Waterfox web site issues (meta)

[grahamperrin]

Partial background

• https://blog.waterfoxproject.org/waterfox-56.0-release-download (2017-11-30) "… staging website is available to test at staging.waterfoxproject.org, …"
• https://redd.it/84hi0f (2018-03-14) "While the next version of Waterfox is being prepared … please check out and test the new Waterfox website before it all launches together: …"
• https://redd.it/87cmcu (2018-03-26) "Waterfox 56.1.0 Release - This release brings with it a brand new website, …"
• https://redd.it/8avoji (2018-04-09) "What do you think is missing from the website? Any bits of informations you’d like to know about but can’t find easily? An FAQ? Please let me know!"

[grahamperrin]

FAQ ideas

From https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/484#issuecomment-398047779:

… work on getting WF to pretend its v57 for the add-on store.

Maybe worth having an FAQ paragraph re: expected issues. I'll flesh this out nearer the time.

Waterfox Classic

From 603, as requested (condensed or moved):

• resource:// images don't work in old addons · Issue #647 …
• e10s: availability of multi-process with older versions of operating systems : waterfox
• multi-process by default, especially at refresh time, known issues with incompatible extensions ∴ users who choose to use incompatible legacy extensions should (if/when they learn of e10s stuff) proceed at their own risk
• location services may not work as expected (see for example https://www.reddit.com/comments/8xt831/-/e2aekc2/ ▶ https://www.reddit.com/comments/8oief0/-/e06jqjf/?context=1 and the more recent comments below https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/797#issuecomment-439760869
• …

Waterfox Current

• some of the above, I guess
• 
  …

[grahamperrin]

Risks associated with unsigned extensions should be unmistakably clear. Have a line amongst answers to FAQ.

---

UX, privacy, security: consider defaulting to disallow unsigned extensions · Issue #695 · MrAlex94/Waterfox

If suggestion 1 is implemented, then an additional answer can include direction to:

• about:config?filter=xpinstall.signatures.required

[grahamperrin]

In the advanced dialogue at e.g. https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/waterfox/new/?scene=1 maybe add _64-bit_ to the _Windows Portable_ link.

[grahamperrin]

Please don't use tracking scripts on your website. : waterfox

[grahamperrin]

For reference only, I don't expect fixes for problems with Disqus service …

… this is typical, Disqus repeatedly failing to show responses:

Reload (override cache) is, unfortunately, not a workaround when Disqus fails in this way. At the time of writing I have overridden the cache twice and still (as shown above), there's no trace of the response that I posted more than thirty minutes ago:

Problems involving the content delivery network(s) used by Disqus, I guess. maybe … maybe not (see below) …

Postscripts

Not expecting fixes for problems with Disqus service because, for example, Disqus offered no response to https://twitter.com/grahamperrin/status/1045017746004684802 (2018-09-26).

Found today:

• Articles Missing Comments · Discuss Disqus · Disqus (four years ago, opening poster seriously disappointed by the absence of a response from Disqus, locked, I can't reply)
• I'm constantly missing comments · Discuss Disqus · Disqus (three years ago, locked)
• Use Configuration Variables to Avoid Split Threads and Missing Comments | Disqus (updated "over a week ago"; no visible date of publication but Finitimus foxified shows 2015-10-20).

[grahamperrin]

blog.waterfox.project.org occasional/persistent error 502 (bad gateway) for some readers:

• https://redd.it/ammote with a Ray ID at https://www.reddit.com/comments/ammote/-/efou7il/

[laniakea64]

blog.waterfox.project.org occasional/persistent error 502 (bad gateway) for some readers:

Hi @MrAlex94 this problem has returned, for the past few days I have been consistently getting the 502 error when trying to access https://blog.waterfoxproject.org/ .

[grahamperrin]

Spun off from https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/asb7hg/-/ehp16we/

Twitter's stretched representation of one of the logos that are currently used in Reddit:

@MrAlex94 if you can't easily find a Reddit-oriented fix for this, I _might_ be able to find some points of reference elsewhere.

[grahamperrin]

@laniakea64 do you have a Ray ID?

[laniakea64]

_(deleted, no longer relevant)_

[grahamperrin]

Old and new Reddit representations of the new logo in a Waterfox tweet:

Re: the cropping in new Reddit, I don't imagine an easy fix.

(The cropping doesn't bother me; I prefer old reddit without the subreddit style.)

[MrAlex94]

Fixed blog issue, was due to nginx.

