hackademix
Firefox - Temporary Tab opens very frequently since vertical tabs were introduced.
Ever since switching to the vertical tabs introduced in a recent Firefox update I noticed a new tab appearing for just a moment before closing again.
I went into the browsing history and re-opened it manually, it's a javascript called "SidebarUtil.tab.js", the page content is below
// SidebarUtil.tab.js
// This is just a placeholder file to be loaded in a temporary tab to check if a sidebar is open and how wide it is.
I can't be sure if it is new or I just never noticed before, but it is distracting. If it's not a bug or not easily solved, could we get a toggle for sidebar functionality to suppress this even if that means noscript won't work in sidebars?
- Are you using the vertical tab functionality?
- Are you also using some other sidebar (esp. the AI chatbot one)?
- Could you please give me precise steps to reproduce?
- Yes I am, sorry I should have made that clear
- I use Bitwarden which comes with a sidebar and look at history in the sidebar, but the issue occurs even with them closed
- Unfortunately not, it occurs throughout the day seemingly at random
I'm not using vertical tab functionality in firefox and this file keeps popping open and closing for me. The only other extensions I use are ublock and dark reader
I'm not using vertical tabs, nor am I using any sidebars. There are no steps needed to reproduce - the tab just pops open of its own accord, then closes itself. I can't figure out any specific triggers for it; it happens even when I'm just reading a page without touching the computer at all. I've even seen this happen 3 times within 2 seconds. It's very distracting.
At the least, it would be very much appreciated to have the ability to turn this off in NoScript settings, for people that don't use sidebars.
I hate to kind of "me too" this, but maybe some of this info will help?
- Firefox
139.0.4(at the moment, anyway) running as a snap in Kubuntu - The issue has persisted for several versions now, so I don't think it's specific to
139.0.4 - NoScript
13.0.8
Answers to the questions above:
Are you using the vertical tab functionality? Not Firefox' built-in vertical tabs, no.
Are you also using some other sidebar (esp. the AI chatbot one)? Only one, but yes and at all times; Tree Style Tab (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/)
Could you please give me precise steps to reproduce? Unfortunately I can't; like the others here, all I can say is it seems to happen periodically and randomly (half my "Recently Closed Tabs" menu is repeated entries for it)
I'd like to get to the bottom of it, 'cause whenever one of these tabs flashes in and out it takes me out of full-screen video and I've got Netflix to binge-watch. 🙂 If you'd like me to help test...I don't know much about extension development, but I know how to temporarily "side-load" extensions with about:debugging if you've got something bleeding-edge to troubleshoot with without going through the whole Mozilla verification dog and pony show (I already run NoScript, so obviously I trust you with my browser 😉).
I don't know if this helps but I only see this issue after I clear my browser history
Steps to Reproduce:
- Clear browser and download history
- Close Firefox
- Open Firefox
SidebarUtil.tab.jstabs open and close quickly (on the far-right side)
- I have not been able to reproduce it with a browser history
- The tab issue appears once and stops (until I clear my history again)
Details:
- I am using grouped tabs (added to Firefox earlier this year)
- I have 4 tab groups: 3 expanded / 1 collapsed
- I am not using vertical tabs
- I am not using any sidebars
Versions:
- NoScript: 13.0.8
- Firefox: 140.0.4
Other Extensions Enabled:
- Dark Reader
- Return YouTube Dislike
- uBlock Origin
Edit: added other extensions I have enabled
I only see this issue after I clear my browser history
I can say for sure it's not related to clearing browser history, since I've never done that in the 20+ years I've used Firefox.
I only see this issue after I clear my browser history
I can say for sure it's not related to clearing browser history, since I've never done that in the 20+ years I've used Firefox.
My understanding of @ATeaDaze's suggestion is that clearing the browser history is a trigger for NoScript causing that (and for me to reproduce), rather than the root cause.
I only see this issue after I clear my browser history
I can say for sure it's not related to clearing browser history, since I've never done that in the 20+ years I've used Firefox.
My understanding of @ATeaDaze's suggestion is that clearing the browser history is a trigger for NoScript causing that (and for me to reproduce), rather than the root cause.
Correct, I can reproduce it by clearing my history. Figured it might help seeing as other reports describe it as random (or unable to replicate). I'm not suggesting it's a root cause
I only see this issue after I clear my browser history
I can say for sure it's not related to clearing browser history, since I've never done that in the 20+ years I've used Firefox.
My understanding of @ATeaDaze's suggestion is that clearing the browser history is a trigger for NoScript causing that (and for me to reproduce), rather than the root cause.
Correct, I can reproduce it by clearing my history. Figured it might help seeing as other reports describe it as random (or unable to replicate). I'm not suggesting it's a root cause
It's something that at least triggers the tab being visible. Recently, I moved from Firefox to LibreWolf and enabled the automatic data removal when exiting the program. I now always see the tab flickering 2-3 times whenever booting up my browser. This isn't a problem with Firefox or LibreWolf when persistent history is enabled.
The same thing happens to me, following automatic or manual cleaning of my browser history. Even disabling the only other extension I use (uBlock) the problem remains. Win10 Firefox 141.0.2 NoScript: 13.0.8
I'm not using vertical tabs nor any sidebars. I frequently enough get these really distracting tabs opening and closing. What makes this way worse is that opening many tabs at once in sequential order is an important part of my workflow, and when one of these NoScript tabs opens & closes itself, subsequent new tabs I open are opened prior to the other tabs I'd already opened rather than after them. This requires closing all of the tabs I've opened and starting again. I've had this happen a dozen times in the past month. In addition, I frequently need to re-open closed tabs with Ctrl+Shift+T, and it's common that doing so opens the last NoScript sidebar checker tab instead of the last tab I'd closed. Please make this a feature we can disable.
