[Done] Remove third icon state

Various discussions related to Adblock Plus development
Wladimir Palant

[Done] Remove third icon state

Post by Wladimir Palant »

The Chrome users are complaining about the green ABP icon which is misleading. This is not a new discussion but after thinking about that: do we really need it? Here is another possibility:

* Show red ABP icon if ABP is enabled and active on the site
* Show gray ABP icon if ABP is enabled but disabled for the site
* Show gray ABP icon if ABP is disabled

For the user the last two states are equivalent, so maybe we shouldn't show different icons for them. If somebody needs to know the details (that's typically only somebody who needs to change the settings) he can check the tooltip or open the menu. In the menu we should have:

* Disable on example.com
* Disable on this page
* Disable everywhere

This last item replaces the current "Enable Adblock Plus" checkbox, that's more consistent. It is unnecessary in Chrome, there it is really easy to disable the extension completely.

What do other people think?
Till
ABP CEO
Posts: 242
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:16 pm

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Till »

Very good idea, the colour green actually is misleading in this case.
Michael
Posts: 1361
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:29 pm

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Michael »

I agree, especially given that few users will ever encounter the green icon anyway.
super_fox
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:03 pm

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by super_fox »

i agree here as well why it docent bother me maybe this will stop the constant complaining on the extensions home page about the icon. this could be a very good thing :)
ttjoseph
Posts: 79
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:12 am

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by ttjoseph »

Yes, I like this idea too.
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pirlouy
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: France

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by pirlouy »

I disagree at 100% but I rarely have the green icon so it won't be such an issue for me.

Grey means user disables AB+ entirely and has to re-enable it ASAP (once test is finished).
Green means user disables AB+ for a site, but it's normal, and there's nothing to worry about.

If these icons are merged, we won't be able to know quickly if it's voluntary or not (tooltip is not an accessible indicator).
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Hubird
Posts: 2850
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Location: Australia
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Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Hubird »

pirlouy wrote:I disagree at 100% but I rarely have the green icon so it won't be such an issue for me.

Grey means user disables AB+ entirely and has to re-enable it ASAP (once test is finished).
Green means user disables AB+ for a site, but it's normal, and there's nothing to worry about.

If these icons are merged, we won't be able to know quickly if it's voluntary or not (tooltip is not an accessible indicator).
This makes perfect sense to me, I think it should be kept.
Wladimir Palant

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Wladimir Palant »

@pirlouy: I don't really see which situation you have in mind. If the user can see advertising and wants to know why Adblock Plus isn't working - the gray icon is a clear indication. So the user needs to open the menu and remove one of the checkmarks (could be any or all of the three). Same is if the user asks in the forum (support situation) - "Is your ABP icon gray? If it is, Adblock Plus is disabled." works pretty well. Why does the user have to distinguish between "it is disabled everywhere" and "it is disabled on this page only"?
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pirlouy
Posts: 332
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: France

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by pirlouy »

Because sometimes I disable Adblock to make test, and I forget to re-enable it again. If I notice the icon is grey, I know I have to finish a test I have started and forgoten, and re-enable it ASAP.
If icon is grey for "trusted" pages, I'm susceptible to think it's normal whereas it was not the case.

To sum up, for me, grey icon means AB+ is disable for everything (including link I'm about to click) until I re-enable it.

I don't understand all that trolling about icon right now. For me, it's the same as when your AB+ version was released for Firefox. People need to criticize the change...
But after all, it's just one opinion, if you think I'm thinking like a geek, no problem. :)
trlkly

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by trlkly »

If I were redoing the icons, I'd use grey for the "disabled on this page," and put a circle with a line through it for being truly deactivated. But I don't know if that wouldn't be confusing.

You also could consider making the green a little darker and less saturated, to fit with the Google complaint. That color green doesn't have the same ambiguity, and shouldn't be blurry or hard on the eyes.
Jack

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Jack »

Unrelated suggestion that has been already rejected multiple times removed - please stick on topic in Future Development forum. Wladimir Palant
Alan
Posts: 289
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2007 8:47 pm
Location: Colorado, USA

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Alan »

pirlouy wrote:Because sometimes I disable Adblock to make test, and I forget to re-enable it again. If I notice the icon is grey, I know I have to finish a test I have started and forgoten, and re-enable it ASAP.
If icon is grey for "trusted" pages, I'm susceptible to think it's normal whereas it was not the case.

To sum up, for me, grey icon means AB+ is disable for everything (including link I'm about to click) until I re-enable it.
This is the case for me too. The current use of three icon states is more convenient. I like being able to distinguish "Ads allowed" from "ABP disabled" at a glance without needing to move the cursor to the icon for a tooltip.

The current colors make sense.
Red: Ads stopped
Green: Ads allowed
Gray: ABP disabled
Is there an accessibility issue for users who have trouble distinguishing red from green. I wouldn't have any trouble adapting to any change in how the three icons are presented.
Wladimir Palant

Re: Remove third icon state

Post by Wladimir Palant »

The question is not really whether the green icon can be useful - sure, there are scenarios where it is. The question is rather whether these scenarios are common enough to justify user confusion which seems unavoidable here. The scenarios mentioned so far seem to be rare edge cases. For advanced users we can offer a user style that will "restore" the green icon state, that should be good enough.
Wladimir Palant

Re: [Done] Remove third icon state

Post by Wladimir Palant »

This change has been implemented: https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockplus/rev/96e72afd8301
There will be a user stylesheet to restore the old behavior.
Wladimir Palant

Re: [Done] Remove third icon state

Post by Wladimir Palant »

The user stylesheet can now be installed here: http://userstyles.org/styles/44467
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