Mouse gestures for Seamonkey (and Firefox)

[Lemon Juice]

OK, I got it - the problem happens on Linux when you have "Allow scripts to... Disable or replace context menu" unchecked in your browser preferences. I'll see what I can do.

[truffle]

Sorry I couldn't reply in a timely fashion, I see though you have been able to sort it out on your own.
By the way I did all the tests on a new profile with the 0.26.4 version and I can confirm that checking the preference affects the contextual menu.

Thank you so much for your time.

[patrickjdempsey]

BTW, how difficult is it to submit an extension to AMO? Is this easy or do the Mozilla guys cause any trouble? Considering this extension has already passed acceptance at AMO then I suspect this shouldn't be a complicated procedure since the changes are pretty small relative to the original. As raj pointed out this would provide best visibility to SM users.

It is not difficult to get an original extension onto AMO. Since this extension is MPL licensed, a modified version should also pass. What you will need:

1. A new name. Simply adding "for SeaMonkey" to the end should work. This needs to be updated in your install.RDF, and chrome.manifest. For simplicity-sake, do NOT modify the path name in chrome.manifest as you will then have to modify that path in all files in the extension.

2. A new ID. This needs to be modified in the install.RDF. The ID is the unique identifier that is used for installing, updating, etc. AMO does no allow multiple addons with the same ID, because this could cause update overlap as well as other problems.

3. If there are any graphics in the original, you should create new graphics.

4. Make *some* kind of effort to contact the original developer. Even though it is MPL'd, it is considered common curtsey. The fact that the original hasn't been updated since last May is a good sign that it may be abandoned. Mozilla doesn't have an official abandonment policy but generally anything that is open-licensed is considered fair game.

5. Create an AMO developer account and upload your extension. Make sure you make it for SeaMonkey only on your upload. Note that all extensions on AMO have to undergo security screenings and a code review before they even appear on the site. At this stage it will be considered "in development" and will not appear on AMO search results or Addons Manager search results. There will also be extra buttons to click through in order to install. Once it appears on the site, you will need to wait to get a few user rankings before you will be eligible to request a Full Review. Requirements for these reviews get stricter all of the time and something that passed a review 10 years ago may not pass today. I generally have been leaving my extensions at the "experimental" stage because I'm not smart enough to know how to pass all of the requirements for a Full Review.

[Lemon Juice]

Okay, try the new version 0.26.5:
- fix: mouse trails caused flickering of popup elements when drawing gesture over complex popups like those at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/seamonkey/
- fix: right-click context menu pop ups and interferes with gestures on Linux when "Allow scripts to... Disable or replace context menu" is unchecked in browser preferences
- fix: browser menu was not accessible when gestures were set on left mouse button on Windows
- fix: the "Tools for add-ons" button in about:addons page was not accessible when gestures were set on left mouse button on Windows

5. Create an AMO developer account and upload your extension. Make sure you make it for SeaMonkey only on your upload. Note that all extensions on AMO have to undergo security screenings and a code review before they even appear on the site. At this stage it will be considered "in development" and will not appear on AMO search results or Addons Manager search results. There will also be extra buttons to click through in order to install. Once it appears on the site, you will need to wait to get a few user rankings before you will be eligible to request a Full Review. Requirements for these reviews get stricter all of the time and something that passed a review 10 years ago may not pass today. I generally have been leaving my extensions at the "experimental" stage because I'm not smart enough to know how to pass all of the requirements for a Full Review.

Thanks, I actually tried a submission yesterday so I'll see how it goes. However, I'm surprised to hear that an extension needs user rankings to be eligible for a full review since I didn't find this information anywhere on the Mozilla site. Anyway, I submitted for a full review and see how it goes, if there are any problems I'll ask for an experimental listing.

Are experimental add-ons searchable like normal ones on the AMO site and within the browser's Add-on Manager?

