Simpler Mail in the Browser

Comments off · February 26, 2008 at 1:08 pm · Firefox Settings, Firefox Usability

Not really a mail client, and not really a part of your browser either - Simple Mail wants to be the lightweight e-mail client you thought you always wanted but never thought you could have.  The Simple Mail extension allows you to write, read and get notified about message from inside of Firefox.

Some of the features include: 

• Color coded messages
• Search
• Can set to "download headers only"
• Delete messages from the server
• Address book

If you are used to using a heavy duty e-mail client, this might not be the addon for you.  If mail management isn’t that important to your day to day life and you just need an easy way of checking it, then Simple Mail is the client for you.

Personas, Make Firefox Better…Looking!

Comments (4) · December 17, 2007 at 7:07 am · Firefox Themes

Firefox Personas is back! I’ve seen a handful of blogs covering this re-launch I guess you could call it all weekend long. It is an awesome project and I am happy to see it is getting a little more time in the sun. Personas are lightweight designs that “skin” the Firefox web browser. Delivered as a web service, the menu interface and the Persona designs are exceptionally dynamic, and should allow for a wide range of interesting possibilities.

Here are a couple of points that make Personas a winner:

• You can select a Persona from the dynamic menus and see results instantly without having to discover, select, download or install a separate bit of software or code.
• Personas can be added, removed or updated by their designers at any time, without requiring a software update.

Personas = Future of Firefox?

The bigger idea behind Personas though that I think Mozilla is really looking at is generating a part of the browser from the Web. The Persona selector is dynamically loaded and populated from a JSON feed and all designs are loaded via URLs to remote resources.

I have to think that they would love to be able to deliver more content, tools and services this way. With that said is Personas really a preview of Firefox 4 (maybe Firefox 5) or is it just a neat tool to change your browser look and feel of your browser?

Another point worth bringing up is it does work with a handful of other Firefox themes out there (other than Firefox’s default theme). To get an example of this go download the Cylence Theme : Emerald Variation. If Personas grow in popularity theme designers might want start taking note if their theme works with Personas or not.

Urethane Light for Firefox

Comments (4) · October 15, 2007 at 6:16 am · Firefox Themes

Not often to I find “slick” looking themes that I like. Heck, most of the time I am still using the Firefox default just because it doesn’t mind being customized as much as some of the others out there do. Now with that in mind, I nearly had my mind blown by Urethane Light. For a slick and shinny theme, it is innovative and beautiful at the same time.

Here are the installation instructions:

1. Download the .jar file to a place where you can access it easily.
2. In Firefox, drag+drop the .jar file into Tools>Add-ons under the “Themes” tab.
3. The theme should begin to auto-install.
4. Once installation completes, select “Use Theme” and restart Firefox.

Another nice alternative theme from an alternative web site. Urethane Light’s slickness has won me over.