sorting the Firewall rules list by name, date, etc.

[hazardass 3]

Hello,

 

Thank you for keeping ESS great!  I've tried many security suites and I find this one to be one of most user-friendly and most functional.  That is, up until I started using version 9.

Unfortunately the Firewall rules list is one area that seems to have undergone some major changes in version 9, and most of them for the worst.  I always use the interactive-mode firewall, and I like to see everything that requires internet access, and determine every single rule myself.  My list grows very long very quickly, and it becomes very difficult to find anything in it.  Up until version 8 I’ve been a big fan of the rules list capabilities which made it easy to sort through. 

 

For example, there was an option called "Detailed View", where we were able to sort the list of applications by name, date modified, and many other categories, which was very helpful, and without which it would have been much harder to locate stuff.  Also, in version 8 the applications list showed the icons of the various programs, making it very easy to recognize most of them without even reading the executable name.  This helped with quickly recognizing trusted programs and moving on to the next.

In version 9,

• Detailed view with the sorting feature is seems to be missing.
• The program icons are missing making the list very difficult to read.
• The ‘Application’ column now shows the full path of the executable making the app name even more difficult to identify.  Version 8 only showed the exe name, and displayed the path as a tooltip when scrolling over the exe.  That was also better.
• The application column width is reset every time I enter the rules list, so I have to expand it every time.  Version 8 remembered the column settings.

The newly added search feature helps to identify a particular program in the list, but it doesn’t solve the issue of having a list which is hard to look at and understand.  Most of the time I just want to see the full list of recent additions, and be able to recognize most of the trusted ones immediately.  That’s not possible anymore. 

 

Is there a way to enable sorting, or program icons in version 9?  Why was the rules list made so user-unfriendly?

 

Your assistance is appreciated.  Thank you.

[Marcos 5,074]

As of v9, rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list which was not the case in previous versions of ESS. Also you can click the magnifier glass icon and enter a string you'd like to use as a filter which is new in v9.

[hazardass 3]

As of v9, rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list which was not the case in previous versions of ESS. Also you can click the magnifier glass icon and enter a string you'd like to use as a filter which is new in v9

 

 

Thank you for the response.

 

I'm just not sure what it means that programs are evaluated in the order they appear, or how that's relevant to the questions I asked about the sorting or the program icons. 

[carradar 2]

On 2/17/2016 at 9:50 PM, Marcos said:

As of v9, rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list which was not the case in previous versions of ESS. Also you can click the magnifier glass icon and enter a string you'd like to use as a filter which is new in v9.

And what changes have been made in version 10?

Can I sort rules by date, can I keep track rules for deleted programs as it was in version 8?

Or Eset deleted all extra stats and program icons for firewall rules to create not user-friendly interface? 
Should I go back to the newest version. Yes, I want to go back, if I can find the same good old interface for firewall. But I don't see in the articles, how new interface looks like. With the limitation of sorting by date and lack of program icons interface v9 was terrible.

[twins4384 1]

Another point. Are you sure that you have completely removed all of the Norton Anti-virus app. It is important that you use the removal tool to do this before installing ESET.

[peteyt 393]

On 17/02/2016 at 4:50 PM, Marcos said:

As of v9, rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list which was not the case in previous versions of ESS. Also you can click the magnifier glass icon and enter a string you'd like to use as a filter which is new in v9.

I understand it is arranged this way but why no option to arrange it other ways? Most firewalls tend to allow you to organise my name and other things. I think this would make things far easier and it seems backwards to me that it is removed. Yes there is the search options if you want to find specific rules but this doesn't help if your basically just going through the rules in general.  Also the fact allow communication is added at the start of each application doesn't help as it makes it harder to see the application name. Removing that part of the text and then allowing the organisation by name would make things far easier alongside application icons.

I see someone mentioned dead firewall rules as well. Does eset remove these or do you have to remove them manually? An option to allow this would be beneficial

[peteyt 393]

Just to add I have just googled and looked at how other security vendors are doing this. I will not post the images as I'm not sure if this would be against forum rules as it could be seen as advertising competition. Most have maybe made the firewall rules too simple but they have made the design work a lot better. The names are much easier to read because of the text I mentioned above and some contain icons and the ability to rearrange. I also discovered duplicate rules when looking in esets rules which makes having a better way to view and organise them even more handy

[Marcos 5,074]

Feel free to post screen shots of other firewalls. As I have mentioned, as of v9 rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list and it's not possible for user to choose between the rule evaluation logic used until v8 and in newer versions.

[peteyt 393]

2 hours ago, Marcos said:

Feel free to post screen shots of other firewalls. As I have mentioned, as of v9 rules are evaluated in the order they appear in the list and it's not possible for user to choose between the rule evaluation logic used until v8 and in newer versions.

The AVG one is probably the better one - it shows the rules organised by name along with icons.

I suppose the question is why can't Eset change it so that the rules can be arranged like previously. I know most average users probably won't visit the rules but it should still be designed in a way that is easy to navigate like previously.