[Lemon Juice]

Some more fixes and clean-ups in version 0.26.6:

- remove "Return to Previous Selected Tab" because it didn't work in Seamonkey
- fix: "Open Favorite Bookmark #..." didn't work in Seamonkey. Added information alert when no favorite bookmark is defined. Changed bookmark keywords to 'fav1' and 'fav2' (was 'aio1' and 'aio2').
- fix: "Load Home Page" didn't work in Seamonkey
- deleted "About this Build" action, which didn't work in SM (who needs gestures for it anyway??)
- deleted actions that did not work in Seamonkey: "Open/Close Bookmarks Sidebar", "Open/Close History Sidebar", "Show/Hide Find Bar"
- fix: "Print Preview" didn't work in Seamonkey
- removed option "Scroll wheel navigation: Switch tabs directly (no popup)" because in Seamonkey popups didn't work anyway
- changed some default prefs that make more sense in Seamonkey (hopefully)
- other minor fixes

[patrickjdempsey]

Thanks, I actually tried a submission yesterday so I'll see how it goes. However, I'm surprised to hear that an extension needs user rankings to be eligible for a full review since I didn't find this information anywhere on the Mozilla site.

It's possible that they've changed this... I can't keep up with the revolving door of changing requirements.

Are experimental add-ons searchable like normal ones on the AMO site and within the browser's Add-on Manager?

I just tested and they are not searchable from within the Add-ons Manager, but they are currently searchable on AMO... although the fact that they show up on AMO may be a bug or an omission in the current version. I was always under the impression that they were "hidden" from users because experimental addons are considered unstable and possible dangerous.

[Lemon Juice]

I just tested and they are not searchable from within the Add-ons Manager, but they are currently searchable on AMO... although the fact that they show up on AMO may be a bug or an omission in the current version. I was always under the impression that they were "hidden" from users because experimental addons are considered unstable and possible dangerous.

Later I found out this is actually by design that the experimental add-ons are searchable on AMO but not in the add-on manager. Fortunately, they are not hidden so much and they are not labelled as 'experimental' but as 'preliminarily reviewed', which doesn't sound so scary.

Anyway, I want to inform everyone that my modified All-in-One Gestures extension has been preliminarily reviewed and is listed on AMO. I changed the name to Mouse Gestures Suite and here is the link:

Mouse Gestures Suite

If anyone has installed the modified version I posted here earlier in this thread please uninstall it first if you want to install the official version because the add-on ID has changed and you will end up with two almost identical extensions running at the same time.

[Gort]

Glad to see this extension ported to Seamonkey. Most things work (I've added a review on the extension's page detailing a couple of issues). Pity about the removal of the focus on last selected tab being removed. That's really something that I find important when browsing. Still, great work. Thanks.

[Lemon Juice]

Thanks for the review. However, I'm not able to reproduce the first two problems you reported - I can't see the context menu flash when doing rocker gestures and when I turn off mouse gestures the rocker gestures still work fine. See if you have these problems in a fresh new profile - if so then you might PM me your settings so it might help (just export all "allinonegest." lines from prefs.js in your profile folder).

I had to remove some features that were not working under SM at least for the time being until I get most other stuff working - and there seems to be quite a lot of stuff that doesn't work well in SM and even in Firefox! But I may add the tab focus action back some time when I have time - do you mean the action that simply focused back on the tab you previously viewed without closing anything?

You may try the new version, which is not yet reviewed under "complete version history" - there's quite a number of bug fixes and a few new features. I can't promise how soon I'll be able to add new features but I'm definitely planning on keeping the extension alive with some slow to moderate update speed.

[Gort]

OK, I should have done a test on a clean profile, which is something that I should know to do beforehand before submitting a bug, having done so in the past. So, my bad.

Anyway, I did a test with a fresh profile, and, as you observed, everything was fine. However, I looked at a few preference settings that I had in my original profile, and found the culprit. If you go to Preferences>Advanced>Scripts and Plugins, and unselect Disable or Replace Context Menus, the behaviour I describe appears: rocker gestures doesn't work when Mouse Gestures is disabled, and the forward Rocker action causes a brief glimpse of the right-click context menu. Once that setting in Seamonkey's Preferences is reselected, then it all works fine again. To make it clear, I did that setting change on a fresh profile with only the extension installed, which caused the reported problem.

do you mean the action that simply focused back on the tab you previously viewed without closing anything?

