Finding and Installing Firefox Extensions SURF’S UP

LINUXUSER DeskTOPia: Firefox Add-ons

Finding and installing Firefox extensions SURF’S UP

If you look around the Internet, you’ll find a number of useful add-ons for Mozilla Firefox. BY ANDREAS KNEIB

he Mozilla Firefox browser is de- most useful modules for the new Firefox the module is available. Then just re- signed to easily accommodate ex- 1.5. launch the web browser to enable the Ttensions, and the Firefox commu- tools. nity has responded with a rich assort- Getting Started If Firefox fails to locate working exten- ment of add-on modules. If you’re inter- If your Linux distribution doesn’t have sions, the old extensions will stay dis- ested in higher performance, or even if the latest version of Firefox, you can abled until an update becomes available you just want to check the weather, download it from the Firefox homepage or until you remove the extensions man- you’ll find a Firefox add-on to meet your at [1]. Once you have installed the latest ually. If you still encounter problems, needs. We took a look at some of the version, you can open the Firefox Exten- such as the program crashing because sion Manager (Figure 1) by selecting the browser has stumbled over an in- Tools | Extensions. The Extension Man- compatible or broken module, you can ager is a central tool for plug-in manage- try starting the program in safe mode ment. using the following parameters in the If your Firefox 1.0 version already has command line: firefox -safe-mode. a number of extensions installed before In safe mode, all extensions and you upgrade to Firefox 1.5, the browser themes [4] are disabled, and you can should now show you if the modules are run the Extension Manager to remove compatible with the new version. If not, the offending module. you can click the Update button at the Figure 1: The Firefox Extension Manager bottom of the Extension Manager win- New Material shows you the extensions currently dow. The program now checks the proj- If you have been running Firefox without installed in your browser.. ect website to see if a newer version of any add-ons, you might like to visit the

80 ISSUE 66 MAY 2006 WWW.LINUX - MAGAZINE.COM DeskTOPia: Firefox Add-ons LINUXUSER

Firefox add-on website at [2] to see what you have been missing (Figure 2). You can go to the website without leaving the Extension Manager by clicking on the Get more extensions link. The list contains the ten most popular add-ons, as well as links to other extensions and resources. The categories are shown on the left, from blogging extensions via download tools, to tools that protect your privacy. In addition to this website, there are various alternative projects that offer extensions for the Firefox browser, such as the Extension Mirror [3]. Ad Blocker Let’s start with a plug-in that you need to make some websites usable: Adblock. The module blocks elements such as ad- Figure 2: The Firefox Add-ons page provides links to the most popular Firefox extensions. vertising graphics and intrusive banners. The Ad Blocker is normally one of the for the tool. Adblock understands wild- default, as it often uses up much of an ten most popular add-ons. cards such as the asterisk “*”, and this is Internet connection's bandwidth. The The installation is really simple. Just a good thing, especially if you are billed text box below the option allows you to go to the Adblock website [5] and click for airtime, as it helps display the page exclude certain links from prefetching. the Install Now link. This link opens the more quickly, and this can save you a lot Enhanced prefetching is different from software install dialog (Figure 3). of money. the browser’s integrated prefetching fea- Press Install to launch into the pro- ture. The web server has to support stan- cess. After restarting the browser, you The Quick Brown Fox dard prefetching for the browser to lever- should find that Adblock is ready for To farther improve the browsing speed, age it. In contrast to this, enhanced takeoff. If this procedure fails for some you might like to install the Fasterfox ex- prefetching downloads linked websites reason, select Edit | Preferences | Content tension. Just like Adblock, you will find autonomously, even if the server does to see which websites have been ap- Fasterfox in the list of tools under Most not support prefetching. proved for software installation. But re- Popular Firefox Extensions, or on the At the bottom of the tab is a checkbox member to restrict this to trustworthy project homepage at [6]. The plug-in that asks if you wish to display a timer sites to avoid opening up a security hole. gives you a number of techniques for at the foot of the Firefox window. The Another method of integrating the ad improving web page loading speeds. timer tells you how much time the blocker is to download the extension file After completing the install, you can browser will need to load the page. Right and then just drag & drop the file icon to use the preferences manager to complete clicking the timer takes you to a dialog install. To do so, just right click the In- the configuration. Start by clicking on with various options. stall Now link, and select Save link as… the Fasterfox plug-in in the overview. When Fasterfox hits the accelerator to save the extension with the xpi file ex- Then click on Preferences to go to the with a bunch of optimized settings, it tension on your hard disk. The next step options. sends Firefox shooting through the is to use the Konqueror file manager to Non-technical users can just check the World Wide Web at high speed. Assum- drag the file to the main Firefox window Turbo box to bring the browser up to to launch into the software installation. speed. But if you enjoy experimenting, Working with Adblock is simple; an you can click Modify to display a selec- Adblock message appears in the bar at tion of tabs for individual customization. the bottom of the browser window. One of Fasterfox’s major strengths is When you click the message, the tool its ability to preload web pages; this abil- shows you a list of elements on the web- ity is known as Enhanced Prefetching. site you are currently viewing and offers This means that, while opening a site, to hide some of these elements. You can the browser also loads the sites that this right click an element on a page to pop- site links to in the background. When up a menu that lets you disable an you click one of the links, the browser image, or an Iframe element, for exam- serves up the document without any ple. delay. You can go to Tools | Adblock | Prefer- You can configure prefetching via the Figure 3: You can use this dialog box to add ences to manage and edit the filter rules General tab. This option is disabled by Adblock.

