The first thing you will want to do is point your browser towards the OpenSearch plugin generator.  This awesome utility allows you to create a search plugin in he open search format that Firefox (and many other browsers) use.  This way you could search Firefox Facts without even visiting the website first and typing your search into my search form.  The only hard part about this is locating the HTML source code that represents the search box on the website.  In Firefox, you can do this fairly easily by right-clicking on a website, choose "View Source" and then find where the form starts for the search box.

Here is one more quick tip, if you hit "Ctrl + F" you can bring up the search options in the webpage’s view source pane.  From there, search for "form" until you find the right form you need.  For webmasters, this should be pretty easy. Now, for the easy part.

On the OpenSearch plugin generator webpage, simply fill in the website name, the website URL and then copy and paste in the form data you found on the website you want to create the search plugin for.  I would recommend not changing the data for input encoding, plugin file name, or favicon file name. Next, hit the big button labeled "Generate Plugin".

The website will now give you the code you need to save on your own website hosting server to make the search plugin work.  Scroll down the webpage, and make sure you follow each step as they have it.  Once you are done, you too can have your own search plugin like this:

Install Firefox Facts Search Plugin

Hope this helps you create a search plugin for your own website.  If you do create one using this method, be sure to share it in the comments!

After yesterday’s news about the fake Firefox update that is out there in the wild, I thought it might be a good time to go over how you can get your plugins updated.  Thankfully, Mozilla has made this really simple with the Plugin Check part of their website.

All you need to do is go to the Plugin Check website, and automatically your browser is scanned to make sure all your plugins are up to date. If you are up to date, you will see this badge here:

If you are not up to date, then you will see this badge here:

When you click the “Update” badge, as seen above – you will be taken to the official website for the plugin in question so that you can get it up to date.  This makes checking all your plugins and getting them updated so much easier. Some of the things it checks for include: Flash, Java, Silverlight, QuickTime, and more. (Those are the important ones though)

If it does not know what it is, or can not find the current version – then you get this kind of weird gray badge here:

When then will lead you to a Google search, when clicked, for “current version plugin (PLUGIN NAME HERE)”.  So you can go out on your own and probably find the update you need (if one is needed) within the first few results you get.

Hint: You can also get to Plugin Check, by going to Tools in the menu toolbar, then click Add-ons, then go to the Plugins section. Click the “Get Updates” button at the bottom of the window, and you will be taken to the Plugin Check website.

So, those are the basics when using the Plugin Check website Mozilla provides for all Firefox users.  For people who might not know there way around with updating this, that or the other – it makes the process of getting things updated a lot easier.

Headup underlines words on pages when you browser.  When you hover over those words, you get relevant content from popular web services. 

Technically speaking, they  “presents you with textual and rich media content related to the objects and terms it identifies on the pages you browse.”  Here are a few more examples from their web site:

Use Headup’s ability to recognize objects and relationships to discover all kinds of information quickly and effortlessly. Here are some examples:

• Discover which of your friends like a particular band and gain access to the band’s videos and lyrics.
• Find blog posts and stock news about a company and discover which of your contacts work there.
• Get alerted about your friends’ birthdays and see which books they’re likely to enjoy as a gift.

Overall, I have to say it is an interesting idea – and a cool tool.  Sometimes these semantic plugins kind of confuse the general public, so I would really recommend playing with Headup to see if it is right for you.  You can pickup the Headup add-on on Headup.com or the Mozilla Add-ons web site.

Once you get it up and running, a window should come up when you visit a web site asking for your credit card information. With this new Firefox extension, you now have the choice to pay via a card that PayPal creates for you or you can generate a card manually through a drop down menu.

Some of the other features include:

What is FireShot and Why Do I Need It?

FireShot is a Firefox extension that creates screenshots of web pages. Unlike other extensions, this plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify captures and insert text and graphical annotations. Such functionality will be especially useful for web designers, testers and content reviewers.

Some of these newest features include:

• Screenshot can be uploaded to server for resizing, commenting and blogging.
• Added Undo/Redo feature
• Added “Resume editing” option
• Line width can be specified
• Improved page extents detection mechanism (now supports GMail, E-Bay and other frame-based sites)
• Improved memory management routines and error handling messages.
• Added MS Outlook support
• Working folder can be set up and periodically erased.

As you can see there is even more to love here. More now than ever before! Give the FireShot extension another shot. It is the perfect compainion for anybody who works with screen grabs a lot.

FoxFon, a lightweight and elegant phone plugin, makes Firefox a speaking friend in your online life. With FoxFon you can call your friends in a way similar to the SkypeOut service.

The major FoxFon advantage is that it allows you to make calls straight from web browser, without having to launch additional programs.

+ Learn More About and Install the FoxFon Extension for Firefox!