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Long time later, repeat question: WHY DO U KEEP MAKING UN-NEEDED CHANGES?

  • 10 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by Moses

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link to question asked before: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1000363

Support ignores. FEedback ignored. Only response was in that thread (then thread was locked)

Question is and always is, why do you keep making alterations to firefox that are NOT needed (To note, I do not oppose changes people want, nor make others 'forced' to use it how I Like it -IE: tabs below address bar as one of many, many, examples, but why do you keep attempting to lock out changes?)

I am getting very frustrated with firefox 'designers' who keep trying to find new ways to 'block' the ability to customize firefox the way WE, THE PEOPLE USING IT, want it to look/act. (IE removing junk we do not need/want -ie: bookmarks toolbar, etc) and moving elements where they feel most natural and intuitive to us(IE as the above, tabs below address bar)

But each major update requires extensive userChrome.CSS modifications to 'fix' (And in some cases, never get back) simple things that we had set the way WE want.

We have asked many, many, many times for you to STOP blocking our ability ot make these changes, yet each new major update, as i explained, we have to 'find new tricks' to fix the issue, when these options can simply be part of the customize firefox option(Btw another option that was requested multiple times, with us being utterly ignored)

Please, I cannot be the only one whose getting frustrated to the point I'm almost pushed to go use google chrome instead.

link to question asked before: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1000363 Support ignores. FEedback ignored. Only response was in that thread (then thread was locked) Question is and always is, why do you keep making alterations to firefox that are NOT needed (To note, I do not oppose changes people want, nor make others 'forced' to use it how I Like it -IE: tabs below address bar as one of many, many, examples, but why do you keep attempting to lock out changes?) I am getting very frustrated with firefox 'designers' who keep trying to find new ways to 'block' the ability to customize firefox the way WE, THE PEOPLE USING IT, want it to look/act. (IE removing junk we do not need/want -ie: bookmarks toolbar, etc) and moving elements where they feel most natural and intuitive to us(IE as the above, tabs below address bar) But each major update requires extensive userChrome.CSS modifications to 'fix' (And in some cases, never get back) simple things that we had set the way WE want. We have asked many, many, many times for you to STOP blocking our ability ot make these changes, yet each new major update, as i explained, we have to 'find new tricks' to fix the issue, when these options can simply be part of the customize firefox option(Btw another option that was requested multiple times, with us being utterly ignored) Please, I cannot be the only one whose getting frustrated to the point I'm almost pushed to go use google chrome instead.

All Replies (10)

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userchrome.css is an unsupported way to change the way Firefox looks, so it will break, because there is no guarantee that it won't. I suggest you use the built in customize menu if you want a supported way to make Firefox look different.

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,.... and here we have a winner, exactly emphasizing my point yet completely missing it.

the things we WANT are not supported hence the need to modify userchrome.css.

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Unfortunately in software development, not all users can be made happy. This becomes even more apparent when there is a product used by hundreds of millions of people all around the world. Not every decision can be made to make every single person equally happy. This becomes more obvious when it's something as personal as customization.

Firefox ships with a variety of customization options built in (Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars), and there are a massive variety of additional ways you can customize (https://color.firefox.com/, addons.mozilla.org, etc.)

userChrome.css is a hack, it works, but there's no promise it will always work, or that it won't break. It's probably better to migrate away from an unsupported system and towards the options that are supported that I mentioned above.

If you'd like to make sure that your usage patterns are considered in the future, make sure you are using the latest version of Firefox, and have telemetry enabled.

Modified by user633449

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But as stated, the one example (tabs below address bar) has been requested multiple times over the past 3-4 years (Myself have requested) via feedback, support, etc, and its just simply been ignored. Searching the questions of the past will reveal many more times the same has been requested (and.. ignored)

That is just one example of a simple and (i assume) easily implemented function that has NOT been added. Other examples would be modifying bookmarks(both the toolbar to simply remove it, the drop down menus, to change how WE the user wants things, without completely modifying how firefox works. or really modifying how it works at all.

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We are well aware of the various types of features that users are interested in, but there are both technical limitations and practical ones that have to be considered. For example, tabs on top was removed because it required two massive code stacks to be maintained in parallel, which was expensive, bug prone, and slowed down Firefox. As I said, we can't make everyone happy, but we really try to allow customization when possible.

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Yes, but then 10-12 lines of code in css fixes it?

yea...

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The CSS doesn't fix it, it just forces it to appear differently. Making it a fully fledged feature requires a lot more than just CSS.

Regardless, that feature isn't coming back.

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Sorry but thats a very weak excuse, esp if its simply 'how it appears'

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if its just how it appears* i meant (As in its just visual and does not change the functions in any way)

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This is a support forum not a place to argue about development decisions. Going back and forth here will not solve anything and will fall upon deaf ears as Mozilla engineers do not visit this site often. Your issue can be fixed by adding userChrome.css rules. You can go to the r/firefoxcss community on Reddit to get your tabs on bottom code working again.