Firefox Add-On Coding Options
Fans of Mozilla Firefox have generated thousands of add-ons or extensions to enhance the Web browser, such as language translators, ad blockers, and tools for comparing prices during online shopping. Anyone is welcome to create a new add-on, though it has to pass Mozilla's review process. You must write the code that will create the add-on with the features you want.
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Development
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Developing an add-on starts with the idea for a new Firefox extension. Create a new profile on your computer so that your work won't affect your regular Firefox settings. Change the configurations if necessary, for example to disable the cache for XUL, Mozilla's XML-based user-interface language. Open the profile directory, which contains your existing add-ons, and create a pointer indicating that that is where you will store the code for your extension.
Start Coding
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To create code for Firefox add-ons, use the XML language. Create the folder structure for your code — a "Chrome" folder containing elements such as a Defaults folder, a Locale folder and a Skin folder. Chrome is Mozilla's term for everything around the browser window, such as the toolbar, the menus and the status bar. Begin writing with the code for "install.rdf," which provides metadata about your extension, such as which version of Firefox it supports.
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More Coding
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After writing the install.rdf, add code that details the name and current version of your add-on, what it does, and your website. Next, code for the "chrome.manifest": This details how your extension adds to Firefox and how they work together. Proceed to the XUL interface for your add-on, and code for whether it has a button on the toolbar or an icon on the status bar. Interface coding involves XUL as well as XML.
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At various points while working on your add-on — Mozilla provides guidelines online — you will also need to use CSS programming language, which stands for Cascading Style Sheets. As the name suggests, CSS programming enhances the visual look of websites and add-ons. The add-on process also uses Javascript to code for the link that actually drags your add-on out of its file and attaches it to Firefox.
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