Firefox version whatever

With the announcement that Firefox, now in new version 15, will soon be coming out with version 17 - continuing the annoying march of full version updates that sent websites scrambling to update (while we all get nag notices), here's my take on things:

Why Firefox is losing my loyalty

The folks at Mozilla know Firefox has gone from being an upstart challenger industry to becoming firmly entrenched in some production processes. Knowing and understanding, however, are two different things.

Yet another update appeared this week on my various machines, and again, the pre-install message was the same: This or that plug-in is incompatible and so deactivate it.

Nope, screw the update (thankfully, only a minor one, 8.01, instead of the major version changes that have been flooding out in recent months). I need that plug-in, one that automatically refreshes websites, to work on the digital signs in the newsroom that display those sites.

And I don't need to get messages from the CMSes, digital signs and other back ends I work with telling me my browser is no longer compatible (I usually can ignore those, but the nag factor is a pain).

And then there's the added annoyance that on some Macs, FF8 won't properly integrate with the Quicktime 7 plug-in, prompting the "Quicktime needs another component" message (it doesn't) and won't play MP3 files inline. (No problem with FF3, which is why it stays on my machine.)

Firefox's great vitality is its stable of plug-ins. But that will also be its downfall, if it iwn't careful. You can't offer a buffet of useful plug-ins by third parties, encourage people to use them and integrate them into workflows, and then break them with numerous updates.

I can see the response now - these are important updates and if those third-party developers can't keep up, too bad. (I also largely agree that sites that sniff for specific browser versions, for instance, instead of core engines are bad and stupid.)

But that misses the point. That was OK when you were an upstart. When plug-ins were new toys and discoveries that had a large cool factor. But now they have a large embedded-in-workflows factor. Constant breakage is not just a trifling annoyance, it's a major pain in the arse.

I'm not particularly voting for Big Browser here.  But it's time for Mozilla to get some of this crap out of the way, get more judicious about updates, and figure out a way to get major plug-ins and other sites in line before releasing all but the most serious security updates.

CoScripter update

Well, I finally made my first CoScripter script today. For some background, see my previous post on this killer Firefox plug-in from the IBM labs.

Went like a dream, and now I have a permanent record for my class of how to get to census data on population mobility. (I always have to fumble around to find those tables.)

The script is below, just cut and pasted from the Co-Scripter window. The plain English you see is exactly how it comes out as you click, click, click. I added the line at the bottom and the parenthetical material.

This is a great teaching tool, but also what a great tool for newsrooms to keep a permanent record of how to do things online. Thank you , IBM.

The script (it's a script when run through CoScripter's plug-in but otherwise just a plain old text file):

How to get to Census mobility data

* go to "http://www.census.gov/"
* click the "American FactFinder" link
* click the "American Community Survey"'s "get data" link
* click the 2006 American Community Survey"'s "Enter a table number" link (or select another year and follow the same link)
* enter "s0701" into the "Enter a table number:" textbox (you might have to do this manually for it to work)
* click the "Go" button
* click the "geography (state, county. place...)" link
* select "..... County
" from the "Nation" listbox
* select "South Carolina" from the "--select a state--" listbox
* select "Richland County" from the "Select a geographic area and click 'Show Result'" listbox
* click the "Show Result" button

You can go back and change geography just by clicking on the "change geography" link in the upper left.

CoScripter, a killer Firefox plug-in

Came across this very neat free Firefox plug-in today. If you are a newsroom trainer, or anyone who has to show people how to do things on the Web or needs to automate things like filling out forms, take a close look at CoScripter from IBM.

Basically, CoScripter records -- in plain English -- all the steps you take as you fill out online forms, do searches, etc. The scripts can be saved on IBMs site as public, so that you and others can use them from the library. They also can be made private.

But the "killer" part of this app is that you can cut and paste that English text into any word processor and add it to whatever handout, instruction sheets, etc., you need to produce.

The scripts are also somewhat editable into more plain English, and the plug-in still recognizes them.

Check it out. There's also a Flash video demonstration.

(Although it is free, you do need to go through the registration process on IBM.com.)