Kevin A. Freitas

E: freitaka@blarg.net
P: 253.229.5093
W: kevinfreitas.net/pro

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Firefox Extensions

TickerFox 0.2.6

Keep on top of the latest Firefox download count while this extension ticks away in your browser's status bar.

Credit Where Credit's Due
Thanks to Paul Grave for stepping up to help overhaul my code in favor of that already written by the kind folk over at Infocraft.

Known Issues (in order of importance)

when multiple window open, TickerFox shows different counts
Styles defined in extension override chosen theme (see GrayModern theme)
pixel-based counter width cuts off counter text in Linux (Ubuntu) - will change to em-based width for flexibility
ticker get pushed aside when loading progress bar or secure site info present
resync time too small
"No chrome package registered for chrome://measureit/skin/measureit.css" error

Future Features

ticker interval options (e.g. 1 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 10 min, 30 min, 1 hour)
notice announcing download milestones (e.g. every million)
Thunderbird ticker (suggested by Gary over at The Rumbling Edge)
graph of last days worth of download rates (I hear SVG calling...)
small icon (FF logo with green download arrow) instead of "Firefox Downloads:" text
hover tooltip with text "Firefox downloads to date"

Updated 12/11/2005

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Comments (48) | To Top

4/18/2005 @ 2:45am

More ideas for the future:
Disable on left-click.
Open spreadfirefox.com in a new tab on middle-click.
Context menu: disable, set update interval.
Optional alert once the next million is completed.

by Steffen

4/18/2005 @ 4:06am

Eh the option to set the update time is not there (no options at all actually). Else --> great!!!

by marco casteleijn

4/18/2005 @ 4:07am

future features, right right right right

Ok I am stupid!

4/18/2005 @ 4:52pm

can't wait for the options to set update speed, that way it wont take up much bandwidth or cpu.

another feature, would be nice if we could pick where on the status bar we could put it... though thats not nessisary.

by shanikodara

4/19/2005 @ 9:54am

I am very impressed by the simplicity of this extension, but I would also like to be able to position the extension onto other toolbars.

by Mac

4/19/2005 @ 7:38pm

I agree with the other on positioning. Although I don't really care about being able to place it where ever I want, it would be nice if you could place it to the right of the progress meter so it isn't moving from side to side when I'm loading a page.

by john_X

4/25/2005 @ 8:42pm

Is it possible to reset the counter??

by paulie jay

4/27/2005 @ 2:56am

What do you mean reset Paulie? It is linked to the Fx Download Feed so I don't think you can reset it. And why do you want to reset it anyway?

by Beamer

5/2/2005 @ 7:48pm

How about an option for the number of Thunderbird downloads?

The feed is here:
http://www.spreadfirefox.com/download_counter.php?tb=1

by Skywalker

5/7/2005 @ 2:42am

It would be great if you could update Tickerfox to work with the latest nightly Firefox builds following Ben Goodger's massive patch, changing the installation process for extensions.

by Chris Blore

5/7/2005 @ 11:43pm

how to add the firefox downloaded ticker?

by Sander Sermus

5/11/2005 @ 5:43pm

Not bad! simple, yet effective. Doesn't take up much space either. Maybe you could let the user choose the options to use. And it would probably be easy to make a thunderbird counter by changing where the counter will get the feed from. And you can't reset the counter because all the extenstion only reads the count, not writes/deletes it! and if you double click the counter, it leads you to www.spreadfirefox.com!

by CClicker5

5/25/2005 @ 5:11pm

I agree with Mac. Although I have gotten used to it being on the status-bar, it would be nice to have the option to move it elsewhere, like the way Foxytunes works. Another thing that would be nice, in addition to what everyone else is suggesting would be the ability to change the icon for further customization and the ability to re-synchronize with the Mozilla server.

by Thomas Ella

5/25/2005 @ 7:03pm

I'll have a look at Foxytunes and see if I can't figure out how to make it moveable. Thanks for the suggestions! ~ Kevin

by KevinFreitas

6/11/2005 @ 4:16pm

Great ext.

But I can't find 2 things: the bandwidth the program uses (and how it gets the data) and since when the counter's runing.

Keep on developing!

by HoMa

6/15/2005 @ 9:00am

No chrome package registered for chrome://measureit/skin/measureit.css .

your skin seems to be using measureit's css info.

by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim

6/15/2005 @ 9:07am

Thanks for pointing out that error. I've corrected it and will have a new version out shortly.

~ Kevin

6/21/2005 @ 3:31pm

I can't uninstall this and all my other extensions are now hung up.

by Jesse

6/23/2005 @ 12:21am

Why it couldn't refresh???

by Modex

6/24/2005 @ 3:41pm

I like the progress that this extension has made since I last posted. A lot of the bugs seem to be getting fixed and updates are rolling out more than most extensions.

I would've liked to see the "when multiple window open, TickerFox shows different counts" error a little higher on the list, because for me, it's a bigger issue than, say, what icon is being used or what the tooltip says.

I never know which one is correct- is the new window more up-to-date? Is the old one going to stay behind the actual count once the new window is closed? And, for that matter, why are they showing different counts in the first place when they're supposed to be synced to the same place?

