Mozilla Labs: the URL Bar Has To Go

An anonymous reader writes with an editorial from ConceivableTech "Since Google's move to enable users to hide the URL bar, we have seen what could be the beginning of the end of one of the key features of the web browser. Mozilla has its own thoughts, but there is little doubt that Mozilla is reconsidering the purpose of the URL bar in future versions of its browsers. In a Mozilla Labs post today, David Regev suggests that the location bar should be replaced with a tool to support more than just one command."

Comments

Following Google to Stupidity

[Sonny Yatsen]

Gah, what is with Mozilla following Google's every example, no matter how stupid or not? There's a good reason to keep the URL bar - it's a quick and easy way to check for phishing 2 out of 3 times. Hiding the URL bar is just dumb, because now we're reliant on Google or Mozilla or other third-party maintained lists to protect us from phishing, or we have to jump through hoops to check the URL. No, thank you!

Plus, what is wrong with keeping the URL bar where it is? I use the Omnibar addon and it adds the ability to do all sorts of query commands into the URL bar already. It works well and it's convenient to use, and best of all, I keep my URL bar (albeit it's now a long address bar that incorporates the search bar into it). Why not go that direction? Why follow Google towards stupid design decisions? Just making it look nifty is not a good reason to change something or to remove functionality and features.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[kbitz]

If Mozilla is going to start "following Google" then there's no reason for me to use their browser when I could go straight to the source and use Chrome. I use Firefox because I don't like Chrome. There is no reason to start emulating it.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[The Moof]

Well, they ignored the massive backlash about removing the status bar, so what makes you think they'll listen to the masses about the location bar? Mozilla's been making some really questionable design decisions lately, and their response always seems to be "find an add-on to do it." Extensions are nifty and all, but they should be required for what some would consider basic interface functionality.

There is an extension to make the "add-on" bar act like the old status bar, but it's got some issues (might be FF, might be the add-on).

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[bhcompy]

The day Chrome has true support for NoScript, I'll switch back. Never before.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[peragrin]

the day chrome fixes it's theming colors, and print system I will switch back.

Seriously chrome is the only browser not to support page margins. So it is useless for printing out web forms.

As for theme's when a website requests a new window theme colors default to the original colors.

Two very simple things chrome does wrong.

now let me actually delete history on a regular basis and all will be good. I don't need 6 months of browser history saved.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[swordgeek]

"Mozilla's motto for Firefox is to keep it being completely customizable..."

Ah yes. That's why I can turn the status bar back on in FF4, right?

I appreciate the desire to reduce clutter and give us more browsing space, but the stupid floating URL at the bottom in lieu of a status bar does NOT save space, it just overlaps and obscures content--and I can't turn it off or move it.

The Mozilla foundation needs to stop screwing around until they take a good hard look at the direction they've been drifting in the last two years.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[fafaforza]

I was livid when LCD producers stopped making 4:3 screens, forcing me into a bulbous 15" widescreen behemoth. Now, having forced us into these widescreen laptops, they're bitching that there isn't enough realestate. Well, gee whiz! You think that a widescreen display has a really wide horizontal spread (wasted on an oversized and mostly empty address bar) and less vertical space?

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[ArcherB]

Tree-style tabs is what is keeping me on FF. Tabs are nested on the left side of the screen like split file manager window. Tabs opened from another get nested. For whatever reason, there is no such add-on for Chrome and it kills me to have my tabs listed across the top. You can get so many more tabs running vertically than you can horizontally.

Re:Following Google to Stupidity

[Migraineman]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm crying for me too. There are many, many of us who would like you and the rest of the Technology Fetishists to take your "richer experience" and go play somewhere else. I don't want a multimedia "experience" when I'm looking for an owner's manual on the Sears website. I don't want you shoving GPU-assisted targeted advertising at me at every possible juncture.

