this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
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Firefox themes when searching for addons--- who are these for? (discuss.tchncs.de)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Anytime I search for an addon via the search box in settings > add-ons manager I get all these theme results. Here is a search for "syntax" (via the add-ons manager) I had to make it very zoomed-out to fit long page into screen cap:

I use themes personally to visually differentiate between profiles. And I have nothing against fun and frivolous user customizations. Am not hating on the concept.

I am curious about why they are so aggressively pushed so that they show up be default when trying to search for add ons you need to toggle off every time. Searching for an add-on to do something and searching for a theme that has some keyword included seem to me like totally different tasks and mixing them up is a strange choice.

Is this like a major things firefox thinks people like about it? Do people like it?

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

People that like themes. I’ve actually used this Motörhead theme because they rule.

Edit: I do agree that the search for themes should be separate from add-ons, or just have a themes/add-ons/all button.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Trick question, Lemmy is god.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Fun fact: Lemmy is why Lemmy is called Lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

I thought it was for "Lemmy read that article for you, ya lazy cunt." The australians have a wonderful way with words.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago

Look at the user counts. This is exactly what it is. People like it enough to download it.

As for why mixing them up... Well... That's just classic store search things. "You may like this too" or "You may be in the wrong place to browse themes"

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I know a few Motörhead fans would see that and say hell yeah

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I thought hellyeah was a different band?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

The bloodhound gang song?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

You can filter by extensions or themes on the left under Add-on Type

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

i know but you have to do it every time.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

how often do you install add-ons?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

lots! I love add ons. I have dozens of them installed but I disable whatever I'm not currently using. I usually have about 5-10 active at a time. I go for the simple, single use ones ala "unix philosophy" when able because I feel they don't eat up resources and present less security risk.

They're so convenient for random little tasks. Like a while ago I had to use this webpage that made you check boxes individually for every single item... like >60 check boxes. I have an addon that lets you bulk select and check boxes. Very rarely needed but great to have.

And I have certain groups of add ons that I use for specific tasks. When I am conducting research I have an addon for zotero, to avoid pay walls, the way back machine, singlefile and other record-keeping tools. Bulk file downloaders; which you need several of because they don't all work for every situation. Also more advanced history and bookmark interfaces. Don't need them most of the time.

Firefox is so great about allowing add-ons, it turns it into a powerful tool for all kinds of niche use-cases. I wish it would have a more sophisticated way to manage them. However also I am aware that I'm an unusual user so

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I feel like it's just a matter of it being easy enough to scroll by. Most people don't regularly install add-ons or themes, and will never get too familiar with the UI to know to select one or the other, nor will they be annoyed by having to scroll past themes.

Plus, you might search for an add-on, but randomly scroll past a cool theme and because themes are so easily digestible, you'll immediately know that you want it or not.

Which isn't to say, I'm completely foreign to your pain. I prefer to keep the unpersonalized OS aesthetic, so even a cool theme wouldn't get installed by me. Albeit, I haven't gotten annoyed enough by it so far.

Having said that, if you install add-ons that often, maybe you'd like to add a custom search bookmark.
Use this as the URL to only see extensions:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/search/?q=%s&type=extension
[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I did that a while ago but I never remember to use it :(

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Maybe just so new users realise they're a thing.

Firefox out of the box isn't very attractive, so mixing in themes by default maybe helps retain new people without driving us lot away.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Remembering my unhinged usage of themes for anything, regardless of how many runescape accounts got hacked, when I was younger, I gonna take a guess and says kids.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I'm not a fan of addons being mixed with themes either. But I always thought about it as some sort of laziness on the design.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I guess never look into userChrome.css?

I heavily modified my firefox not only with a simple theme, but also to have smaller icons, no favicons or x close buttons on the tabs, to have a thick cursor, no forward or back buttons, etc. All through config settings, userChrome.css, and a simple theme. I mainly did this for aesthetic reasons, but also to make the UI much more minimal as I simply don't use the mouse when browsing (Vimium extension and native keyboard shortcuts). It's one of the reasons I hate Chromium in this regard. While they do have skins as well, their configuration options for the UI are far more limited.