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I downloaded this Firefox sample extension from mozilla.org, I modified the file install.rdf and changed maxVersion value to 3.6.10 (also tried 3.6.*, 100 and *) and I added a new string with name "hello world" and the value is the path where the folder of the sample extension is to HKCU (also tried HKLM)/Software/Mozilla/Firefox/Extensions/ into the registry.

I start Firefox, go to Tools > Addons, and it says it needs to restart, I restart and go there again and the plugin appears but says "Not compatible with Firefox 3.6.10", and every button appears disabled. Also removing the registry key and folder doesn't uninstall it.

Is there something else I have to change to use the hello world sample in Firefox 3.6.10?

Tim S. Van Haren
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jarkam
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  • Make sure that what's installed is the new (changed) version, not the original. Then try uninstalling it and reinstalling it. – Tyler Oct 02 '10 at 05:04
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    I did make sure it was the latest version (the one i edited), and since all the buttons are disabled I can't uninstall the extension (removing the registry key and deleting the folder didn't work neither), I had to uninstall firefox and delete all customization and reinstall it to remove the extension. – jarkam Oct 02 '10 at 05:27

3 Answers3

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Update 2018

This sample extension was created in 2000s and Firefox switched to a radically different extension system called "Web Extensions" in 2017. The old extensions will not work in the current versions of Firefox and have to be rewritten completely.

The easiest way to start developing an extension is putting a "pointer" file in the extensions folder in the profile directory. I wouldn't touch the registry method until the deployment moment.

Thanks for reminding me to update the example extension. Updated it now.

Nickolay
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    @msangel: I have not been updating it for quite a while, but the file is here, if you need it: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/153605/helloworld.zip – Nickolay Oct 17 '15 at 17:27
  • the link is broken again – Green Oct 29 '18 at 09:18
  • I've shared it again @ https://www.dropbox.com/s/x50hnvdyjfefkl1/helloworld.zip?dl=0 but note that after Firefox switched to Web Extensions this will not work in Firefox, see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions – Nickolay Oct 29 '18 at 21:02
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Basically, the best way to use an extension is to package the addon in .xpi format. Then you just have to open this addon with Firefox. Note:To make an .xpi , take all the contents of helloworld like content,locale,skin,install.rdf,chrome.manifest etc and try to zip it but change the extension to .xpi instead of .zip. Otherwise u can just rename ur helloworld folder to helloworld@xyz.com and then copy this folder into C:\Users\"OS user name"\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\h31hcfq9.default\extensions and then restart ur browser. Also, it would be best to learn about addon development with this Basic tutorial on addon development

Girish
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The procedure to create sample firefox extension can be found on this link. This tutorial explains how to create a Firefox extension to find all links in the current web page, highlight those which have a target attribute and alert you how many links it found.

Atish Bundhe
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