Why can't the menus from the menu bar be moved to another toolbar?
Hi,
In previous versions of Firefox, I used to move all the navigation bar items to the menu bar.
But now that the tabs can be at the very top of the window, which saves some useless space (great work there guys), I have to hide the menu bar to use it (and use the Firefox button).
Since I cannot find all options that I used to find in the menus in the Firefox button (it has less details and I have an additional module - ScrapBook - adding a menu to the traditional menus), I tried to move the menus to the navigation bar so I can use both at the same time. It seems that I cannot move the menus anywhere else than in the menu bar... Why? I don't see any reason for the menus not to be moveable as other items.
It would give a possibility to use both old (and extensive) menus and the new button at the same time.
Thanks.
Chosen solution
teagish:
tagish said: I am not seeing an image in your latest post so I will assume you changed the one from the "29/11/13 12:47" post.
Answer: That is the image that I was referencing.
Here is a broad overview of Australis as it stands now (there is little other information available as we are almost half a year from Release and the Release date can always be pushed back if needed) - https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2013/11/australis-is-landing-in-firefox-nightly
To download Australis - https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-ux/
- Set up a separate profile for each version of Firefox including Australis to avoid corrupting your profile -
Keep in mind that Australis is in a pre-Alpha stage, is not intended for the average user, is for testing purposes only at this time, is not totally stable or secure for daily use, and is subject to changes on a nightly basis.
Keep in mind that anything, including the answers that I have given you above this post, within this post, and below this post (if that should occur) are subject to change as developers receive feedback and if they decide to make a change.
I would suggest that you wait until the Australis interface is closer to release to ask specific questions; perhaps wait until it is in the Aurora channel in a few weeks, then download and install it, and use the Firefox menu Help > Submit Feedback to send your comments to the developers. They will NOT respond to your comments, but they will read them.
- The throbber is no longer available. Maybe an add-on will be developed later.
- Moving supplied Home, Download and combined Bookmark this page/Display bookmarks is possible and they may be moved to the left of the URL/Location bar. It appears that the 3-bar button (with user-customizable content) is NOT movable and can NOT be hidden. Note that the Bookmark this page/Display bookmarks button is current "paired" and can only be moved as a unit.
- URL/Location Bar and Search Bar can NOT currently be removed or hidden. In fact, the Navigation Toolbar can no longer be hidden. It is my understanding that the URL/Location bar is now a single unit that includes the Go/Stop/Reload button and the Back/Forward button and the Go/Stop/Reload button components and the Back/Forward button can NOT be separated from the URL/Location bar. There have been many questions on the forum where users have hidden or removed those items and it causes huge problems for them.
- Read carefully as I have included in one of my previous posts. Currently the default installation of Australis places the Menu Bar at the left end of the Windows title bar with the minimize, mazimize, close buttons at the right side of that title bar. The Menu Bar is NOT currently movable but may be turned off and temporarily displayed by pressing the ALT key or the F10 key in Windows. The Menu Bar may be replaced using the Classic Theme Restorer add-on (click on link where mentioned in a previous post above) to show the Firefox button. It is supposed to show the Firefox button in the title bar, but currently shows it below the title bar, thus taking one more vertical line of space. Currently the Menu Bar, when displayed takes up a few more pixels vertically than it needs; hopefully that will be fixed.
- The default installation currently displays the Menu Bar (where the left part of the Windows title bar was previously), the Tabs, and the Navigation Toolbar.
Some add-ons will most likely be developed to allow users to change some, but not all, of the interface changes. Classic Theme Restorer has already been mentioned above and I have used it to change the look of my working installed version of Australis 28.0a1.
Let's please wait and see what develops rather than guessing what might happen and/or making decisions based on the current pre-Alpha of Australis.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (8)
Hi guys,
Thanks again for your answers.
I agree that this discussion has no use if it does not reach designer or developper eyes (I thought you guys were).
It just shifted from current to future interface and I just thought it might be useful for these people to have an early feedback about these changes as it will probably impact or even irritate many.
Maybe this is not the correct media to share these comments though. TheOldFox: Where will I see when it is in the Aurora channel (and what is the Aurora channel)?
Unless this feedback is used, I will only conclude about comments about what you just told me.
It is understandable that the back/forward button and the location bar cannot be separated by having a look at the design. It might be cool to be able to separate them but I think it is only a minor irritant. It is the same for the refresh/stop button, although I find it really annoying that it is away from the back/forward button.
For me, it is also a minor irritant that the throbber that is gone and not irritant at all that the location bar that cannot be hidden.
For the rest, I don't find any reason why items would need to be locked on an customizable interface. I would expect to be able to move everything around and be able to remove the items I don't want without using add-ons on a customizable interface. This is what I liked at first glance when I first used Firefox and what made me stick to it even when other options were appearing.
There is no perfect design and, in my opinion, what gets the closest to it is to let users (or at least the ones for which it matters) be able to make the design they like with an interface.
The Aurora channel is the alpha 2 development stage that is in between the Nightly alpha 1 stage (where all new code initially lands) and the beta channel (which code will become the next release), so it is a bit more stable (code bubbles down to the next channel with a 6 week delay).
teagish:
To see when new versions are moving to the various channels see - https://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases
- shows Firefox 28 (currently with the Australis interface) is moving to Aurora on December 10, 2013. (It can always be delayed and the Australis interface pushed to Firefox 29). My understanding is that another version of Firefox 28 (without the Australis interface) is available, but let's not confuse things by getting into that. OK?????
