Multi-account-containers: Prompt about which container to use when opening link from external application

[audreytoskin]

The Problem: In an external chat or email client, someone sends me a web link. It's the URL to a domain that I normally would use in a particular container. To do so, I have to copy the link, open a new Firefox tab with the container I want, paste the URL, and hit Enter. If I click the link without thinking, it opens in the default container; then switching to the container I want to use means copying the URL, closing the tab, opening a new tab, pasting, hitting Enter...

Arguably, working around this is part of learning the new Containers functionality. But it's kind of a hassle.

Possible Solution: When opening a link from an external application, Firefox could start a new tab with the URL bar pre-filled, but prompt the user about which container to use before actually loading the target web page at all.

[audreytoskin]

I suppose if you prompted every time the user opens any link in a new tab, it would more or less resolve the root problem for users who want to be able to convert tabs to a different container. For me, at least, the idea of converting a tab to a different container is attractive mostly because I keep accidentally opening external links in the default container, rather than because I wanted to switch from one special container to another or something.

[groovecoder]

This is exactly what the "Site Assignment" feature does ...

1. Open a site in a container
2. Right-click the page and choose "Always Open in this Container"

or

1. Open a site in a Container
2. Click the Containers browserAction icon
3. Check the "Always Open in this Conatiner" checkbox

Anytime you go to the site, you'll receive a confirm prompt to open the site in the container.

[audreytoskin]

But that's a permanent assignment for a single domain and single container. When you need to use multiple simultaneous logins for a single domain, permanently assigning it to just one container doesn't work.

[groovecoder]

Ah, I see the distinction. We will probably leave this to another extension to implement, but I'll leave it here for up-votes and more comments.

[jonathanKingston]

I think it's a dupe anyway and I'm not sure extensions can do this reliably
unless the browser has already started.

On Fri, 4 Aug 2017, 13:55 luke crouch, [e-mail] wrote:

Ah, I see the distinction. We will probably leave this to another
extension to implement, but I'll leave it here for up-votes and more
comments.

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[audreytoskin]

I could understand you not wanting to implement such a feature or considering it a low priority — always prompting when opening a new tab is maybe a bit intrusive, but I think I would it would be convenient to not have to think so carefully before clicking a Web link. Making it optional would make it less intrusive, but options do complicate the code... I can't comment on whether it's technically feasible.

I don't understand how this feature request could be considered a duplicate of permanent domain-to-container assignment. Assigning domains is about automating behavior. Prompting is about avoiding automated behavior so the user doesn't have to undo and then redo the tab containerization.

[hoelzro]

This sounds like an alternative solution to #365!

[mortenn]

If #365 is solved, something like https://github.com/mortenn/BrowserPicker could solve this issue externally to firefox :)

[grahamperrin]

From post 10 (2017-05-21) under _Move tab from container or to container - Test Pilot / Containers - Mozilla Discourse_:

… The potential for cumbersomeness arises not only whilst browsing (with Firefox). Any number of actions in applications other than Firefox will cause a URL to be opened in Firefox.

… how should the operating system behave when, for example, clicking a web link in Thunderbird?

Should the OS bring Firefox to the front without opening of the link by Firefox? Should Firefox present a confirmation dialogue? For example:

Are you sure you want to use your Work container for this address?

– or words to that effect.

[craignicol]

If the issue is about handling multiple URLs from external applications, why not take a cue from Firefox for Android and allow a tab queue, and then quickly select containers once Firefox gets focus? Similar to the crash recovery window.

[kesselborn]

@craignicol do you happen to have screenshots about this tab queue thing? Don't have Android and would be interested in this (albeit for another extension). Cheers

[bruno-robert]

I would definitely like to see this, even if it's from another extension.
It's not something I would use all the time (it would be pretty slow to manually select what tab to open things in each time), but when I get SSO links, I don't have time to set the "always open in container" because they instantly redirect! è_é
I also often want to use different containers for the same type of SSO link (I need to be able to select the container at the time the link is pressed or just before).

Ideally, I would have a button on Firefox, making the next link opened with Firefox, prompt me for what container to open in, or alternatively, automatically select the next container that will be opened when a link is sent to Firefox. This way, if I know I will be using an SSO link, I would just tell Firefox to open the next link in X container.

Currently, I am using bumpr to select what browser to open links in, and I have a chrome setup with different profiles, I open the profile I want to use, open the link and tell bumpr to open in chrome. Not ideal but it works. BrowserPicker as mentioned above has similar functionality to bumpr.