> Disabling plugins, or even just Flash, would break many websites. Users would blame Mozilla for "breaking the web".
Why not make it easier than going into about:config, then? In Chrome it's available in the settings.
> The popup is necessary because many plugin elements are too small...
How about a whitelist then, so that the main Flash applets on YouTube and other prominent sites with large, easy to locate Flash applets have a non-popup click-to-enable dialog (as is used by extensions like Flashblock)? That would cover 90% of use cases.
Also, how about an option to have click-to-play settings controlled on a per-plugin basis? I wanted click-to-play enabled for Java, but now I'm getting the same crap for Flash when I already have an extension (Flashblock) for that.
And even otherwise the popup doesn't have to protrude over the browser window. It could just be something in the chrome.
Firefox's click-to-play is still enabled by an about:config pref because its initial implementation is not a user-facing feature; it's targeted at disabling plugins for security vulnerabilities (like Java).
I believe a per-plugin setting is planned.
I like your suggestion for a basic whitelist for popular websites like YouTube and Facebook.
I don't know if Firefox has the "badge" setup that Chrome has, but in Chrome there is a plugin (puzzle) icon shown on pages that may have inaccessible flash elements. Normally if a page isn't working, my first attempt is to click the puzzle and say "Run plugins" or "Always allow on this site".
It can be annoying to remember to do it, the first few times you may curse the site for being broken before you realize what's going on.
There isn't any visual indicator that there are hidden plugins, but there is a button on the toolbar for activating a plugin (activates all the elements using the plugin on the page).
Why not make it easier than going into about:config, then? In Chrome it's available in the settings.
> The popup is necessary because many plugin elements are too small...
How about a whitelist then, so that the main Flash applets on YouTube and other prominent sites with large, easy to locate Flash applets have a non-popup click-to-enable dialog (as is used by extensions like Flashblock)? That would cover 90% of use cases.
Also, how about an option to have click-to-play settings controlled on a per-plugin basis? I wanted click-to-play enabled for Java, but now I'm getting the same crap for Flash when I already have an extension (Flashblock) for that.
And even otherwise the popup doesn't have to protrude over the browser window. It could just be something in the chrome.