Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on January 23, 2008 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

There was a lot of excitement when we wrote about the Greasemonkey script that could be used to switch between multiple Gmail accounts. At that time Thilak commented about a Firefox extension that basically accomplished the same task. With it you create user profiles that you can switch between, and it uses a different set of cookies for each of the profiles.

Since most sites store session information in cookies this is a good method for switching between multiple accounts, whether it be for email, shopping, or just about anything. That’s when it hit me that you can manipulate cookies using JavaScript as well, and I figured there had to be a way to create a bookmarklet to do almost the same thing as the extension.

Before we dive into the bookmarklet lets take a look at the Firefox extension more in depth:

–Firefox Extension–

The extension is called CookieSwap, and once installed you can create multiple profiles that can be used to manage different identities from around the web. They are all controlled from the Status Bar where you can select which identity you want to use.

This is great for switching between multiple email accounts without needing to login to each one, as well as making it easier for several different people to all use the same browser. For example, each person in your family could have their own profile, and then each of them wouldn’t have to constantly bother with logging in and out of websites.

The good news is that all of your information is stored in a cookie, which ensures that no one can see your password in plaintext. Well, that’s at least the case for sites that are designed properly.

One downside that I’ve found to using this is that there’s no way to restrict the cookie swapping to a particular site. The first time you create a new profile you’ll start with a blank slate, and you’ll need to go login to all the sites you want enabled for that particular profile. So it may not be the optimum solution if all you want to do is switch between several different accounts on one particular site.

–Bookmarklet–

Huh?: A bookmarklet is a small JavaScript program that can be stored as a URL within a bookmark in most popular web browsers, or within hyperlinks on a web page.

We figured there had to be a way to create a bookmarklet to swap between cookies as well, but on a per site basis. As always we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel if we didn’t have to, so we searched around to see what we could find. Jesse Ruderman came to the rescue with a bookmarklet that he wrote to transfer cookies from one browser to another. We took that bookmarklet, modified it a bit, and created something that we think you’ll enjoy.

Here’s how it works. First you’ll need to drag this link into your bookmarks, or right-click on it and select the bookmark option:

Backup Cookies

Now head on over to the site you want to “backup” the cookies for. Click on the bookmarklet you just created, and you should see something like this:

Bookmarking that will store your existing cookies for that site in the form of a bookmarklet. To restore the particular cookies for the site just run that bookmarklet.

Important: You must be on the site corresponding to the bookmarklet before running it. Otherwise your the cookies will not be updated. For example, if you backed up your Yahoo! cookies make sure you are on the Yahoo! website before running the bookmarklet.

In the example pictured above I was logged into Yahoo!, I ran the “Backup Cookies” bookmarklet to save my existing cookies. I was then able to logout of Yahoo! and run the new bookmarklet to restore all of my login credentials. It’s really that simple.

It’s pretty cool how something as simple as cookies can be used to restore your login status, but it’s something you also want to be careful with. Doing this would also mean that if the information ended up in the wrong hands that it could do some severe damage. For security reasons I recommend that you be especially cautious if you synchronize your bookmarks with a third-party online service.

Hat tip to Thilak for pointing out the Firefox Extension!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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I’ll give you a heads up that this extension is really just for those of you who heavily use the built-in Firefox search box. The Organize Search Engines extension will help remove some of the clutter from the search box drop-down menu.

How it works is rather simple. From the drop-down list you select the Manage Search Engines where you will be presented with a window to reorder the sites you currently have setup (on the left side of the screenshot above). In addition to being able to reorder the sites, you’ll also be able to create new folders to organize your search engines. Once done the end result will be a less cluttered menu of search engines (on the right side of the screenshot above).

This isn’t something that I would actually use myself because I hardly use that search box as it is. I have keywords setup so that I can always use the address bar to do my searching. How many of you actually use the browser’s built-in search box for searching a variety of sites?

Download the Organize Search Engines extension [via How-To Geek]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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A new Firefox extension, called Glubble, is available that adds a parental control system to the Firefox browser. It’s nothing overly extravagant since it only enforces a whitelist of URL’s for the children, but it can give peace of mind to parents out there.

There is a default list of sites that ships with Glubble which are classified as kid-safe, and when setting up the accounts it asks whether the child is a boy or a girl. It uses that information to create a more customized homepage for the child based upon their gender. For example, a girl would have a link to Barbie on their site while a boy would not.

Children can request that certain sites be approved, and a parent can immediately approve the request if they are available to do so. If the parent is not available Firefox will prompt the parent to approve the site the next time they login.