[grahamperrin]

Slight squashing of the logo at blog pages, for example:

[grahamperrin]

From https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/1128#issuecomment-530597752

… 18.04 is sufficiently new according to system requirements for Waterfox 68.0b1 listed on https://www.waterfox.net/releases/ -

Linux
Min. OS: Any modern distro

From https://www.reddit.com/comments/d38c3f/-/f03zg14/?context=3:

It seems that Alex compiled on much newer distro. …

… Shouldn't the releases page mention something different for Min. OS?

[grahamperrin]

@MrAlex94

[grahamperrin]

Nit

https://gist.github.com/MrAlex94 and https://github.com/MrAlex94 have outdated references to:

• https://www.waterfoxproject.org/

(There's a redirect to https://www.waterfox.net/.)

[MrAlex94]

Thanks for the pings. Website is being re-done 👍

On Sat, 28 Sep 2019 at 15:11, Graham Perrin [e-mail]
wrote:

Nit

https://gist.github.com/MrAlex94 and https://github.com/MrAlex94 have
outdated references to:

• https://www.waterfoxproject.org/

(There's a redirect to https://www.waterfox.net/.)

—
You are receiving this because you were mentioned.

Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub
https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/582?email_source=notifications&email_token=ABECQWDYMJSARTPPU7HSV53QL5QZNA5CNFSM4FB2OF72YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOD722RZI#issuecomment-536193253,
or mute the thread
https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABECQWHYBABK3FJINWYE2ITQL5QZNANCNFSM4FB2OF7Q
.

[grahamperrin]

Thanks :+1:

Adding to the mix, partly in relation to #1174:

• Where is the full list of privacy features that Waterfox has over Firefox? : waterfox

[grahamperrin]

Download checksums and/or GPG signing … : waterfox

[grahamperrin]

Downloads page

Things are quite scattered. At 1,600 x 900 full screen (the limit of this notebook):

If a change is not already drafted (the site redesign), consider something like this as the _essence_:

                 | Windows     portable  | macOS     | Linux     | Android 
-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------⌍
Waterfox Classic | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 |         … |
-----------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
Waterfox Current | 2019.10.1 |         … | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 |         … |
-----------------+---------- +-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------⌏

A little more, still essentially a single table, with disclosure triangles:

                           | Windows     portable  | macOS     | Linux     | Android 
---------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------⌍
Waterfox Classic           | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 |         … |
• comparable to Firefox 56 | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | 
---------------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------|
Waterfox Current           | 2019.10.1 |         … | 2019.10.1 | 2019.10.1 |         … |
• one-line distinction     | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | ◿         | 
---------------------------+---------- +-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------⌏

More (disclosed):

                           | Windows           portable        | macOS           | Linux           | Android 
---------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+----------------⌍
Waterfox Classic           | 2019.10.1       | 2019.10.1       | 2019.10.1       | 2019.10.1       |         …       |
• comparable to Firefox 56 | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               |
                           |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |
                           |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |
---------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------|
Waterfox Current           | 2019.10.1       |         …       | 2019.10.1       | 2019.10.1       |         …       |
• one-line distinction     | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               | ◹               |
                           |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |  • requirements |
                           |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |  • blurb        |
---------------------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------⌏

Sooner or later you'll want something important (not just the footer) below the table, so aim to keep the table reasonably shallow. Too much blurb, too deep/tall a table, will be a problem for readers who omit to scroll.

[grahamperrin]

Incorrect change log

https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release-download/

• refers to https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/68.0a2...2019.10-classic
• should refer to https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/68.0a2...2019.10-current

[grahamperrin]

Blog dates

A nit, both of these have the same date. The latter should be dated 24th October:

1. https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release-download/
2. https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release/

Presence of the latter might fix #1202. I'll check in due course.

The push-back announcement https://redd.it/djceyv mentioned security advisories. So on one hand, I half-expected the second blog post to mention the relevant advisory (or advisories). On the other hand, we have links to change logs so re: https://www.reddit.com/comments/dlptsq/-/f4y81ze/ with its light humour, it should be possible to include (in the second blog post) links to the more recent logs.

Are we? _Are_ we? ;-)

[grahamperrin]

Release announcement references to change logs

https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release-download/ (2019-10-23) already includes these, for 2019-10-15 tags 2019.10-classic and 2019.10-current:

• https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/56.2.14...2019.10-classic
• https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/68.0a2...2019.10-current

Should _also_ include these, for 2019-10-24 tags 2019.10-classic-1 and 2019.10-current-1:

• https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/2019.10-classic...2019.10-classic-1
• https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/compare/2019.10-current...2019.10-current-1

TIA

[grahamperrin]

Versioning guidelines

Nit.

