Firefox 4 - No More Status Bar

[Lucradia]

http://firefox.uservoice.com/forums/57440-firefox-4-beta/suggestions/888695-done-bar-should-be-canned-

Status Bar is completely removed in Firefox 4, instead, an add-on bar will replace it.

[Dustin2128]

http://firefox.uservoice.com/forums/57440-firefox-4-beta/suggestions/888695-done-bar-should-be-canned-

Status Bar is completely removed in Firefox 4, instead, an add-on bar will replace it.
yeah. Its not like there's a huge loss if they've got an addon bar.

[Spice Weasel]

Aye, I'm using the Beta as it seems a lot faster and doesn't freeze, they be scunners at Mozilla for calling FF3 'stable'. I like the status bar though, it would be nice to get it back. I've made the interface 100% resemble FF3 (except the active tab doesn't light up, for some stupid reason.), but does anyone know where this addon be?

[andymorton]

http://firefox.uservoice.com/forums/57440-firefox-4-beta/suggestions/888695-done-bar-should-be-canned-

Status Bar is completely removed in Firefox 4, instead, an add-on bar will replace it.

I've never really understood the point of the status bar. It just needlessly takes up room. One of the first things I do whenever I install a browser is get rid of it.

andy :)

[Spice Weasel]

I've never really understood the point of the status bar. It just needlessly takes up room. One of the first things I do whenever I install a browser is get rid of it.

andy :)

It stops you from getting Rickrolled. :p

[TiBaal89]

I constantly use the status bar... you can see the URL of a link just by hovering over it. This is frequently useful to me.

[Lucradia]

It stops you from getting Rickrolled. :p

I constantly use the status bar... you can see the URL of a link just by hovering over it. This is frequently useful to me.

There are addons to allow you to see the content or title of an outgoing link. if you'd like me to name some, ask lovinglinux. :)

[Spice Weasel]

It actually shows the link direction in the URL bar in the Beta, but it makes everything look a bit cluttered.

[Lucradia]

It actually shows the link direction in the URL bar in the Beta, but it makes everything look a bit cluttered.

Screenshot?

[Spice Weasel]

http://i56.tinypic.com/jh4ydj.png

[Lucradia]

http://i56.tinypic.com/jh4ydj.png

Wow, it's sort of awesome, but I'd rather see the title of the outgoing page as well.

[bigsmitty64]

I constantly use the status bar... you can see the URL of a link just by hovering over it. This is frequently useful to me.
+1
I almost always "hover and check" before clicking, especially when on unknown (to me) sites. I know there are alternatives and addons, but why take away something so important to so many people. As mentioned many times before, auto hide woulda been great.

Thats it, I'm going back to Internet Explorer...........WAIT, WHAT??

[czr114]

The fade-in/fade-out of the destination URL is rather annoying, both in the perceivable delay, and the creation of the appearance of motion if the user is looking elsewhere. The way it's done now in the status bar is much cleaner.



Wow, it's sort of awesome, but I'd rather see the title of the outgoing page as well.

That can't be done without fetching the link target, which is a logistical nightmare, a source of problems with poorly-coded dynamic sites, rough on the servers, and wasteful of bandwidth.

Page titles are wrapped in <title></title> tags in the document itself, which is why it need be fetched.

The best they can do would be display the alt= text from the link, although many developers don't use them, misuse them, or pack them with keywords to the point of uselessness to humans.

[TiBaal89]

The fade-in/fade-out of the destination URL is rather annoying...

I dislike auto-hiding the status bar for the same reason... it's distracting and annoying. That whole 'link in the address bar' thing could be cool - I guess I'd have to see for myself exactly how it's implemented.

[joepie91]

Why exactly isn't it done like in Chromium? The status-bar-that-is-only-there-when-needed is working great for me and everyone else I know who uses it :P

[Lucradia]

Why exactly isn't it done like in Chromium? The status-bar-that-is-only-there-when-needed is working great for me and everyone else I know who uses it :P

I'm sure someone will make an auto-fade add-on for the add-on bar, then someone will make a link destination on hover for add-on bar as well.

Then you'll have what you want.

[joepie91]

I'm sure someone will make an auto-fade add-on for the add-on bar, then someone will make a link destination on hover for add-on bar as well.

Then you'll have what you want.

Of course. My point was why it isn't a default as that method seems to be better for inexperienced users.

[RiceMonster]

Good. It's about time.

[lovinglinux]

http://firefox.uservoice.com/forums/57440-firefox-4-beta/suggestions/888695-done-bar-should-be-canned-

Status Bar is completely removed in Firefox 4, instead, an add-on bar will replace it.

The statusbar has been removed already. However, some extensions that have statusbar icons will still show up in the new add-ons bar.


There are addons to allow you to see the content or title of an outgoing link. if you'd like me to name some, ask lovinglinux. :)

The best extension to recover the statusbar functionality is Status-4-Evar (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/235283/).

Also check http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1601868

The new add-ons bar is really an improvement, because you can drag any toolbar widget to it. However, the new target display in the address bar is horrible. It is useless for me. Additionally, as others have mentioned already, the status bar used to display important information. Well, Status-4Evar solves all those problems.

