Hi.
This message has three sections: little background, little rant, and little help from my friends.
Little background:
I use PCs since Commodore 64, and internet sin… (tuilleadh eolais)
Hi.
This message has three sections: little background, little rant, and little help from my friends.
Little background:
I use PCs since Commodore 64, and internet since dial-up modems.
Apart for some curiosity attempts with other browsers, I always used Firefox.
Back then you either could do some DIY or you were done for. So, I am not a noob.
And yet I am not a programmer, and do not have to damn be in order to use a damn internet browser.
I have no words to express how negatively the choice of changing the behavior of the X button, to make it disappear when a certain amount of tabs are open, affects my user experience with Firefox.
I tolerated it version after version. Found mentions of about:config tweaks which never worked. Found mentions to css codes which seemed so complicated that I just gave up (I also don't have much capacity for such things atm).
I was ready to get rid of Firefox today after all this time of being loyal.
I would have, if it was not for Cor-El.
(Cor-El you can put this testimonial on your website if you'll ever start a consulting business).
Little rant:
I SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH HATE bad UX Design!
And the FIRST definition of bad UX Design is when a designer imposes their own tastes and preferences on the users, or makes assumptions (based on their own usage) about how users would do things.
I don't give the lesser s... if Firefox's UX Designers usually only have few tabs open, or don't mind clicking on a tab to make the damn X button appear, or would gladly abandon their beloved ergonomic mouse to buy a standard one with a mid button just to close tabs, of whatever the f... was going on in their minds when they decided to remove such an ESSENTIAL FEATURE!!!
This change is WRONG!
Nobody asked for it, nobody wants it, nobody likes it.
The X button was not disturbing anybody.
WHY must we tweak some f... about:config setting or ask in this Community for some css code to get back what should have never been removed!!!???
DO YOUR JOB, which is to make OUR user experience better, OUR, not yours!!!
Little help from my friends:
After quick searches over a long time where I couldn't dedicate more resources to this, I came here determined to dig deep to find a solution.
And I've found a few posts with answers from Cor-El.
I followed his instructions in THIS post to configure a css file with the code that he provided in THIS other post (because I thought I didn't want the delay offered by the code he provided in the former post).
Problem solved.
Now a question for Cor-El:
Is it just me or the solution with the two browser.tabs settings does not work?
It's the first thing I tried. I went from 50/50 to 200/200 to see if size matters. But no chance.
Maybe there is another setting that must be activated for these to have effect?
Or was their effect on the X button removed in newer Firefox versions (like the UX Destroyers really hate us)?
Btw, I wanted to see how the delay thing would work, so I tried the code you gave in the first post, and it didn't have any effect.
Whereas the code you modified for a guy in THIS post works perfectly.
What could be the reason?
And 2 requests:
- can you make some guide or pinned post about this, where you put together the info you gave in different posts?
Something with your super easy instructions how to create a css file, and the two codes (with and without delay).
And if the browser.tabs solution can still work, that too.
All info in one single place, easy to find.
- can you point me to a (possibly ADHS friendly) resource to more css codes for other useful tweaks, and to an explanation of what all about:config settings do?
I like to tweak things to my needs. But I get overwhelmed if I have to read through tons of material.
Thanks :)
Bonus Material, Little Rant part 2:
It's good and nice that people help each other and I am thankful, but it does not need to come to this.
Sure, I've read that the (ridiculous) reason behind the choice of making the X button disappear was to avoid accidental closure of tabs.
But WHY taking for granted that we are some !diots who can't even use a mouse properly?
And even if it happens once, we can still go to the damn "recently closed tabs"!
But no, they had to remove the X button for all of us, to prevent a bunch of !%#@! from maybe sometime accidentally closing a tab.
Why not just adding an option in the settings (NOT in some hidden "about:config") to let us choose if we want to have the damn button or not?
Btw, a lot of these about:config tweaks are really useful and not dangerous at all and should imo be included in the normal settings.
Keeping things simple and tidy does NOT mean reducing options. Unless you're Apple.
Please God-zilla let these [censored content] UX Designers read this post.
Amen and happy new Xear.
