Hack 39. Upgrade Firefox Feature Managers
Turn Firefox into Firefox Deluxe with extensions that upgrade standard features. The standard Firefox browser has a standard set of dialog boxes. If you want to do more than those dialog boxes offer, you need to install extensions. This hack describes extensions that provide more functionality than the existing dialog boxes. Expand your horizons! Extensions rarely replace Firefox's existing dialog boxes; they usually provide additional menu options instead. If you want full replacement of existing dialog boxes, you'll have to unbundle, hack, and rebundle the extensions one at a time. The required hack necessitates making each extension's browser overlay [Hack #87] match the spot where the existing dialog box is normally called from and also disabling that normal call. A complete solution is to bundle the hacked extensions with a new Firefox installer, effectively creating Firefox Deluxe. If you don't want to go to all that trouble, just pick your least favorite Firefox feature and go extension shopping. You can also erase the feature you don't like [Hack #77], if you want. Table 4-1 provides a shopping list of alternatives for you to explore. With more extensions being created every week, this list is likely to be a taste of the full range of options, at best. Table 4-1 includes only well-established extensions.
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