AMO:Editors

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Reviewers/Editors Guide

UMO leverages reviewers/editors to look over pending extensions and themes for publication on the site. We have a large number of extensions and themes and need a good coverage of timezones, operating systems and Mozilla software to make sure we get them moderated in a timely fashion.

Covering the Bases

Please fill in what you're able to test.

Name	Timezone	Win32			Linux			OSX
	GMT offset	FX	TB	SM	FX	TB	SM	FX	TB	SM
Adrastos	0 (GMT)		X*					X
Aggro	+2	X	X
alanjstr	-4/-5	X
anoncow	-6 CST/CDT	X	X		X	X
artooro	-4							X	X
Ashiro	0	X	X		X			X	X
Cameron	+9:30	X		X
chip	-7 (PDT)				X			X	X	?
chrisblore	+1/+0	X			X	X	X
oyster	-10		X
dmb	-5 (EST)	X			X	X
dnewman8	-6 CST/CDT	X	X					X
GeorgeTopouria	+3 (GMT)	X
Ihoss	+1	X	X		X
jcap	-5							X	X	X
jdi	+1	X*	X*		X	X		X*	X*
Jero	+1	X	X
jgannon	-7 (PDT)	X	X	X
kveton	-7
Legendre	-5	X	X	X*
mich	+1				X			X*
MarbleheadMan	-5 (EST)	X	X	X
Milesh	-6 CDT/CST	X	X	X				X	X	X
mu5ti	-5							X	X*	X*
Valorin	+10 (AEST)	X*	X		X*	X*
westfall	-6 (CST)	X	X*		X*
Zillmann	-5		X					X	X	X

*: not regularly

Testing Addons

To claim an addon as yours you just hang out in #umo and say "okay I'm going to play around with such and such" and away you go. Some fights will ensue, but it's a wild world out there :) It's best if more than one person reviews each addon, but this may not always be possible.

Start by installing the addon. Restart your application. If it doesn't come back, then you have a problem.

It's a good idea to check out the addon author's homepage (Google for it) to see how things have been going with the addon (changelogs, planned features, etc.) Also have a look to see if the addon has a topic on Mozillazine, if anyone has started a topic asking for support or if anyone has filed bug reports regarding the addon. If any of these pages mention bugs, investigate them in the current version - how severe are they?

If you are testing addons around the time of a new FF/TB/SM version release, pay special attention to the maxversion specified by the extension author. New releases often come with changes to the way the program handles addons.

Testing Extensions

Once you've restarted, test what the extension is supposed to do. If it adds a new tool, it may be sitting in the Tools menu, under Tools -> Extensions -> Options, filling up your context menu, or under View -> Sidebars. Check for new buttons in the status bar or under in your navigation toolbar.

Check the Extensions Manager to see if it has any options. If it does, test them out.

Use your application normally making sure there are no adverse side-effects caused by the extension.

Uninstall the extension and restart your application. Are you still able to surf the web, check email, etc?

Approval forms which only appear for extensions are:

• New chrome? - Does the extension add anything to the user interface? (Including Tools -> Extensions -> Options.)
• Works - Does the extension do its job as the author describes?

It is also a good idea to request preview images for extensions that add icons or make changes to the application's menus. This helps users to know what to expect and therefore improve their experiences using UMO.

Wizz RSS News Reader (ID 424) requires an "account." To make life a little easier for testers, a scratch account has been created.

User Name - umo Password - ohno

Testing Themes

Testing themes usually (but not necessarily) takes less time than testing extension.

Start up with the new theme. Browse away for a while and make sure nothing tempremental happens. Then go through all menus to check that the theme is complete. Add a livebookmark to your bookmarks toolbar if you don't have one. Go to a secure site. Block a popup. Download an old version of an addon and then check for updates through Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Software Update. Check all the icons are there under View -> Toolbars -> Customise. Make sure all icons are present in Help -> Help contents -> Customise Toolbar. Does the throbber throb?

