Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...

rejzor

I've been a long time user of Opera since the original days of it when it still had ad banner in the GUI, long time user of Firefox since it's early 0.x versions, used the new Opera since version 48 (been trying older versions on and off but was too crappy) and when Vivaldi came I was testing it on and off and always gave up because it was too basic and clumsy. Fast forward to today with version 2.0 and things are much better though I have few comments and criticisms regarding design decisions and usability. I just want it to become more user friendly, usable and widely used. None of the settings I'm recommending is to remove things, just change them for how Vivaldi comes on first install. So old users can still have it their way if they want, but you guys really need to improve things to make it more user friendly if you want to attract new users. Coz right now it's horribly confusing even to me and I loved the hyper configurable Opera 12.x interface...

"Accent color from Active page" needs to be gone from a default out of the box setup. It's annoying as hell and idiotically hard to turn off (not to mention most of online responses and help point to anything but Themes section where you need to actually create and edit a new theme to get rid of it, WHY?!)
Sync doesn't sync search engines, why are ALL browsers fighting this off so much!? If I have bunch of custom search engines set I sure as hell don't want to manually manage them all by hand on every single computer, but I want to have them on all my computers
Sync doesn't sync a lot of settings that are infuriating to set every time, like that "Accent color from active page"
Sync doesn't sync Themes
none of the buttons can be disabled or moved, add ability to drag buttons to any location in the Vivaldi, including moving/copying Side Panel buttons to main Vivaldi Toolbar
there is no way of changing things directly, like right clicking on things like Bookmark bar, Status bar or any of the buttons, selecting "Customize in a context menu that should appear and changing them directly (or at least jumping directly to settings page of that feature), instead you have to manually dig through tons of settings
left side Panel is clumsy and annoying and if you aren't using Statusbar, it's even worse because you lose a button to it
downloads need to be managed through side Panel instead of having a "Downloads" button on the toolbar
no option for Bookmarks button in toolbar for direct access to bookmarks. Side Panel or the Vivaldi button are already too many clicks to access bookmarks
all Bookmarks need to be stacked on the Bookmarks Bar (in a way that's a plus so everything is there, but sometimes you don't want everything to be there so you strictly need to make a subfolder for all that which can be annoying)
ENTER key doesn't correspond as "Confirmation" in settings popups/dialogs (for example when deleting search engine and you get a popup, you have to click "Delete", otherwise just nothing happens.
get rid of extra search field out of the box and encourage users to use URL bar for searching in default search engine as well as input of web addresses. Use nicknames to use different search engines. If only people would know how much faster and easier it is than clicking into a dedicated search field to do this.
"Show statusbar" is not ticked when Statusbar is visible under Vivaldi button -> View when you open browser clean
Extensions should ALWAYS be listed at the bottom of right click context menu on webpages so you always go straight down to the bottom of it instead of trying to figure it out from between the browser default entries (for example for faster access to logins from Lastpass or Bitwarden, which are for some reason listed somewhere in the middle of right click context menu)
Add "Video Popuout" feature like found in the new Opera (I can't believe how much I'm missing that feature in other browsers, all extensions for this are clumsy and useless)

EDIT:

All text gets all blocky randomly and also randomly smoothens itself up (using GTX 1080Ti with latest drivers, no other browser is doing this)
"Sync" doesn't sync "Tabs" settings at all which is also annoying

This is just what I can remember from top of my head after using Vivaldi 2.0 since its release.

iAN CooG

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

Your suggestions are good and they will eventually find their way into Vivaldi one day. There is a feature request subforum to propose features
https://forum.vivaldi.net/category/113/feature-requests
If they get voted enough they will be taken into consideration more.

downloads need to be managed through side Panel instead of having a "Downloads" button on the toolbar

you can assign a shortcut to open dl panel in settings/keyboard, and the panel can be shown/hidden with a key too, default f4.

no option for Bookmarks button in toolbar for direct access to bookmarks. Side Panel or the Vivaldi button are already too many clicks to access bookmarks

also bookmark panel can be assigned to a kbd shortcut, also you have it in menu (alt-O for its shortcut)

get rid of extra search field

I beg to differ, I like to have 2 different search engines ready, and use other engines with nicknames only when needed. You can deactivate it if it doesn't fit your needs. Vivaldi is about configurability, it's good to have more options.

Pesala

@rejzor Why so much rage? It is much better to ask if there are solutions before criticising in such a negative fashion.

