[PROD] Inconsistent behaviour of PDF default open/view settings across document repositories

[ryales]

Issue

Behaviour of GO is inconsistent when clicking on PDF document links. PDFs at prddsgofilestorage.blob.core.window.net (manual uploads to reports/docs section in GO backend), they open in browser viewer when user settings allow, but from adore.ifrc.org (appeal docs from data warehouse) they always are downloaded to user's machine, regardless of user settings.

Steps to reproduce

On Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, appeal documents stored at adore.ifrc.org always download to the user's machine and require user to manually click to open them regardless of user settings in their browser. Tested user settings as well as logged in/not logged in.

On Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, reports/documents stored at prddsgofilestorage.blob.core.window.net open in browser viewer and respond to user's browser settings if applied (ie if user has settings to always download files, then these files are downloaded, but if user allows browser view of PDFs, they open in browser). Tested user settings as well as logged in/not logged in.

Example emergency page with the different document endpoints: https://go.ifrc.org/emergencies/5499#reports

Expected behaviour

Preferred behaviour is for PDFs (appeal docs pulled in from data warehouse and reports/docs manually uploaded to GO backend) to default to open in browser viewer for immediate view by user, rather than download to user's machine -- unless user's browser settings force download. But if user settings allow view in browser, that should be the default behaviour.

Related feature

Issue may originate at adore.ifrc.org endpoint, so unknown if GO can fix the default settings on our side.

Impact

Reported in 2022 GO study as an inconsistency that frustrates some users.

Severity

Minimal impact

Is there a workaround?

No, but PDFs are still accessible regardless, just with extra steps.