The GNOME 2.10 release cycle
Epiphany 1.6 is meant to continue the trends towards simplicity and extensibility which were achieved with 1.4. The major updates have been with regards to extensions and bookmarks.
Extensions
Extensions can now be loaded and unloaded using a simple UI (the UI itself being an extension). Extensions can be loaded or unloaded at any time while Epiphany is running: no re-starting the browser!
The list of available extensions has grown considerably in the past 6 months. The epiphany-extensions package has a couple of new extensions for 1.6:
- An extension to embed bookmarks in the notification area
- An ad-blocking extension (unfinished)
We will offer a Python extension loader; with any luck, we will have a C# extension loader available as well. These should make the process of creating new extensions easier and more fun.
Also in our sights is the issue of installing extensions without root privileges. If all issues can be ironed out, the user will be able to install a new extension by simply visiting a website and clicking a link.
Targeted for 1.6
Plan |
Status |
Interface for Other Programs |
|
Find out what other programs need from us for nice integration -- interfaces. Add DBUS support to Epiphany. Define method calls and makes Epiphany react to. Define signals to notify from various events website |
DBUS integrated in 1.6; the rest moved to 1.8 |
Extensions |
|
Revise toolbar and toolbar-editor to support Epiphany extensions. |
moved to 1.8 |
Move bookmarks presentation code into extension(s). |
moved to 1.8 |
adblock extension. |
moved to 1.8 (depends on mozilla fixes which will only be available in 1.8) |
Extension dependencies and conflicts. |
moved to 1.8; unclear what exactly is needed |
GNOME Integration |
|
orphan |
|
Online / Offline / Changing - While NetworkManager or netapplet aren't in GNOME yet we need to start looking at the integration of a GNOME wide offline / online mode that Epiphany can take advantage of. We need to show the states of Online/ Offline/ Changing to explain why the web isn't working or is taking a long time. (bug 158903) |
Net monitor is in Epiphany Extensions for 1.6 |
Bookmark Sync: With zeroconf/opentalk support built into GNOME finding another local system to sync bookmarks with should be a snap. gnome-vfs can be used to transfer bookmarks as file updates, if we are looking at a live system perhaps a network bookmark manager would be best to open a network socket and provide a D-BUS transport to Epiphany for live bookmark updating. |
orphan |
Interface love |
|
Completion. Put URI in the address entry when moving through the entry list (like Mozilla). |
pending |
Improve gnome-vfs protocols support. In particular it would be nice to be able to save and download to smb://. Mostly mozilla work though. |
moved to 1.8 |
Nautilus FTP: Use Nautilus/gnome-vfs instead of Mozilla to handle the FTP/SFTP protocol. |
moved to 1.8 |
Transient/Modal Issues: Figure out the transient/modal mess (there must be a guideline somewhere). Need to consider Mozilla modality problems (network error popups, etc.). |
mostly done; depends on mozilla fixes which will only be in 1.8 |
Rework "Find in Page" functionality (for instance, have an incremental Find widget for the toolbar). |
Find extension is in Epiphany Extensions for 1.6 |
Popup Blocking: Sure we do this, but firefox has the discoverability advantage that we need. We should turn popup blocking on by default. On the first popup block we need to show people that we can provide popup blocking, what it looks like when a popup is blocked from a site, and how they can turn off popup blocking. |
moved to 1.8 |