A quick summary of the changes from Firefox 25-27 and the Australis default installed interface.
- The Firefox button is gone and the Menu Bar appears at the left end of the Windows title bar. An add-on is already in place that will allow you to change that but it still needs some tweaking.
- The URL/Location bar is now one unit containing the Back/Forward button (left end), the Site Identity button (left end), the Address space (where you type an address (middle), the drop down marker, followed by the combined go/stop/reload button at the right end.
- You currently can not break out individual items from the URL/Location bar unit in the Australis interface.
- You can move anywhere on the Navigation Toolbar but NOT remove the URL/Location bar. You can move anywhere on the Navigation Toolbar but NOT remove the Search Bar. You can NOT hide the Navigation Toolbar where all of this and the icons below are displayed.
- The following buttons that come on the Navigation toolbar in the Australis default interface can be repositioned on the Navigation Toolbar including to the left of the URL/Location bar unit:
- combined Bookmark this page/Display bookmarks is a single unit and can NOT be split into two buttons but is movable as a unit.
- the Home button
- the Download button
- The new 3-bar button is in a fixed (non-movable) postion at the left end of the Navigation toolbar.
Things to keep in mind
- Changes may still be made before it is moved to Beta or may be changed while in Beta, but major changes while in Beta are rare. Changes are quite possible in Aurora.
- It is much too early to know exactly what will be in the final Release version.
- It is much too early to know what add-ons will be developed for the Australis interface.
- Most importantly, you and all other users will get what the developers finally decide is what they want to release. You may have no choice but to use add-ons to change the interface, unless you want to switch browsers.
There is no need at this development phase for a continuation of this discussion. Let's put it on hold and see what happens. OK?????
Modified by TheOldFox
I have no problem with moving the 3-bar button to the far left on the Navigation Toolbar, i.e. to the left of the Back button. Remember that the location bar container is a fixed item that now has a lot of buttons in it, so you can't move a button into this container.
Edit:
I always forget that the Classic Theme Restorer extension makes this possible.
- Classic Theme Restorer: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/
Modified by cor-el
teagish:
Corrections to what I said above.
The first paragraph should read (changes in italics):
To see when new versions are moving to the various channels see - https://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases
- shows Firefox 28 (currently with the Australis interface) is moving to Aurora during the week of December 10, 2013. (It can always be delayed and the Australis interface pushed to Firefox 29). The new Aurora is generally available on Friday of the week indicated. The date indicated on that wiki page is the date that a new version of Firefox RELEASE is available, followed by, generally, Firefox BETA on Thursday of that week, followed by Firefox Aurora on Friday of that week. Aurora and Beta are updated once or twice per week during those phases of development. My understanding is that another version of Firefox 28 (without the Australis interface) is available, but let's not confuse things by getting into that. OK?????
- The Aurora version will be available on or about 12/13/2013 for download from the following page - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-aurora.html
Second correction: I can now move the 3-bar button. That may have occurred during one of the nightly updates since I first tested with my initial download and installation of Nightly Australis 28.0a1.
Modified by TheOldFox
teagish:
Just for your information, the add-on Classic Theme Restorer - customize Australis ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/ ) has updated and there are new options:
- (See CAUTION at end of this bullet) after checking the option in the add-on on the Main tab "Movable back forward button" 2 new buttons appear on the Customize palette, one for Back/Forward button and one for the drop-marker to place next to the Back/Forward button. Both may be placed to the left or right of the URL/Location bar and the Back/Forward button on the left end of the URL/Location bar is removed. (CAUTION: Today, 12-06-2013, I encountered a problem when unchecking/turning off this feature. The Back/Foreward default button at the left end of the URL/Location bar would not return, even after restarting Firefox. I was left with no workable Back/Forward button and after much time to rectify the situation, had to uninstall Australis 28.0a1 and profile and perform a complete reinstallation of Australis, the 9 add-ons that I had previously, enter options for add-ons and set as desired, and make three unrelated changes to my prefs in about:config. I will be reporting to the developer).
- a Small Buttons option is on the Main tab of the add-on. I do not see a change in the buttons size, but it "tightens" up the top part of the display by several pixels, using less vertical space.
- there is an option on the Experimental tab of the add-on "Combined reload stop button (Fx restart needed!)" which will add an item to the Customize palette that you may drag to the Navigation Toolbar. The Stop and Reload button is removed from the left end of the URL/Location bar, only the Go button remains at the left end.
Modified by TheOldFox
teagish:
See the CAUTION added at the end of the first bullet point in my last post above.
This kind of thing can happen with Nightly builds and/or experimental extensions like Classic Theme Restorer.
Classic Theme Restorer 1.0.3 has bee released with the following changes and new items:
[new] option to disable fog on tabs toolbar for Australis tabs (Windows)
[new] option to force white text/tab buttons for Australis tabs (Windows)
[new] enable/disable 'add-on bar' using toolbars context menu
[new] enable/disable 'extra toolbar' using toolbars context menu
[new] enable/disable 'navigation bar' using toolbars context menu
[new] toggle 'add-on bar' using 'Ctrl + /' btw. 'Cmd + /'
[removed] 'add-on bar' option from preference window
[removed] 'extra toolbar' option from preference window
[removed] 'hide nav-bar' option from preference window
[fix] WinXP: menu toolbar got broken in some cases
[change] Windows: tweaked 'tabs on top off' option
[change] preference window: changed some labels
[change] preference window: not supported options got hidden (Linux/MacOSX)
[change] redone icons+text mode to improve compatibility
[change] tweaked experimental tabs to gain more visible text