Expanding on it’s Open Source ‘hive mind’ philosophy, Mozilla’s Firefox browser now allows users to share their personal browser add-ons with the public. How is this accomplished? Through an add-on, of course! The Add-On Collector extension will allow you to publish any or all of your Firefox add-ons to the Mozilla Collections website.  Viewers can peruse others collections or add to their “favorites” for future review and use in their own browser.  Each collections page shows how many add-ons are included and how many subscribers there are.

All you need is to create an account, be using a current version of the Firefox browser and install the Add-on Collector extension.  Once installed, you can hand pick your extensions, add a comment for each (optional) and have them magically added to your own Collections page.  When you register for your own page, you’ll get to pick a username which will be part of link to your public collection.

I created mine and it can be found by clicking the link below:

https://addons.mozilla.org/collection/geak

Check it out and subscribe to make me a happy blogger!

Let me know if you start your own add-on collection by posting it in the comments section.

Here’s a look at my Google Reader at the time I’m writing this.

In the case that you DO use Firefox, but have been living under a rock, “extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox, from a simple toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow you to customize Firefox to fit your own needs and preferences…”

Mozilla’s website breaks down their extensive plug-ins into the following categories:

• Feeds, News & Blogging
• Web Development
• Download Management
• Privacy & Security
• Search Tools
• Interface Customizations
• Bookmarks
• Language Tools
• Photos, Music & Videos
• Social & Communication
• Alerts & Updates
• Other
• Toolbars
• Tabs

C’mon, there is obviously something for everyone – no matter what your online browsing habits are like.

If you are a Firefox user, chances are you’ve tweaked the look of your browser with ‘themes’ and enhanced your experience with some of these ‘extensions’. What you might not know, is that there are two programs that work hand in hand to both back-up all of your add-ons as well as package them all under one .xpi file (Abbreviation for eXtended Process Integrator- the file that automatically installs a new plug-in for you when you click on it from within a web page.)

If backing up all of your extensions, ‘tweaks’ and themes sounds like a good idea, then you should first and foremost download FEBE [Firefox Environmental Backup Extension]. From their main page:

FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up — It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers.
FEBE backs up and restores your extensions, themes, and (optionally) your bookmarks, preferences, cookies. and much more.

Now that you’ve backed up all of your behind the scenes goodness, it’s time to SHARE your perfectly tweaked browser experience with others (or at least that internet challenged family member). This is were CLEO comes in. CLEO stands for Compact Library Extension Organizer. You can select which extensions you want to package and CLEO puts them all into one .xpi file that you can pass around. Any Firefox user can then install the ‘myfavorites’.xpi file and give them a try.

Just for the heck of it, I’ve packaged up my most useful FireFox extensions for anyone who would like to try them out. I didn’t *make* these extensions, I simply used CLEO put them all together for sharing.   Here is my .xpi file for downloading (2mb):  

Geakz FireFox Extensions .xpi

Below is the description of my CLEO pack (as it appears after you run the program). By all means visit the plug-in homepage links to learn more.

// Cleopack: “Geakz FF Extensions.xpi”: Created on Saturday, February 02, 2008 2:36:10 PM
// Created with CLEO Version: 3.3
//
// *** Contents: 11 items ***
// Adblock{0.5.3.043}.xpi
Adblock
Version: 0.5.3.043
By: The Adblock Crew
Filters ads from web-pages
For Firefox versions 0.7 to 2.0.0.*
Homepage: http://adblock.mozdev.org

// BetterGmail2{0.3.2}.xpi
Better Gmail 2
Version: 0.3.2
By: Gina Trapani (All Greasemonkey user scripts copyright their original authors)
Enhances the new Gmail interface with Greasemonkey user scripts. Only compatible with the NEW Gmail interface.
For Firefox versions 0.8 to 3.0b2
Homepage: http://www.ginatrapani.org/workshop/firefox/bettergmail2/

// CLEO{3.3}.xpi
CLEO
Version: 3.3
By: Chuck Baker
Create multi-addon install package (Cleopack)
For Firefox versions 2.0 to 3.0b2
Homepage: http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions

// FEBE{5.3}.xpi
FEBE
Version: 5.3
By: Chuck Baker
Backup your Firefox data
For Firefox versions 2.0 to 3.0b2
Homepage: http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions

// FoxmarksBookmarkSynchronizer{2.0.43}.xpi
Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
Version: 2.0.43
By: Todd Agulnick
Synchronizes your bookmarks across machines.
For Firefox versions 1.5 to 2.0.0.*
Homepage: http://www.foxmarks.com/

// NightlyTesterToolsLite{0.2.2}.xpi
Nightly Tester Tools Lite
Version: 0.2.2
By: Grayson Mixon
Cut down version of Nightly Tester Tools by Mossop.
For Firefox versions 1.5 to 3.0b2
Homepage: http://grayson.servehttp.com/rubicon/extension/

// SmoothWheel{0.44.10.20071026}.xpi
SmoothWheel
Version: 0.44.10.20071026
By: Avi Halachmi
Scrolls the document smoothly when scrolling the mouse wheel
For Firefox versions 0.3 to 3.0.*
Homepage: http://smoothwheel.mozdev.org/

// SuperDragAndGo{0.2.6.2}.xpi
Super DragAndGo
Version: 0.2.6.2
By: morphis
Drag a URI (e.g., “google.com”) and throw it to any blank spot on the page to open it in a new tab. Drag non-URI text to search in the currently-selected engine.
For Firefox versions 1.9 to 3.0
Homepage: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=90011

// TinyMenu{1.4.4}.xpi
Tiny Menu
Version: 1.4.4
By: Anthony Lieuallen
Replace the standard menu bar with a tiny menu popup.
For Firefox versions 1.5 to 2.0.0.*
Homepage: http://trac.arantius.com/wiki/Extensions/TinyMenu

// TinyUrlCreator{1.0.4}.xpi
TinyUrl Creator
Version: 1.0.4
By: Jeremy Gillick
Convenient tool to create small url redirects from longer ones.
For Firefox versions 1.5 to 2.0.0.*
Homepage: http://mozmonkey.com/

// Zotero{1.0.1}.xpi
Zotero
Version: 1.0.1
By: Center for History and New Media
For Firefox versions 2.0 to 2.0.0.*
Homepage: http://www.zotero.org

These are the handy tools I use to extend the functionality of the my Firefox browser. What does your CLEO pack look like?