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Firefox Hacks 309
Firefox Hacks | |
author | Nigel McFarlane |
pages | 368 |
publisher | O'Reilly |
rating | 7 |
reviewer | Tony Williams |
ISBN | 0596009283 |
summary | A good, fairly technical examination of Firefox |
The first of several books on the topic of Firefox hacking (two more are due from other publishers in the coming months) Firefox Hacks sets the bar quite high. The author, Nigel McFarlane, has already written a number of other books and articles on similar topics and knows his subject well. He has also enlisted the help of a number of other cognoscenti to cover the more distant corners covered in the book.
A Web browser is a much more complex piece of software than you may realize on first examination, and Firefox -- with the core Gecko engine surrounded by a large wrapper written in XUL and JavaScript -- provides a fertile ground for any number of changes and enhancements. Firefox Hacks does a good job of mapping out the boundaries of this space.
Over the course of the now-traditional 100 hacks found in the same series' other members, this book covers hacking with, on, and to almost all aspects of Firefox and the 'net. The book is broken up into nine chapters, most worth reading by almost everyone -- even the first, "Firefox Basics," taught me a couple of tricks for getting the best out of a slow (and expensive) GPRS connection. The others are "Security," "Installation," "Web Surfing Enhancements," "Power Tools for Web Developers," "Power XML for Web Pages," "Hack the Chrome Ugly," "Hack the Chrome Cleanly," and "Work More Closely With Firefox." I have to say I felt the chapter on Power XML (with 17 of the 100 hacks) was far too general on Web technologies and a little out of place; easily half the hacks in that chapter could have been dropped without any real loss to a reader's understanding of Firefox. I would have preferred more on the browser itself. No insult intended to Seth Dillingham, who wrote four of the hacks I'd throw out -- they are well written and do show how best to deal with Web technologies inside Firefox. I just felt that the space would have been better devoted to more "core" topics.
The first four chapters will be useful to everyone, covering mainly the use of Firefox. From that point, the hacks become increasingly complex as they cover Web development, then modifying the interface, before covering such arcana as creating extensions and custom builds.
I am hard pressed to think of a corner of Firefox not at least touched, though it must be said that the later hacks only touch on the topics covered without really providing a lot of depth. If you get to the last two chapters in the book, performing and expanding on the hacks, you will probably need a great deal more information and assistance to branch out on your own. McFarlane, however, points out the possibilities and gets you started. I didn't feel this was a flaw, just that a line had been drawn, as it must unless the book was going to be three times the size and price.
The book is fairly well written. The quality of writing and editing fall into that middle ground of "fairly good" that one expects from the average O'Reilly book, though not the "excellent" they can sometimes hit. The structure and flow are excellent, making the book readable in large chunks -- enough sticks that when you are back in front of the computer using Firefox you can remember a few things. (Or, sometimes, I remembered that a hint existed and was able to easily find and use the information.)
For a closer look there is a decent page at O'Reilly with links to six example hacks, the table of contents (listing all 100 hacks) and the index.
To conclude, I'm not sure I could recommend this book to everyone; it spends a little too much time a fair way along the technology curve for those who aren't ready for some programming, though for anyone who wants to get their hands dirty and perform some hardcore hacking on their favourite browser, then this is an above-average volume. For someone who is happy as "just a user," this book may be too much: wait and see what else emerges into the Firefox book market -- including O'Reilly's other offering, the soon-to-be-released Don't Click on the Blue E, which they describe as giving "non-technical users a convenient roadmap for switching to a better web browser--Firefox."
Also watch soon for a review of Prentice Hall's Firefox & Thunderbird Garage. You can purchase Firefox Hacks from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
PDF Hack (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:5, Informative)
Not only "slowly" but also unstably.
Every system I've applied this FAQ entry to has much better performance.
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:5, Informative)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2, Informative)
Re:PDF Hack (Score:2)
I've read the PDF pages on the site... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I've read the PDF pages on the site... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I've read the PDF pages on the site... (Score:2)
One hack I want (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:One hack I want (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:One hack I want (Score:5, Informative)
The reason your intranet works for everyone on IE is because IE supports Windows integrated security. It can tell that you are who you say you are because your machine is joined to the Windows domain.
Re:One hack I want (Score:5, Informative)
that is bloody great (Score:2)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2, Funny)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2)
Only problem is, you need to input your Windows domain username/password before viewing any internal page served up by IIS.
IE (as per usual) happily gives the server my authentication data...this is why IE is unfortunately here to stay in the office environment, unless you run Apache.
Re:One hack I want (Score:3, Funny)
I suppose (or rather HOPE) there is a hidden setting somewhere in Firefox, but I haven't found it in about:config.
(and wth is the grand-parent modded funny? you people have a weird sense of humour)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2)
Re:One hack I want (Score:2, Insightful)
http://www.google.com [google.com]\@scammersite.com
resulting in a redirect to the scammer's site.
MAF (Score:5, Informative)
Didn't RTFA yet (Score:5, Funny)
If there is any English that would make me not want to read this article, particularly since English is my first language, then I don't know what that might be.
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:2, Informative)
If there is an application I run more often than my Web browser, then I don't know what it might be.
