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Author Topic: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox  (Read 2569 times)

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Richard

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Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« on: December 16, 2007, 11:01:18 AM »
Quote
Personas for Firefox is a extension that adds lightweight theming to your browser.

Personas is a prototype that builds upon the ideas that:

    * themes today are too hard to find, install and use
    * graphic designers should be able to style the browser without having to code
    * browsers can be more than just desktop software, they can include online components
    * people just want their computer to be a little more fun and personal

This version improves upon a prototype that was discussed and tested earlier this year.

We’ve just started talking about the possible benefits of taking advantage of an online component to deliver a better browser experience. There is certainly more to explore in this regard; Personas is but a simple example.

In this version, the Persona selector is dynamically loaded and populated from a JSON feed and all designs are loaded via URLs to remote resources. All changes to the browser chrome are applied instantly, with no need to restart.

We’ll shortly be releasing an API that will allow developers and designers to submit Personas that are based on Web content, including support for anything that can load in a content window such as HTML, CSS, PNG, JPG, Javascript, SVG and Canvas.

Features

    * You can select a Persona from the dynamic menus and see results instantly without having to discover, select, download or install a separate bit of software or code.
    * Personas can be added, removed or updated by their designers at any time, without requiring a software update.



Mozilla Labs

I just downloaded it and tested it and its pretty good much easier to change skins and its great you don't need to restart firefox to enable the new skin

Another good feature being added to firefox

EDIT: I see AL has already talked about this on his blog
« Last Edit: December 16, 2007, 11:25:13 AM by Richard »
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El Guru (Al)

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Re: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2007, 12:17:19 PM »
@Richard, yes I have O0.  I do love being able to change the skins/themes without having to restart the browser (that is one thing Opera had over Fx).

Ryan Wagner

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Re: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2007, 05:28:27 PM »
I do have to say that this is an interesting technology, and I'm really curious to see how they will end up building on this. To be honest though I like the basic skinning functionality better than the full fledged skins. It gives Firefox a refreshing look while making it retain the Firefox feel.
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Pieter

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Re: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2007, 04:19:54 AM »
It's like Hotbar(wiki) for Firefox without the adware! :)
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Ryan Wagner

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Re: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2007, 10:45:14 AM »
I do remember using Hotbar a long time ago back when I actually used Internet Explorer. Ahh the fond memories of a spyware infested system.
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Pieter

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Re: Real-time Theme Customization for Firefox
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2007, 06:22:55 AM »
I installed it once, removed it and then they asked me to take a survey. I decided to take it and at the end they offered me Hotbar Premium for free. It didn't show any ads (the so-called relevant site buttons were still shown though) but I'm not sure if it stopped phoning home. Anyway, it didn't take long for me to uninstall Hotbar Premium either as it cluttered up my system.

In not so related news: I also tried UCmore once. It is spyware-free as of version 4 and what it does is show relevant sites to the site you're currently visiting (although some of the sites listed probably were sponsored listings). I'd still use it if it weren't for the fact that is only available for IE.

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"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the universe is winning." - Rich Cook
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