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New Protocol for Saving Files
I imagine this belongs in the customize controls area as it's part of settings that we are supposed to have control over and after messing around and changing everything to ask first I am still unhappy. At least I found the reason for my displeasure after reading about the new release of FF98.
Why did you change the protocol for saving files? Not having that dialog box pop up is very inconvenient. I haven't tried to play any files since FF 98 downloaded to my pc but I bet it's equally as annoying. Please go back to the old way in your next release. Some of us are in the camp of Who Moved My Cheese and we don't like this new change. It's bad enough that I have to deal with black background on menus etc due to the background I chose but this is nuts. Thank you.
All Replies (15)
I'm completely with you. It's awful. Whoever thought that making a permanent change to the entire application behaviour for downloads of a specific file type belonged not only in a right-click context menu (instead of settings where it already existed) but also right at the very top of the context menu where it's likely to be selected by accident, all the time, I can only politely describe as needs to have another think.
In the documentation for the changes (here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manage-downloads-preferences-using-downloads-menu ) I note the following:
I want to approve each download before it happens, is there still a way to do this? Firefox no longer shows the dialog because downloads are usually intentional. Having to click a second time for a download to start is usually unnecessary.
I contend that having the option to permanently change a system setting in a right-click context menu is heading onto shaky ground to start with, but actually putting it right at the top, so users have to be especially careful to avoid accidentally selecting it, otherwise they'll have to dive into settings, try to remember which file type it was, then put the setting back to what it was that they wanted it to be before accidentally permanently changing it, is REALLY asking for users to become frustrated. I would imagine having to correct this problem for specific files types every few days because of accidental selection is going to be far more annoying than confirming downloads with a second click, because you have previously CHOSEN to confirm downloads for this file type. In settings (which this where function, which IS after all, a SETTING, belongs.
Having the downloads drop-down list linger after a download has completed instead of just timing out after a few seconds and disappearing is another change I've noticed that's getting on my nerves.
In order to simplify Firefox I believe that it is becoming user-hostile, in much the same way that Windows 8 tried to presume everything for the user instead of allowing people to use the OS for what they wanted.
If this change needs to remain, perhaps functionality can be added to allow mild customisation of the right-click context menus so we can at least slide menu options we won't use to the bottom where we're unlikely to select them by accident.
If you don't want to make or add to a bug report, you can try 'feedback' (ineffective on this forum).
That's why I posted. Feedback is ineffective anywhere you go.
I also realize that if a friend sends a jpg or other image in email as an attachment and i want to see it the box no longer opens for me to view it with Microsoft Photos. The only box that opens is one that asks me to save the image which I do not want to do. So much for increased functionality. Go back to the old way.
I created an account specifically because the recent fundamental change to file handling is incredibly annoying and I wanted to ask about it.
Whenever a browser handles a file, it'll need to download it. In the "Save" case, the user is selecting the location or has a default set up, so I assume this was, and is, fine. In the case where the file is handed off to another application, it would still need to be downloaded, to temp I expect, but most users wouldn't have known this. And since temp is periodically cleaned, these files could disappear from the computer. General browser behaviour has been like this for a long, long time.
Based on the change, I suspect that someone somewhere complained about a lost file after handing it off to another app. My main issue is that your "solution" is to remove the existing hand-off functionality rather than finding a way to keep it _and_ solve the person's issue. For example, one simple option would have been to change the default location for files saved during the hand-off, say to Downloads, and offer a setting to change this location. This would have been very simple, no one would lose files, and people like me could easily make the behaviour the same as before. I _liked_ that I didn't have to worry about cleaning up files that were handed off to other apps. If I wanted to save a copy of the file, I explicitly would.
If you are keen to keep your "solution"--and I should note, I'm always going to write it with the quotes because it really isn't one--then another option would be to give the user more control over the file-type handler. I can see you have this handler, but it includes only a limited number of types, and there appears to be no way to add new ones. So if you're missing a type, or if a new type is created, you're out of luck. Providing a way to add types would offer people a workaround to go back to the old way. It would be cumbersome and annoying, but it would be something, I suppose.
So, my question is: are you going to address this, or will you stick with the change as is? If you are really going to leave this, I'll just look for a different browser. It'll be a small annoyance, but once done, I'll be fine.
When you say 'you', to whom do you believe you are posting? Most who read and post here are ordinary users. If you want to address an audience with some say in what happens with the software, you will have to use the site I mentioned earlier or post a bug report.
I doubt very much that Mozilla will change direction. Just when I think it has done its worst, it does worse.
terry 21 you are too funny! You'd think FF would listen as I am betting the few of us are not the only ones carping about this and have done it under another topic.
And, to address your earlier suggestion, do you really think this is a bug? This is a deliberate change FF made to preferences. Not sure complaining under the bug heading would work. What do you think? If so I'll post there as well.
i didn't lose any files, just functionality. i am getting used to the file explorer box automatically opening when i download. Yes it's annoying but it is what it is. What's getting me crazy is when emails have attachments and I have no way to look at it unless I download it and I don't necessarily have to or want to do that. My friend sends me a picture. The image is tiny. No way to ask it to open with Photos so I can actually see it. Very bad.
Muudetud
donthavecow,
this is a major issue for me as well as UTorrent will not open when I click to d/l a torrent at bt.etree etc. I added a comment on your post and now I consider this a bug so I will go to that forum and post there. I'll come back and add a link to that post after I do it. Thanks for the heads up.
Ok I have a problem even finding where to report a bug. Anyone know? terry21 since you brought it up originally?
And, as frustrating as it is, MS Edge still works and opens UTorrent. So Firefox, get your act together!
tek360 said
I also realize that if a friend sends a jpg or other image in email as an attachment and i want to see it the box no longer opens for me to view it with Microsoft Photos. The only box that opens is one that asks me to save the image which I do not want to do.
If you would consider an add-on to clean that up, you can try mine:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/content-type-fixer/
I think you would use the menu to make two changes so that image attachments open in the browser normally --
-- but I don't know whether that will work with your mail site.
I use Yahoo, Hotmail and aol. Yes I still have my original aol account from the 90s and never changed some of the stuff I get in there. I get most of my personal email if not all in Yahoo.
Does it work with these? If so I'll try your add on.
I can test with Outlook (Hotmail's current platform). Not sure how soon I can get to it.
tek360 said
Ok I have a problem even finding where to report a bug. Anyone know? terry21 since you brought it up originally?
I don't believe posting an 'idea' or a bug report will achieve anything. My point was that complaints here cannot possibly achieve anything. But you can try. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/
BTW, there is a temporary workaround (posted in the thread below). https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1370494
Muudetud
jscher2000: more important that it works with yahoo. i don't get many attachments in hotmail. thanks.
terri21: now that i know it works with edge i'll use that until Mozilla might figure out that people are displeased. if they care.
i dislike chrome and don't use it (although it might be the default in my android phone)