search

boukestam / inbox-in-gmail

Web extension that adds features of Google Inbox to Gmail
MIT License
123 stars 21 forks source link

Extension removed from chrome store #69

Open boukestam opened 5 years ago

boukestam commented 5 years ago

Hi guys,

Today I received this email: remove email

The extension is removed from the store until we make "some changes". It is very unclear as to what we need to change, so I've already replied to get some more information. I would like your help to figure out some things to change so I can reapply. What do you think needs to be changed?

@abasiri @g60madman @russelldc

abasiri commented 5 years ago

@boukestam That is annoying! I think it's worth just going after the two bullet points they specified. For the screenshot one, maybe we can have a split screenshot that "shows" a transformation from gmail to inbox look. on the left side is gmail and right side is inbox in gmail, with an arrow in the middle. And maybe some text on the screen shot that says make gmail look like inbox. Then followed by additional screenshots, and a screenshot of the options page.

What was the description you had in webstore?

boukestam commented 5 years ago

That is a great idea for the screenshot! The description was: 

This extension adds features from Google Inbox to Gmail: 

- show emails sent to yourself with subject "Reminder" as reminders
- group emails by date (today, yesterday, this month, etc)
- clean interface to come closer to the simplicity of Inbox
- colored avatars based on senders name
- calendar events displayed in a small card

This extension works best in English, since it relies on specific date formats.
It doesn't support the dark theme yet, so it only works with the default theme. If you are having problems with white/invisible text or icons, this is probably why. There are a few other settings which might make things look different so check these if that is the case:

Settings/Inbox/Categories -> Leave only Primary ticked
Settings/Inbox/Inbox Type -> Default or Starred First
Settings/Advanced/Multiple Inbox -> Disabled
Settings/Advanced/Preview Pane -> Disabled
espionagesoftware commented 5 years ago

I'm not a developer just a fan of this extension so I can't help with any technical issues but there is another extension that works similar (but not as well) and is still on the Chrome Store called "Inbox Theme For Gmail"

The name is pretty bland but it states specifically what you are getting: a "theme" for gmail.

Maybe their wording and description could help as well: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inbox-theme-for-gmail/albppgldjlaflgenhggocpigdgdmgpee

On another note, from the video on their site I like how the header color changes based on the folder selected (inbox, starred, snoozed, etc) http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/

Keep up the great work guys, I love this extension!

boukestam commented 5 years ago

@espionagesoftware Thanks, that is a good point, the name could definitely be better. I think we should come up with a new name and icon just to be sure. The process of applying for review takes a long time so its better to get it right

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@espionagesoftware The header color/title changing is to be fixed soon, in issue #10. I already know what needs to change for that to work. I'll probably get on that this weekend or late tonight.

Thanks for the comment, you're probably right about the name, unfortunately.

abasiri commented 5 years ago

Inbox in Gmail as a name is hard to search for anyway.

I think any new description should also talk about the bundling feature aswell. Or maybe the name can highlight that such as "inbox bundles for Gmail". That way it becomes more discoverable. (Assuming most people are looking for that feature based on comments on the extension)

joeytroy commented 5 years ago

Maybe we name it Inbox Reborn Short description - Taking the ugly and making it proper!

abasiri commented 5 years ago

I like that (without the tag line 😉)

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam Here's an updated description, this expects bundling has been merged:

Inbox In Gmail (new name to be decided)

This extension brings back the features and uncluttered design you knew and loved from Google's discontinued Inbox app to Gmail.

Features

Extension Options

Right click the extension's icon at the top right of your browser, and click 'Options' to adjust the behavior of some features:

Reminders

This option is used to determine how to treat emails sent to yourself.

Email Bundling

This option is used to bundle emails by label in the inbox.

Email Avatars

This option will show a circle with the first letter initial of the sender, to the left of the email in your folder.

Recommended Gmail Settings

Email Bundling Tips

Disable inbox category tabs:

Allow default category labels (Promotions, Social, Updates, Forums) to be bundled:

If you'd like a specific label not to be bundled, create a label called 'Unbundled', and nest any labels under it.

Known Issues

Privacy

In other words, you are not being tracked, and your data is not leaving the page to be processed or stored anywhere else. This extension just sits as a layer on top of Gmail, modifying the style and behavior of the page.

[1] https://github.com/boukestam/inbox-in-gmail

As @abasiri recommended, I agree we need a screenshot of Before/After with an arrow.

We should also have a screenshot of the extension options modal.

If we have to change the name, and it seems we do, I hope it wouldn't mean losing the current users because they're stuck on an outdated version.

@abasiri I think you're right that the current name made it harder to find. Even when I would go directly to the Chrome web store and search Inbox in Gmail, I'd have to expand to see all extensions and scroll down the page before I found it.