The forced upgrade march is also unwelcome, for reasons that should be obvious, but apparently aren't. I've upgraded software tools, only to discover that the new version has abandoned compatibility with an older version, which is a catastrophe if that older version is part of a currently-shipping product or service. My production lifecycles exceed typical software lifecycles by an order of magnitude. XP? Yep, still running that along side of several Win2K machines. You may find that unpalatable, but upgrading to Win7 would break functionality (and has been demonstrated in a sandbox, so that last part isn't just conjecture.)

As for the URL bar ... "Hey! I was using that!" I use my browser for much more than just surfing the net for pr0n. My local firewall and router have admin interfaces that require a dotted-quad entry in the URL bar. No, I can't just click the "Microsoft Networks" icon and find them ... funny, they're not Microsoft products. Similarly, I can force a SFTP session to my file server by typing into the URL bar. Often times, I'll manually edit the displayd URL to rapidly traverse the directory tree. Just because you find it irrelevant, doesn't mean I do.

I hate devs who follow "trends".

[aristotle-dude]

Nothing gets under my skin more than devs who like to follow the latest trends without considering whether what they are doing actually delivers concrete value to the end user or at least makes the codebase more maintainable in a real measurable way. Newer is not always better.

Could Someone Explain to me...

[OS24Ever]

....why I don't want a URL bar? How the hell am I supposed to type in the places I want to go. What are they thinking? I don't get it. I also tend not to change my habits. Is typing in URLs passe now? Am I supposed to rely on my browser to take me where I want to go? What's the deal?

Not trolling here. I'm serious, I don't get this 'feature' at all. I open a blank page and search on google and hope my search term works the next time?

Re:Could Someone Explain to me...

[nmnilsson]

I'm guessing Google picked up on how several of my family members (and many, many other computer users I'm afraid) actually enter URLs:
1. Click browser home button, arrive at google.com
2. Type URL in search box, then click first link (for advanced users: click "I'm feeling lucky")
No matter how I try to explain how backwards this is, they keep doing it. Take away the search bar and I can't even argue the sane alternative.

More hits for google.com - more data, ads and more money for them. Only makes sense, really.

When you lack inspiration....

[avandesande]

When you lack inspiration, fix something that isn't broken!

Re:When you lack inspiration....

[Lumpy]

But with mozilla it's , "when you don't want to bother with working on the pile of bug reports to fix the problems that have been there for a while.... Work on a new shiny!

Microsoft-ian?

[bp m_i_k_e]

This reminds me of the dubious decision to hide file name extensions in Windows Explorer by default - you know, since users don't really need that information.

Re:I don't get it

[Rockoon]

Really don't get what's the problem with the URL bar.

The problem with the URL bar is that it doesnt always send people directly to Google.

FACT: The majority of Mozilla revenue comes directly from Google payments to be the default search engine.
FACT: The current default search deal, extended for 3 more years in august 2008, ends this year.
FACT: Mozilla big-wigs would see substantial paycuts if this deal isnt renewed.

End of story.

Does for Phishers what hiding ext did for Trojans

[DeadCatX2]

The person who decided to hide extensions by default is single-handedly responsible for a great deal of the trojans that get executed.

And I agree, the idea of getting rid of the address bar is just terrible. It's EXTREMELY important for you to know where you are at all times in this world of multiple redirects! This will do for phishers what hiding extensions did for trojans.

Why?

[CFBMoo1]

Why is every software project changing its interface drastically for tablets and phones? Did desktops just fall off the face of the Earth? Seriously, get off the mobile bandwagon if your doing Desktop software and stick with Desktop design ideas. That goes for Mozilla, Gnome, and anyone else. Stop making half and half crappy designs changes and and focus up on one or the other but no half way crap that ruins the experience.

I don't care if the UI for Gnome 3 is better for tablets and such. I don't care that you think the URL bar is too big at 33 pixels or whatever it is. Stop messing up things that work as they are. Start a new project and give the existing stuff to someone else who won't have mobile on the brain for a desktop product.

Sorry for the rant but this is getting old watching good and decent desktop software become hybrid mobile nightmare designs.