claustromaniac/httpz

add advanced options / expert mode

Closed this issue · 5 comments

Another one for the back burner.

I think some options are worth clustering into an "advanced" section.

I think you could just rephrase the options for now (where and if needed) but when you do add advanced options, place everything that is anti-automatic mode to it. #28 is related

This probably falls under the umbrella of advanced:

  1. switch to manual
  2. http://www.macattorney.com/upos.html
  3. observe the HTTPZ error page
  4. proceed with http
  5. wonder about the details of the error
  6. manually visit https://www.macattorney.com/upos.html
  7. observe the HTTPZ error page
  8. quit, start Firefox
  9. manually visit https://www.macattorney.com/upos.html
  10. observe a traditional yellow alert
  11. click Advanced…
  12. observe the details (in this case, SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN).

On one hand there is … let's say, sometimes, the wish to proceed to the browser's integral page i.e.

Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead

– instead of proceeding with http.

On the other hand, from #28 (comment):

… informing the precise reason requires additional unnecessary processing, … code complexity that would not even necessarily stand the test of time well (= more maintenance). …

Incidentally, in praise of the extension:

ad961b1#diff-0730bb7c2e8f9ea2438b52e419dd86c9R14

… HTTPZ does not wait for Firefox to finish loading those error pages, … causes them to load partially, …

From this description, I imagined finding a visibly incomplete error page, or the browser's internal page somehow mangled with an HTTPZ page. It wasn't until I began testing with a heavily extended profile that I noticed the occasional split-second presentation of an internal page.

I mean, the word partial made me imagine something ugly or incomplete when in fact (unless I'm missing something) the end result is a clean and tidy HTTPZ error page. Maybe use some other word? Here in GitHub and at AMO.

Just a thought :-)

@grahamperrin

It's not as complicated to show the type of error (like SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN). In fact, HTTPZ already shows that information in the console. Adding that information to the error page in manual mode is not a bad idea, but it won't be as complete as in Firefox's own error pages.

the end result is a clean and tidy HTTPZ error page

That's one of the secondary advantages of the manual mode. Firefox takes very little time to load and render the extension's error page, but in automatic mode those messages (the ones from Firefox) are way more noticeable. Not always though.

Thanks for the feedback. I tried to add this in 0.11.0b3, but observations/objections/ideas are still welcome.