Words don’t really do this justice, so I thought I would walk through a common scenario that might occur at a household. This demonstrates all of the various features that Glubble ships with (click any image to enlarge it):

1. After installing Glubble the parent will be prompted to create an account:
   
2. The parent then creates users, and they’ll be shown on a user management page. I named the users so that you can tell who is who, for example, the parent’s username stands for "I’m a Parent":
   
3. Firefox is locked until a child or parent logs in (this is what you’ll see when starting Firefox from now on):
   
4. A child logs on and is able to search Google, Yahoo, and visit some recommended sites using a customized Firefox skin. Note: When searching it only pulls up results for the approved sites.
   
5. A child can also navigate their sites using the drop-down menu from the top which shows thumbnail previews of the sites:
   
6. If a child tries to visit an unapproved site they will need to get the permission of a parent first:
   
7. If the parent wasn’t around to approve the site, they will be shown the request the next time they login to Firefox:
   
8. If the parent comes across a kid-friendly site while browsing around, they can instantly enable it for any of their kids:
   
9. Or they can manage the sites that are approved for a child:
   
10. And then when the child gets back online they will be notified that their site request had been approved:
    

As you can see this can be an extremely useful tool for parents who are trying to protect their kids from explicit content on the Internet. There is, however, a problem that arises for those people who have technological kids. It’s actually possible to remove (or temporarily move) the folder which contains the extension in the Firefox profile folder. That means the extension would immediately be deactivated and the user is given full access to the Internet, which can also be done by running Firefox in safe mode.

This doesn’t quite match up to the built-in parental controls that Vista has, which lets parents limit the amount of time that a child can use the computer, monitor their activity, and control which games they can play. In the reports the parents can even see the most recent websites that were visited, which applications a child ran, and what files they downloaded…none of which Glubble can do.

Of course Glubble doesn’t cost a thing, and knowledgeable parents not using Vista will hopefully see this as a way to protect their kids. When the final version of Glubble is released in October we’ll hopefully see some reporting features included, but they have definitely got the ball rolling in the right direction.

Download the Glubble Firefox Extension

Source: Spread Firefox

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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One area that I always keep open in my browser is the sidebar. It’s where I scour through hundreds of bookmarks, but it’s also handy for viewing mobile websites. Mitch over at Firefox Facts brought his “A” game when he snagged some specialized Google Calendar code from his iGoogle gadget. Your browser’s sidebar is a great home for the stripped-down website.

Previously we recommended using the Google Calendar mobile site in your sidebar, but this solution is 10 times better. Once setup you’ll see a full monthly calendar at the top of the sidebar, and immediately below it you’ll see some of your upcoming appointments. If that’s not enough you will also be pleased to know that you can pick and choose which of your calendars are displayed, and even utilize the “Quick Add” feature to add a new event.

To get this thing loaded in the Firefox sidebar here’s what you have to do:

1. Right-click on this link, and bookmark it: Google Calendar Sidebar
   
2. After you have saved the bookmark, go back to the Bookmarks Menu and right-click on the bookmark. Choose the Properties option.
   
3. Now check the box that says Load this bookmark in the sidebar:
   
4. The next time you open the Google Calendar Sidebar bookmark it will appear in the Firefox sidebar.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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When Firefox 2 Beta 1 was released a few weeks ago I put together a tweaking guide so that people would know how to customize some of the great new features. In that article I show you the few steps you need to take in order to make the built-in Session Restore automatically restore all of your tabs every time you restart Firefox.

For about the past week I have noticed that Firefox stopped restoring my sessions. I thought maybe they were going to prevent people from doing this which would have made me a little upset. Then I soon realized that they just changed the name of the setting in the about:config page. So if you have tweaked your Session Restore for Firefox 2 Beta 1 then you will need to also add this entry in order for it to work when Firefox 2 Beta 2 gets released on August 23.

1. Start Firefox.
2. In the Address Bar type “about:config” and press Enter.
3. Right-Click and select New->Integer.
4. A box requesting the Preference Name will popup and you should enter “browser.startup.page” (without the quotes). Press OK to continue.
5. Here are the multiple options you can choose from:
   • Enter 0 to start with a blank page (about:blank).
   • Enter 1 to start with the web page(s) defined as the home page(s). (Default)
   • Enter 2 to load the last visited page.
   • Enter 3 to Resume the previous browser session (implemented after Firefox 2 beta 1).

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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