The "then" might be debatable, but otherwise it makes perfect sense to me. And taking the aside on its own is fine as well, so I dunno what your gripe is.
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:4, Insightful)
However, the suggestion that the writer isn't a native speaker is both bigoted and illogical. Only a native speaker could spawn that many subordinate clauses in such a confusing way!
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:3, Funny)
Point in case: confusing subordinate clauses aren't related to the language they're expressed in, just to the Kafkaesqueness
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:3, Funny)
but (beware (lisp (write (those who)))
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:2)
Do you know what the gripe is now?
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:2)
Personally, I wouldn't consider the original to be a lengthy aside, at least compared to your most verbose example, but to each their own I guess.
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:2)
Re:Didn't RTFA yet (Score:2)
"That" is a baggage word. It elogates the sentence without adding meaning. Try this:
If there is an application I run more often than my Web browser...
Class dismissed.
Close (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Close (Score:2)
Google firefox
Netscape firefox
AOL firefox?
Re:Close (Score:2)
Re:Close (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Close (Score:2)
Netscape 6 & 7 uses the Seamonkey (Mozilla Suite) Front end.
Netscape 8 will use the Firefox Front end (though heavily customised to Netscape)
Do you feel lucky, punk? (Score:5, Funny)
Good about: config explanation (Score:5, Informative)
I did the opposite of the Anonymity sub-chapter by putting my home page URL into my referrer string.
Re:Good about: config explanation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Good about: config explanation (Score:2)
Re:Good about: config explanation (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Good about: config explanation (Score:2)
HTML instead of PDF (Score:5, Informative)
Hack 31: Take Firefox with You [64.233.179.104]
Hack 43: Waste Time with Toys and Games [64.233.179.104]
Hack 44: Tweak and Troubleshoot CSS Designs [64.233.179.104]
Hack 69: Make New Tags and Widgets with XBL [64.233.179.104]
Hack 92: Get a Custom, Prebuilt Version [64.233.179.104]
--
Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play [fairfaxunderground.com]
If you think the book requires too much coding ... (Score:2, Insightful)
If you're not ready for some programming, then, by definition, you're not a hacker.
Geesh, next you'll want the Flash version
A GUI would be nice (Score:2)
Re:A GUI would be nice (Score:2)
Heeyy... don't cry. Here, have the latest issue of "Wired" to wipe your nose on.
Re:If you think the book requires too much coding (Score:2, Insightful)
Honestly - I was looking through the sample pages, and I didn't think any of it looked hacker-friendly enough. I'd like to read more about Firefox's internals (sort of like the book "How Tomcat Works", but written by somebody who can write) and extrapolate my own hacks from there. I'm sure this book has a target audience, but it's not hackers - a hacker would want some kind of a rough outline for fixing bugs and adding features to Firefox, but based on the pages on the O'Reilly site, this book is geared t
Re:If you think the book requires too much coding (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If you think the book requires too much coding (Score:2)
Firefox Prototype (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Firefox Prototype (Score:5, Funny)
I don't get it. What's the problem?
--Alex Moskalyuk
Re:Firefox Prototype (Score:2)
Mr prostoalex post was a pun. It gave me a good laugh. I'm sure he's seen the firefox movie before.
Re:Firefox Prototype (Score:2, Funny)
Don't click on the blue E! (Score:5, Informative)
O'reilly have a book called Don't click on the blue E! [oreilly.com] that's a kind of migration guide from IE to Firefox for disenchanted Internet Explorer users.
I just love the title of it. Frankly, how many Firefox users trying to get thir sister/mother/grandma to use Firefox (mostly because they're sick of being called to remove spywares/viruses induced by IE) have actually use that phrase?
Re:Don't click on the blue E! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Don't click on the blue E! (Score:2)
For many people if you install FF, import their IE settings and swap the shortcut targets they will never notice the difference.
Yeah, right... (Score:2)
Far too many recreational user sites are this way as well.
Nice review (Score:5, Informative)
XML and other quibbles (Score:5, Interesting)
Not that anything was really excluded. They seem to have had a little trouble coming up with 100 hacks. Some I see on the list are interesting, but not strictly about Firefox (CSS, Bugzilla). Some are pretty lame ("Identify and Use Toolbar Icons"). Some are not even hacks (a list of customized prebuilt versions).
Some hacks do look interesting -- integrating Firefox with other apps, making chromes and extensions, and (as I said) XML support. Maybe these are good enough to justify the price of the book. Though a book about these specific topics might be money better spent.
Haven't read the book.. (Score:2)
Also, check out Favicon picker, for those last few sites that don't work properly (shame on you, www.dilbert.com). Nice too, for those embedded devices you keep bookmarks too, (print servers, etc). Even if my WAP icon looks gay (I did pretty decent freehanding on the printer icon).
PS Anyone have a decent 16x1
Re:Haven't read the book.. (Score:2, Informative)
Installing a extension just so you can tweak a few bookmark icons is just a bit, you know...
