by Leif Westerlind (Developer) on May 16, 2016 · permalink

Hello,

Your points are valid and have been heard and taken into consideration. I have observed those same things myself.

Suggestions:

Until I can address these problems, you can change the options that determine how eQuake Alert! reacts. On the Options dialog, under the Alert Methods, you may want to choose "None". This will not shake the browser. This will not open an Alert box. And it will not change the window state (maximize, fullscreen, foreground, etc). Please keep in mind, these "intrusive" options were originally intended for people who specifically wanted to be notified, no matter what they were doing (i.e. to know immediately if a loved one across the world is in danger, or if they themselves may be facing a tsunami). But the options are there to remain unobtrusive. In fact, I myself use those "quiet" options, for the same reasons you have mentioned.

Also, about the status bar, that is a well known and beloved browser user interface element that was removed by Mozilla with Firefox 29.0, nicknamed "Australis", which generally received a lot of negative feedback, which Mozilla completely ignored. Anyways, this add-on was written mostly for status bar use, as are many others which I currently use (NoScript, AdBlock Plus and Forecastfox Weather (fix version)). The solution is fairly easy, and there are two well-written add-on options. You only need to use one or the other, depending what you want.

1) If you like the Australis appearance, but all you want is the status bar back again, then try "The Addon Bar (Restored)" ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/the-addon-bar/ ).

2) If you do not like the Australis appearance at all (like me), then you can use Classic Theme Restorer ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/ ), which restores the look and feel of the entire interface back to FF 28.0, including the status bar.

About me:

I have recently joined this project as a developer, and have read over all the reviews, good and bad, and taken notes. Until about 2 months ago, I was just a user of this add-on, but then I decided to stop complaining about the problems and actually do something to fix them, so I stepped up and took on this task, without being asked to, nor asking for anything in return. The creator, Priyan, recognized my motivation and determination, and graciously accepted me as a developer, to take on most of the coding tasks, as his time is needed elsewhere.

Last week, I released an update, version 8.1.0, which fixes the feed format, and addresses numerous "invisible" problems which will make future updates possible. The Geomap feature was disabled (it was broken anyways) to more quickly restore the add-on to a working state. However, the Geo Filter functionality remains intact. Geomap will return in a future version.

As I am just learning about this crazy add-on development environment, I became aware that the low level API it relies upon (XUL/Overlay) WILL BE REMOVED later this year. So I am focusing efforts on migrating the add-on to newer APIs, otherwise we are back to no add-on at all. As I do so, then I become more familiar with the code, and user-interface changes like this will be easier, and my next priority.

When I eventually migrate from the XUL/Overlay API to the Addons-SDK API (and beyond), the button will be changed to appear in the location bar by default, like all add-on buttons in FF 29.0+ (Australis and newer). However, it can then be configured and dragged anywhere, including the status bar, which is what I have done with my NoScript, AdBlock Plus and Forecastfox Weather (fix version). Furthermore, I plan to use the some new SDK API features which will let me implement a badged and possibly a two-state icon. The icon will change color or appearance in some way, and also have a little box with a number in it, corresponding to the number of new events since last viewed, i.e. [5].

There may be other options available that I have yet to explore. But I have invested some time getting oriented with the basic SDK API features to get ideas for several ways to improve the user experience. Feedback such as yours is invaluable in this process, so thank you for taking the time to write.

Again, let me reassure you that as a user, I noticed the same problems you did. As a developer, I have spent considerable time researching and asking questions (i.e. on StackOverflow) about many programming tasks to address all of the issues you mentioned (and several more in addition). For example, I have learned how to more precisely control window state changes such as minimize, maximize, normal, full screen and restore, in preparation to making these changes, in all three of the APIs (old, interim and upcoming). It' a steep learning curve to learn not only 1, but 3 APIs, simultaneously (XUL/Overlay [deprecated, soon to be removed], SDK/jpm [deprecated, to be removed next year] and WebExtensions [to replace everything sometime next year, maybe]). It's a lot to take in, so please understand that and have patience, or fire up a text editor and come help! ;-)

P.S. I've set up a Google Groups mailing list / forum for eQuake Alert! ( https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/equake-alert ) Feel free to send additional feedback there for a proper discussion. For now, that will be the place for feedback, bug reports, ideas for features, suggestions, questions, help, or contribute to development efforts, etc. A mailing list or forum is far better suited for these sorts of discussions, rather than Facebook or AMO reviews. :-)