But if it’s to improve the add-on and I have the availability to do it, how can I say no to the most awesome and supportive users a developer could ask for?īeyond add-ons you’ve created, do you do other types of development? There’s a lot in my add-ons that come from user suggestions and requests, many I don’t really use myself. Puzzle Bars conveniently pulls up your customized toolbar with a simple swing of the mouse.Īlthough, that’s not entirely the case anymore. So I look for every way to enhance productivity in every task I do, not just for developing, even just casual browsing really. The “anything goes” approach of Firefox add-ons make them a very fun playground for me in that respect.Īs a procrastination enthusiast, I’ve found that when the process-towards whatever goal-is optimal, fast, and effective, I am the most motivated to do it. Everything has been about making my Firefox behave and interact with me the way I prefer it to, from quickly finding what I’m looking for in a page, to having my feeds and bookmarks readily accessible without screwing up the rest of the page layout, properly organizing all my buttons in the browser, keeping a clean window but always ready to interact in whatever way I need it to. Luís Miguel: Yeah, that’s a fair way to put it. It sounds like you basically create all of your add-ons based on personal browsing needs.

Luís spoke with me briefly about his unique interest in add-ons… Luís has created four other add-ons, including the popular Tab Groups. “Looking for the word ‘pinned’ in Firefox’s code using FindBar Tweak, I was able to easily read through only the relevant bits in a few seconds, because it not only takes me directly to what I’m looking for, but also helps me visually make sense of what is actually relevant.” “Earlier today I was working with pinned tabs, and I had to research how they happen,” explains Luís. In this case he wanted a quick way to scan code for just the parts applicable to his work. He created OmniSidebar, an elegant extension that allows you to slide your sidebar into view with a simple gesture, among other rich interface features.Īnother of Luís’ add-ons- FindBar Tweak-has a similar origin story Luís identified a personal desire first, then built an add-on to address it.

That’s when he resolved himself to develop a full-blown add-on. But Luís soon discovered he could only go so far solving this problem with minor CSS tweaks. Always a heavy user of bookmarks and feeds, Luís Miguel one day decided to customize his Firefox sidebar to better accommodate his personal tastes (he didn’t like how the ever-present sidebar pushed web content aside).

Simple things miguel tabs