Win11 Firefox 14.1.0.3 NoScript 13.0.8
I've tried to force myself to accept this feat but I just cannot. It's become obnoxious to a point I can't stand it any longer. Is there a way to disable that PERMANENTLY ? I can even go into digging the code and check where it's run from but I just cannot stand this.
In src/bg/RequestGuard.js I added a 'return' before anything is checked according to sidebarWidth
@@ -496,6 +496,9 @@
// same chatbot as before, probably closed & reopened, bailout
return;
}
+ // assume sidebar is always closed
+ return;
+
await include("/nscl/service/SidebarUtil.js");
const sidebarWidth = await SidebarUtil.guessSidebarWidth();
if (sidebarWidth < 400) {
Since then I don't have any problems anymore. I do not use the sidebar at all and I don't know what happens if you even open it. So be aware.
Of course you have to resign the Addon by mozilla. But that wasn't a problem.
I just want to be sure: this annoyance comes from Firefox, not from NoScript, right? (I know the question looks silly but I upped the issue here as it's the first relevant result I found after searching the web for it, so I kind of deduced/hoped NoScript could fix it... nvm if it's the wrong place.)
I just want to be sure: this annoyance comes from Firefox, not from NoScript, right? (I know the question looks silly but I upped the issue here as it's the first relevant result I found after searching the web for it, so I kind of deduced/hoped NoScript could fix it... nvm if it's the wrong place.)
The annoyance is specifically coming from NoScript code.
This continues to happen, at a rate of a couple times every few page navigation actions (effectively meaning a couple times every few minutes). I use waterfox and the built in vertical tabs sidebar, and I do not and will never use any "AI chat" in the sidebar.
What really cheeses me off is that every time one of these tabs is opened, it forces my tab sidebar to scroll to the bottom. Meaning that as soon as I have enough tabs in a window to need to scroll, I can't consistently find tabs I'm using anymore because the tab sidebar is inevitably scrolled all the way down. Not always! But just often enough to feel my mental gears clash a little.
I would like my vertical tabs sidebar to stay in the position I have it scrolled to. Please address this.
Noscript version 13.0.9 Waterfox version 6.6.3
For what it's worth, I've found a reproducible trigger for it (at least for my setup), and it's very simple: just create a bookmark.
Specifically: hit Ctrl+d (on a page that's not already bookmarked), then hit Return.
Of course you have to resign the Addon by mozilla. But that wasn't a problem.
@Brandhand: I'll admit I'm not an expert at this stuff, but isn't the whole point of addon signing that random people can't just do it? 🙂 Is there some secret juju I don't know about that'll allow me to run modified extensions, or my own extensions from scratch, without having to do the "temporarily load a directory as an extension" thing?
Unless, of course, you're one of Mozilla's code signers, in which case I retract the question. 😀
isn't the whole point of addon signing that random people can't just do it?
@qs-arno :No. As far as I understand it, signing is just there, so Mozilla can revoke addons if they come out malicious.
Just register an account at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/ and sign your addon.
isn't the whole point of addon signing that random people can't just do it?
@qs-arno :No. As far as I understand it, signing is just there, so Mozilla can revoke addons if they come out malicious.
Just register an account at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/ and sign your addon.
But you have to edit and resign it after each extension update
Thanks for the info, @Brandhand / @incircolo! I don't want to hijack these issue comments any further, but I'll definitely be checking that out. I thought all extensions had to be signed with Mozilla's keys, not keys you could generate yourself.
Everybody, thank you for your reports. Does your problem persist for you in 13.0.901?
I'm hoping everybody answers (either no, hopefully, or yes) because I suspect there were multiple triggers / affected configurations, yet I could not reliably reproduce but I'm hoping the changes in 36b8980de59579933a14d4ecec063a7b6634486b and https://github.com/hackademix/nscl/commit/b0cfb503975cfe68810886befd979971e93f1d4e can be a fix in most if not all the situations 🤞
Tentatively saying it's fixed for me with 13.0.901. Been running for several hours and not seen any tabs appearing, and there's no broken pages in download history.
For me everything seems alright as well. I installed 13.0.902. Thanks for everything.
Not fixed for me. Firefox 143.0.4 Noscript 13.1
When I open the application 4 tabs keep opening and closing. I set the deletion of the navigation data when exiting the browser. The problem occurs with the sidebar turned on or off.
When I open the application 4 tabs keep opening and closing. I set the deletion of the navigation data when exiting the browser.
- What URL is set as your home page?
- Or are you restoring tabs from previous session (and if so, which?)
- What URL is set as your home page?
Firefox Home (default), with everything disabled except "shortcut" (scorciatoie)
- Or are you restoring tabs from previous session (and if so, which?)
No All browsing data (session, cronology, cookies etc...) is deleted when I close the browser
Firefox Home (default), with everything disabled except "shortcut" (scorciatoie) All browsing data (session, cronology, cookies etc...) is deleted when I close the browser
I can't reprouduce at all under these conditions.
Does the problem persist on a fresh profile with just NoScript installed?
If it doesn't, could you please share your profile directory (scrubbed of any personal data) or at least your preferences file and your extensions list?
I have only the following extensions: NoScript and uBlock. I tried to remove uBlock, but nothing changed. I will run some tests tomorrow with different profiles, just to check and let you know.