GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 323810
No obvious way to switch off image loading
Last modified: 2018-03-25 23:36:54 UTC
When browsing over GPRS or similar packet service, the ability to switch off image loading can save you a sizeable amount of money. There appears to be no readily availiable way to do this in epiphany, apart from in about:config, where it's under the 'advanced' section.. In the long run the ideal solution would be to use information from networkmanager or similar to automatically set this based on the type of connection, but that's a way off.
I think I have a basic understanding on how that could be implemented, but I'm not sure whether it should be put in the default preferences dialog, or implemented as an extension.
Disabling ALL image loads is easy, by creating the permissions.default.image pref (boolean, FALSE) in about:config. Adding a way to load the images on the page you're currently viewing becomes rather hard in this case, though, and that's a functionality that I think we should have if we allow disabling image loads... There's another way, by using nsIWebBrowserSetup. In any case, both ways require writing some C++ gecko code :) I had an extension doing that once, if there's interest I could try to find the code again. Also I feel this is too advanced for a pref in the UI; if anything, it should be an extension.
Unsure I'll be able to, but I'm willing to have a look, so please share your sources. :-) [Private mail is also OK, BTW.]
*** Bug 326937 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
It'd be great if we could find out from NetworkManager what kind of connection we're on (ideally, whether we're paying by time or by Mb) and disable image loading appropriately.
Created attachment 130318 [details] [review] [PATCH] Implement disabling images Done in the File menu next to work offline (couldn't find a better place). I think the following has to be agreed on: - if the user opens a new tab of window, such element will keep the disable image loading property - disabling images should be per-tab, we could have a pref for a default mode, but I fear that would end up being a source of bug reports like "EPIPHANY SUCKS! DOESNT LOAD IMAGES OMG HELP!!!!11" Right now it's not applying per tab, but rather globally, like work offline, how do I make it per tab? *stares at xan* --- data/ui/epiphany-ui.xml | 1 + src/ephy-window.c | 3 +++ src/window-commands.c | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++ src/window-commands.h | 3 +++ 4 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
(In reply to comment #6) > I think the following has to be agreed on: > - if the user opens a new tab of window, such element will keep the disable > image loading property > - disabling images should be per-tab, we could have a pref for a default mode, > but I fear that would end up being a source of bug reports like "EPIPHANY > SUCKS! DOESNT LOAD IMAGES OMG HELP!!!!11" > > Right now it's not applying per tab, but rather globally, like work offline, > how do I make it per tab? *stares at xan* For the intended use case, low bandwidth connection, it may even be better to have a global no-images mode. Bonus points for a status bar indicator! For single pages/tabs, wouldn't it be possible to have a (Seed?) extension that prevents images from being loaded until the outline area is clicked, much like the swfdec plugin does for Flash?
I suggest using the View menu, close to Popup Windows.
(In reply to comment #8) > I suggest using the View menu, close to Popup Windows. That was my initial thought as well, but then I realized that that spot would make more sense if it were page-specific instead of global. However, I can be convinced otherwise... :)
(In reply to comment #9) > (In reply to comment #8) > > I suggest using the View menu, close to Popup Windows. > > That was my initial thought as well, but then I realized that that spot would > make more sense if it were page-specific instead of global. Ack. But if you look at what we have in the View menu, there's a mix of view-specific (encoding, text size, stop/reload), window-specific (full screen), and global behavior (popup windows, toolbars, status bar) setup there. So, maybe what we really need is reworking menus to fit the actual needs? What about Window (which could be merged with Tabs), Navigation (which would have stuff such as stop from View merged with Go), and Page (which could have View and Edit merged), top-level menus, for instance? I don't think File (which also has "global" scope stuff such as New Tab and Work Offline) is better than View in this case.
(In reply to comment #10) > So, maybe what we really need is reworking menus to fit the actual needs? Interesting idea, I think that's material for a different bug. :) In any case we should take care not to violate the HIG without a very good reason.
*** Bug 560018 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
@Diego, what's the status of your patch?
(In reply to comment #5) > It'd be great if we could find out from NetworkManager what kind of connection > we're on (ideally, whether we're paying by time or by Mb) and disable image > loading appropriately. This would be pretty nifty, I think PackageKit does something similar: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/packagekit/2008-April/002935.html
I suggest we have an additional tab contain the option to display images here: Menu: Edit, Preferences, Tab: Images, Tickbox: Display Images If the box is not ticked, then do not display images. Mark.
(In reply to comment #0) > When browsing over GPRS or similar packet service, the ability to switch off > image loading can save you a sizeable amount of money. There appears to be no > readily availiable way to do this in epiphany, apart from in about:config, where > it's under the 'advanced' section.. I don't have an about:config option on my browser. It just comes up with a blank page. Is that another fault?
FWIW, I am using epiphany-browser version 3.0.3-1
(In reply to comment #16) > I don't have an about:config option on my browser. It just comes up with a > blank page. Is that another fault? About:config is no longer supported since the switch to a Webkit backend.
Comment on attachment 130318 [details] [review] [PATCH] Implement disabling images I would not mind having this as a GSetting, but not in the UI.
This seems like a use case for a more advanced browser or a text-based browser; I've never before wanted to disable images on a web site and I can't imagine that's a typical use-case. Having a slow connection is not a reason to break web sites. Surely there are more users who want to disable JS than block images, for example, and we don't allow disabling JS anymore.
(In reply to comment #20) > Having a slow connection is not a reason to break web sites. What about being on 3G with a data cap? I'd say that's a pretty common use case these days. :-) Anyway if you think this shouldn't get implemented, I'd recommend you simply close this as WONTFIX.
I don't think we should be adding this.
This is a mass NEEDINFO of all Epiphany bugs with no activity in the past three years. I'm going to be automatically closing old bugs to help us focus on current problems. If you feel this bug is still relevant with Epiphany 3.26 or newer, then please leave any comment here so that I know not to close this one.
(In reply to Michael Catanzaro from comment #23) > If you feel this bug is still relevant with Epiphany > 3.26 or newer, then please leave any comment here so that I know not to > close this one. The use case I described in comment #21 is still relevant today, so either close this as WONTFIX or keep it open.
Hm yes, this is WONTFIX, we can't turn off images.