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There are three tabs with settings: General, Appearance, and Advanced. Use the General tab to enter web pages where you will permit Javascripts to run. Appearance lets you specify where you want the Noscript icon to reside, or the alert tone that warns you when the plug- in fights off a script. The other fields are for changing the display. The extended parameters let you specify how to handle copy & paste, Macro- media Flash, Java, or other plug-ins. Now, whenever you run across a page on the World Wide Web that attempts to launch Javascript, a bar with an Options button appears (Figure 4). The button takes you to a menu where you can allow scripts on this website to run either permanently or in the current browser session. This menu gives users the freedom to choose whether to allow scripts on a Figure 4: The Noscript add-on identifies Javascript code and presents the user with a menu case by case basis without having to of options. click through the browser’s Javascript settings every time. This feature is not ing you are not billed by volume, you metric measurements. The other sec- just a matter of convenience; it also has will definitely enjoy the experience of tions of the many concern optional set- security implications. If you change your enhanced prefetching. tings, such as the display appearance, Javascript settings multiple times during tool tips, or links. an Internet session, you are bound to Weather Fox Besides a weather preview for the next lose track of the settings at some stage; The name Forecastfox may sound few days, your virtual weather forecaster it is good to know whether Javascript is slightly similar to Fasterfox, but the gives you a satellite picture with your enabled or not. function this extension gives you is com- home town at the center. To display the pletely different. Forecastfox is the satellite image, drag the mouse to the Conclusions weather forecaster for your browser. green radar icon at the bottom of the Browsers like Firefox fit a user like a tai- Again, this is one of the ten most popu- screen. Clicking on the icon opens the lor-made suit. With its wide choice of lar extensions on the Firefox website, http:// wwwa. accuweather. com website extensions, you can customize Firefox to and the extension even has its own in the browser and gives you a full- suit your individual needs. ■ homepage [7]. screen display of the satellite image. The tool displays a regularly updated Admittedly, Forecastfox won’t do INFO weather forecast at the bottom of the much to improve the weather, but at [1] Firefox download: Firefox window. Of course, Forecastfox least you’ll know if it’s worth leaving http:// www. mozilla. com/ firefox/ has no way of knowing where you live, your desk. At the same time, the tool re- [2] Official Firefox extensions: so you will want to configure your loca- moves the need to launch a third-party https:// addons. mozilla. org/ extensions/ tion in the Extension Manager. In the weather forecasting application such as ?application=firefox General section, press Find location to Wmweather. [3] Extensions mirror: do so. http:// www. extensionsmirror. nl Type the name of your hometown in Tricks [4] Official Firefox themes: the mask that now appears. The pro- The last add-on we will be looking at is https:// addons. mozilla. org/ themes/ gram searches in the weather station da- a surfing tool titled Noscript [8], which ?application=firefox tabase for towns with the same name as lets you enable or disable Javascript and [5] Adblock: your hometown and gives you a list of Java to suit your own preferences. There https:// addons. mozilla. org/ extensions/ options. After you select your location are various ways to access the options moreinfo. php?id=10&application=fire from the list, the extension will keep you for this popular extension. You can ei- fox updated on your local weather. ther take the route via the Extension [6] Fasterfox: http:// fasterfox. mozdev. org Another of the options concerns the Manager, just like with Fasterfox, or you [7] Forecastfox: units of measurement for your local can use the Noscript bar in the browser http:// forecastfox. mozdev. org weather station. Depending on your per- window, or the icon at the foot of the [8] NoScript: http:// noscript. net sonal taste, you can opt for imperial or program window.

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