However, I also realize that any issue is easier to complain about than fix. I was also wondering about the resync time being too small error. Does that mean that it will resync more often now or less?

Anyways, before I went off ranting and filling up half a page, I had intended to say that I think you're doing a great job, and hope that this extension gains enough popularity to the point where it needs another extension designed to track this extension's download count. :D

7/16/2005 @ 6:13pm

How about the ability to uninstall or disable the feature?

by vig0

8/1/2005 @ 8:28am

Very Nice Extension. The only Problem is, for some reason once it is installed you can't change the drive letter of where it was installed to. This is related to Portable Firefox that can run off a USB drive (where the drive letter could be different at every computer you use it at.
I know Portable Firefox isn't an official version of firefox, therefor you don't need to akcnoledge this request. But it would be nice to have this extension be compatible with it.

by Richard DeHaven

8/1/2005 @ 11:04am

Richard: That's interesting since TickerFox doesn't make any reference to drive letters and should install just like any other extension. Since I love PFx I'll give it a go and see if I can't come up with any reason for it not working. Cheers! ~ Kevin

8/3/2005 @ 12:20am

this thing is great!

but the borders of the box dont look so good,
here is a pic of how its look in my computer:
http://www.liorwohl.info/fff/untitled2.png

u can fix that?

by lior wohl

8/3/2005 @ 6:32am

Lior: Can you tell me what theme you're using so I can be sure to properly test to rid you (and others) of those ugly borders? Thanks! ~ Kevin

8/5/2005 @ 12:16am

i'm using theme "GrayModern" -
http://www.bernzilla.com/projects.php

8/5/2005 @ 2:18pm

lior: Thanks for the info. I've got it and will see if I can smooth out the edges.

P.S. - I know and used to work with the guy that created that theme -- he's a really talented programmer and artist.

9/2/2005 @ 2:43pm

This extension is really cool, there is just one thing I don't quite understand. I use Firefox on my laptop which means that it is often disconnected. But, even when my network is unplugged, Tickerfox goes on counting. Why does it do that? Isn't it supposed to be counting actual realtime downloads?

by Prometheus

9/2/2005 @ 3:11pm

It checks up with the server once every minute. If it can't get a new number to count from it'll just simply keep ticking away at the last know download per second rate.

9/11/2005 @ 2:35pm

Needs MaxVersion Bumped to run on Firefox 1.5 beta 1. It will work with this one change.

by David B. Haun

12/1/2005 @ 12:25pm

Please change it to run on 1.5....i miss it so :( A simple change and it works and makes more people happy. It is the only one of my extensions that hasnt made the move. I miss it.

by Dallas Dowdy

12/10/2005 @ 11:04pm

Insteresting... even with no internet conection the counter still moving up.... unless someone explain why, I think that number is fake.

by Dix

12/11/2005 @ 8:02am

Dix: You right that it keeps running when you have no connection. The reason is that even if it cannot connect to the download count feed it uses the last best calculated download rate and continues from there. Next time it's able to sync with the live server, it will and will carry on doing so.

Cheers! ~ Kevin

12/12/2005 @ 8:18pm

Please add function to change position TickerFox in status bar.

1/23/2006 @ 3:56pm

I found out in bug report that tickerfox is what cause my computer to crash. Some unlawfur violation. Maybe you can fix it.

by josh

1/23/2006 @ 3:57pm

I mean firefox to crash

3/3/2006 @ 3:35am

I realise that this doesn't represent the user base, but a great landmark nonetheless...

Adam.

by Adam Harris

4/15/2006 @ 10:59pm

Wonderful tool. Thanks. Found you through more ways to add a firefox download counter.
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2005/05/add-firefox-download-counters-on-your-site/

by ravi

6/14/2006 @ 10:41pm

Cool stuff! I'll try it

by DEkart

7/12/2006 @ 9:39am

Hi! I noticed that even when I use single window mode in Tab Mix Plus, Tickerfox opens the linked website (on double-click) in a new window. New features are great! Thanks

by ulyxes

9/17/2006 @ 7:17am

Update Firefox 2.0 needed.

10/3/2006 @ 11:10am

Hello, this is a great add-on that needs an update to Firefox 2.0

I also think it would be nifty to include a bit more information, if you could, than just how many people have downloaded it. Such as how many people have downloaded 1.0.x over 1.5.x, or how many people have downloaded 2.0 over 1.5. Small but valuable information like that would be nice.

But yes, priority #1: 2.0 accessibility!

by Dallas

10/3/2006 @ 11:00pm

Very nice Firefox extension.
Thank you Kevin for programming and sharing.

regards

by Webdesigner A2D

11/16/2006 @ 3:58pm

Please change it to work for Firefox 2.0.

by Liam K.

12/9/2006 @ 7:39pm

Great! Can I use it with firefox > 1.5.0.8?

by mark

1/4/2007 @ 6:59am

Thanks for TickerFox 0.2.6 Keep up the good work. Greetings

by Pozycjonowanie

5/2/2007 @ 5:03pm

This sounds like a great extension, except it does not work with Firefox 2.0 :(
Could you pleas update it?
Thanks!

by John

5/3/2008 @ 9:45am

good one, but when you use too many plugins all those icons in the corner get mixed up

by hillos