Comments on: Addressing Firefox Retention on the Download Page

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:45:44 +0000

OK, that would explain the IE7 issue. I agree that you don’t want the security bar coming up and scaring people, so why not move the JavaScript magic to this download page, and if IE7 is being used, don’t automatically redirect to the file, but add big link to the download. That way users can see the page and avoid security warnings.

By: Majken

Majken — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:24:29 +0000

With all due respect, if a Vista user is running a browser other than IE, then they know how to install a program. Not sure the point of the page on Windows if IE users will never see it.

By: John

John — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:04:07 +0000

Hi all. Thanks for your comments…they’ll definitely help us as we continue to iterate on this page.

With regard to what a couple of you noticed about the page not always showing up, I should share this comment from our web dev guru, Steven Garrity:

“In implementing this page, I came across an issue that we all seem to have missed. For visitors using Internet Explorer 7, the download links bypass the download.html all-together and point directly at the installer file. This is done because IE7 blocks javascript-initiated downloads like the one we have on the download.html with a confusing/scary warning.

Presumably, most Vista users are using Internet Explorer 7 (the default with Vista). As a result, most Vista won’t see the download page at all. That said, if they are using Firefox or some other browser on Vista, they will see those instructions.”

By: Ville

Ville — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:08:27 +0000

Ignoring the minor polishing that’s still needed, and addressed by others, this is great work.

I hope you’ll find the time to push this through to other locales ASAP (i.e. after a months testing on en-US) and definitely before beta2 of Firefox 3. A similar page must also be pushed through to Mozilla Europe (and likely other regional sites too). This kind of stuff has the potential of making millions of lives just that little bit simpler and more understandable

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:06:07 +0000

I’m on Windows 2000, and I also see some strangeness if I’m downloading with Firefox.

Step 1 looks correct.
Step 2 has an IE7 Vista download dialog.
Step 3 looks correct.
Step 4 shows XP.

With some work I think this really be really neat though

By: Majken

Majken — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:29:40 +0000

So I tested this in IE6 on XP and IE7 on Vista and neither one actually redirected me to the page at any point.

By: Frank Drebin

Frank Drebin — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:50:45 +0000

On your XP page, the download dialog shows a “save file” and “Cancel” button, but in the text you refer to a “Run file” button.

Also if you do User Agent sniffing to detect if the user is using windows or mac, you might as well detect if the user already uses firefox, and present a quick note about automatic updates (no need for whole download). The complete download should still be left as an option though.

By: reed

reed — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:06:03 +0000

Forgive my comment at the top… I didn’t notice that it was only for Windows and OS X.

By: reed

reed — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:57:49 +0000

Also, s/Beltnzer/Beltzner/.

By: sp

sp — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:57:05 +0000

*Typo: “Look for the Firefox icon whever you want to use the web!”

*I thought it was odd not to place the “If your download does not start after a few seconds” link at the top center of the page, right in the users face. Perhaps it is a bit too out of the way?

*”Use this link” could be changed to “click here”.