A Simpler Add-on Review Process

Jorge Villalobos

8 responses

In 2011, we introduced the concept of “preliminary review” on AMO. Developers who wanted to list add-ons that were still being tested or were experimental in nature could opt for a more lenient review with the understanding that they would have reduced visibility. However, having two review levels added unnecessary complexity for the developers submitting add-ons, and the reviewers evaluating them. As such, we have implemented a simpler approach.

Starting on August 22nd, there will be one review level for all add-ons listed on AMO. Developers who want to reduce the visibility of their add-ons will be able to set an “experimental” add-on flag in the AMO developer tools. This flag won’t have any effect on how an add-on is reviewed or updated.

All listed add-on submissions will either get approved or rejected based on the updated review policy. For unlisted add-ons, we’re also unifying the policies into a single set of criteria. They will still be automatically signed and post-reviewed at our discretion.

We believe this will make it easier to submit, manage, and review add-ons on AMO. Review waiting times have been consistently good this year, and we don’t expect this change to have a significant impact on this. It should also make it easier to work on AMO code, setting up a simpler codebase for future improvements.  We hope this makes the lives of our developers and reviewers easier, and we thank you for your continued support.

8 responses

  1. Luís Miguel (Quicksaver) wrote on :

    “Not cleaning up files/preferences after uninstall/disable of the add-on -> Reject” – add-on specific preferences as well? Currently add-ons only need to clean up changed native Firefox preferences (and I would prefer that policy to be kept; i.e. to keep certain configuration preferences/flags between installs for most cases). Could you clarify this point please?

    1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on :

      This only applies to data that is foreign to the add-on, like the previous policy did. It’s okay to keep your add-on-specific prefs and files, as long as everything else is cleaned up / reset.

  2. custom.firefox.lady wrote on :

    How will the experimental flag affect the UI; will it be like the restart required badge or like the different install button on prelim add-ons? And what’s the plan for add-ons that are currently prelim?

    1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on :

      The experimental flag will make the add-on button look just like it does currently for preliminarily reviewed add-ons. Add-ons that are currently prelim will be migrated so they have full review and the experimental flag on by default. That migration will happen probably next week.

  3. Troy wrote on :

    Are extensions reviewed strictly in order? Because in 4 days, my extension has gone from position say 105 of 105 to now 83/105 but unless extensions are being withdrawn by people, later additions to the queue are getting reviewed before mine.

    This is an extension that was working and approved on FF before FF stopped allowing it to be installed because of stricter rules, and I have paying customers waiting on this. My fear is I wait who knows how many days and then I’m requested to make a change and back I go to the end of the queue.

    1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on :

      Reviews aren’t handled strictly in order, but the majority of reviews should be handled within 2-5 days. If it’s taking longer, you can contact us with the details of your add-on and we can look into why it’s being delayed.

      1. Troy wrote on :

        Jorge, ok, thanks for that. Who/how do I contact?

        1. Jorge Villalobos wrote on :

          Email amo-admins AT mozilla DOT org