Plugins:Roadmap
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Plugin Interactions Roadmap | |
| Owner: Kev Needham | Updated: 2011-06-30 | |
| Over the past year we've raised user awareness of content plugins, and improved their interactions with them through the plugin check page and out-of-process plugins. In 2011 we need to continue to educate users about plugins and how they work, and simplify the installation and update process with Firefox. We'll make it easier to install and update the most popular plugins (e.g. Adobe Flash and Reader, Microsoft Silverlight, etc.) and will act as a liason between plugin developers and users. We'll continue to expand and improve our relationships with plugin authors, and proactively work with them to ensure that the content consumption experience is the best it can be for users. | ||
Vision
Provide a simplified user experience for finding, installing, and managing content plugins that is consistent with other add-ons.
Overview
A plugin is a software application that works with the browser to render content inline - identified by a mime-type - which can't be rendered by the browser alone. They are developed independently from Mozilla by third-party organizations such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Oracle (and many others) to work with content generated by those organizations content and application development tools. Some web content which require plugins - such as Adobe's Flash player - are widely used today by content developers, and are required by the majority of users.
The negative interactions (e.g. performance degradation, crashes, memory usage, incorrect content rendering, etc.) between Firefox and content plugins account for a large percentage of the problems reported by users.
Goals
- We want to make it simple for users to find, install and manage the content plugins they require.
- We want content plugins to work, at a minimum, as well as any other browser, regardless of platform
- We want to mitigate the negative impacts plugins can have on the user's experience with Firefox
- We want to help protect our users from vulnerabilities introduced by plugins
- We want to ensure users are aware of and have control over the information plugins collect and store
- We want to work more closely with plugin developers to ensure our products work well together
Client Product (Firefox)
Where we are right now
Installed content plugins are listed on the add-on manager, and a user can enable or disable them from there, but there is no other functionality built into the add-on manager. Over the course of the next two-three releases we need to add the functionality of the plugincheck page to the add-on manager, and expand on the information available to the user through it. Ideally, we'll be able to add the ability to (kick off) plugin installation, updates, and removals through the add-on manager, and do so without the need to restart Firefox.
Where we want to be
What we'll do to get there
| Q# | Initiative | Difficulty | Dependencies/Resources | Bug(s) |
| 1.1 | Change Plugins Finder Service to PFS2 | Esey | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.2 | Add link to Plugin Check from Addon Manager's Plugin page | Medium | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.3 | Provide NPAPI hook to query plugins for version and compatibility information | Medium | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.5 | Add ability to check for updates and launch installation of those updates from Add-on Manager | Medium | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.4 | Provide users with option to install selected plugins on Firefox install and/or first-run | Hard | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.6 | Offer versions of Firefox with selected plugins bundled within the product installer | Hard | Dependencies | bug |
Web Services
plugins.mozilla.org
The plugin directory is a metadirectory of plugin information, and is intended to be used as a data source for services such as the Plugin Finder Service 2 and the Plugin Check page. Directory information is managed through a web application, and supports the notions of roles, which would allow both Mozilla and authorized 3rd parties to update and/or add information on plugins as they change.
| Q# | Initiative | Difficulty | Dependencies/Resources | Bug(s) |
| 1.1 | Description | Hard | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.2 | Description | Hard | Dependencies | bug |
| 1.3 | Add Adobe as plugins user for pushing product updates | Medium | WebDev | bug |
Plugin Check
- integration with input (morgamic) - qualitative trending (morgamic) - plugin crash feedback loop (morgamic)
| Q# | Initiative | Difficulty | Dependencies/Resources |
| 1.1 | Description | Hard | Dependencies |
Plugin Finder Service
| Q# | Initiative | Difficulty | Dependencies/Resources |
| 1.1 | Description | Hard | Dependencies |
Plugin Developer Relations
Developer Relations & Partnering
During development of Firefox 4, we've made great strides in establishing and growing relationships with popular plugin developers including Adobe and Microsoft. We'll continue to develop those relationships to improve product interactions and quality assurance, and will work closer with those organizations that affect our user base. Additionally, we'll need to work closely with plugin vendors to improve the user experience for plugin installations, updates, and removals from Firefox.
- Plugin Summit (Josh) - get the plugin players involved, come in for a day and we'll make it worth your time.
Related Bugs
bug 613305 Integrate Plugin Check with installed plugins in the add-ons manager