Review Queue Completed

Mike Morgan

30 responses

Pending submissions have all been processed. Thank you all for your submissions, and thanks to all our reviewers who helped us get our queue from more than 385 add-ons to 0 in the last few days. We’ve reached our goal, and will be working on migrating the entire add-ons database today.

We know everyone is anxious to get the developer control panel unlocked. Our schedule looks like this:

  • March 5 – Migrate the add-ons database and update preview.addons.mozilla.org
  • March 5-12 – Community testing of preview.addons.mozilla.org, ongoing bug fixing and polishing
  • March 12-15 – Final bug fixes and adjustments based on community testing and feedback
  • March 15 – Deployment of new addons.mozilla.org

You may have some questions. If you have any questions that aren’t addressed below, please leave a comment or find us in IRC. Here are some general FAQ:

  • When will the developer control panel be unlocked? The developer control panel will be available from preview.addons.mozilla.org on or shortly after March 5, pending the database migration which has already started.
  • Why is it taking so long to release the new site? We want to do what is best for our users. After our attempted release last month we realized we should slow down a bit and work with our community more to make sure the site is what everyone wants. We have already found and resolved a lot of bugs, and hope to find/resolve more to make the new site more robust.
  • What do we do between now and March 15? We would like the community, including developers, to use preview.addons.mozilla.org to update their add-ons. We encourage everyone to add translations where possible and test the developer tools. We also need everyone’s help testing the public pages including reviews and discussions.
  • How do you know that the site will work this time (on March 15)? After our last two attempts to switch over, we found two areas that were performance bottlenecks. One was a MySQL query for dynamic l10n data that was joining on a temp table, which means no use of indexing in MySQL. The other issue was the add-on model binding other db objects like previews unnecessarily, which caused cache entries to exceed their maximum allotted size due to series of preview images being pulled with normal add-on data. Both issues have been resolved and we have tested them using a new log replay script that we used to replay actual addons.mozilla.org traffic. The results were very positive and we have a much higher level of confidence.
  • Where do we file a bug about the new site? If you find any bugs while using preview.addons.mozilla.org, you may file them here.
  • What if we need to update something in the old database? If it is an emergency, please file an administration bug. In most cases, we will not update the old site and encourage you to update preview instead.

That’s it for now. Looking forward to a solid week of testing, and the launch shortly after. Thanks again for all of your help and support.

Categories: AMO

30 responses

  1. Christopher Finke wrote on :

    No addons in the approval queue? Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

  2. David Kornahrens wrote on :

    Hello. This actually has nothing to do with this post, but I couldn’t find a better place to display it.

    I’m currently running Windows Vista on a new PC. I have Firefox 2.0.0.2. It’s not letting me install anything Quicktime or Windows Media Player add-ons. Really my problem lies in that I cannot get the Windows Media Player to embed in web-pages. For Instance, “embed” tag in html would include a file to play. Well that ’embed’ feature doesn’t show up on my screen, just ask for the plugin. There’s not one found. What do I do?

    -David

  3. Alex wrote on :

    Beware the Ides of March!
    Just kidding.
    Good luck. 😀

  4. MASA wrote on :

    Wow. What happened to the developer panel?

    It changed…and it uses iframes. And not all my extensions are listed.

    And the ratings are wrong. And it says & instead of &

  5. Meatball wrote on :

    If you guys really want to do what is best for your users, perhaps you should examine the list of “Recommended Add-ons?”

    In many cases there are better add-ons and you would better service your users if you recommended add-ons that are truly worth recommending.

  6. Bahram wrote on :

    Hi,
    My extension could not be found in the preview site, but it is listed in my addons with the label “Extensions; In Sandbox”, what does this means?

    Thanks.

  7. Pontus wrote on :

    This may sound like an ‘noobish’ question. But at the preview site, where is the link to the developer panel?

  8. Pontus wrote on :

    2 questions,

    all the data added at the preview site, is it saved?

    is it possible to update an addon att the preview site, I get “Could not move file”…

  9. Ken Saunders wrote on :

    Let’s roll, I’m bored. 🙂

  10. Huji wrote on :

    Will all existing themes go to sandbox first? Apparently some themes are in the sandbox, while other themes (76 themes currently) are public. Why? Is the migration process complete?

  11. green wrote on :

    What happened to existing user comments? Are they simply discarded or will they be included in “Reviews” later?

  12. Jim wrote on :

    What happened to the sports themes?

