I noticed that on my Windows XP Dad's Windows Vista system (searches not returning results) but I just tested on my Windows 7 system and it's working. I wonder whether there was a problem contacting the add-ons site? Could you test again and update your status?

If you are searching for Add-ons using the search box on the page https://addons.mozilla.org/ , see my second reply in this thread/question --> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/930481

I am using a Windows system, and using the search feature in the Add-ons Manager window, I do not have the problems and can find both of the Add-ons that you mentioned,

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Hi, jscher2000 & thanks for replying.

It was a consistent problem, though it may indeed have been due to a poor quality net connection (under investigation at the time), or something of puppy linux.

I suppose the bare message "not found" could be more explicit if it were, say, a connection problem.

I did however find addons I needed using a combination of my own records & google's "site:" search, and they were successfully installed.

I've changed my o/s to Mint 13 (Mate, 64bit) live, which brings in "Firefox 12.0 for mint-1.0", and the add-on search function is fine now (even though my telephone line is still a bit noisy).

Sorry to disappoint, but I'm disinclined to re-test that whole set-up just at the moment; it still may be a FF 13.0 thing, &or a puppy-linux 5.3.3 thing.

I did notice that others have had a similar problem in the past, not always explained, therefore still lurking. Yet others will have given up, gone back to IE (never!), worked around or been carted off by the men in white coats, blubbering wildly.

If anyone is inclined to look at it, I repeat that the error message(s) could be more effusive about the precise nature of not-found, so that users don't have to hawk around guessing whether it's poor or disabled comms, firewalled, whole addon mirror down, , particular add-on missing, or particular add-on not available for current FF version (or o/s), or otherwise disapproved. A bald "No-find" (even for featured add-ons) when the addons were clearly there & available & installable - that's not only inconsiderate and incommnicative, it's a bug.

Whether that's a Mozilla culture thing (FF not talking to the user when there's a problem, FF seeming not to check o/s responses), I can't say - but just as an aside, when FF has trouble writing to a file, or a device is getting full, there is the same lack of considerate feedback to user. This has led in my case (more than once) to the loss of data & file corruption - it's a serious error but I haven't reported it as FF because it was (and is) difficult to pin down. (Under Puppy, FF would not wake up a sleeping usb disc, for example - one could wake it manually for FF to complete a save, though. At other times, file corruption results.) It may be that the o/s is not returning adequate response packets to FF, but even then FF should be checking responses & notifying if responses are inadequate.

Thanks again, I'll leave it open until I hear the bugs have been fixed; 1) the dumbly insolent, frustrating & time-wasting lack of good feedback about why addon not found, and 2) not finding an add-on by search, when it is manifestly available to be found under that search term & conditions.

Hi, S-B Thanks. Yes, I'd seen something similar before posting; it wasn't the case with my experience.

In fact, at not-finding I first thought it was inadequate tagging (of flagfox, I must go back & fill them in there), then I opened the search criteria as wide as possible, and double checked by searching for a "featured" add-on or two. No dice.

Currently I see that the search is working again, so it looks that the bug is fixed.

• bug 767683 - Add-ons Search Not Working
  • Status: RESOLVED FIXED

The search bar on the about:addons page uses a special API that returns the search result via an XML file.

• https://services.addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/api/1.5/search/rss/all/30/Linux/14.0/normal?src=firefox

Hi, cor-el

I'm puzzled by the XML you gave there, which seems to be for an RSS ticker for live bookmarks (??)

It looks like bug 767683 probably caught some of it.

To re-iterate (from the foot of my earlier response to jscher2000):

• I'll leave it open until I hear the bugs have been fixed;

• 1) the dumbly insolent, frustrating & time-wasting lack of good feedback about why addon not found,

• and 2) not finding an add-on by search, when it is manifestly available to be found under that search term & conditions.

So, hopefully it solves (2)

(1) however remains open, though culturally others may not see it as a bug or even inadequacy to "protect" the user from debug info. I can see how such misinterpretation of good practise might arise. (see my lttle observation above that, in response to jscher2000, "Whether that's a Mozilla culture thing...")

To underline that point, if I soft-disconnect my comms & search add-ons for "flagfox", I get the standard "could not find ..." (well, dear FF, of course you couldn't - would you care to guess why & tell me? Perhaps an actually useful "you seem to be off-line..."?). If I hard-disconnect, I don't even get that far; it just shows me a nice picture of a wait-wheel throbber which is presumably dumbly dissociated from any actual process, and I gave up waiting to see if it had the wit to time-out at all, ever.

Sorry, I don't call that adequate. Like, it works when it works - but when it doesn't, it leaves you guessing (or fuming).

What would be my best course of action to get that recognised?

Hi malcontent, you could file a formal bug; I think UI weaknesses often are addressed that way. Alternately, you could use the submit feedback feature on the Help menu. Not sure how that bubbles up to actual changes.

The XML link that I posted was just to show how searches via the Add-ons page work.
It doesn't have much use otherwise (you would need a stylesheet to render that page).