Comments on: Firefox: Move Aside and Let the Web Go Through. http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/ Rants and raves from another codemonkey with a blog. Mon, 31 May 2010 14:04:35 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Thom http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-67 Thom Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:17:52 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-67 Congrats on gettin Yip out the door, Abi... Been seeing a lot of buzz about it, cool to see it getting attention. Congrats on gettin Yip out the door, Abi… Been seeing a lot of buzz about it, cool to see it getting attention.

]]> By: Abi http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Abi Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:47:17 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-66 I don't actually work for Mozilla (just a contributor and Mozilla GSOC student) but I predict that web app notifications will become a part of the browser soon. So, here's the initial version of what I was talking about - http://abcdefu.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/introducing-yip-an-unified-notification-system-for-the-web/ I don’t actually work for Mozilla (just a contributor and Mozilla GSOC student) but I predict that web app notifications will become a part of the browser soon. So, here’s the initial version of what I was talking about –

http://abcdefu.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/introducing-yip-an-unified-notification-system-for-the-web/

]]> By: Thom http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Thom Sun, 24 May 2009 19:16:32 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-59 Yeah, I'm not too sure if making our browser look *exactly like iTunes* is the way to make progress... My mockup is a bit more similar to Aza Raskin's, which seems to be a much more practical approach: http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/firefoxnext-tabs-on-the-side/ I had actually planned on writing about an auto-hide feature, but I didn't feel like going into that much detail. At only fifty pixels wide, I'm not sure if I would need an auto-hide personally... But it should definitely be built-in for user choice, if people want a larger sidebar or whatever. Actually, I envision two related features--an auto-slide where the sidebar widens as you roll over it, and a forced hide mode where the sidebar completely collapses and you have to click an arror or something to show it again. The latter feature would force the screen to redraw, but it would prevent the sidebar from getting in the way if you're doing something mouse-precise in the frame (such as playing a flash game). Yeah, I’m not too sure if making our browser look *exactly like iTunes* is the way to make progress… My mockup is a bit more similar to Aza Raskin’s, which seems to be a much more practical approach: http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/firefoxnext-tabs-on-the-side/

I had actually planned on writing about an auto-hide feature, but I didn’t feel like going into that much detail. At only fifty pixels wide, I’m not sure if I would need an auto-hide personally… But it should definitely be built-in for user choice, if people want a larger sidebar or whatever. Actually, I envision two related features–an auto-slide where the sidebar widens as you roll over it, and a forced hide mode where the sidebar completely collapses and you have to click an arror or something to show it again. The latter feature would force the screen to redraw, but it would prevent the sidebar from getting in the way if you’re doing something mouse-precise in the frame (such as playing a flash game).

]]> By: PaulH http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-58 PaulH Sun, 24 May 2009 01:51:07 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-58 I just followed this link from http://informationarchitects.jp/designing-firefox-32/#comment-152956 .This is so much better than the garbage they came up with. I go through several hundred sites a day for either research or entertainment. This mock-up would work so much better. I also switched away from Winamp when AOL ruined it. This takes one of the best add-ons for Firefox (AIO Sidebar) and makes it better. One thing that I would do is have the sidebar auto-hide without redrawing the page when it pops back up. If you are not using a wide screen monitor, sidebars take up too much room. I just followed this link from http://informationarchitects.jp/designing-firefox-32/#comment-152956 .This is so much better than the garbage they came up with. I go through several hundred sites a day for either research or entertainment. This mock-up would work so much better. I also switched away from Winamp when AOL ruined it.
This takes one of the best add-ons for Firefox (AIO Sidebar) and makes it better. One thing that I would do is have the sidebar auto-hide without redrawing the page when it pops back up. If you are not using a wide screen monitor, sidebars take up too much room.

]]> By: Thom http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-49 Thom Sat, 09 May 2009 07:31:20 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-49 I still like the idea of a home button as an option. Whether it's loading a bookmark or a set of bookmarks or a start page like Chrome... Maybe even give it the same functionality as a new tab. A lot of people still use the home button as part of their workflow, and I'm not a fan of taking features away from people cold-turkey. But I suppose there would be a "customize" feature for the sidebar just as there is for the current UI, so you could run it however you chose to. I had some more detailed thoughts as to the behavior of the address/search field, but I didn't have time to create mock-ups for them. But I envision on-click, the field sliding out and expanding to the full width of the window, similar to how the address and search fields do on Mobile Safari. So your "awesome bar" results would display in their own scrollbox underneath the expanded address field, just as they do in the current Firefox UI. I fiddled with Personas last year... and again just now. I'm not really wild about it... Seems too involved for a casual user, too rudimentary for a really particular designer. But even with a persona-type setup, I think it'd be easier to make a unified sidebar look good than a bunch of ad-hoc toolbars and buttons. It's great to hear that there's work being done on web app notifications, even if it's just in Firefox for now. (Firefox certainly exerts an influence on the other browsers.) Let me know when it's ready for prime time, and I'll do what I can to help cheer-lead for it. I still like the idea of a home button as an option. Whether it’s loading a bookmark or a set of bookmarks or a start page like Chrome… Maybe even give it the same functionality as a new tab. A lot of people still use the home button as part of their workflow, and I’m not a fan of taking features away from people cold-turkey. But I suppose there would be a “customize” feature for the sidebar just as there is for the current UI, so you could run it however you chose to.

I had some more detailed thoughts as to the behavior of the address/search field, but I didn’t have time to create mock-ups for them. But I envision on-click, the field sliding out and expanding to the full width of the window, similar to how the address and search fields do on Mobile Safari. So your “awesome bar” results would display in their own scrollbox underneath the expanded address field, just as they do in the current Firefox UI.

I fiddled with Personas last year… and again just now. I’m not really wild about it… Seems too involved for a casual user, too rudimentary for a really particular designer. But even with a persona-type setup, I think it’d be easier to make a unified sidebar look good than a bunch of ad-hoc toolbars and buttons.

It’s great to hear that there’s work being done on web app notifications, even if it’s just in Firefox for now. (Firefox certainly exerts an influence on the other browsers.) Let me know when it’s ready for prime time, and I’ll do what I can to help cheer-lead for it.

]]> By: Abi http://thomshouse.net/2009/05/firefox-move-aside-and-let-the-web-go-through/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Abi Sat, 09 May 2009 06:05:12 +0000 http://thomshouse.net/?p=105#comment-47 Nice mockup. I don't think we even need a home button. And how do you propose to show suggestions for the Awesome Bar? Isn't that "textbox" too small on the side? You can theme Firefox with Personas by Mozilla Labs. It changes themes instantly. Check it out. As for the notification system for web apps, it's coming soon (for Firefox at least). :) I've been trying to work on it for a long long time but I always get delayed by stupid bugs. Nice mockup. I don’t think we even need a home button. And how do you propose to show suggestions for the Awesome Bar? Isn’t that “textbox” too small on the side?

You can theme Firefox with Personas by Mozilla Labs. It changes themes instantly. Check it out.

As for the notification system for web apps, it’s coming soon (for Firefox at least). :) I’ve been trying to work on it for a long long time but I always get delayed by stupid bugs.

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