Also, that's a good candidate for a new name (Inbox Bundles for Gmail), and I agree a large chunk of people were looking for bundling... although, an even bigger chunk of people simply think Gmail is ugly and messy compared to Inbox, haha.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@espionagesoftware @boukestam I'm so confused how they targeted this extension for removal, and not Inbox Theme for Gmail. I think it must just be a problem with the name, because:

What images were used for this on the Chrome web store? I remember there was one on the search page that I can't find right now, and it's not shown on the Firefox store.

Here's the current extension icon: 1483250-64

And current Firefox Add-ons store screenshot: image

joeytroy commented 5 years ago

The screen shot is old, as we removed the number of emails listing i.e. Inbox 3, Drafts 21

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@g60madman Yes, that's just what was on the Firefox add-on page. I was just pulling it here for reference.

abasiri commented 5 years ago

So far I like "Inbox Reborn" the best. Vote with likes on this comment.

boukestam commented 5 years ago

Ok, so the name will probably be Inbox Reborn. And I really like russells description. Now we just need a new icon. I guess the current icon looks a lot like gmails, just colored blue. That might be a problem as well. I made an attempt at a new logo: image

abasiri commented 5 years ago

It would also be good to have a couple of good screenshots, some with full screen shots, but also some with zoomed into specific features, and a 1-2 word description on the image: eg. Group by Date, Bundles, etc.

abasiri commented 5 years ago

Something along these lines could work:

image

image

joeytroy commented 5 years ago

Here is a little something new age

inbox_reborn

abasiri commented 5 years ago

This looks cool, I think something simpler would be more appropriate. Something recognizable, yet quickly distinguishable from the original.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

Yeah, at the very least, it should be square :P

boukestam commented 5 years ago

I like the ones from @abasiri the best. The one from @g60madman looks too much like the material logo. I will resubmit with the name "Inbox Reborn". And one of the two icons from @abasiri. And for the description I use the one from @russelldc. Which icon do you like the best?

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam I like the idea of @abasiri 's icons, but I think they may be way too similar to the real Inbox logo right now.

Also, I updated the screenshot in the repo's README yesterday, but it's just an After, not a Before/After.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam Here's a before/after set of screenshots I just took. They're the same exact dimension; that should make it easier to put together a comparison illustration. Same inbox content in both screenshots:

Screen Shot 2019-05-04 at 8 11 31 PM Screen Shot 2019-05-04 at 8 09 53 PM
russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam An animated GIF, if they allow those:

ezgif-3-63182714d6bd

If you need a smaller one, this one's 600KB, versus the 2.8MB above: ezgif-3-6e2dd74e3d91

russelldc commented 5 years ago

I found these guidelines they have for Chrome extensions that mention or display Google brands:

https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/branding

boukestam commented 5 years ago

Ok so we definitely need a completely new icon then. Not using anything from existing google icons. What do you think about this one: image

boukestam commented 5 years ago

We should also probably change the "Inbox" back to gmail in the top bar. Since that makes it look like it is actually inbox and that is a google product

russelldc commented 5 years ago

We should also probably change the "Inbox" back to gmail in the top bar. Since that makes it look like it is actually inbox and that is a google product

I disagree, that's the name of the email folder you're in. But... I should go fix #10 (Change header title and color by folder) right now so that's actually always true. According to @leggett (co-founder of the Inbox product) at least, as he so gracefully put it:

And of course, there’s that massive Gmail logo that sits in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Just in case you forgot that you just typed “gmail.com” into your browser bar three seconds ago. “Go look at any desktop app and tell me how many have a huge fucking logo in the top left,” rants Leggett. “C’mon. It’s pure ego, pure bullshit. Drop the logo. Give me a break.”

Source: FastCompany Interview

By the way, @leggett, what do you think of the bundling implementation we (mostly @abasiri) added, based on your advice? There's a few more enhancements to be made (#70), but it certainly works! You can see screenshots up above, at https://github.com/boukestam/inbox-in-gmail/issues/69#issuecomment-489356655.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam I think some good mix of your first idea https://github.com/boukestam/inbox-in-gmail/issues/69#issuecomment-489175617 and the most recent one would work.

I think your first one may have been a small modification of the Inbox logo. How about one of us re-do the blue envelope from scratch, and instead of the reminder icon on the opened letter in the envelope as in the first idea, place a refresh symbol there.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

I noticed the branding guidelines say it's okay to mention the name of a Google product in the name, description, and promotional image for your extension on the Chrome Web Store, but that it should include the trademark symbol, like:

Inbox Reborn for Gmail™

Although, it seems quite rare to see others actually doing that (ex: Dropbox for Gmail, Boomerang for Gmail, Simplify Gmail, Inbox Theme for Gmail, and many many more)

russelldc commented 5 years ago

I just pushed up code that changes the header's title and color to reflect the current folder. Fixes issue #10 in PR #74 Please review so I can merge asap @abasiri @boukestam @g60madman , thanks!