Given the two most recent tags, maybe edit the two YYYY.MM.X examples at https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/wiki/Versioning-Guidelines#addition-of-channels and https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release-download/

PS also, see below, https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/582#issuecomment-549589728

[grahamperrin]

Blog: Commento

For reference only (beyond the control of Waterfox Project, I guess):

https://gitlab.com/commento/commento/issues/36#note_236008535

Some browsers seems to sometimes, or always, fail to scroll to Commento perma-linked areas. …

[grahamperrin]

Typo and nits in the most recent blog post

YY.MM.X

– should be YYYY.MM.X

maintainted

Oh dear https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/tainted ha ha I noticed the rogue _t_ whilst quoting. At a glance I see no other typo.

TIA; fix at your leisure and then hide this comment as resolved.

[grahamperrin]

Downloads page(s) and home page

https://www.waterfox.net/releases/

https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/582#issuecomment-541384643 above, kicking the ball around, in particular:

Too much blurb, too deep/tall …, will be a problem for readers who omit to scroll.

From https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/1227#issuecomment-546679759:

… I have to apologize. I downloaded Classic instead of Current simply because I didn't scroll further down the releases page. …

Maybe it might be a good idea to reverse the layout so that Current appears at the top?

@Telmesomething thanks, but I shouldn't reverse the layout.

If reversed, muscle memory will cause some readers to 'blindly' reach for and click the wrong link without reading a word of what's linked. Like "OK, I see an Apple, _click_.".

We'll see an increasing number of posts re: comparisons between Waterfox Classic and Waterfox Current so for what it's worth, I imagine a separate page for each flavour.

A current view of the home page, and a _very_ rough mock-up:

Very rough. The essence is to have the two flavours linked from the head of the page.

I have other ideas but GitHub is not a forum for discussion so 😑 I'll save them for Reddit if/when there's an invitation to comment on planned changes to the site.

Postscripts

For what it's worth, I imagine a separate page for each flavour.

https://redd.it/dl9aam describes Waterfox Classic as "latest waterfox 2019.10 next gen" and may be an example of confusion arising partly from _next generation_ appearing on the same page as Waterfox Classic:

– also partly from 2019.10 describing both Waterfox Classic and Waterfox Current.

A more recent screenshot of the page (2020-04-11) – we now have a different order, Waterfox Current first:

– and people occasionally download the wrong installer.

[grahamperrin]

… other ideas … save them for Reddit …

Discussion of version IDs arose here in GitHub, so here goes …

Re: https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/1253#issuecomment-549588162

Still kicking the ball around:

  page                                       page
⌌-------------------------------------⌍    ⌌-------------------------------------⌍
| Waterfox Classic                    |    | Waterfox Current                    |
| ================                    |    | ================                    |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|                                     |    | Beta                                |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Pre-release: 2019.11-classic-p      |    | Pre-release: 2019.11-current-p      |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|    * note for testers               |    |    * note for testers               |
|    * note for testers               |    |    * note for testers               |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|    Releases: 2019.10                |    |    Releases: 2019.10                |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              * announcement (blog)  |    |              * announcement         |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              2019.11-classic-r1     |    |              2019.11-current-r1     |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              * not yet available    |    |              * not yet available    |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Features                            |    | Features                            |
| ========                            |    | ========                            |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
⌎-------------------------------------⌏    ⌎-------------------------------------⌏

                                 pages at a later date
⌌-------------------------------------⌍    ⌌-------------------------------------⌍
| Waterfox Classic                    |    | Waterfox Current                    |
| ================                    |    | ================                    |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|                                     |    | Beta                                |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Pre-release: expired                |    | Pre-release: expired                |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|    Releases: 2019.11-classic-r1     |    |    Releases: 2019.11-current-r1     |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              * announcement         |    |              * announcement         |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Features                            |    | Features                            |
| ========                            |    | ========                            |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
⌎-------------------------------------⌏    ⌎-------------------------------------⌏

                                 pages at a later date
⌌-------------------------------------⌍    ⌌-------------------------------------⌍
| Waterfox Classic                    |    | Waterfox Current                    |
| ================                    |    | ================                    |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Pre-release: expired                |    | Pre-release: expired                |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|    Releases: 2019.11-classic-r1     |    |    Releases: 2019.11-current-r1     |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              * announcement         |    |              * announcement         |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              2019.11-classic-r2     |    |              2019.11-current-r2     |
|                                     |    |                                     |
|              * announcement         |    |              * announcement         |
|                                     |    |                                     |
| Features                            |    | Features                            |
| ========                            |    | ========                            |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
| …                                   |    | …                                   |
⌎-------------------------------------⌏    ⌎-------------------------------------⌏

[grahamperrin]

Blog navigation stumbling block

1. Begin with the « navigation at the foot of https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2019.10-release-download/
2. aim for a link to the earlier blog post about 56.2.14

Expected

1. after the link appears, time enough to click on the link

Actual result

1. redirection; disappearance of the required link

Workaround

1. ignore the «
2. step up to the https://www.waterfox.net/blog/ level then browse.

