Firefox 3.1 Beta 2: Time to start updating add-ons

Paul Rouget

11 responses

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 is coming. This beta will be add-on compatibility frozen. That means it’s safe to update your add-ons.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 will likely be released the first week of December. With Beta 2 we’re making the promise that we won’t be changing interfaces that break add-ons so now is the time to start updating. We have added a Beta 3 to our schedule. With Beta 3 we will start aggressively pushing Firefox out into users’ hands, so it’s important that in between Beta 2 and Beta 3 that your add-ons are updated, otherwise we will have problems getting users to update.

What to update?

If you’re worried about how much work this will be, don’t. Most add-ons won’t require changes in order to support Firefox 3.1. Based on feedback from people that have already updated we have started the process of documenting those changes at the Mozilla Developer Center:

You can also see the overall changes for developers on the developer’s
page for 3.1:

Need help, want to give us some feedback?

If you need help updating your add-ons or if you want to provide us feedback about your updating experience, feel free to use these channels:

How to stay tuned ?

The best way to keep up to date about what’s going on with add-ons is to subscribe to the very high-signal about:addons newsletter. It’s easy, it’s friendly and it’s delivered to your mailbox on a regular basis.

Obviously, this blog will be updated regularly and broadcast to you any useful information.

If you’re a Twitter addict, you can follow our account : mozamo

In a nutshell

Beta 2 is the start of our push to get people updated. If you have any question to ask or feedback to give, do it through the channels listed above. The newsletter and the weblog will be updated as we move to the next beta.

So thanks, and happy updating!

11 responses

  1. Brian Slesinsky wrote on :

    I found this email about updating add-ons to be a bit annoying. I was expecting instructions of the form, “Download Firefox version X (link) and test your plugin. If it works, here’s how to update your add-on to indicate compatibility with Firefox 3.1: (instructions).”

    But it turns out that version X is probably Firefox 3.1 beta 2, which isn’t out yet, so the email was sent too early. Also, none of the links go to instructions explaining exactly what to do.

    People with more complicated plugins might need more time and more information, but please don’t forget about the simple case.

  2. Jerome Dane wrote on :

    Dear Mozilla Team,

    I’ve had a fairly popular extension hosted on https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7757 for months now (since June ’08) and have not been able to get anyone to take a look at it for public approval. It has been nominated and in the sandbox the whole time.

    The add-on called “Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures” has been covered by Cnet (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10109286-2.html) and has roughly 1K downloads a week, 27.5K total downloads, and a 5 star rating from over 120 reviews.

    Can someone take a look at it or let me know where the add-on is in line to be reviewed?

    Sincerely,
    Jerome

  3. AD wrote on :

    What Jerome said. Has mozilla stopped making add-ons public? I find the whole situation extremely annoying.

  4. Jon Wright wrote on :

    Ironically, Build 1 and Build 2 wreck the Add-Ons window. Nothing is displayed in there. Went back to 3.0 and all was fine. Disabled MR Tech Toolkit and JIT – not fixed. Finally went back to 3.1 Beta 1 … and it’s okay. If this bug is not reported, then I hope someone in the loop can contact me.

  5. Paul Rouget wrote on :

    @Jerome: message forwarded to the team last week.

  6. FuriouZ wrote on :

    well its the 6th of December and tomorrow is the second week of December and firefox 3.1 beta 2 is still not out yet ?

  7. BigRedBrent wrote on :

    @Paul Rouget

    Yeah, I have been wondering about a few addons I have listed as experimental for months now as well. I wonder if they will be made public before Christmas.

  8. Jon Wright wrote on :

    Just upgraded to 3.1 Beta 2 via the update mechanism and the problem still exists. When I open the Add-Ons window there’s nothing there. Going to have to find somewhere to report this. And then find my Beta 1 files…

  9. Paul Rouget wrote on :

    @Jon Please join us on #extdev or explain your problem on http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=5095855#p5095855

  10. byll vl wrote on :

    this mozilla firefox 3.1 beta 2 it’s runing to slow on my computer and how do you activate private browsing yo didn’t said nothing about that ! why? let us know please and add an image so i can know that I’m in private mode and using it ! and modifie the default theme to look more cool if that’s the proper word ! and add more stuff and tehnology to this browser and then more people will find it more interesting and they’ll start using it like I do. Please add an update notifier to let you know when some add-ons hase been updated or even FF3 and try to add more security on FF3 like Opera has ! Oh and by the way Mozilla Firefox it’s the coolest web browser !! it’s so simple to use and smart but it needs more improvements and new tehnology !!! to be the best browser in the world and to beat google chrome !

  11. julian wrote on :

    My favorite browser is Mozilla firefox; all version