Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog
Categories: end users releases

Changes in Firefox 68

18 responses

Firefox 68 is coming out today, and we wanted to highlight a few of the changes coming to add-ons. We’ve updated addons.mozilla.org (AMO) and the Add-ons Manager (about:addons) in Firefox to help people find high-quality, secure extensions more easily. We’re also making it easier to manage installed add-ons and report potentially harmful extensions and themes directly from the Add-ons Manager.

Recommended Extensions

In April, we previewed the Recommended Extensions program as one of the ways we plan to make add-ons safer. This program will make it easier for users to discover extensions that have been reviewed for security, functionality, and user experience.

In Firefox 68, you may begin to notice the first small batch of these recommendations in the Add-ons Manager. Recommendations will include star ratings and the number of users that currently have the extension installed. All extensions recommended in the Add-ons Manager are vetted through the Recommended Extensions program.

As the first iteration of a new design, you can expect some clean-up in upcoming releases as we refine it and incorporate feedback.

recommended extensions card in about:addons

On AMO starting July 15, Recommended extensions will receive special badging to indicate its inclusion in the program. Additionally, the AMO homepage will be updated to only display Recommended content, and AMO search results will place more emphasis on Recommended extensions.

Note: We previously stated that modifications to AMO would occur on July 11. This has been changed to July 15.

AMO recommended extension badge

As the Recommended Extensions program continues to evolve, more extensions will be added to the curated list.

Add-ons management and abuse reporting

In alignment with design changes in Firefox, we’ve refreshed the Add-ons Manager to deliver a cleaner user experience. As a result, an ellipsis (3-dot) icon has been introduced to keep options organized and easy to find. You can find all the available controls, including the option to report an extension or theme to Mozilla—in one place.

new about:addons look

The new reporting feature allows users to provide us with a better understanding of the issue they’re experiencing. This new process can be used to report any installed extension, whether they were installed from AMO or somewhere else.

report option in about:addonsselect issue type when reporting extension

Users can also report an extension or theme when they uninstall an add-on. More information about the new abuse reporting process is available here.

Permissions

It’s easy to forget about the permissions that were previously granted to an extension. While most extensions are created by trustworthy third-party developers, we recommend periodically checking what you have installed, what permissions you’ve granted, and making sure you only keep the ones you really want.

Starting in Firefox 68, you can view the permissions of installed extensions directly in the Add-ons Manager, making it easier to perform these periodic checks. Here’s a summary of all extension permissions, so you can review them for yourself when deciding which extensions to keep installed.

permissions panel in about:addons

In upcoming releases, we will be adjusting and refining changes to the Add-ons Manager to continue aligning the design with the rest of Firefox and incorporating feedback we receive. We’re also developing a Recommended Extensions Community Board for contributors to assist with extension recommendations—we’ll have more information soon.

18 comments on “Changes in Firefox 68”

  1. Ron wrote on

    I updated and lost all of my logins and passwords. How do I fix this???!!?!?

    1. Caitlin Neiman wrote on

      Hi Ron, the best place to go for help is support.mozilla.org.

  2. LorenzoC wrote on

    The list of Recommended Extensions is repeated twice, in the first and in the second page of “about:addons”. A bit annoying, I guess the fist page is meant to recommend new extensions and the second should be for managing already installed extensions.

    Themes are a joke nowadays, they are just silly backgrounds, mixing themes and extensions just wastes screen space and adds confusion.

    In the same time, it is not that obvious where to find and how to install dictionaries, how to enable and use the spell checker in Firefox, that is quite important when you post any sort of text.

  3. Dan Ceban wrote on

    “We’re also making it easier to manage installed add-ons”
    That’s a lie. You made it harder, by hiding the basic options of managing an extension behind an elypsis icon. That may work for a mobile device, but it’s not a good UX for a desktop device.
    Also, those annoying recommended addons on the “Extensions” page, where I’m supposed to manage my extensions easily without any distractions. I categorize this UI update as “BAD”, just like the “new” about:config (currently in Nightly only).

    1. TekTok wrote on

      Agreed. They are trying to FORCE us to accept automatically updating of add-ons, etc. (which I do NOT want.) First they take away the big “check for updates button” then the take away the big “Update All” button. Sounds like NOT easier to me. Firefox is getting closer and closer to Chrome (which I do NOT want ,or I would be using it already.)

    2. NikiN wrote on

      +1

  4. Ed White wrote on

    I have been looking for a dark mode add-on that is developed by Firefox itself because I can’t trust other developers’ add-ons to have access to my data. Firefox should seriously consider developing its own add-ons for must-have features like the dark mode

    1. José Rocha padilla wrote on

      Bloquear a usuarios mal intenxionados

  5. bob McAllister wrote on

    CORS disturbed?
    my use of ‘new XMLHttpRequest()’ has died … Network error

    I have been using JavaScript JS6 for years to access local text files
    about:config ‘network.auth.subresource-img-cross-origin-http-auth-allow’ setting no longer effective.
    Was my mistake installing FF Monitor?

    dislike js8 fetch… also NBG
    tried ‘CORS Everywhere’ add-on… also NBG

    Please Help Me (WOTnot)

  6. Roger wrote on

    And you can’t get rid of the recommended addons; unchecking show recommended extensions has no effect. I even tried installing and removing and that didn’t work. Just more bugs for the user to deal with. Try fixing something before you create a new one.

  7. ooosillyme wrote on

    This update has NOT made my browsing faster. I also can’t get on sites that I always were able to get on before AND none of my adblockers, popup blockers etc. work on a random basis slowing the whole experience down to a crawl and then I have to shut Firefox down and restart and SOMETIMES that resets them to work or SOMETIMES it doesn’t….IT IS MADDENING!

  8. TheBuf wrote on

    What a mess. I wish I’d not installed this “update”. Where did the icons go that used to be in the upper right hand corner? A “cleaner interface” means three more clicks. This definitely needed more beta-testing. How do I roll the “update” back to something usable?

  9. Lillie wrote on

    Downloaded Dictionary Anywhere but did not get the icon on the toolbar so am unable to use it. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get the icon? Thanks.

  10. kinda bummed wrote on

    Used to be able to add a custom url for Startpage to search with my personal settings. That option appears to be gone, and now searches are only performed using Startpage’s default settings which heavily censor any results for children.

    Don’t understand why firefox eliminated this option. In order to perform any basic search beyond an eighth grade level through Startpage, the settings much be changed for every search or an exception must be made for a cookie.

    Oh well. So much for privacy.

  11. Maurice Flitter wrote on

    All I wanted to do was remove some unwanted Themes from Firefox.
    On my system which has Firefox version 68.0.1 there are NO BUTTONS AND NO ELLIPSES so
    can’t remove anything — VERY ANNOYING.

  12. anna-lisa wrote on

    ” As a result, an ellipsis (3-dot) icon has been introduced to keep options organized and easy to find. ”
    Is this a joke ? Hiding useful features behind additional useless clicks is the opposite ! The designer responsible for this should be fired. Or at least force him to use this atrocity daily until he repents.

  13. Yevgeniy wrote on

    Somewhat mid-July was the last time I saw Firefox original icon design.
    Now it something similar to App Store icon, but square and very light blue.
    How to get it back? My feelings: something is going wrong with well respected browser! Am I wrong?

  14. Raja Ali wrote on

    I think after updating, my browser is slow now