Better user error reporting for a chrome extension

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
Alright, there's this problem I'm having. I have a popular google chrome extension that I've developed. However, it keeps breaking for a variety of users over time. This isn't the end of the world or anything but it is annoying. And, sometimes, it breaks in mysterious ways.

Now, the thing that I'd like to do is add more console.logs and try/catch clauses and so forth but that's all kinda pointless if I can't get the user to report the problem back to me. The extension is for a particular website that uses a lot of dynamic code. I could report the issue in the dev tools console but that's useless for my casual users because they don't know how to bring that up and report back and yadda yadda. Too much work!

I need a better way for them to report the problem that's occurring with some information along with it. Is there a viable way to go about this? I thought of having some kind of ultimate catch function that catches all errors and console.log messages that my extension put out (logging them in some variable) and then pushes them out into the page into a handy link where the user can report the problem by clicking the link. (It'd automatically submit a report and so forth) However, there's not a good way to go about that (particularly in the sense of what service do I use for the link? I'd consider using my personal website if I could setup some root@mywebsite.com email account and some php page that fired off an email to my trident@gmail.com email address with all the info...)
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,375
6,198
126
I'd do what you mentioned, in that have it send an email to you behind the scenes when it hits the certain part of code that is erroring, along with sending the error to you.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
I'd do what you mentioned, in that have it send an email to you behind the scenes when it hits the certain part of code that is erroring, along with sending the error to you.

Well, the thing is that I cannot actually have it go out and fetch my website on a whim unless I give the extension authorized access to make calls out to my website. (Which I refuse to do; I don't want people to think I am tracking them and I don't particularly want to track people anyway. I don't even have google analytics in my extension.)

I'll probably insert some kind of link with params in the URI that pass the necessary information along. (Such as, version number of the extension, video this occurred on, what the error(s) were, and whatever else I can think of) It'd be up to the user to click the link to report the problem.
 

TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
5,479
14
81
I mean if a user doesn't want to report a bug then there's not much you can do. All you can really do is have something like github setup so they can report it somewhere.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
I mean if a user doesn't want to report a bug then there's not much you can do. All you can really do is have something like github setup so they can report it somewhere.

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that the process is too difficult. Laymen don't know how to open the console or even care to. Give them a link that gives me all the details by just one click? Yes. They'll do it.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,375
6,198
126
Well, the thing is that I cannot actually have it go out and fetch my website on a whim unless I give the extension authorized access to make calls out to my website. (Which I refuse to do; I don't want people to think I am tracking them and I don't particularly want to track people anyway. I don't even have google analytics in my extension.)

I'll probably insert some kind of link with params in the URI that pass the necessary information along. (Such as, version number of the extension, video this occurred on, what the error(s) were, and whatever else I can think of) It'd be up to the user to click the link to report the problem.

there's a difference between not being able to do something and not wanting to do something, and you can easily do this, and this is the route i would go if i needed this.

maybe not make it automatically happen, but make a button or something as mentioned that will "report it" to you.

i mean they already downloaded the extension, so i'm assuming you have some kind of website. why not make it hit an endpoint on that website that then sends email to you somewhere?
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
there's a difference between not being able to do something and not wanting to do something, and you can easily do this, and this is the route i would go if i needed this.

maybe not make it automatically happen, but make a button or something as mentioned that will "report it" to you.

i mean they already downloaded the extension, so i'm assuming you have some kind of website. why not make it hit an endpoint on that website that then sends email to you somewhere?

That is what I was saying... I just don't want it done automatically or invisibly or without the users consent.

So what if they installed the damn thing? I installed plenty of extensions but I didn't want them to harvest all my data! (And many do!)
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,375
6,198
126
That is what I was saying... I just don't want it done automatically or invisibly or without the users consent.

So what if they installed the damn thing? I installed plenty of extensions but I didn't want them to harvest all my data! (And many do!)

So then add a button for them to report it as has been mentioned multiple times. I'm not sure what other advice you are looking for. You have 2 options - do it blindly to the users, or do it with their consent. Your options are limited and straight forward.