[Lucradia]

The best extension to recover the statusbar functionality is Status-4-Evar (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/235283/).

Also check http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1601868

The new add-ons bar is really an improvement, because you can drag any toolbar widget to it. However, the new target display in the address bar is horrible. It is useless for me. Additionally, as others have mentioned already, the status bar used to display important information. Well, Status-4Evar solves all those problems.

Will it remove the link destination on hover from the address bar? Or is there a chrome:ui / about:chrome setting for that? (Like MaxRichResults, which I always turn off.)

[lovinglinux]

Will it remove the link destination on hover from the address bar? Or is there a chrome:ui / about:chrome setting for that? (Like MaxRichResults, which I always turn off.)

It has an option to remove the link target display from the address bar, options to display the loading progress bar inside the address bar and several information widgets to put in the new add-ons bar. You should try it, is really good.

[Lucradia]

It has an option to remove the link target display from the address bar, options to display the loading progress bar inside the address bar and several information widgets to put in the new add-ons bar. You should try it, is really good.

I don't have firefox 4 yet, however, I'm waiting for stable (Due next year in spring, sadly.)

[RandomJoe]

I guess I don't understand what the big deal was. Hasn't the status bar always been an option? Just check it if you want it, uncheck if not?

I prefer having it, to see where a link goes. Showing it in the URL bar seems very cluttered, there's a lot more room in the status bar for longer links.

An add-on is fine, I just can't imagine cutting the code for the status bar did that much for them...

[TiBaal89]

I just took a look at the beta... I didn't find it to be distracting or annoying in the address bar, it was pretty cool.

However, and this is perhaps me being absurdly nit-picky... the status bar is something your eyes flick to for a very brief moment. It seems our brains more naturally flick down to something than up. Take out a sheet of text and compare how it feels to flick your eyes up 5 lines vs. down 5 lines. Down is just easier for some reason.

Maybe that's just me being crazy.. :D

[Rhapsody]

The new add-ons bar is really an improvement, because you can drag any toolbar widget to it. However, the new target display in the address bar is horrible. It is useless for me.
I doubt it is truly 'useless' to you, however it is useless to me. Don't believe me? Allow me to demonstrate the extent of the problem I have with it:

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9812/targetdisplay.png

The target URL is there (as you can see if I edit the image (http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/8660/targetdisplayedited.png) to make it visible), but the colour Firefox has decided it should have is so similar to the text background colour I use on this system that it is completely impossible to see it with the naked eye. Hence the new target display is 100% without any function to me as I literally can't use this feature until this colour problem is fixed.

[Spice Weasel]

I don't have firefox 4 yet, however, I'm waiting for stable (Due next year in spring, sadly.)

It's already a lot more stable than Firefox 3.6 (or 3.7, whichever is the latest stable)

[santosh83]

http://firefox.uservoice.com/forums/57440-firefox-4-beta/suggestions/888695-done-bar-should-be-canned-

Status Bar is completely removed in Firefox 4, instead, an add-on bar will replace it.

I did try the beta under my previous Jaunty installation, and the biggest improvement, IMO, was it's significantly faster performance overall. But the removal of the status bar was a big turn-off for me; as other posters have mentioned, I find it really useful for checking the URLs of links and progress of page retrieval, and control Adblock and NoScript from it. Yes, there might be add-ons that might replicate it, but it was a mistake, IMHO, to permanently turn it off, when an option already exists to hide it, and other options to auto-hide it, like in Chrome, would've been better. I'll stick with version 3.x as long as possible.

[santosh83]

I just took a look at the beta... I didn't find it to be distracting or annoying in the address bar, it was pretty cool.

However, and this is perhaps me being absurdly nit-picky... the status bar is something your eyes flick to for a very brief moment. It seems our brains more naturally flick down to something than up. Take out a sheet of text and compare how it feels to flick your eyes up 5 lines vs. down 5 lines. Down is just easier for some reason.

Maybe that's just me being crazy.. :D

No, it's our ingrained reaction from long use of books and looking down for the footnotes. :)

I never click any link, especially heading to a site I've not been before, without checking the URL, so the status bar is useful for me, and having the link appear incompletely in the location bar is next to useless. Oh well, maybe the Firefox developers would add an about:config variable that we could set to get the status bar back.

[lovinglinux]

Yes, there might be add-ons that might replicate it, but it was a mistake, IMHO, to permanently turn it off, when an option already exists to hide it, and other options to auto-hide it, like in Chrome, would've been better. I'll stick with version 3.x as long as possible.

I also believe it was a mistake to remove the info functionality. However, the statusbar itself was old and inflexible. The add-ons bar is a lot better, because you can easily organize stuff you need in the bottom.


I never click any link, especially heading to a site I've not been before, without checking the URL, so the status bar is useful for me, and having the link appear incompletely in the location bar is next to useless. Oh well, maybe the Firefox developers would add an about:config variable that we could set to get the status bar back.

As I said, get Status-4-Evar and you will be more satisfied than with the old statusbar.

[The Real Dave]

Oh yes, I'd noticed this without realising the status bar was missing. It opens up more screen space, but limits the length of link you can see. Which, to be honest, isn't a massive problem. Generally, you just wanna see if you're being sent to Google.com, or BigDangerousSite.com ;)