Adblock Plus and (a little) more
Renaming extensions · 2010-05-21 11:24 by Wladimir Palant
Some people using development builds probably noticed already: the full name of Element Hiding Helper is no longer “Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper” but rather “Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus”. Given that some people are still confusing Element Hiding Helper with Adblock Plus this change is long overdue. The only reason it hasn’t been implemented earlier is that the new name is no longer language-neutral, it needs to be translated into various languages. But that’s something that can be done now. Element Hiding Helper also got its own icon which is slightly different from the Adblock Plus icon.
Other extensions should follow. For Adblock Plus Watcher I am thinking about the name “Diagnostics for Adblock Plus” which should make more obvious that this extension isn’t meant for general public. The icon should have an eye symbol in the lower-right corner. One question remaining to be answered is whether it should still be hosted on addons.mozilla.org — Mozilla isn’t too happy about add-ons that stay in the sandbox forever, automated updates don’t work for such add-ons either. Releasing it to public will bring too much attention to it however. But maybe with the new name that will be acceptable.
Weave Sync extension needs a new name as well. Given that Weave is now being called “Firefox Sync” I am thinking about “Adblock Plus Sync” here or maybe the uglier “Sync for Adblock Plus” (with the former people will still tend to ignore the last word in the extension name).
Comment [6]
Commenting is closed for this article.
meh · 2010-05-21 17:28 · #
I don’t understand why anyone would be confused by the original names. One problem (as I see it) with the name change is that in the extension list, the extensions will no longer be adjacent to one another. But hey, if it helps unravel the universe for people with head injuries, then go for it.
Reply from Wladimir Palant:
Because people are told to install “Adblock Plus” – they see “Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper” and think “don’t know what that last part means, this must be it”. This got somewhat less common lately, probably due to improvements in AMO’s search but still.
Dave · 2010-05-21 23:53 · #
Based on what you’ve said you want, you might want to consider listing these secondary extensions on AMO with external hosting. You’ll be able to keep them listed without review but instead point to a page that can better state what you need to before users install. You’ll also be able to provide updates yourself.
Reply from Wladimir Palant:
Then why do I need to host it on AMO at all? :)
G · 2010-05-22 08:49 · #
You could also have a dialogue box when they are first installed, which points out that Adblock Plus is something else (and giving a link).
Reply from Wladimir Palant:
The current Element Hiding Helper development build sort of does that already – if Adblock Plus isn’t found it suggests installing it, for the user it is only a matter of clicking “Yes”. Which doesn’t quite solve the problem (the user still has Element Hiding Helper install which he doesn’t need) but alleviates it at least.
Dave · 2010-05-23 04:08 · #
Re: Wladimir in c#2
“Then why do I need to host it on AMO at all? :)”
It makes it easier for people to find things if everyone at least lists in the same place. If people have to go to everyone’s individual sites to find these things then they may not find them. This includes both people who should and shouldn’t install it.
That being said, it’s of course not a “need”, but I do like the ability to search AMO for extensions and have as many devs as possible listing everything there.
Antwan · 2010-07-07 19:56 · #
I still don’t understand why you don’t bundle Element Hiding Helper in the main addon.
- This is a just a DOM inspector, this should not be a high memory consumer.
- The UI to access this helper is quite hidden, therefore it should not disturb basic users who are not aware of its existence.
- I always install both addons on every machine I work on (even if it’s only once). Two searches, two clicks, two “please wait” is a waste of time.
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