You have read my thoughts and opinions on Firefox and everything related to Firefox – so why not join me in sharing the word about how awesome this little browser really is.  Starting today, I am going to start accepting guest posts here on Firefox Facts.  So, if you have your own Firefox tutorial, add-on review or anything else Mozilla related that you’d like to share with the over 75,000 visitors that come to FirefoxFacts.com monthly – here is your chance.

Right now, I am looking for posts related to the following topics:

• Firefox Theme Reviews
• Firefox Add-on Reviews
• General Firefox Support Tutorials
• Hacks (about:config, Greasemonkey, etc)
• Firefox News or Community Stories

That is the basic list.  Of course, if you have a fantastic idea that does not fit into one of the above categories, feel free to send it my way too.  This is just to give those who need some guidance a general format of what it is I would like to see.

So, what is the payoff?

Well, other than being seen on one of the oldest and most popular independent Firefox fan blogs out there, I also want to give you a short biography paragraph at the end of your post, and a link back to your own website, twitter account, Facebook page or whatever else you might want people to see.

Interested?  Contact me at mitch@mitchkeeler.com and I’ll talk with you one on one and see if we can’t help you make a name for yourself on Firefox Facts!

The add-on in question will save pages for you to read later with just one click.  When you have the time to check it out, you can access your Read it Later list from any computer or phone. As you save things, it syncs it to your profile on the Read it Later website.

Some of the features of the Firefox add-on include:

• Save pages to a reading list to read when you have time.
• Offline reading mode lets you read the items you’ve saved for later on the plane, train, or anywhere without an internet connection.
• Sync your list to all of your computers, at work or home.
• Sync your list to Read It Later apps for iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android and more.
• After reading, bookmark pages on your preferred bookmarking service or share them with friends.
• Click to Save Mode lets you quickly batch a reading list just by clicking on interesting links.
• Text view strips away images, ads, and layout from articles and presents them in an easy to consume way.

Personally, I have been using Instapaper, for some time, to get this same task done.  However, Read it Later does offer a little more functionality – so I might have to switch my “reading list/bookmark saver” down the road.

You an lean more about the Read it Later service at readitlaterlist.com and you can pick up the Read it Later add-on from the Firefox Add-ons website.

One complaint I have heard time and time again is that Firefox doesn’t document the “how to” process very well, when it comes to building a Firefox add-on.  Well, thanks to the Add-on Developer Hub, I think that is one complaint I will not hear again.  The Mozilla team has put in a lot of hard work and effort into creating a place to centralize the help, tutorials and guidance you’ll need to build the next great Firefox extension.

Here are the main three categories to dive into:

• How-to Library – Get add-on development guidance in a top-notch collection of tutorials, articles, and more.
• API & Language Reference – The official documentation on APIs and languages. What you need, when you need it, to create your masterpiece.
• Case Studies – Start-to-finish success stories. See how add-on developers made magic with Mozilla.

They also have a couple of tools to help you along the way too:

• Add-on Builder – Auto-generate add-on packaging by entering basic info and picking UI parts. Get working without setup.
• Add-on Validator – Check your add-on for common problems and errors. Open to anyone, not just add-ons hosted here.

I would also suggest checking out both the developer forums and blog for more help on how you can build that extension you’ve always wanted, or how to make your current add-on for the browser even better.

All in all, the Mozilla team has put together a fantastic guide to help you build an extension onto the Firefox browser.  No matter if you have always wanted to write an add-on (but didn’t know how) or your just interested in finding out how the sausage is made, the Add-on Developer Hub is a resource well worth diving into.

Subscribe via RSS

All you have to do to subscribe to the RSS feed is click that orange icon in the Firefox address bar.

You will then be given many different options in which you can subscribe to the feed.  You can set it up as a Live Bookmark or you could use services like Google Reader, Bloglines and more to get instant access to all the Firefoxy goodness you will find here.

Subscribe via E-mail

To subscribe by e-mail, and get daily e-mail updates when a new post has been made – type your e-mail address into the empty text box at the top, and hit the “Subscribe!” button.

Once you do, a window will pop up asking you to type in a series of letters to verify you really want to subscribe.  once you do, click the “Complete Subscription Request” button and your all set.

It is all totally free, as I don’t charge you a dime (nor would I want to).  The only revenue I make from the site is from the Google ads your hopefully not blocking, to pay for the upkeep of the site.

Big thanks to the 7,000+ that are subscribing already and the many more who come in to check out the web site daily.  You ROCK!

You can also follow me and my projects on Twitter @mitchkeeler!

So there is your how to subscribe to Firefox Facts public service announcement.  I now return you to your regularly scheduled Firefox tips, tutorials and more – already in progress.

How Do You Use Greasemonkey?

Once you have installed Greasemonkey, you will see the little monkey’s head come up in your status bar.  From here you can create a new user script of your own or you can edit the ones you have already installed.  You also have the ability to enable and disable scripts or Greasemonkey all together, if you need to.

