depending on which is selected. Viewing the contents of a category will show a summary view of the addons, with basic information and the ability to disable or remove an addon. This gives the user the ability to quickly browse the contents of a category with more information than the list in the left pane provides. The information shown will be similar to what's in the current addons manager, but will allow for sorting by categories such as size and date added. | |||
[[File:Category view diagram in new addonmanager.png]] | |||
(bork bork stuff about detail view bork) | |||
[[File:Addondetailview innewaadonmanager.png]] | |||
== Team == | == Team == | ||
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:Boriss | :Boriss | ||
;Development | ;Development | ||
:Unfocused, Mossop | :Unfocused, Mossop | ||
;AMO liaison | ;AMO liaison | ||
:Nick and Fligtar | :Nick and Fligtar | ||
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*12/11/2009: [http://jboriss.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/redesigning-firefoxs-addons-manager/ Redesigning Firefox’s Addons Manager] | *12/11/2009: [http://jboriss.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/redesigning-firefoxs-addons-manager/ Redesigning Firefox’s Addons Manager] | ||
:*'''Automatic Updates''' I totally agree with the automatic updates. The FInd Updates feature is a geek thing. There could be an option merged with “automatically update firefox”. | :*'''Automatic Updates''' I totally agree with the automatic updates. The FInd Updates feature is a geek thing. There could be an option merged with “automatically update firefox”. But be careful with add-ons not hosted on AMO, this could lead to serious security issues if the domain name was bought by another person. Plus, sometimes updates remove or break features. Normal people are not “update addicted”, they just want things that work. It would be interesting to make the difference between minor and major updates, or better, let extensions developpers say in the update feed “this is a feature and/or bugfix and/or security update”. Then, one could decide “This extension works, I never want to update it” or “Only where bugfixes and security issues are available”, and so on. Undo an update is another interesting point. - Snap | ||
:*I’d really love the addons manager UI to '''expose which addons are not successfully checking for updates''', as I have a fair few installed from external sites. - Takoosh | :*I’d really love the addons manager UI to '''expose which addons are not successfully checking for updates''', as I have a fair few installed from external sites. - Takoosh | ||
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:*In Plugins, what is “MetaStream 3 Plugin 3.2.2.26 MetaStream 3 Plugin r4,” what did I do to add it, and do I dare disable it? Firefox 3.6 may '''add a feature to monitor whether plugins are current''', and perhaps that should be able to be checked from here. | :*In Plugins, what is “MetaStream 3 Plugin 3.2.2.26 MetaStream 3 Plugin r4,” what did I do to add it, and do I dare disable it? Firefox 3.6 may '''add a feature to monitor whether plugins are current''', and perhaps that should be able to be checked from here. | ||
:*'''Flag add-ons not hosted on AMO'''. See: http://adblockplus.org/blog/extension-conflicts-2009-edition. | :*'''Flag add-ons not hosted on AMO'''. See: http://adblockplus.org/blog/extension-conflicts-2009-edition. These don’t go through the review process and should be seen as higher risk. | ||
:*'''Integrate Collections''' (RE: the Add-on Collector) by default. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11950. Collections are huge. | :*'''Integrate Collections''' (RE: the Add-on Collector) by default. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11950. Collections are huge. | ||
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:*I think your mockup is way to complicated. I definitely like the idea of putting the manager in a tab, but you should not put more information there. Information like Compatibility, “updated” and so on should only be shown if the user explicitly clicks on it. I would suggest to show a list of all addons with activated/deactivated status by default like in the old dialog. | :*I think your mockup is way to complicated. I definitely like the idea of putting the manager in a tab, but you should not put more information there. Information like Compatibility, “updated” and so on should only be shown if the user explicitly clicks on it. I would suggest to show a list of all addons with activated/deactivated status by default like in the old dialog. | ||
:*let there be an “Overview”-mode/feature e.g. by selecting the “My Add-ons” in the sidebar shown in your mock-up, for a fast look on what’s there, which one should be updated, which one is installed, but disabled, etc - | The rest is not interesting for most of the users and just raises the barrier for users by showing them a clutter interface they have to “learn | ||
:*let there be an “Overview”-mode/feature e.g. by selecting the “My Add-ons” in the sidebar shown in your mock-up, for a fast look on what’s there, which one should be updated, which one is installed, but disabled, etc -> maybe even similar to fenec or “Mr.Tech Toolkit” – compact-mode (I’d prefer fenec UI) | |||
=== Bugs === | === Bugs === | ||