Web Developer Firefox Plug-ins

November 14th, 2009

Firefox Addons

As a web developer I often need a “fix”. No, not caffeine. Ok, well maybe I don’t need “the fix” but some of the web sites I inherit do or a new feature being implemented may have some conflicts so I need to do some debugging in order for the site to work correctly and in many browser types and versions. Alas, I have a little army of grunt software that gets me from point a to point z much more quickly than sys.outs or alert messages. I’ve saved numerous hours using the following set of Firefox Plugins. I’ll briefly outline them and provide a link. My favorite is Firebug and YSlow is pretty damn cool also!

Firefox Plugins

Firebug: You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. Website http://getfirebug.com/

FireFTP: FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers. Website: http://fireftp.mozdev.org/

FoxyProxy: FoxyProxy is a set of proxy management tools for Firefox, Thunderbird, Seamonkey, and Songbird: Website: http://foxyproxy.mozdev.org/

GreaseMonkey: Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript. Website: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748

IE Tab: This is a great tool for web developers, since you can easily see how your web page displayed in IE with just one click and then switch back to Firefox. Website: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

Screengrab: It will capture what you can see in the window, the entire page, just a selection, a particular frame… basically it saves webpages as images – either to a file, or to the clipboard. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146

Web Developer Toolbar: The Web Developer extension adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools. Website: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

YSlow: YSlow analyzes web pages and suggests ways to improve their performance based on a set of rules for high performance web pages. Website: http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/

Below is a view of the FireBug console.

Firebug Plugin

Posted in add-on, firebug, firefox, foxyprox, greasemonky, ie tab, javascript, Online, plugin, Plugins, Professional, Recent News, screengrab, Software, Technology, toolbar, web developer, yslwo | No Comments »

Google’s Gmail Pop3 refresh script

October 23rd, 2009

Finally, I’m not going to have to manually fetch my POP3 accounts I setup in Gmail! The hell you say? Ok, here’s the deal, I often get time sensitive emails I need to respond to and I only want to manage one email interface. Gmail has the ability to connect my non-gmail email and set them up to the Gmail Inbox using the Settings > Accounts & Imports.

Google Gmail Settings

Although an awesome feature I have to go to this page a number of times throughout the day because there is no way to configure the fetch to occur more or less frequently. When I forget to do check I may get an important email 45 prior to an auto-fetch when the email required a quick response. That’s where the solution comes in.

The solution does not configure an increase in auto-fetch of pop3 accounts in gmail but rather provides functionality to the Gmail Inbox interface so I can push one button to fetch (refresh) my Inbox page. Thanks to the script called GMAIL POP3 Quick Checker written by Tim Smart http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/51516 I can now effeciently keep up with all my emails. This script will add a “Refresh Pop3 Accounts” link just above the first email in Gmail’s Inbox of your account.

Gmail POP3 Quick Checker Link

You first need to add the Firefox plugin from GreaseMonkey https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748 and then go to the script and click the install button.

Posted in fetch, gmail, Google, greasemonkey, Online, Plugins, pop3, Professional, Recent News, script, Software, Technology | No Comments »

EditPlus no longer free after 30 Days

October 15th, 2009

Back in 2000 when I started programming for The True Value Company I was introduced to an powerful but light weight editor called EditPlus. When ever I was working at an organization where I required the use of EditPlus it was always purchased but for my personal use I never paid for it. It’s reason like this that the developer of EditPlus has an “optional” patch that, unknowingly to me, disallows the use of EditPlus after the evaluation period. I downloaded and installed it thinking I was applying a possible security patch as it’s available without a description or purpose (sneeky bastard). Anyway, one of the few times I thanked Microsoft because the restore feature un-applied (not sure that’s proper english) the patch! Now I can use EditPlus forever and ever and ever… for free!

EditPlus Beyond Evaluation Period

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Google Calendar for Holidays and Sports

October 13th, 2009

Some of you may have noticed that Google has updated a Calendar feature. Google provides holidays for a number of countries that you can add to your personal calendar. You can also add your favorite teams to your calendar so you don’t miss a game! Simply go to your Google Calendar and in the upper right corner you will see a link in red called New Sports Calendar. Click on that link and you’ll see a screen in your browser similar to the one below. It will have three tabs called holidays, sports and more.

Available Team Schedules in Google Calendar

Once you find the team you want to incorporate into your calendar simply click subscribe and watch the magic happen!

Chicanog Bears Schedule in My Google Calendar

Posted in Blog, Calendar, Google, Online, Recent News, Software, Technology | No Comments »

TweetDeck

October 3rd, 2009

As everyone around me seems to be using tweetdeck I figured I begin to see learn more about the software and see how others are using it. To download it go to http://tweetdeck.com/beta/