The accent colour setting depends on the theme chosen. Some themes enable it; some do not.
Sync is not finished. The dialogue says Settings (partially)
Themes are not synced yet. If you select a theme without accent colour or create one, it will remain your default theme until you change it. See vivaldi://sync-internals for a list of what is running and what is not.
Vote for Configurable Toolbars. It is one of the top voted requests, but it would take a lot of work. Some things can be done with CSS. See the Modding Forum
See above. Bookmarks can be edited in the Bookmarks Panel.
I prefer my panels on the right. I keep the Panels Toolbar closed because I use a 1200x1600 portrait monitor. F4 or a mouse gestures opens it when I need it, then closes it again when I'm done editing bookmarks, searching for existing Feature Requests, (or whatever)
A shortcut can be used to open the downloads panel directly.
The Bookmarks are directly accessible via the Bookmarks Bar.
One can also use the Bookmarks Menu. I keep only the most frequently used bookmarks on the Bookmarks Bar. For others, I use Alt+B, then other Access keys as needed. It is the quickest method rather than clicking buttons and navigating dropdowns with a mouse.
Default button focus is Cancel (Safer: there is no undo). Press Tab, Enter to Delete
The default should show the Search field so that new users know about it. I always turn it off, but not everyone is comfortable with nickname shortcuts for searching in the URL field
Looks like a bug: Submit a [Bug Report] (https://vivaldi.com/bugreport/) I did it.
(VB-44088) View Menu Status Bar Not Checked on Launch
I don't use these extensions. Are they sorted alphabetically perhaps?
Video Popup is the second most popular feature request, but obviously not a trivial undertaking. It is tagged as PIPELINE so they do plan to do it but are not actively working on it.

Para-Noid

Many of what you are commenting about can be found in the Feature Request section.
Please visit it and upvote the features you'd like to see implemented.

Vivaldi isn't the perfect browser yet. But it's getting there.
IMHO, Vivaldi is better than any other option available.
Chrome is currently feature dormant. Firefox is playing catch-up.
That leaves V as the browser to use.

rejzor

@pesala I hate it when people take honest feedback as "rage". These days you can't say or comment anything without some idiot being offended. This isn't falling directly on your reply, just a general observation of the feedback/development segment. Freaking offended idiots and safe spaces on all ends. It's ridiculous.

Pesala

@rejzor There again, people lost the ability to criticise in a polite way after due diligence. Had you spent some days or weeks on the forum asking how to configure Vivaldi, and making a reasoned inquiry about its state of development, your first post here would have been very different.

Para-Noid

The same thing happens on every forum. The worst place I've seen is on the avast forums.
@rejzor should know what I mean. Speaking of @rejzor how have you been? It's been a while since I
was active on the avast forums.

rejzor

@pesala I don't think my post would be very different since most things cannot be changed by user and if you expect new users to be required to visit a forum just to figure out that accent color shifting thing, then you've already screwed up the design royally. I can't understand why devs and supporters are often so stubborn and defensive about suggestions and feedback. Para-Noid will know since we had similar thing on avast! forums. It took me and few other users a trip to Prague straight to avast! HQ and a several hours long chat with avast! team in person to make them understand our perspective on things because devs are unfortunately generally too absorbed in their thing and they don't seem to be able to drop on a casual user level. It's why they too often dumb down things too far or they keep them too complex or complicated for no good reason.

I also make things and feedback is always super important to make things better. Getting offended by criticism, negative comments or suggestions means you're handling things in a wrong way and as a result, your product will suffer. There is a difference between "your X sucks" and 5000+ letters long post with comments, observations and suggestions. The fact I have to defend and explain myself feels like I wasted that hour of time writing it all...

Ayespy

@rejzor Problem is, long posts with lists of things to change are a complete waste of time in the Vivaldi forums. No one, especially not developers, reads them and takes them seriously.

On the other hand, there is a "Feature Requests" category that is quite active and collects upvotes from users so as to better inform developer priorities, and there is the bug report line which also accepts feature requests.

You can convince mods and users that you feel the product is massively defective, with no positive outcome, or you can take effective action (posting one feature request at a time or upvoting existing ones) that will naturally offend no one, and stands a chance of getting your preferences heard.

rejzor

Because going through points is apparently too difficult for smart people who code things apparently. Good luck then. I'll check Vivaldi in 5 years time then if it has even moved anywhere...

iAN CooG

This post is deleted!

Catweazle

Obviously there are things to do in Vivaldi, the list of requests from users is long, the team small and not everything is possible in 2 days.
But usually the requests in the Feature request are taken into account, if the development of Vivaldi is observed from v1, although not always can be done immediately and less if it is put on a thread like this
Even so, it will be difficult for you to find a better browser for the next 5 years. Good Luck

rejzor

Mod Edit: Personal attack removed.