boukestam commented 5 years ago

I have merged it. I will create a draft with the new version, icon, name and description later today and put that on the chrome store for review. We can always change the icon later if we want. Hopefully we are back online in a few days

boukestam commented 5 years ago

Can you make some screenshots of the inbox and done page? My inbox is really full of private emails at the moment

russelldc commented 5 years ago

Can you make some screenshots of the inbox and done page? My inbox is really full of private emails at the moment

Sure, give me a few minutes. I'll need to shuffle around private emails, too :)

russelldc commented 5 years ago

Oh weird, I just pulled the merged master, and the bundle/category icons aren't working anymore. Fixing now...

russelldc commented 5 years ago

Fixed. I left behind a stupid typo during the change that added colored custom labels.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

inbox_menuopen inbox

done_menuopen done

Original Gmail UI for my inbox:

gmail_open_2 gmail_2

russelldc commented 5 years ago

All of those are 1280x800 * 2 resolution.

Chrome Web Store guidelines recommend 1280x800 for screenshots.

phillips-tech commented 5 years ago

@boukestam , I'm a user and a developer. I'm missing this extension on my recently provisioned laptop. Can I help?

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@quietseditionist Know anybody on the Chrome Web Store team who can fast track the appeal/re-submission? :P I think we're just waiting for approval, right now, if @boukestam submitted it 3 days ago as he said he did.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@quietseditionist If you really need this on your laptop, you can just load the extension from the source here on Github. Just clone the repo or download it as a zip and extract to a folder. Go to chrome://extensions/, toggle Developer Mode in the top right, and then click the Load Unpacked button near the top left.

phillips-tech commented 5 years ago

Heh, I wish I could say so @russelldc . I will do the side-load thing. Thanks!

boukestam commented 5 years ago

It was already rejected unfortunately, so I've just reverted everything to how it was (excluding the new icon and name) and I'm now waiting on a reply again... image

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam Ugh, did they give any explanation for the rejection?

Why'd you decide to revert the description/screenshot? Couldn't it be considered misleading to use the older screenshot and description with the new code? I might be overthinking that, though.

The submission FAQ says:

Write a catchy title, a clear and descriptive short description, and a detailed long description. Create screenshots that demonstrate how your app or extension works.

Also, what screenshot did you use in your submission? Was it a before/after split image?

boukestam commented 5 years ago

Well, it was rejected with the previous (new) screenshots, which where exact matches with how it looks when being used. I also added your description @russelldc and even the new name. But that was not good enough and they said this: image So the only explaination I can think of is that they just don't believe our extension really looks like the screenshots and does what the descriptions says... Or they have something against extensions which target their own products

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam

Or they have something against extensions which target their own products

That's clearly not true. There's hundreds of extensions that deal specifically with Gmail.

Well, it was rejected with the previous (new) screenshots,

So, the images of the inbox and done folder I posted earlier in this issue? Not a before/after split image kind of thing?

Thanks for including their original response, but I was wondering if there was any new message that came with the recent second rejection?

Based on that email from them, I don't think it's a good idea to revert to the old screenshots/descriptions, I don't see why that would be a better path for the submission. It's more misleading/inaccurate... And I've read that if it gets rejected several times in a row, it can be banned permanently.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam What did you submit as the extension's promotional image?

The one that shows up here, on the search page:

Screen Shot 2019-05-10 at 3 11 11 PM

Or did you leave it as just the logo with whitespace?

Also, what did you use as the "Short description"? The one that shows up on the search page, as shown in the screenshot above.

russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam I'm pushing up a new commit to the master branch with a new manifest.json (with a better short description: Adds features like reminders, email bundling and Inbox's minimalistic style to Gmail™, as well as the Inbox Reborn theme for Gmail™ name.) and a slightly modified long description, with the trademark symbol.

When you submitted, did you change the extension's icon in the icons/ folder before packaging for the Chrome Web Store? If not, can you either commit those or upload them here? The master branch still has the old icon .pngs in that folder.

Also, could you add the screenshot of the Options page to the Chrome Web Store submission? That's in the README now.

Edit: I pushed up the commit, and bumped version to v0.5.0

russelldc commented 5 years ago

Here's a before/after I whipped up quickly. I don't have much time right now, I might come up with something better later. I'd recommend using this (or something like it) as the main screenshot, followed by the Options menu, the new Done folder, and the new Inbox folder screenshots

before_after_screenshot

boukestam commented 5 years ago

I did almost exactly that and it was rejected:

before after
russelldc commented 5 years ago

@boukestam That one seems good enough to me... Although why were you using that old screenshot on the after side? Edit: ah, my newer ones may have been uploaded here after you submitted that day.

How about the other questions? When you re-submitted, did you update the manifest to match the new name and description, and extension icon?