Easy PC Tips

In Firefox 101, the first of a series of articles for those just starting out with Firefox, we talked about why Firefox is such a great application and why we should all be using it. I threatened to explain a little more about Firefox extensions, so here we go. If you don’t have Firefox installed and have no idea what I’m talking about, then please read that one first.

For the rest of us, what ARE extensions and how do we install them? Here’s a quick run down on all that…

What are extensions?

Mozilla describes them as :

…small add-ons that add new functionality to Mozilla applications. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow the application to be customized to fit the personal needs of each user if they need additional features, while minimizing the size of the application itself.

So, they are tiny little programs that plug into Mozilla products (in this case Firefox) to add extra functionality or new features. Straightforward enough.
There are thousands of Firefox extensions available adding all sorts of weird and wonderful features to this great web browser. Some of them are gimmicky, others are incredibly useful.

How do I find Firefox extensions?

Like most things in Firefox, finding and installing extensions is also a simple process. First you need to get to the extensions index:

1. Open Firefox and choose the ‘Tools‘ Menu
2. From the ‘Tools‘ menu, choose ‘Extensions‘
3. A small window will appear listing the currently installed extensions. Even if you’ve only just installed Firefox there will be a couple of extensions there already. Ignore those for now. Selecting an extension gives you the option to uninstall or modify the extensions preferences.
4. Click the ‘Get more extensions‘ link in the bottom right. This will take you to the Mozilla Extensions directory where you can pick your extension of choice.

The extensions are organised by topic and there are a myriad of different ones to choose from. Come back to the extension index later to find extensions you think might be useful to you. For now, we need a useful one to start with, so lets install ForecastFox so we can track the weather in your neighborhood.

Installing our very first extension - ForecastFox

I’m sure you are beside yourself with excitement and anticipation at this point, so lets press on…

1. First visit the ForecastFox extension download page and locate and click the link ‘Install Now‘
2. A little warning box will appear confirming that you really want to install this application. We do, so click ‘Install Now‘
3. The extension will install and Firefox will keep you informed of its progress. Extensions are typically VERY small programs and so it should install very quickly, even over a slow modem.
4. Once the extension has installed, Firefox will explain that the new extension will be activated after a restart of Firefox. So, lets do that now. Go on. Restart Firefox, I’ll wait here…

Configuring the extension

What? Done already?? That was quick! After you have restarted, you will be asked to configure a few things about ForecastFox. Most extensions don’t require any kind of configuration, but this one is a bit special since we need to customise it a little to show OUR weather.

Much of what you might want to change here is well beyond the scope of this guide, but suffice to say, you’ll need to enter a little bit about your location and perhaps change a few things affecting how you want the weather to show up:

• Enter your city (Hint….click Find Code and then do a search for your city name, select it from the list of matches and click OK)
• Change the Unit of Measure - Metric (Celsius) or Imperial (Fahrenheit)
• How many days you want the forecast to cover (See the extended forecast options)
• Whatever else you want to tweak…

OK. Finished? Great. Click ‘Apply‘ and then ‘OK‘.

Note: You can always go change these settings again later so if you mess them up, all is not lost (See the section above on ‘How do I find Firefox extensions?‘ Step 3).

Now, take a look at the bottom right hand corner of the Firefox window. Do you get the weather forecast for the next few days? If so, well done. You’ve just installed your first useful Firefox extension. There’s a lot more where that came from. Clever aren’t they?

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Now take a look at the next guide in the series - Firefox 103 - Live Bookmarks & RSS

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