Download Squad

Today's Firefox add-on is actually a response to a question that was asked in a post I did about the Firefox extension InFormEnter. A reader that goes by the name J. Malenko asked: "Anybody know of a (free) extension that will fill in the whole form automatically with preset defaults? Automatically for me doesn't rule out a context menu entry like 'Fill in this whole form'."

In response to this question, I bring to you the Firefox extension FireForm. This is a customizable extension that, with the click of one button, can fill in an entire page of forms. It still needs a bit of work, but gets the job done. First, you have to add a profile. To do this you go into the Tools drop-down menu and hover over FireForm then click on Profiles Management. A new window will pop up allowing you to add a new profile. You can name it what ever you want--this actually has nothing to do with your Firefox profiles. Once the profile is created, restart Firefox and go back into the Profiles Management window. This window should now have a bunch of general text fields for you to fill in things like your name and email address. Now, if you go to a page that asks for any of this information, all you have to do is click the new icon you have in the bottom bar of Firefox that has two F's in it and the supplied information will be filled in automatically.

But there are other forms that you will come across that are not covered by the general fields you just filled in. For those type of fields you will need to do two things. First, go to that page that has those fields that are not covered by the general ones and right click on the ff icon and select "Display fields". This will change all of the form fields to a blue color indicating that if you hover over them it will let you know what it is asking for. So, for example, if you hover over a username field it might say something like "fireform : [fieldname = username][name = default]". Now that you have that info, step two is to go to Tools > FireForm > Advanced Profiles Management. This window is where you are able to add any variables that are outside of the general forms that you filled in after you set up your profile. So, to add username to FireForm, fill in your desired description, then the username that you want to use, and then username for the trigger, or whatever "fieldname" is equal to for you. Now, a word of warning: some sites have different trigger values for the same thing. So you might need some time before Fireform is up to its full potential.

This is still a great extension. You are able to have multiple profiles for different people that use the default profile on Firefox. And you can fill in an entire page with just the click of a button. FireForm does still need a bit of work, however. One thing that I immediately see a need for is to be able to right-click on the FF icon and then click on Advanced Profiles Management. Just to make it easier to add new items instead of having to go through the Tools menu. Other than that, I'm loving it. So I hoped this one helps you out more than InFormEnter, J. Malenko. I think it's a step up.