Writing Extension Preferences UI for Firefox 1.1

Post by **BenBasson** » May 17th, 2005, 3:53 pm

*Replaces "is producing" with "has started"...*

Grauw · Post by **Grauw** » May 18th, 2005, 5:38 am

Wouldn’t a suitable place for information like this be the wiki (kb.mozillazine.org or something)? At least that is the first place I would look for it...

asqueella · Post by **asqueella** » May 18th, 2005, 6:03 am

If Cusser decides to move this to a wiki, I'd suggest moving to devmo instead of kb.mozillazine.org, along with the current kb page I created.

Post by **BenBasson** » May 18th, 2005, 6:42 am

I'm much more comfortable on forums, but I'd be quite happy for someone to take this and move it. If nobody does then I'll get to it sometime.

pv7Xrc7AXziXd50tB · Post by **pv7Xrc7AXziXd50tB** » May 22nd, 2005, 2:34 pm

There is no standard way of doing file pickers with this new prefwindow, is there?

Post by **BenBasson** » May 22nd, 2005, 2:56 pm

No, you still have to use JavaScript as before.

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » May 23rd, 2005, 9:12 am

I couldn't get the pane switcher to show up for my extension: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=295237. I might be able to work around that bug by adding my own CSS.

TP Diffenbach · Post by **TP Diffenbach** » May 28th, 2005, 1:39 am

If the preference browser.preferences.instantApply is set to true (the default on Linux/MacOS), then the "Cancel" and "Apply" buttons will be hidden. Changes within that window will instantly update the corresponding preferences.

This is bad -- what if I'm changing preferences and the decide that I've made a mistake? It will also confuse users who expect a cancel button.

Post by **BenBasson** » May 28th, 2005, 5:28 am

The default on Windows is to have "cancel" and "apply" buttons as before. The default on MacOS and Linux is to instantly apply preferences, just like every other application on those systems. This won't confuse anyone, on the contrary, it's better design and means that MacOS and Linux users are better catered for.

As for making a mistake, there are few things in the options that can't be undone by rechecking a box or switching a radio button back.

asqueella · Post by **asqueella** » May 30th, 2005, 3:22 pm

I updated the kb doc. Feel free to correct/improve.

Old Ausdilecce · Post by **Old Ausdilecce** » May 31st, 2005, 6:47 pm

Cusser wrote:As for making a mistake, there are few things in the options that can't be undone by rechecking a box or switching a radio button back.

Umm, hate to be devil's advocate but...

If a particular extension has many many options ( tabs of ) and you are happily checking/unchecking as you go thru each.. but at some point, you see an option that apparently contradicts one from a previous tab ( and you can't remember which ) .. sometimes its better to just click cancel and go thru it all again.. No ?

Those that have extensions that are running all-the-time should also be aware that prefs might change piecemeal and mid-stream

Post by **BenBasson** » May 31st, 2005, 6:58 pm

ausdilecce wrote:If a particular extension has many many options ( tabs of ) and you are happily checking/unchecking as you go thru each.. but at some point, you see an option that apparently contradicts one from a previous tab ( and you can't remember which ) .. sometimes its better to just click cancel and go thru it all again.. No ?

No, it's better if the extension isn't designed badly. Either way, the default on Windows is to have apply and cancel buttons. Users of other operating systems are already using the instant-apply method for loads of apps.

Old Ausdilecce · Post by **Old Ausdilecce** » May 31st, 2005, 7:00 pm

V true..

Guess I gotta get my head round it then..

Cheers

Post by **BenBasson** » May 31st, 2005, 7:08 pm

If you need any help post back. Keep up the good work, I've used some of your extensions in the past.

I'm curious as to what resolution you use though, to fit your website's entire sidebar on your screen. Probably an issue that's beyond the scope of this thread.

asqueella · Post by **asqueella** » June 2nd, 2005, 9:22 am

Ben has written up some docs here: http://developer-test.mozilla.org/en/do ... ces_System