Add more guidance in the extension page.

[MagicalDrizzle]

Currently you have to hover on the options in the dropdown, and not much informations on the extension page itself.

I propose adding these lines (taken from the AMO page) to the extension page.

Keep: Do not modify the Referer
Prune: Send only the origin part of the Referer (scheme, host, and port)
Target: Send the origin of the target URL (scheme, host, and port) as Referer
Remove: Send no Referer at all
Replace: Replace the Referer with a configured value

[Gitoffthelawn]

I see and appreciate where your recommendation is coming from, but given that the relevant information is presented in the tooltips when and where you actually need it, I think it's more discoverable as is.

The big blob of text that's currently present is already quite a long technical read, and repeating details that are available via the tooltips may make it harder to find the important details present in that blob.

[MagicalDrizzle]

I see, if that's how you see it ^^

[airtower-luna]

I just want to make clear that the comment above is not mine (as the owner). I haven't decided yet if I want to make a change there.

[airtower-luna]

@MagicalDrizzle, a thing I'd really like to know: My intention was for that info to be obvious in the tooltips. Why does that not work well for you? Are they inaccessible in some way? Not obvious enough?

[MagicalDrizzle]

Firstly, there kinda is no information on the tooltips anywhere (AMO, GH) but the extension page, which I think is fair enough
Secondly, hovering over the the actions of the Actions column does not actually show any tooltips.
It is only when you press on the actions to bring up the list and hover over that, that the tooltips appear.
I personally don't really think that's really intuitive...

[Gitoffthelawn]

This is a fascinating discussion. After @MagicalDrizzle's post with the screenshots, I better understand their experience.

But first, as @airtower-luna pointed out, I'm not the developer of this extension (I think I helped out with some little things over the years, but nothing recently), and I apologize that my comment caused confusion to @MagicalDrizzle in that regard.

Second, @MagicalDrizzle, welcome! This extension, that @airtower-luna created, is excellent and is most useful.

Now, back to the topic. Please know that I am a UX/UI expert, so @MagicalDrizzle's feedback is very helpful to me. It also means this discussion interests me much more than it likely interests most people!

@MagicalDrizzle Some questions for you, if you have the time. Please remember that these are all research-type questions, meaning that there is zero judgement involved. My assumption is that you are intelligent and thoughtful, so please don't let the directness of my questions allow you to, even for a moment, think otherwise! ❤️

When you mention that "there kinda is no information on the tooltips anywhere (AMO, GH) but the extension page,", do you mean that there is no disclosure of the existence of the helpful tooltips anywhere except the extension page?

If so, that's quite an interesting point. However, when it comes time to make the decision, the helpful tooltips appear for each option. Thus, in some ways, it seems the help appears right when you need it. But that doesn't seem to match your needs. Can you explain a little bit as to why so I can learn why you find the tooltips to be insufficient?

Here's what I'm guessing is happening: You are faced with a dropdown menu. You click it to see the options. You don't know what some/all of the options mean, and so your natural experience is confusion. You then stare at the options, and you give up or want to consult documentation. You don't consider hovering over each dropdown menuitem to see if there is a helpful tooltip for each item because you don't expect there to be any help (remember, no judgement at all... I'm strictly trying to understand your experience).

If my guesses are correct (and they are just guesses at this time), then I have 5 follow-up questions:

1. Do you consider yourself an "explorative" user (someone who clicks on menus/buttons to see what they do), or a more "conservative" user (a bit timid about clicking on anything unless you are pretty sure about the corresponding function)?
2. Why didn't you hover over the menuitems to see if help would appear?
3. Are you familiar with other applications or extensions providing help for dropdown menus? Or is your experience that you have never (or almost never) encountered such help?
4. Why was the notice "Please check the tooltips for details on the meaning of the configuration fields." insufficient?
5. Given that the notice mentioned in question 4 appeared to be insufficient, why would repeating the tooltips be helpful to you?