  13. Lino wrote on :

    Just a question… Will other languages be added? I Want ITA 😀

  14. Frédéric Wenzel wrote on :

    Lino: Yes other languages will be added, provided somebody contributes a translation. I personally would also very much like to see an Italian translation of AMO.

  15. Tomcat wrote on :

    just for your info http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?s=4bd09147325e20041dbc4948081ef06e&showtopic=6053

  16. Milos wrote on :

    How long does it take for Public Nomination extension to become public? Do you review existing extensions for public site now?

  17. Leonardo wrote on :

    I uploaded a new version of my extension, now it is In Sandbox; Public Nomination.
    But, in the sandbox, there is only the old one, with a bad link for downloading.

  18. james wrote on :

    Where is the new reviewer panel, I assume all the old reviewers will still maintain their position on the new site?

  19. MASA wrote on :

    None of my extensions appear on the preview.

    And to everyone else:

    THE DASHBOARD IS OPENED!!!!

  20. max1million wrote on :

    What’s with removing all the extensions, including up to date and new? Can’t even search for them any more.

    It makes no sense to approve an extension only to get rid of it a week later along with many others that are up to date and/or new.

  21. Anonymous wrote on :

    Can somone please reply to Milos message? Is the queue halted again?

  22. Scott Orgera wrote on :

    Hello. I am the web browsers Guide for About.Com and have published several articles on Firefox Add-ons, including links to add-ons that I have recommended and reviewed. I realize that I will have to modify these links once the new site is launched. However, I have noticed that in the preview 90% of the add-ons that I link to are non-existent. These include some very good add-ons which my readers have commented on and have given nothing but good feedback about.

    Should we expect more add-ons to be added to the new site once it is launched? Thanks.

    Scott Orgera
    About Web Browsers

  23. Bill wrote on :

    I think AMO should detect which version browser the user is using and filter out incompatible extensions. There are quite a few popular themes/extensions which were never yet ported to Firefox 2!

  24. Michael Walden wrote on :

    As developer of the FOXSCAPE[1] theme, I will be disappointed if the
    “Add-on Details” section is not implemented on the new add-ons site. See
    example below:

    Add-on Details
    * Categories:
    * Retro
    * Last Updated: Dec 14, 2006
    * Total Downloads: 38887 – Downloads this Week: 1033

    I refer to that information when looking at skins and appreciate being
    able to see the download traffic they generate.

    Lastly, FOXSCAPE is not presently in the preview database. Do I need to
    update the skin to make it appear? If I need to update it, and do, will
    the existing user reviews be transferred to the preview site from the
    old site? What will happen if I do not update my skin before March 15th?
    I do not want to loose the existing reviews from the old site when the
    preview site goes live on the 15th. Please advise. TIA

    [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/4083/

  25. Subrata wrote on :

    Based on experience as new registrant to addson.mozilla.org, I have following suggestion on sandbox link, which is currently only visible when user logs-in and enabled sandbox in their profile :
    – present the “sandbox” option as part of the profile during the registration of new user
    – make the “sandbox” link visible but protected on the public pages; otherwise new users have no idea there are more extension available behind the public site.

  26. Thomas wrote on :

    I don’t get the sandbox either. I submitted a theme update and didn’t know what do with it so then I submitted it for review. Was that correct? Or was I to leave it alone after uploading it? I think the new admin side needs some direction.

  27. rene wrote on :

    If I look at
    http://preview.addons.mozilla.org/de/thunderbird/browse/type:1/status:1
    I get a list of firefox extensions. The title says Thunderbird Add-ons, but one line further I can read ‘Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox, …’ and thats only what I get, Firefox extensions.

    Regards,
    Rene

  28. Ola wrote on :

    Please leave the seamonkey alone. The old site is soo much better. I actually stopped following new add-ons when the interface changed. I loved the possibility to see the ratings up-front and to sort by download and rating.
    If you want to change, please improve and keep what is good.

  29. Hamed Saber wrote on :

    I developed an extension for bypassing flickr.com censorship in Iran and UAE, named “Access Flickr!”, which is now flagged as (Extension; In Sandbox; Public Nomination), and neither is accessible through search nor old URL.
    I receive lots of emails about asking it, can someone please let me know who others can seek for it?! Even a working URL can help me!

  30. Anish Sane wrote on :

    Even i am getting the same error as Pontus
    “Could not move file”

    i am neither able to upload new version of my previous addon
    nor am i able to upload a new add on…
    can any one help???