Make sure the theme looks good. Text should be easy to read and buttons should be clear and concise. As well as just looking stylish, make sure it all looks stylish in the same way. The colours and shapes should be the same across the whole theme. Without consistency, it wouldn't be a theme!

Another important aspect of a theme is to make sure it "fits." This is relevant for menus and dialogs - check to make sure that all the UI elements fit within the default boundaries and do not appear "clipped". If anything's clipped and/or if resizing is required to see it completely, make a note of it and request the author to change it - clipped dialogs/menus are an annoyance to users and could lower the impression of quality that the theme makes on the user - in such cases, it's better to deny the theme and request the author to correct these.

Approval forms which only appear for themes are:

• Visual Errors? - Although misleading, this box is to be checked if the theme is free of errors :P
• Theme Complete - Basically, does it conform to all the guidelines specified above?

While testing a theme, don't forget to check that the author has included a suitable preview image - this is mandatory. If not, check that the other requirements are fulfilled, and add a comment to the effect that previews are required for all themes on UMO and then deny the approval request, asking them to resubmit their theme complete with a preview.

Approval, Denial and Comments

These fields/checkboxes appear for all addons:

• OSes - What operating systems did you test this on (Windows, Linux, OSX)
• Apps - What applications did you test this in? Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey? Also include a version number.
• Install? - Does the addon install?
• Uninstall? - Does the addon uninstall without trouble?
• App works? - Does the addon remove functionality from your application? Is there anything it stops working?
• Clean profile? - If the addon does not work, is it because of a conflict with another addon or one of your settings? This should be ticked if the extension works.

• Comments to Author - This is the most important field of them all. Remember that your comments go to a *real person* so try to be friendly.

If you are approving the addon, thank the author for the time and effort they have put in. Remember that they're enhancing the usefulness and the appeal of the products! Tell them which features you like the most, and mention anywhere you think they could improve.

If you are denying the addon, be polite in pointing out any problems. Provide suggestions as to what they could do or should fix before re-submitting it and encourage them to re-submit it. It's also a good idea to tell the author what you liked about the extension/theme even though you've denied it.

NOTE: The backend processing for the text boxes in the approval form does not like anything enclosed in '<' and '>'. It assumes it to be HTML and strips the '<', '>' and the text in between before logging it and sending it to the author! So take care to use some other set of characters like '[ ]', '{ }' etc.

Comments Manager

When reviewing comments, here are a few general guidelines you should consider.

• Comments containing foul language should be deleted.
• Comments indicating that a file is an 'Invalid install package' are most likely mirror issues and not related to the extension.
• If you are unsure why the comment was reported go to its actual web page.
• If you cannot find any grounds for deleting the comment, clear it.

Some reasons for deletion you can copy/paste:

• FTP mirror issues are not related to any particular extension.
• Please do not complain about version compatibility.
• Please do not insult extension authors.
• Please don't rate an extension before using it enough, as you skew the average rating.
• Thunderbird extensions are not for Firefox.
• Deer Park ("1.0+") is different from Firefox 1.0.
• This is not a technical support forum. Please do not skew extension ratings for support questions.
• Please do not skew extension ratings for support questions or unrelated comments.
• No personal insults, please.
• Please use English for all comments.

Reviews Manager

This is used to add Editor's Reviews to addons. Try to be impartial in your review and talk about users in general rather than "I prefer" or "I use."

Bugzilla and known bugs

For those who are new, Bugzilla is a system for reporting bugs in software. Mozilla uses Bugzilla to report and track bugs in its programs, but also for reporting and tracking other issues. For instance, if you want to change a part of UMO (eg. you want to make it compulsory for 3 reviewers to check every extension) then you can file an entry in bugzilla. Extension owners may create entries when they want their extension added to UMO.

Bug 287977 means that if they submitted the same version number twice, they overwrote the old approval/denial.

404 Errors

It can take more than 30 minutes from the time you approve an extension until all of the mirrors have the file. The links on the website will 404 until then.