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules

pafflick

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

"Accent color from Active page" needs to be gone from a default out of the box setup.

I beg to differ on that one. Everyone is different, it's obvious that not everybody's gonna like it. But that's one of Vivaldi's highlights IMO. One of the first things that people notice. So, asking them to turn it off by default is like saying that you don't like that loud engine in the new Lamborghini that you just bought and you want it to be replaced in all models with something that produces less noise because that noise is annoying to you. Sure, not everyone likes that noise, but it doesn't mean they should switch to less powerful but quieter engines all of a sudden, just because not everybody likes loud engines.

Although, I agree that it should be easier to turn it off - currently, it can be quite of a riddle for newbies. That's a valid point.

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

Sync doesn't sync search engines, why are ALL browsers fighting this off so much!? If I have bunch of custom search engines set I sure as hell don't want to manually manage them all by hand on every single computer, but I want to have them on all my computers

Sync doesn't sync a lot of settings that are infuriating to set every time, like that "Accent color from active page"

Sync doesn't sync Themes

Slow down. Sync has just been released. This is a new feature - nobody said that it's gonna sync each and every byte of your profile data since day one. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them on the Feature Requests forum. You can always resort to manual data transfer.

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

none of the buttons can be disabled or moved, add ability to drag buttons to any location in the Vivaldi, including moving/copying Side Panel buttons to main Vivaldi Toolbar

Yes, that's because there were other priorities than adding the ability to mess with the UI. For those impatient or those in a badly urgent need to rearrange some buttons, there's always the Modding forum.

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

there is no way of changing things directly, like right clicking on things like Bookmark bar, Status bar or any of the buttons, selecting "Customize in a context menu that should appear and changing them directly

I'm beginning to wonder what's the point of your post? Here, you're simply stating the obvious. True - not all of the features have been completed yet. Everyone here is very well aware of that. The developers are constantly working hard on the browser. Your mere complaints are not helping in any way. So, what's the point?

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

left side Panel is clumsy and annoying and if you aren't using Statusbar, it's even worse because you lose a button to it

Can you elaborate on that? I'm struggling to find the "clumsiness" that you're talking about...
If you disable the status bar, you can always toggle the panel bar with a shortcut (by default [F4] - for full reference press [CTRL]+[F1]).

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

downloads need to be managed through side Panel instead of having a "Downloads" button on the toolbar

Finally, one thing that you like about Vivaldi. Or is it another complaint? It's hard to tell...

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

no option for Bookmarks button in toolbar for direct access to bookmarks. Side Panel or the Vivaldi button are already too many clicks to access bookmarks

I can access my bookmarks by clicking on the ribbon icon on the panel, where I can click on them, rearrange them, add them, remove them, etc. That's exactly 1 (one) click - is that too many? I don't know...

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

all Bookmarks need to be stacked on the Bookmarks Bar (in a way that's a plus so everything is there, but sometimes you don't want everything to be there so you strictly need to make a subfolder for all that which can be annoying)

So, you want a way to put only some of your bookmarks on the bar, but you don't want to separate them? Then how on Earth can the browser know which ones do you want on the bar and which you don't?

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

get rid of extra search field out of the box and encourage users to use URL bar for searching in default search engine as well as input of web addresses. Use nicknames to use different search engines. If only people would know how much faster and easier it is than clicking into a dedicated search field to do this.

IMO another pointless argument. I think that Vivaldi's philosophy is about letting people do things the way they find convenient for them - not about telling them what they should or shouldn't use. And if you can't do something conveniently - then there's always the aforementioned Feature Requests forum.

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

ENTER key doesn't correspond as "Confirmation" in settings popups/dialogs (for example when deleting search engine and you get a popup, you have to click "Delete", otherwise just nothing happens.

"Show statusbar" is not ticked when Statusbar is visible under Vivaldi button -> View when you open browser clean

IMO that's worthy of a bug report. One can argue that the first one is by design, but when you're used to the keyboard a lot, that could be an inconvenience.

@rejzor said in Vivaldi 2.0 is a good step forward, but there is still a lot to do...:

Extensions should ALWAYS be listed at the bottom of right click context menu on webpages so you always go straight down to the bottom of it instead of trying to figure it out from between the browser default entries

Add "Video Popuout" feature like found in the new Opera (I can't believe how much I'm missing that feature in other browsers, all extensions for this are clumsy and useless)

Once again, check the Feature Requests forum. I'd like to have that first feature too. But video pop-out? For me a useless gimmick. I'm playing videos in a separate window on the second screen if I have some work to do at the same time. I'm not opposing the idea, I'm just sharing my thoughts.