Feel free to write as much detail as you can. I promise to read every word you write, and I will likely read everything you write multiple times. I value your feedback and experiences. Thanks in advance.

[scarlion1]

I don't think I've seen Tooltips used so extensively.  At first, I only thought there were tool tips in the text boxes, but they're everywhere!  ...on the column headers, on the table cells "Any"/"Same Domain" words, and so on.  I think maybe this the first time I've seen them used while hovering over the options in an open drop-down list.  But hey, if you can code it then why not?  Some of the explanations are a bit confusing, maybe some technical additions would help?  Or, Ed has been rubbing off on me too much...

• Target Domain is domain of request, such as GET, yes?
• Origin Domain is domain in URL/address bar?

So,

1. if for Target = "Any domain", Action = "Target", and
2. if for Target = "Same domain", Action = "Prune", then
3. Opening page https://www.threads.net/@<username> and it makes many requests for GET https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/[...] but Referer = "https://www.threads.net/" and content blocked from loading. Shouldn't the add-on set Referer = "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com"?
4. if rule added: Target = "scontent.cdninstagram.com", Action = "Target", but still Referer = "https://www.threads.net/" and content blocked from loading. 🤬

Does it mean something's wrong with the add-on, or what? Thanx

[airtower-luna]

Target Domain is domain of request, such as GET, yes?

Yes.

Origin Domain is domain in URL/address bar?

Usually, but not always. It's the domain of the unmodified Referer. For example, if there is an <iframe> and the site inside makes another request, it'll be the domain of the site in the frame.

Opening page https://www.threads.net/@ and it makes many requests for GET https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/[...] but Referer = "https://www.threads.net/" and content blocked from loading. Shouldn't the add-on set Referer = "https://scontent.cdninstagram.com"?

Yes, it should, assuming the "any domain" rule is actually the one that gets applied and there isn't a more specific rule. I can't say what's going wrong without seeing your rule set. That should be a separate issue (or maybe better discussion) though, it's a very different topic from this one.

[airtower-luna]

When I made the settings page, I used tooltips instead of a detailed text primarily because I wanted to avoid turning it into a wall of text. So, general questions for everyone here:

• Do you think the description on the settings page should just be extended a little, like @MagicalDrizzle suggested with the action descriptions?
• Would you feel a detailed description under the settings table would actually be more accessible than tooltips?
• How would you feel about a documentation link instead, similar to e.g. how uBlock Origin does it? I like keeping documentation with the add-on itself instead of online, but then again the add-on isn't going to be very useful without working internet access anyway. I guess another option would be to include a documentation page in the add-on itself, though that'd be slower to update than an online version.

Any other thoughts/concepts on how to make the documentation most accessible?

[Gitoffthelawn]

Personally, I find most everything to be self-explanatory within the extension, but the comment you wrote above illustrates how there can be unique non-obvious details that can affect operation. To that end...

1. Do you think the description on the settings page should just be extended a little, like @MagicalDrizzle suggested with the action descriptions?

I think that's fine, perhaps if some details are collapsible like how you handle the regex help. This makes it easier to find what you are looking for, without having to read through a large wall of text.

2. Would you feel a detailed description under the settings table would actually be more accessible than tooltips?

No. Tooltips place the info you need where you need it. Tooltips are one of the reasons why so few people find a need to read software manuals these days (for simple software).

3. How would you feel about a documentation link instead, similar to e.g. how uBlock Origin does it? I like keeping documentation with the add-on itself instead of online...

I, too, like keeping documentation within the add-on itself (instead of online).

4. I guess another option would be to include a documentation page in the add-on itself, though that'd be slower to update than an online version.

I could see this being a little bit of a pain to have to switch between 2 pages (the actual UI page, and the documentation page).

One thing I really like about the current UI design is that I can quickly see all my rules upon opening the Options page. I can then scroll down if I ever want to read any detailed tips that aren't present in the tooltips. I did write a CSS overlay to reduce the height of the kitty ears area so I can see more rules in a single viewport. Nothing against kitty ears, of course. ;)