How do you install addons from a site other than mozilla addons ?

A normal person will click on the link to extension's .xpi file. Firefox will then nag with a message bar on top saying it prevented the site from installing software in your computer. Then one have to click the Allow button to install the addon.

In the background, this process adds the site permanently to your list of sites that are safe to install extensions in your computer, which may not be what you intended, if you were just trying out new extensions. Doesn't look too good. Isn't it?

Well, it's time to stop being just another normal person and become a real uber-elite Firefox user. So read along the different ways in which one can install an addon in Firefox.

1. Copy the url of the xpi file (Right click the install link and select Copy Link Location). Paste it into the address bar and hit enter.
   
2. Right click the link, select Save Link As and download the file to your computer. Then drag and drop the file into Firefox window.
   
3. Copy the url of the xpi file (Right click the install link and select Copy Link Location). Select File -> Open File and paste the address into the location field. Hit enter.
4. In Windows Explorer, right click the downloaded xpi file and select Open With Firefox.
   
5. Enable the secret Install Extension button in Firefox: Type about:config into the address bar and hit enter. Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" button. Change the value of extensions.hideInstallButton to false. Now, if you take the Tools -> Addons, you can see a new button named "Install" near to "Find Updates". On clicking it, a file-open dialog is shown. You can then browse to a downloaded xpi file to start installation.
   

All these methods do just the same thing - install a Firefox extension. You have to the select the method that best suits you and the current situation and adopt it. Eg: If you have downloaded a large number of extensions, enabling the Install button may be worth it.

The usual disclaimer is valid here - "Never install an extension from an untrusted source".

Happy Firefoxing.

Read More......

For those who haven't yet heard about Mozilla Prism (earlier known as Mozilla WebRunner), let's get some info directly from the horse's mouth:

Prism is an application that lets users split web applications out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop.
Prism lets users add their favorite web apps to their desktop environment:
When invoked, these applications run in their own window:

Prism is based on the Firefox engine, but doesn't have any of the Firefox's bells and whistles, and when I said any, I really meant any! There is not even a preference window where you can set the proxy information.
Then how do you enable proxy for prism? Read on.

The instructions are applicable for both Windows and Linux versions of Prism.

1. Run prism. The following dialog should pop up.
   
   Type about:config into the URL field. Give it a name like config and enable the check box Desktop to create a desktop icon. Click OK.
   



2. Once the above steps are done, an icon named config would have been created on your Desktop.
   Double click that shortcut to see the following window.
   
   Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" button to show the main configuration screen.
   



3. Type network.proxy into the Filter field.
   
   
   
4. Double click on network.proxy.type and give it anyone of the following values:
   0 - Direct connection, no proxy. (Default)
   1 - Manual proxy configuration. (If in doubt, select this)
   2 - Proxy auto-configuration (PAC).
   4 - Auto-detect proxy settings.
   5 - Use system proxy settings (Default in Linux).
   
   
5. Double click on network.proxy.http and enter the IP Address of your proxy server.
   
   
6. Double click on network.proxy.http_port and enter the port of your proxy server.
   
   
7. Repeat the above two steps for network.proxy.ssl and network.proxy.ssl_port
   

For your information, this is how my values look:
network.proxy.type = 1
network.proxy.http = 192.168.0.1
network.proxy.http_port = 8080
network.proxy.ssl = 192.168.0.1
network.proxy.ssl_port = 8080

That's all. You can now close the about:config window. Now prism should start working over the proxy.

Reference

Read More......