Sidebar / Side Panel Extension API

Nekomajin

Opera and Firefox already supports the sidebarAction API.

It is very similar to the toolbarAction API. The main difference is that the sidebar panel can be visible all the time, while the toolbar bubble closes when the user does any operation in the browser.

(mod edit: updated title)

MasterLeo29

@nekomajin If I read correctly, Chrome does not support this feature (it has no sidebar at all), so it might be dificult for Vivaldi Team to support that api "from scratch", specially since Vivaldi's sidebar is so unique in so many ways. I'd like to be wrong, tho

Nekomajin

@masterleo29
One of the major fundamentals of the webExtension platform is that every browser vendor can extend the capabilities. Opera and Mozilla have already done that, and since Vivaldi has it's own GUI, they don't rely on whether Chrome has a sidebar or not at all.

Hadden89

Actually vivaldi support some sidebar API "calls" as "sidebar_action": in the manifest if you know the direct link to place as webpanel - and even few Opera Addons which use that.
But I think a full API support will be more useful when a Vivaldi store will come, as by default chromium hasn't a sidebar API (and neither their extensions).

luetage

@hadden89 Exactly this, you can't publish pure Vivaldi extensions on Chrome webstore, they would likely be deleted. Therefore this makes no sense without Vivaldi store. And although it has been said that an own store could come at some point, I doubt that it's clear and it will definitely take some years…

Nekomajin

@luetage
You can install extensions from local machine. I had to, because I used extensions from the Opera catalog, which is not supported by Vivaldi.

luetage

@nekomajin Yes, you can do that. But what's your point?

Nekomajin

@luetage
The sidebar API's implementation does not rely on the existence if Vivaldi's own addon catalog.

luetage

@nekomajin That's true, it doesn't. But that's why it won't get priority, because it would only be used by a small amount of specialists. Extensions outside of the Chrome webstore don't get automatic updates – a downside which shouldn't be underestimated, it's important. A Vivaldi store would solve this problem, but Vivaldi has neither the userbase nor the team size to support such an endeavour. Even Opera has massive problems with the moderation of its add-ons site despite having a far bigger userbase.

www.google.com
https://www.google.com/

Ayespy

@luetage said in Sidebar Extension API:

...despite having a far bigger userbase.

And a development team ten times the size of Vivaldi's.

mtaki14

Not saying that supporting the API in the future wouln't be useful in some ways. But for your specific example does the extension do anything more beyond opening a direct url to bing chat? Wouldn't adding a web panel with that URL achieve the exact same thing?

Dancer18

@sbernecchia Has this api issue to do with disabled extensions on web panels?

Hadden89

FYI I tested opera on chr114 and it says not supported.
This might be an issue for any chromium with their own sidebar/panel.

mgunt5

I know that Vivaldi already has a sidebar or panel with a built-in reading list, but Google is adding extension API support for the reading list and side panel in Chromium and since extensions will eventually begin to support this, I think Vivaldi needs to implement Chromium support for these APIs into the Vivaldi custom UI.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/sidePanel/

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/readingList/

I really hope this gets supported in Vivaldi's UI.

weili789

I really hope vivaldi can support sidebar action since it already support chrome extension' sidePanel. Sometimes developers need to use JavaScript to handle open or close sidebar instead of clicking sidebar icon.