If you go visit the Firefox Add-Ons website today you’re sure of a slight surprise: a modest revamp to the way extension listing pages look.
Mozilla has refreshed the way extension listings looks on addons.mozilla.org (aka AMO). The rejig won’t blow the socks off visitors, nor leave anyone compelled to install whatever browser bolt-on they’ve stumbled upon, but it’s makes certain information easier to glean.
As spotted by gHacks, the new layout continues to convey all of the same information the previous design did, but shuffles the order of elements, drops the sidebar, and gives add-on screenshots more prominence.
Ratings move from box adjacent to the add-on’s name, icon, developer and install button to a chip within a wider meta data row, along with (rather helpfully) the number of users who have installed the add-on.
It’s also easier to spot if an Add-On is compatible with Firefox for Android.
As a result of the changes, some pertinent information is harder to spot before scrolling down, like what permissions an add-on requires (when installing an add-on permissions are surface within the UX, so it’s arguable moot), and the date it was last updated.
Hiding those details below the fold isn’t bad per se, since people come to learn about what the extension can do for them first and foremost. But the new add-on listing layout is now a veritable scroll-a-thon due to dropping the sidebar, with sections stretched out and stacked.
I’d wager most Firefox users prefer to search, browse, review and install add-ons from inside of Firefox itself, rather than go to the dedicated website.
But for those who do, the changes may appeal or rankle, depending on ones familiarity with what came before. Head over to the AMO site to check this out for yourself.