Firefox 'save as ' issue

[hazelnut]

I saw this on another forum and just had to post it. Not just because of the issue but for the description given to it by one of the posters in the thread. A great piece of writing

John99- There's obviously some communication issues because, being a brand new problem, most of us don't know the actual terms to describe them. I didn't even know that little window was called a File Picker. But here's my shot at explaining through my own primitive vocabulary.

 

The problem has nothing to do with the general download location. Firefox has not lost its ability to save to disk. It has nothing to do with the way it handles different file types. It has nothing to do with opening files in Firefox.

 

The problem is entirely with the File Picker; specifically the folder it is set to open to. When you open the File Picker, most commonly through "Save Image As" but also through "Save Link As," or "Save Page As," it usually goes to the last location you performed that action. That behavior is simple, easy to keep track of, and we have never had a problem with it.

 

In the newest version of Firefox the location the File Picker opens to unexpectedly changes. Basically it acts like it has erratic OCD: it does not go to the last location you saved a file to, but to the last folder you downloaded to from that server. Sometimes it goes to the last folder you downloaded to from that specific webpage regardless of the image server. Sometimes it suddenly switches to a random folder based on the position of your grandmother's slippers relevant to the nearest pod of dolphins. Occasionally it forgets all the ludicrous ways it has assigned locations and goes all the way back to your general download location. And that's terrible. It makes it impossible to download multiple items to the same folder.

 

Let's say you're near suicidal and fire up Google Images for "puppies," the last bastion of warm and fuzzy pictures not yet tainted by porn thumbnails. In between going "d'aawwww," you use "Save Image As" to preserve your favorites to a folder named, let's say, THE LAST REASON LEFT TO LIVE somewhere in your photos/Ineedhope/whydidyoutakeawaymysonGod/ directory. You save a few more, and that's when you realize... Firefox has been saving all but your first one to different folders. You shrug and choose THE LAST REASON LEFT TO LIVE through the File Picker again and place that photo of an adorable pug tilting its head at the camera where you'll need it on a dark day. But as soon as you try to save another, it goes to a different folder yet again, say, the ones for beachfront homes you were considering retiring to one day, the family photos your ex wife sent you, or the one with mugshots of Jimmy's killers. No matter how many times you re-experience the cold apathy towards your son's death, File Picker will constantly refuse to give you THE LAST REASON LEFT TO LIVE.

 

After lots of struggling and bargaining with File Picker, it seems to understand what you need. At least while you're on the same webpage. On this large gallery of beagles and retrievers, the url and server for the images are the same so Firefox cannot keep taking away THE LAST REASON LEFT TO LIVE from you. You can finally just save a picture without wrestling with an interface that hates you and makes you constantly relive the hoops of an ineffective bureaucracy. But you thought wrong. You weren't keep a close eye on the folder you were saving to each and every time, and somewhere along the way Firefox has pulled a fast one to switch it yet again. Twice even. You don't realize this until days later after you'd long closed that website tab and don't know how to find it again. That dark day when you needed a reminder that there's still life, innocence, and unconditional love in this twisted world. Firefox has thrown aside whatever convoluted game it was playing and simply made THE LAST REASON LEFT TO LIVE empty, its contents buried in pieces across your hard drive so you will never, ever find it. Just like Jimmy.

 

That's just one way it could backfire, but it's annoying is what I'm saying.

 

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/882443?page=2

[Nergal]

wow um…

[DennisD]

A great rant to be sure.

[Corona]

I want to see the James Joyce rejoinder to that. Stairwell & all.

[Andavari]

Firefox obviously has issues, one of the newer variety is their spell checker is broken and has been for the last three versions.