Where Can I Find Greasemonkey User Scripts?

Finding Greasemonkey scripts is easy.  For that, let me point you in the direction of Userscripts.org. This is a great depository of user scripts people have created to get more out of various web sites.  You can browse through all of the scripts, or search for the web site you want to modify.

Greasefire, another extension for Firefox can also help.  It will let you know in the status bar how many user scripts are available for that specific URL you are visiting. Here are a few more of my favorite Greasemonkey script collections:

• The Best Greasemonkey Scripts
• Make Google Better with Greasemonkey
• Best Flickr Greasemonkey Scripts

How Can I Make My Own User Scripts for Greasemonkey?

Making your own Greasemonkey user scripts might be a ‘bit of a challenge, unless you are an old JavaScript coding pro.  It does take some learning, however there are several resources on the Web that will help you teach yourself.  One of the best is the Dive into Greasemonkey eBook.  Here are a few more resources to help you create your own user script:

• The Wiki at GreaseSpot.net
• Greasemonkey Hacks Wiki

Once you have made a successful Greasemonkey userscript, you might even look into creating it into a stand alone Firefox add-on.

If you like the tweak the Web, and make it your own, then Greasemonkey is well worth picking up as a Firefox extension.  The add-on, plus some user scripting can lead to helping you get more out of your favorite web sites, and then share that help with others.  When push comes to shove, isn’t that what the Internet should be all about?

As an example, did you know you can browse through all of the articles posted here:

• Browse through all the Firefox Knowledge Base Articles

They also provide you with a support forum too, so you can browse through past questions or post your own:

• Check out the Firefox Knowledge Base Forums

You might also want to register, so that you can help out as a contributor or just gain more access to the tools provided as a user. 

• Register to use the Firefox Knowledge Base

Also, you can’t forget about the awesome live chat available too.

• Check out the Knowledge Base Live Chat

As you can see, there is a lot to love about this support resource.  If you consider yourself a Firefox expert, you could always donate your time and contribute in a number of different ways.  If you are just a regular user, this is a good spot to bookmark just in case Firefox isn’t working right.

Has the Knowledge Base helped you, or is it still missing features you would like to see?

Firefox Themes and Design 

• Halloween Themes for Firefox
• Want to Create a Firefox 3 Theme?
• Lightest Popular Themes for Firefox 3

 Tips and Tweaks for Firefox

• 25 Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar
• 25 More Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar
• 6 PDF Power Tools for Firefox
• Gallery of Firefox Toolbar Customizations
• How to Backup Firefox Bookmarks
• 8 Ways to Open Text as a Link
• Spell Check All Text Fields in Firefox
• Combine Stop and Reload in Firefox
• How Have You Customized Firefox?
• Resize and Reposition Your Browser with JavaScript

 Mozilla and Firefox Related News

• Fennec, Ubiquity Tweaks and Minefield Gets Faster
• A Slew of Firefox News (Mobile, Firefox 3.1, Better Session Restore)
• Foxmarks Introduces Password Sync
• Google Cache Checker

 Best of the Firefox Add-ons and Extensions

• Inquisitor Comes to Firefox
• Become a Better Typist with Firefox
• Smart Bookmarks Bar
• Play and Download YouTube Videos Inside Google Search
• Geode
• Social Network Updating with PingFire
• Don’t Pick Adobe, Go with Nodobe!
• Pros and Cons of Feedly Add-on for Firefox
• Mashup Gmail with Google Calendar

Which was your favorite and what would you like to see me talk more about going into November?  Remember, you are my boss – and not the other way around so let me know how you feel and what you think.

There are a few requirements, such as getting your own unique UUID, giving TwisterMc some credit, and coming up with something original – but those are easily done in exchange for the knowledge you will be receiving.

Some of the tutorials covered are:

- Packaging Firefox Themes
- Creating Your Themes’ Identity & Install Files
- Graphics Editing for Firefox Themes
- Custom Firefox Toolbar Buttons
- Customizing Toolbar Backgrounds
- Submitting Your Theme to Mozilla
- Customize Firefox’s Scrollbar
- Changing Fonts & Colors in Firefox Themes
- User Generated Q&A

Check it all out here:

• iPox Remix – Create Your Own Firefox Theme

Big thanks to TwisterMc for updating this for all of us to enjoy. Know of anymore theme resources or tutorials out there?

I found myself staring at the “about:blank” parameter for an IE installation today, and that got me thinking if it works in other browsers too. It did. I’m using Firefox, and that cleared the address bar to a blank. And then I figured the developers HAD to include some more address bar commands and started looking them up.

+ Read About All 7 Hidden Firefox Pages!

For those of you who might not know, it allows you to quickly send your recipient the link, title, & highlighted text of the page you are viewing using GMail, Yahoo, and Stand-Alone Mail Clients like Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and more. I just now found out though that on the official Web site they have put up a video tutorial about the extension as well.

It is nice to see extensions from the past that are still being well taken care of as the versions of Firefox move on.