Components
Duckduckgo privacy extension is a opensource plugin for Duckduckgo search engine that helps user navigate easily with Duckduckgo search engine.
Below Improvement applies to all the desktop browser extensions by duckduckgo
Proposal
I had just installed the extension on chrome and wanted to provide some feedback so i went to Menu (More options) -> send feedback list and clicked on the link. by doing do it opened up a string on the browser URL like ->
mailto:extension-feedback@duckduckgo.com?subject=Chrome%20Extension%20Feedback&body=Help%20us%20improve%20by%20sharing%20a%20little%20info%20about%20the%20issue%20you%27ve%20encountered%2E%0A%0ATell%20us%20which%20features%20or%20functionality%20your%20feedback%20refers%20to%2E%20What%20do%20you%20love%3F%20What%20isn%27t%20working%3F%20How%20could%20it%20be%20improved%3F%20%20%0A%0A----URL%20is%20chrome%3A%2F%2Fnewtab%2F
Here is a step to observe the behavior:
- Add chrome extension on your browser.
- Click on extension icon and then click on More button (located in top left).
- Click on "Send feedback" link and observe.
- Click on "Report broken site" link and observe.
Note: both of these options are also present in "More Options" -> "Settings screen")
This looks extremely spam and looks like someone is trying to hack you browser.
Here is few solutions that I propose.
Mockups / Examples
Approach 1 : duckduckgo already has a feedback page. the easiest solution is to redirect user to this page.
With this way when user has to report anything they will be redirect to the feedback page and will not see something fishy URL on browser.
Approach 2 : The other solution is having feedback section in extension itself. There can be a simple pop-up opened in the extension itself so anyone can easily fill the feedback and submit it.
Here is a mockup of how it will be look like.
A user will have to just click on the link and a popup will get displayed in extension itself where user can fill-up and feedback and send it easily.
As for the other information like extension version, browser and OS this information can be picked automatically since user will be running the extension and providing feedback from installed extension of particular machine.
Benefits
By implementing form one of the two scenarios user will be easily available to provide their feedback easily without any hassle and it will reduce the unnecessary spam looking URLs therefore building more trust among users.
Extension Name : DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
Browser : Every browser
Version : 2018.2.6
Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors