isaac-newt/new-tab-enhanced

An Enhanced new tab experience for Firefox (54+)

Hello, World!

About Me

My name is Isaac, and I am an undergraduate Computer Science student studying at Luther College. This is my non-school Github page, where I keep my projects unrelated to course activities or academic projects.

I am interested in working on projects which are interactive, communicate information in novel ways, and provide unique challenges to me as a programmer. I also hope to eventually contribute to free and open-source projects which I rely on each day to complete my tasks.

My other interests include language learning (both programming and natural languages), history, mapping, and science - both fact and fiction.

Where to find me

I don't generally keep much of a social media presence, but I can be found on:

• Linkedin
• Github: both my Personal and Academic accounts

However, the best way to contact me is by email at one of the following addresses:

• Personal Contact
• School Contact

new-tab-enhanced's Issues

Theme preference isn't saved unless a location is entered

If the location is undefined, the theme setting will also end up undefined.

This is likely an issue with defining browser.storage.local.set on line 5 of options.js

Don't show bookmarks sidebar if toolbar doesn't have any bookmarks

• 1) Detect if bookmarks toolbar contains entries

  • 1.1) If it does, show bookmarks link

  • 1.2) If it does not, show filler text

Show weather in dropdown

wttr.in supports viewing weather as a PNG. This means building a PNG into a dropdown would be easily achievable.

Vivaldi must select "controlled by extension" to use

Like the title says, in order to allow an extension to control the new tab page in Vivaldi, you must select that option in settings. Not a big deal, but could confuse users. Look into providing a popup page/thingy that can provide information. Not sure how to just target Vivaldi users though, as it will come from the Chrome store...

Add option to display an image as background

• Have a default "Image" theme using the current "background.jpg"
• Allow for choosing own image (From computer only, online adds external dependencies, which is a no-no)

Chrome/Vivaldi do not display top sites

Chrome and chromium browsers like Vivaldi do not display the Top Sites links. This is also an issue with the MDN example Top Sites. Look into support for topSites API in Chrome, and if it is unsupported, find an alternative.

Option to have top sites hidden on startup.

As per this review

ToDo:

• Position sidebar absolutely (fixed with 4da9940)

• Hide Search/Weather drop-downs when visible, hide sidebar when others visible. (fixed with 735f32a)

Show list of bookmarks in addition to top sites

I think having a user-controlled (via bookmark folder) listing of bookmarks would be nice, but something to add after V1 is complete.

Plans:

• Default to showing top sites
• Create bookmarks folder to which user can add bookmarks of choice
• Use the bookmarks toolbar as the default folder. Possibly improve this later
• Until user adds bookmarks, continue showing top sites
• Once user adds bookmark(s), do not show top sites, but instead show contents of bookmarks folder
• Only show bookmarks link if there are bookmarks to show

Checklist:

• 1) Bookmarks permission in manifest.json (4da9940)

• 2) Use bookmarks from the bookmarks toolbar (similar to "React New Tab")

• 3) Show bookmarks in their own panel, similar to the current Top Sites, but not replacing it

Implement Top Sites

The code for topSites API is already there (mostly) but needs to be worked with so that it's actually useful. Right now its a giant list, so we need to:

1. Truncate that list at some point (probably 5-10 items)

2. Style the list in similar fashion to the top bar

3. Make the list fit in a more adaptable layout (I'd like this to work on Android if possible)

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Things that the Top Sites won't do:

1. Customization. It's easier to just go with the native API, rather than implementing a new "add speed-dial" system.

2. Show site previews. These will be text links.

Choose which links to display at the top of the window

Use user's search preference rather than hard-linking to duckduckgo

While I like DDG, it's probably better to respect the user's preference. For now though, DDG is fine.

General Cross-Browser issue

This is a general tracking bug for browser compatibility, relevant issues that hinder this compatibility will be linked in the comments as they are identified.

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Firefox: Works as intended 55+, should work w/54

Chrome: Top links and notepad work, doesn't display top sites (API issue?)

Opera: Will not allow override of newtab page --> complains that "chrome_url_overrides is not allowed for specified extension ID"

Vivaldi: Same issue as Chrome, must select "controlled by extension" in settings

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So, at this point, it works in Firefox, top sites are broken in Chromium based browsers, and on Opera it's just broken.

Night Mode

A switch to activate a "night-mode" (dark) stylesheet would be cool. Not a big priority though.

AMO availability

Need to publish addon on addons.mozilla.org.

Font (Fira Sans) relies on Google

The font used in the addon relies on Google Fonts if the user does not have Fira Sans installed on their computer.

This is an issue for two reasons:

1. Tracking: I'd rather not rely on Google (or other remote services)
2. Offline use: if the user is offline, they can't get the right font. This is bad for usability.

Make Top Sites more visible/interactive

Right now the top sites are kind of hidden. I'd like to try moving them into either a sidebar or a dropdown from the top "links" navigation menu. Check out the side-top-sites branch for progress on this.

Addon Icon

There should be an icon for this addon. Not sure what yet, but there should be.

Opera has ... Issues

Presumably Opera should be supported, but it spits out an error: "chrome_url_overrides is not allowed for specified extension ID". Not sure what ID it's talking about, I'm thinking something in permissions. MDN says chrome_url_overrides is supported in Opera.

Settings Page

There should be a settings page from which users can configure things like theme, location for weather, and other future possibilities.

Things to include:

• Choose whether to include bookmarks, topsites
• Choose theme (change color variables in CSS with JS)
• Select a background image - From local file
  From online source (enter URL) (see #30)

Weather link inaccurate if spoofing IP/using VPN

wttr.in bases it's forcast off of the user's location according to their IP address. If users are using a VPN, or their IP is returning the wrong location, the weather report will be wrong. Possibly make location a configurable option.

Filler text in searchbox is too dark on Chrome

The filler text on the searchbox is too dark on chrome.

This is bad both for people with visual impairments, and for people who might actually want to read what's there. This is a Chrome specific bug, Firefox renders text here as intended.

On-Page Searchbox

Implement a searchbox on the page, preferably in a drop-down kind of thing. Activate when the user clicks/tabs "Search".

Chrome notes are not persistent

Chrome notes aren't persistent. Either work with the same API's used in the Firefox code (here's the Chrome documentation) or build it differently. It's already obvious that the JS code isn't going to be cross-compatible, so I vote going for a different structure. Possibly work from this Chrome addon if I can figure out what API it's using.

Top Sites Styling

Style top sites list so it's not just a giant list.