Side and bottom panel support in WebExtensions

Add-ons Development
#1

I am about to port an old overlay extension.

The extension utilize both a side panel and a button panel (firebox style).

I was surprised to see that apparently there is no support for panels in WebExtensions. So my questions are:

  • Are there any plans to support horizontal and vertical panels in WebExtensions?
  • If the answer to the above question is yes, then when will panels be available?
  • If the answer is no, are there any good alternatives? Then please point me in that direction.

Apparently there is no support for panels

screenshot:

firefox_2017-01-27_11-28-33.png865×437 12.2 KB

#2

By panel, do you mean sidebar here? Because that’s being implemented (I also updated that very table to reflect that), see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=120859

#3

I think your link is missing the last digit of the ticket number :smiley:

#4

Seems like it: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1208596

#5

Good to see that there is an API on the way.

By panel, do you mean sidebar here?

I use the word panel because I also need the option to run a bottom panel like firebug does/dev tools does. A side bar sounds as an element that is display in either the right or left side. I would like to see either one API for left/right and top/bottom panels or bars. Or just horizontal and vertical panels/bars.

See this mock up:

firefox_2017-01-29_13-00-31.png2080×1105 173 KB

I read trough the discussion in the linked bug and it worries me a bit that it is discussed to fix the side bar on either the right or the left side or to always display it with no show/hide option from a toolbar button. Also there is no mention of a horizontal panel that I rely on in my add-on. Actually I show both a left side bar and a bottom panel at the same time. It seems that this will not be possible. I fear that the API will be much to limited comparing to the options available for overlay add-ons.

#6

From what I’ve seen so far there’s only plans for dev-tools panels and no unrelated ones, but I do certainly not know of all the bugs on bugzilla.