Fireday - Firefox extensions for July 14, 2006

Friday, July 14, 2006 4:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0 | View blog reactions

This Week: Dummy Lipsum, StumbleUpon, and XML Developer

Dummy Lipsum

As designers make their site layouts, they sometimes want to know what the site would look like with text. You have two choices: Start typing in War and Peace or use Dummy Lipsum to generate the content for you.

If your still reading this and not looking for War and Peace through Google, Dummy Lipsum creates fake content for you site, so you can sit back, check out the site, see if it flows properly, and make modifications while using dummy content.

The extension asks you the how many paragraphs, words, bytes, or lists do you want to generate. There is also an option to show the HTML that the extension generated. The Copy To Clipboard button does exactly that: copies the generated text to the clipboard for later pasting.

The Dummy Lipsum Firefox extension installs flawlessly and no disasters happened. Designers, definitely pick this up, unless you like to type.

Rating: 5/5

StumbleUpon

Everyone stumbles into web sites unknowingly, but sometimes you come across a site that really fits what you are looking for.

Enter StumbleUpon.com. You define what you like and every time you press the Stumble button, you are given a random web site related to your topics you chose for rating purposes. Rate the site, then click the button again. You could spend an entire day (or more) just stumbling onto web sites. I'm actually hooked right now.

The installation of the extension was simple, but you need to register through the extension instead of through the web site, which had me going in circles for a while. Once you register, you'll be able to use the extension to its fullest.

One thing that confuses me is why StumbleUpon doesn't allow you to register through their web site. I tried to register through the web site, but couldn't find the register screen. They kept sending me to the extension, so...I registered through the extension. Most of the social bookmarking and other sites use a standard register page, which is why I don't understand why this option wasn't available to users.

I have to admit, though, that the extension is addicting and I will probably still be playing with this for a couple of weeks. Its an awesome time-wasting extension for experiencing other sites on the web.

And I mean that in a great way. ;-)

Rating: 4/5

XML Developer

Developers and designers have loved the WebDeveloper extension from Chris Pederick. The one thing that is missing was some more extensive XML support.

The XML Developer Firefox extension is an excellent way to continue the work of Mr. Pederick and allow developers/designers to pursue the XML path ('scuse the pun).

The extension provides the following categories on the toolbar:

  • Tools
  • Validation
  • Styles
  • Transformations
  • Views
  • Stats
  • S.O.A.
  • Authoring

Those who work with web services and XML will really appreciate the amount of time that went into this extension.

If you already have the Web Developer extension, you won't visit the Styles option at all. Its strictly CSS viewing and editing. Under SOA, there is a WSDL Analyzer along with a SOAP Envelope and I know this option will be used thoroughly by developers. Under Tools, you'll find XPath, Generate Schema, and Generate DTD.

After using this extension for a while, it makes XML usage more bearable to work with while hiding it after your finished.

Installation was simple and I've experienced no errors whatsoever. Overall, an exceptional utility for developers who work extensively with XML. Nice Job!

Rating: 5/5

As always, If anybody has any comments, jot them down in the Chatterbox below, or contact me directly.

Until next week.

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