Context

Redirection was a workaround to #1202

[grahamperrin]

Commentaries with and without a trailing slash / solidus (#260) · Issues · Commento / Commento · GitLab ▶ Comment fetching is case-sensitive with URL-encoded national characters (#221) · Issues · Commento / Commento · GitLab

[grahamperrin]

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/en38kg/waterfox_202001_is_now_available_with_all/ffejjl1/

… Waterfox Classic profile spoilt by inadvertent use of Waterfox Current.

At https://www.waterfox.net/download/ it's not immediately obvious that Waterfox Classic exists. Need to page down.

Postscript, 2020-03-08

What just happened? Extensions not working? : waterfox – another case of someone (understandably) confused by gaining Waterfox Current when Waterfox Classic was required.

[LeeBinder]

SOLVED (click to expand)

Whoever admins the web server needs to do some tiny bit of .htaccess magic and add a line of mod rewrite which adds a trailing slash so even URLs w/o one are being redirected properly.

Guinea pig as an example: https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2020.02.1-release (via click onto "What's New").

[grahamperrin]

Minimum requirements: memory

Given the 2 G figure at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/56.0/system-requirements/, is the 512 MB figure below (bottom left) appropriate, for Windows?

Gut feeling, from use of Firefox 73.0.1 (64-bit) and Waterfox Classic on (Tier-3) FreeBSD-CURRENT, with KDE Plasma:

• the two figures for Windows should be 2 G
• the two figures for Linux should be 1 G.

Re: the requirements above and at https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/68.0/system-requirements/ you might prefer to express a minimum requirement of 512 MB for macOS, however screenshots such as those at https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/watefox-takes-up-most-of-1-gb-of-ram-even-when-is-just-on-but-not-in-use/#post-2175298 suggest that (at least for Waterfox Classic) 512 MB might be pushing it. Realistically, 1 GB might be a better statement for Mac users.

Maybe Mozilla's figures are similarly questionable … that's not to invite discussion here, just saying.

Two frames from a screen recording:

Postscript

Discussion, in Reddit:

• Minimum requirements – Linux and macOS (Mac OS X) : waterfox

[grahamperrin]

@LeeBinder I think you can resolve (hide) your https://github.com/MrAlex94/Waterfox/issues/582#issuecomment-589984251

[LeeBinder]

done!

@jorg35 : why :-1: ?

[grahamperrin]

64-bit requirements are not mentioned at https://www.waterfox.net/download/.

(The 64-bit nature is debatably implicit in file names e.g. waterfox-current-2020.03.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 and waterfox-classic-2020.03.1.en-US.linux-x86_64.tar.bz2 however IMHO requirements should be upfront, before download begins.)

[grahamperrin]

Documentation

Suggest installing FFmpeg on systems where it will be of benefit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/fmh0cs/cant_play_live_videos_in_linux_with_waterfox/fl537vi/?context=1

[grahamperrin]

Confusion from the third of the DOWNLOAD options at the home page

From discussions spread across the Internet – most of which focus on compatibility with legacy extensions (and will continue to do so, e.g. when historic/limited discussions are found through search engines) – many newcomers will expect an automatically-chosen download of _Waterfox_ to be _Waterfox Classic_.

Instead it's _Waterfox Current_ – but no mention of _Current_ (we can't expect readers to observe the intricacies of a URL, foot of this window):

Related: https://old.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/fqcvpj/-/flskl3n/

[grahamperrin]

Languages

Documentation. Users of Waterfox Current must not add packs from https://addons.mozilla.org/language-tools/

Cross reference:

• https://redd.it/ftum7k and various other incidents.

[grahamperrin]

@MrAlex94 Waterfox Classic 2020.03.1 updated to 2020.04 on Windows 10 was not followed by an automated visit to https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2020.04-release/

An update file issue, maybe?

@MrAlex94 thanks for the reply, I'll mark this as resolved off-topic (not a web site issue).

---

No problem with the update to Waterfox Current on the same system. https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-2020.04-release/?upgrade appeared.

[MrAlex94]

It seems later versions of Firefox load the update page whenever the DISPLAY_VERSION changes, but unfortunately Classic does not. Since it still thinks it’s 56.3, it doesn’t launch the page. It’s on the list, just been busy to get it fixed 😬