Re: Greasemonkey (Score:4, Informative)
Looking at the CVS repository for Greasemonkey ( http://www.mozdev.org/source/browse/greasemonkey/ [mozdev.org] ), it looks like the oldest files are four months old, which means that yes, Greasemonkey is too new to have had a chance to get in to the book. I imagine that it'll *probably* be featured in any subsequent editions. The problem is that Greasemonkey is really quite code-centric, far more so than most of the stuff in the last few chapters, and those chapters are already striking some as "too technical." Writing a hack would be tricky, as you'd have two main options, neither of which are particularly appealing:
* Delve into the nuts-and-bolts of programming to show users how to Get Stuff Done with Greasemonkey, which is outside the scope of the book, or
* treat The Code That Does Stuff as magic, and use e.g. Butler as an example of what can be done.
Of course, hacks.oreilly.com does allow you to submit your own hacks. If you want a job done right...
Re:Haven't read the book.. (Score:3, Informative)
You really should give a link for Greasemonkey [mozdev.org], and to the script repository [dunck.us].
Also, shameless pimpage, but I've built a Greasemonkey implementation for IE, GreasemonkIE [daishar.com]. It's still in development (missing a pretty major feature right now, which should be sorted out soon -- covered in the blog entry above),
Re:Haven't read the book.. (Score:3, Informative)
add these lines to your user.js to get rid of all site icons.
// Disable Bookmark Icons
user_pref("browser.chrome.site_icons", false);
user_pref("browser.chrome.favicons", false);
(though it wont clean the code for known icons out of bookmarks.html)
Evolution of the word "Hack" (Score:5, Interesting)
I understand this might be (mistakenly) modded offtopic, but hopefully the powers that be acknowledge the relevance.
Re:Evolution of the word "Hack" (Score:2)
It does not mean to break into webservers, although (malicious) hacking is often involved there too.
how do you hack Firefox to give your sweety a kiss (Score:3, Funny)
oppresive (Score:2)
eh, you just weirded me out a bit with that request, but that's probably because of my own problems..
Re:how do you hack Firefox to give your sweety a k (Score:2, Informative)
It's not spyware like what you described but rather will allow you to queue pages to your GF. When she hits her stumble button it will show your comment to her then load the page.
It's actually really cool. It does a bunch of other things too. I could go on and on decribing it to you but I wont. Go check it out, you wont be sorry.
Here is my stumble page as an example:
http://emfb.stumbleupon.com/ [stumbleupon.com]
Re:how do you hack Firefox to give your sweety a k (Score:4, Interesting)
Hack to fix email search result sort-by-date? (Score:2)
change taskbar icon?? (Score:2)
Re:change taskbar icon?? (Score:2)
solution [sillydog.org] (in 4th post). solution in an extension [mozdev.org], and discussion [wvu.edu].
Download Manager (Score:2)
If it wasn't for this, I'd probably give Firefox/Thunderbird another try as a replacement to the Mozilla Suite 1.7 that I currently use.
Re:Download Manager (Score:3, Interesting)
Worst case, I might have to open GR's status window and paste the URL as a new download.
Why is it so slow? (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there some known issue with Firefox that can cause this? I can't believe anyone is using the browser if it's like this for them, so I assume that it's not like this for other people. Or have I just been spoilt by Opera's speed?
TWW
Re:THE BEST FIREFOX HACK (Score:4, Informative)
Session Saver (Score:4, Interesting)
What you have to do then is kill FF, then go into the directory where
oh, forgot (Score:2)
Re:Session Saver (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Session Saver (Score:2)
Re:THE BEST FIREFOX HACK (Score:3, Insightful)
What it really does. (Score:5, Informative)
This is a pretty ingenious script that
Very simple and bypasses popup blockers (at least the ones I have on).
This has got to be a security hole in firefox, both on the ability to open windows/tabs, and copying the clipboard.
If you want to have a look, use:
WARNING: dont click on this link, just copy the wget command to a shell. Dont say I didn't warn you...Re:What it really does. (Score:3, Informative)
privacy.popups.disable_from_plugins = 2
Re:What it really does. (Score:2)
In this case I saw the GNAA logo, so I knew not to click.
There's also an option in Firefox that's supposed to prevent pop-ups from plugins (like this), but I don't have that handy. You can search for it on the MozillaZine forum
Re:What it really does. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:What it really does. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What it really does. (Score:2)
Re:What it really does. (Score:5, Informative)
You didn't get the tabs, pop-ups and the gay porn -- but the contents of your clipboard were sent, unless you've got JavaScript turned off completely. Take a look at this (comments added):
Then it has a second body tag containing the flash object that's responsible for the visible annoying stuff. I have to wonder what random stuff they're getting out of people's clipboards . . .
Re:What it really does. (Score:2)
Re:What it really does. (Score:2)
Yet I'm still compelled by the f
Re:is there a hack to remove the 'cannot connect m (Score:5, Informative)
browser.xul.error_pages.enabled
Enjoy.
Re:is there a hack to remove the 'cannot connect m (Score:4, Informative)
Re:extension link (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:extension link (Score:2, Funny)
Re:o'reilly the trend whores (Score:2)
I don't know if you've noticed, but they picked a flashlight as their clipart. I wonder if that will become the new official Firefox logo.