Comments on: New Firefox Add-ons Site Launches

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:51:41 +0000

Ryan, you should look at The Guru’s comment closer and try it yourself. I checked it this morning and you can access the files like before using this method. It is more of a hassle, but it will work. The history you get includes the latest version all the way back to the earliest versions in their archive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the new site, but using the “Advanced Details” does work.

It definitely does work, but I just don't think it's very user friendly for Beta testers like myself. I would like to be able to install the extensions from the listing page like other users would be able to. All I would like them to do is include a setting in each user's profile page that can disable this.

By: Change

Change — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:56:49 +0000

Just found another issue: I usually check the changelog of extensions when a new version has been released, which used to be “open add-on page, read”. Now it’s “open add-on page, scroll, find button to click and click it to open the details, read”. I wish it would remember your preferences for stuff like this.

It is hardship when you do that every day (on average)..

By: Asa Dotzler

Asa Dotzler — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:37:53 +0000

I’m really confused by the people saying that clicking the “Complete Version History” link is such a hardship. The site is clearly optimized for people who won’t need this and power-users and nightly build users should be able to get exactly what they need by clicking an extra link (or two). Just doesn’t seem like hardship to me.

By: leland

leland — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:32:15 +0000

Ryan, you should look at The Guru’s comment closer and try it yourself. I checked it this morning and you can access the files like before using this method. It is more of a hassle, but it will work. The history you get includes the latest version all the way back to the earliest versions in their archive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of the new site, but using the “Advanced Details” does work.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:04:22 +0000

The Guru wrote:

Try visiting the “Advanced Details” section and take a look at the Complete Version History link - it includes all available versions and doesn’t do the smart detection so that testers, developers and others can download any version of an add-on (for whatever OS platform and edition of Firefox) you want without the hassle.

That may work, but it definitely isn't "without the hassle." I've talked to a lot of my friends about this, and I think I've come to the conclusion that they shouldn't be checking pre-release versions against extension compatibility. If people are running final versions of the browser then that's okay, but almost anyone running pre-release versions will be running into this problem.

Mris wrote:

Disabling JavaScript fixed most of my problems but I wish they hadn’t removed the discussions.

I noticed that too, but I shouldn't have to disable JavaScript to bypass the checking. This is removing the "user friendly" element of the site.

Tinhed wrote:

Mozilla seems to be making a move towards making the extension site more friendly towards newbies, while keeping the pro users in a lurch. i think they should launch two versions of their site, just like yahoo did with their webmail.

I agree. They need to realize that trying to attract newbies to the site is understandable, but there are a lot of power users that have helped make the browser what it is today. And now it's almost as if they are leaving us in the dark? It's actually rather discouraging.

By: Tinhed

Tinhed — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:01:07 +0000

Manually changing the user agent is a pretty complicated thing and most people would not like to do that. Mozilla seems to be making a move towards making the extension site more friendly towards newbies, while keeping the pro users in a lurch. i think they should launch two versions of their site, just like yahoo did with their webmail.

By: leland

leland — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:38:24 +0000

Thanks for the hint on Advanced Details > Expand, that worked great. Now I can at least be content for the moment that this is a workable solution for most of the things I don’t like about the new setup.

By: Mris

Mris — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:40:38 +0000

I think the new site looks pretty and fresh but I’m disappointed that they decided to hide much of the info advanced users need. Disabling JavaScript fixed most of my problems but I wish they hadn’t removed the discussions. I can understand the reasoning that most extension authors have their own support forums or use Mozillazine but for me the discussions were very useful and easy way to see whether there were any problems with the extension.

Also the new ratings system isn’t very good in my localization, people don’t use the word love very casually in Finnish language and definitely not in relation to a computer program.

By: Change

Change — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:15:11 +0000

I suppose that makes sense, to put it in the advanced details, but it’s 2 extra clicks to download an extension then

Their sort doesn’t really work well on the overview pages, perhaps that’s why it’s not available on the search results pages? (while going from page to page, sorted by rating, very often I would see the same extension listed again and again – it seems as if they’re almost shown randomly )

By: The Guru

The Guru — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:21:32 +0000

This comment was left on my blog by Basil Hashem from Mozilla

Extension Guru,

Try visiting the “Advanced Details” section and take a look at the Complete Version History link – it includes all available versions and doesn’t do the smart detection so that testers, developers and others can download any version of an add-on (for whatever OS platform and edition of Firefox) you want without the hassle.