Talk about an extensible extension!

The latest version of the Firefox sidebar extension now supports Javascript plug-ins, with a simple install/uninstall interface under “Settings”. To install a plug-in, paste in the URL to an external Javascript file. The plug-in will then be able to re-write any of the pages immediately after they are loaded, override any existing functions (not really recommended), and also store data in custom tables. Right now, the implementation is pretty basic. It will become more robust in the near future.

I created a sample plug-in that adds a new table to the database for storing “notes” on your friends: http://xidcard.com/plugins/testplugin.js

To try it out, install the plug-in, add at least one friend, go to that friend’s Detail page, then notice the “Note” tab.

Quick link to the latest version of the Firefox sidebar extension

One of the problems with sharing XID cards — on a web site, for example — is that users may navigate to the URL and see XML. That could lead to some confusion. Safari users would have it even worse; they would see an unformatted page that only displays XML node values (IE & FF both parse the XML and show it in a tree view).

Luckily, there is a perfectly acceptable solution: XSL. Using XSL, the card can now display as if it was formatted HTML for browsers (IE 6+, FF1+, Mozilla, Netscape 8+, Opera 9+, AND Safari). The same page will still look like raw XML for applications wishing to pull data from the same URL. Additionally, the formatted page presented to users can provide instructions for how to use the XID card.

Check out this example XID card: http://xidcard.com/brianshaler
(Note: the formatted page will probably get a redesign prior to launch)

If you view the source of that page, you will see the same old XML as before, but the first line now references an XSL document for formatting:
<?xml-stylesheet type=”text/xsl” href=”http://xidcard.com/display.xsl”?>

As the Firefox sidebar extension is currently the only application to manage XID cards, this update applies to anyone testing XID.

New features include:

• Recent Activity View
• Activity Icons
• OPML Import/Export!!
• Automatic Updating

I am excited about the addition of “Recent Activity” and OPML Import/Export. These are both very important features for the application. Obviously, automatic updating is absolutely essential, but as a behind-the-scenes kind of thing, it is less exciting.

Recent activity will show you if your friends have recently added or removed profiles on social networks. This makes the sidebar feel much more like a living application, something to check regularly.

OPML Import and Export is also very important. Because all information is stored in a client-side database, the data is not accessible from other computers and other applications. The OPML Export feature drops all your contacts’ XID card URLs into a standard XML format that can be read by other applications. You can take that list to another computer, use the OPML Import feature, and have your contact list available on that computer without having to re-add your friends’ URLs individually.

A little bit of bad news for early adopters…

One change to the extension’s local database was required for the automatic updates functionality. When you reinstall the extension, the database will not be affected, causing the code to fail if it tries to write to the new field. The solution to this problem is a new feature added under “Settings” where you can click “Reset Database” to clear it out and start over. In future versions, I will work on methods of updating the database in a less destructive way.

Quick link to the latest version of the Firefox sidebar extension