I meant, when you close a tab, the previously selected tab is focussed on. That was an option that the original All-in-One Gestures had. I can understand if this feature doesn't come back, because it's a bit of an odd setting for a mouse gesture extension, but it was handy.

Thanks for the quick response.

[Lemon Juice]

OK, I should have done a test on a clean profile, which is something that I should know to do beforehand before submitting a bug, having done so in the past. So, my bad.

Anyway, I did a test with a fresh profile, and, as you observed, everything was fine. However, I looked at a few preference settings that I had in my original profile, and found the culprit. If you go to Preferences>Advanced>Scripts and Plugins, and unselect Disable or Replace Context Menus, the behaviour I describe appears: rocker gestures doesn't work when Mouse Gestures is disabled, and the forward Rocker action causes a brief glimpse of the right-click context menu. Once that setting in Seamonkey's Preferences is reselected, then it all works fine again. To make it clear, I did that setting change on a fresh profile with only the extension installed, which caused the reported problem.

I see now, the original extension didn't really work well with this js setting turned off. Try the new version 1.1.1 I've uploaded, it's on the version history page.

do you mean the action that simply focused back on the tab you previously viewed without closing anything?

I meant, when you close a tab, the previously selected tab is focussed on. That was an option that the original All-in-One Gestures had. I can understand if this feature doesn't come back, because it's a bit of an odd setting for a mouse gesture extension, but it was handy.

Indeed, I also thought it was an odd setting for mouse gestures because it actually doesn't have anything to do with gestures, it should belong to another extension or browser settings - old Opera had settings for controlling which tab was focused after closing a tab. Firefox users have an extension like Tab Mix Plus, which supposedly is used for controlling such things, isn't something similar available for Seamonkey? I've read some people complained this setting in the original All-in-One Gestures caused conflicts with Tab Mix Plus, so I considered I'd remove it especially that it didn't work in SM anyway. Maybe I'll think about it some time later but for now I'm trying to enable gestures in Mail and source view so it won't be soon. I think a dedicated tab extension would be best in this case.

[Gort]

I see now, the original extension didn't really work well with this js setting turned off. Try the new version 1.1.1 I've uploaded, it's on the version history page.

Yeah, that's fixed it for me for both problems. Off to give you five stars.

Maybe I'll think about it some time later but for now I'm trying to enable gestures in Mail and source view so it won't be soon. I think a dedicated tab extension would be best in this case.

On Firefox, I use FLST (Firefox 4+) for this. It's a small extension that focusses on this action. Still, as you say, there are plenty of other things to focus on (pun not intended... or maybe I'm kidding myself), so fair enough if you don't get round to this request.

[Lemon Juice]

Glad to hear this works for you. I don't normally run SM with the disabled context menu in js prefs so I wouldn't have caught this bug myself in a long time, and it was more severe on Linux, which behaves differently with right clicks than Windows.

[truffle]

Firefox users have an extension like Tab Mix Plus, which supposedly is used for controlling such things, isn't something similar available for Seamonkey?

I use Tab Clicking Options.
Although it needs to be forced for it is not compatible with recent versions of Seamonkey, it always worked fine for me.

[Lemon Juice]

I use Tab Clicking Options.
Although it needs to be forced for it is not compatible with recent versions of Seamonkey, it always worked fine for me.

Yes, Tab Clicking Options works but it appears not to have the option of selecting last focused tab, which is what Gort wanted.

But I've found out that the FLST (Firefox 4+) extensions works well with Seamonkey after updating install.rdf and adding an overlay into chrome.manifest. And it cooperates well with the mouse gestures extensions so this might be the proper solution .

If someone feels too lazy to modify FLST for SM, here is the download link to the modified version.

Hey, Philip Chee, this is a good candidate for your modified extensions page!

Update: the extension author added SM support so no modifications are necessary - grab the newest version from AMO!