How to change an add-on from listed to unlisted without losing the existing users?

Add-ons Development
#1

Hi,

How do you migrate an addon from a listed addon to an unlisted addon without losing all the existing users? AFAICT listed addons always update from AMO (the update URL must be left blank). So how do you distribute a new addon that starts updating from a 3rd party server? Surely you’d have to get an addon on AMO that includes the update URL of the 3rd party server? Is there any other way?

We have to move from a listed addon to an unlisted addon because it breaks one of Mozilla’s addon policies, which we were not previously aware of, and currently cannot change (addon requires a subscription for full functionality).

#2

This is very easy, just go to your “Manage Versions & Statuses” page, and then pick “Invisible”:

H6gQbRD.png1333×874 131 KB

#3

i have the same issue.
I don’t think that “invisible” = unlisted.

invisible addon don’t allow updates.
unlisted addon is an addon hosted by another site.
I don’t find answer but i think that i should create another addon.

#4

This documentation explains your options

You can upload listed or unlisted versions for any add-on you have on AMO. The suggestion of setting the add-on to Invisible is just so the existing listed versions aren’t visible anymore, which is probably a necessary step if you want to move to unlisted.

As for the original question about moving users, listed add-ons aren’t allowed to move users from a listed version to an unlisted one. It’s okay to tell users about unlisted versions that are available, but it should be up to the users to actually make the switch.

#5

This is what i m looking for . if we unlisted the extension then the existing customer will not get update from the unlisted addon. Because existing customer installed the extension without update url in manifest when the addon is listed .

#6

There is no way to automatically update from an listed addon to an unlisted addon. The best you can do is to notify the existing users via email and then get them to visit your site and manually install the unlisted addon.

It’s unfortunate, but it makes sense from Mozilla’s perspective. They need to be able to say “you chose to install an addon that we don’t review/support”. So forcing the user to do a manual install makes sure that the user is aware that the addon does not come from Mozilla.