Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Features, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Open Source
Firefox 2: Making your old extensions work
by Jordan Running Sep 1st 2006 at 3:00PM
With every new release of Firefox--like yesterday's release of Firefox 2 Beta 2--comes the question, "How do I make my old extensions work with the new version?" Some extensions--which Mozilla is now calling Add-ons--made for older versions of Firefox really don't work with the newer features and can cause problems, but for the majority of add-ons, all that's needed is basically the flip of a switch. Of course, that switch is hidden deep in the add-on's code, but Nightly Tester Tools makes it possible to flip that switch with just a couple clicks. To that end, I've put together a short tutorial video showing how to use Nightly Tester Tools to make most of your old add-ons work with the latest version of Firefox. It was recorded in Windows, but should work basically the same on OS X and Linux:
In case you have any trouble with the video, or if anything's not clear, you can find complete instructions after the jump. Also, this is my first-ever screencast, so if you have any comments on the video itself, please voice them in the comments.
After you have installed your new version of Firefox, run it as usual. A dialogue will pop up to tell you that it's checking your add-ons for compatibility with your new version of Firefox. Then it will probably tell you that several of your old add-ons are not compatible. Click on the Check Now button to see if there are new, compatible versions of any of your add-ons, and let Firefox install any that it finds. If you have add-ons for which there is no compatible version, Firefox will disable them. That's okay--click Finished.
Now go to the Nightly Tester Tools web site and click on the Install link. You may get a yellow alert at the top of the window, in which case you'll have to click on the Edit Options... button in the upper right and then click on Allow. Then you'll have to click on the Install link again. Once Nightly Tester Tools is installed, restart Firefox.
Once Firefox has restarted, go to Tools > Add-ons. You'll see that your disabled extensions are grayed out and have a red exclamation point next to them. For each extension you want to enable, right click on it and choose Make compatible. If you have a lot of disable extensions, you may want to do a few of them at a time, rather than all at once, because this will help you narrow down which extension is causing problem in the event one or more is truly incompatible with your new Firefox. If you're feeling lucky, though, you can click on Make all compatible button instead.Now quit and restart Firefox again. This time when you go to Tools > Add-ons, the extensions you made compatible should no longer be grayed out. You're done!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
resource said 3:17PM on 9-01-2006
I could barely wait for FF 2 RC 1 and your Nightly Tester Hint was the main reason I went for the FF 2 Beta.
Thanks a million.
It works great, Im ready for FF 3.
If it's so easy to upgrade it then why don't all extension creators upgrade them?
Mozilla should organize the extensions page.
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kelly said 6:42PM on 9-01-2006
It isn't always that easy for extensions to be upgraded. Some extensions break because of security upgrades. Some are just too out of date to work without tweaking.
The extensions page IS organized by category.
Nightly Tester Tools are a good work around but they are only a temporary fix.
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Jordan Running said 6:24PM on 9-01-2006
That's true, of course, Kelly, but of the 33 extensions I have installed, only two of them caused any problems.
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nogg3r5 said 5:24AM on 9-02-2006
Surely its better to test new versions without all your extensions and tweaks?
I prefer to get using the vanilla version before i add my profile and all the changes associated with it.
Also, the new buttons are terrible!
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Mohit said 6:09PM on 9-02-2006
Thanks a lot for this demo. This is pretty much the only reason I actually decided to download and use Firefox 2 Beta as my main browser. However, pretty much none of the tab bar related extensions work - they either mess up the look of the beautiful new tab bar, or just plain don't work.
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Alex said 12:52PM on 9-03-2006
Thanks for pointing that out. One of the main reasons why I don't enjoy testing the latest builds of Firefox 2.0 is many of my extensions become broken (I can't live out GreaseMonkey!).
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frequencydip said 5:23PM on 9-03-2006
here! here! for GreaseMonkey! I wish this functionality was integrated into firefox so everyone could use it easily, not just the geekier firefox users...
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Terry Pearson said 11:29PM on 9-06-2006
This is great. Just downloaded firefox 2 beta at work for development purposes and lost all my cool web developer extensions. You saved the day, I was able to re-enable the extensions and get right back to work!
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jgheeya said 3:24AM on 9-08-2006
I love the theme you had for your Firefox. Which theme is it? Could you please let me know. I would really appreciate it. Thanks
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Jordan Running said 3:26AM on 9-08-2006
jgheeya, the theme in Firefox is the default Firefox 2 theme. My Windows visual style, which I'm guessing you're referring to (it controls how the title bar, buttons, scroll bars, etc. are displayed), is called Thallos, and you can find it here:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/28545438/
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Richard said 4:01AM on 10-27-2006
Brilliant, thanks for posting this. Works great in the Final version too.
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