Visiting the Mozilla add-on repository for Firefox, Thunderbird or any other Mozilla project gave the visitor the choice to display experimental add-ons next to the the already reviewed add-ons. Experimental add-ons were add-ons that had not been reviewed by the Mozilla team and could have a negative impact on a computer’s performance and security.
Experimental on the other hand did not reflect the unreviewed state of the add-on that well which is probably the main reason why Mozilla switched from listing this add-ons as experimental to unreviewed.
Mozilla users who visit the add-on repository now will only find one optional checkbox entry in the add-on listings called “Show unreviewed add-ons” which will add unreviewed add-ons to the list of displayed add-ons.
The Add To Firefox button next to each add-on has also been changed to give the user visual information about the add-on. Unreviewed add-ons are displayed with a yellow button and a Not Reviewed text beneath them while reviewed add-ons are still shown with a green button and no additional text.
The extension repositories have changed in another, important manner. A user visiting the Mozilla website with a supported product, e.g. the Firefox web browser, will now see in the general add-on listings if the add-on supports the installed version of the product.
Add-ons that are not available for the Mozilla product of the user are shown in a lighter yellow with a red icon and the text Not available for “product name”.
Visual indicators have also been added when a user clicks on an unreviewed or unavailable product. A click on an unreviewed add-on will display an overlay with the text “Caution: This add-on has not been reviewed by Mozilla. Be careful when installing third-party software that might harm your computer.”
A click on the Add To Firefox button will install the add-on nevertheless.
An add-on that is not available for the software version installed on the user’s system will display the warning “This add-on has not been updated to work with your version of Firefox.” with the option to install anyway.
A combination of the two visual reminders is also possible (for unreveiwed and unavailable add-ons). While we are at it, the add-on listings can also display the two white boxes Add to Firefox and Continue to Download.
The white Add to box basically indicates an incompatible add-on while the continue to download box indicates that an End-User License Agreement has to be accepted before the add-on can be downloaded and installed.
What’s your take on the changes introduced?
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The new system that doesn’t require user to be logged in for installing not-reviewed add-ons is step forward – I didn’t like to log in every time.
Also it’s good that they don’t forbid user from doing non-updated add-on install, just warn.
So, I think that new system is good.
They reverted the changes on some parts of the site the day I wrote that story, that was strange, thought I had written it for nothing. I do like the new system as well, it is much clearer and less confusing.