Firefox:1.5 Download Manager

When you begin a download and close the download manager, you can no longer track the progress of the downloads without having the window open and taking up space on the task bar. The biggest issue however is "Mum & Dad" users who think they've cancelled their download when closing the download manager, and do not know how to get back to it other than clicking the link again (because there is no Dropbox button on the toolbar by default, and the menu is well hidden to the basic computer user).

I would like to suggest a feasible idea for removing these issues. If you minimise or close the download manager, it could "minimize" into a statusbar block on the bottom right of the status bar that would contain the download icon and the text "15% of 3 Files...". If the user clicks on the status bar block, the download manager maximizes out of the status bar. Therefore it is easy to keep an eye on downloads, beginners don't suffer "Where'd it go!?" syndrome and the whole thing is easier to manage.

Comment from Alfred Kayser

Check out the 'Download Statusbar' extension. This could serve as a basis for the above 'simplified' edition for the 'Mum&DadM' case.

Comment from Ben Basson

The current download manager window pops up in front of the page the user is viewing. While this alerts the user to the new download, the window usually appears on top of useful content (with a similar annoyance factor to that of a popup advert) and has to be minimised.

Reply by Kroc Camen

• Perhaps then have a tick box in the download manager for "AutoHide". If ticked, the next time a download is fired, the statusbar block mentioned above would appear in the statusbar and flash once to show that it has appeared and something is downloading (like buttons on the taskbar flash to alert you to something). It's also no good if nothing appears and the user hasn't noticed the statusbar, so the flashing once would help.

Comment from Adam Zey

The current download manager window also does not pop up at all for short downloads. I've been confused by this on occasion (Did my download start or not?), and I'm an experienced user. "Mum & Dad" type users would likely be even more confused by this.

Comment from BodziO

I think putting a little DM info on the statusbar is an excellent idea! I've got also a proposition on my own. How about moving DM from a separate window to the sidebar. In my humble opinion it would be far better solution than the present one. Even key shortcut could remain unchanged. If you've got enough space for your browser, you could still browse and check your downloads simultanousely. (sorry for my absolutely grammar and tense-trashing english :) )

Reply by Kroc Camen

• There is currently an extension for Firefox that allows you to have downloads in a sidebar, however this feature is not recommended for Mum&Dad users because internet-beginners have difficulty closing Sidepanes. This is evident from the number of times I've seen people using IE and having their favourites sidepane on all the time because they don't know how to close it (stupid yes, but it's /*very*/ common!) Plus having a sidepane appear is rather jarring and scary since the whole page content might move all over the place due to smaller browser area.

Comment from apattison

Could I suggest the following:

1. When closing the download manager using the close button on the window (or the window's menu), pop up a dialog telling the user that the downloads will not be stopped, only that the window will be closed. Only do this the first time they do this though. Also, give them the option to back out of performing this action using "yes/no" buttons on the window.

2. Integrate the download manager into Firefox's main window. This would be more consistent with the idea of keeping everything in seperate tabs under a single window. If you go down this route then it would probably be useful to give folk the option of making the download manager a seperate window, via the existing prefs dialog.

Reply by Kroc

1. Additonal dialogs would piss-the-hell out of techies even if only once, and any additional unexpected dialogs are scary for new users. Note that many users may obstain from clicking the close button in the first place in fear that doing so may cancel their download. Telling them that this isn't the case After they've sat and waited for the download to finish safely is just annoying. This whole matter could be simplified just by removing the close button on the Download Manager entirely and having just a minimize button (which turns into a close button, or a close button appears when all downloads are complete). This way the user will see the minimize button and know it won't close the window, but hide it out of the way.
   
   
2. I think there's an extension for putting downloads on another tab, my concern is that this takes up much screen space, can't be checked symultaneously to browsing and also breaks design principles - what about the back forward, reload and stop buttons on this new "tab" - they won't apply and therefore may confuse users as well as breaking many design principles in the process.