Firefox Extension Lets You Pick the Name

Rovaedne writes "Mozilla Firefox , the web browser formerly known as Firebird, formerly known as Phoenix, has a new extension which allows you to change the name to something palatable. The extension called Firesomething lets users change the name seen in the browser titlebar, Help menu, and About dialog, thus erradicating all traces of "Firefox" in Firefox (currently version 0.8). There is a name change FAQ, but it currently does not mention this extension. This extension should hopefully help curb some of the criticism that Mozilla has received from its most recent choice of name."

Comments

Cheesy...

[PoorLenore]

about:config also let's you change the 'Mozilla' bit, too. Mozzerella Seasquid here.

Re:I'm calling mine slash dot.dot

[Dan93]

Actually, from what I understand, Firebird, Pheonix and Firefox are just code names. When the browser is released 1.0 it'll just be Mozilla Browser.

Re:Black and white vs colour

[Teddy Beartuzzi]

Try this anime style one:

Re:finally, a reason to switch from...

[zonix]

I must be missing something in the enthusiasm for firefox.

Try some of the extensions like AdBlock (block flash, iframes, etc.). The extensible search engine bar is really cool to (get imdb search, DHL tracking, etc.). Not to mention the quick search feature (keyword bookmars)!

z

Re:I'm calling mine slash dot.dot

[I confirm I'm not a]

I believe that that may have changed, and that Firefox will remain the brand name of the browser, which - once it reaches version 1.0 - will continue to be available separately to, as well as part of, the suite. That's why so much effort has been expended on the Firefox *image* - the logo, the cute "ads" ("Reclaim the Web", etc) and marketing. Then again, my information dates back at least a few days, so it's possibly out of date already ;)

The original announcement on mozillazine suggests that Firefox is a permanent name, though I couldn't find other postings about the brand-identity. Like I say, this information is probably out-of-date already...

What's in a Name?

[The Monster]

Bring out an extention for other apps.

I'm not sure how much of an 'extension' is really required here. I make it a matter of policy in my shell scripts to do

Self=`basename $0`

and use that value in the script itself as its name. This way, if anyone ever wants to change the name of the script, they, uh, change the name of the script. The -[Hh]* option for help, as well as any log file names based on $Self , then correctly specify the new name.

Of course we don't have executables with names like "Mozilla Firefox", because that's not geeky enough. Still, it should be trivial for any app to allow configuration of the name it displays in the title bar.

I can imagine what would happen, just for example, if The Bride of Monster (Personnel Manager at a sheltered workshop, dealing with handicapped adults) installed a copy of The GIMP on a computer at work, to save their tight budget the expense of buying Photoshop for working up sales brochures and such... Being able to change it so it says 'GNU Image Manipulation' or just 'GNU Image' might save her from the wrath of uptight Politically Correct types.

This would really be funny

[lone_marauder]

If it randomized the broswer ID in the referrer as well. Unfortunately, I just checked, and it doesn't.

Re:Old news

[momokatte]

The plugin was actually released the same day as 0.8.

Almost, but not quite. Someone (Dunderklumpen) on the MozillaZine forums made the suggestion for the extension the day Firefox was released, and I released a barebones extension two days later.

The new news, though, is that the extension finally got a user-friendly interface (no more digging around in about:config) last weekend. The extension has changed a lot over the past six weeks, thanks to the MozillaZine forums users who were interested in its development.

Original idea - Naming extension - anyone?
Extension discussion (obsolete) - Firesomething 1.0.x
Extension discussion (current) - Firesomething 1.1.2