I am aware of at least one bug in the current version of CoLT that prevents it from working in the latest Firefox 4 nightly builds. A fix will be forthcoming, though I may not release it until Firefox 4 release candidates are available (I have an unwritten policy about pre-release builds; you can read all about it if you like).

As always, if you find problems, let me know.

I have made several substantial updates to my Firefox Toolbar Tutorial. Here’s what’s new:

• Chapter 6: Scripting the Toolbar has been heavily updated. No longer do I recommend using prefixes before your function and variable names. Instead, all functions and variables are encapsulated in a JavaScript object, keeping the global JavaScript namespace pollution free.
• All sample XUL and JavaScript files have been updated to reflect the change made above.
• The installable version of the tutorial toolbar has been updated with the changes above, and is now compatible with all 4.0 builds of Firefox.
• Several grammatical errors have been fixed, and broken links have been repaired.

If you spot any errors, please let me know. Enjoy this update!

I’m currently working on adding secure search support to the next release of Googlebar Lite. This new feature complicates things slightly when using a non-default, top-level domain (google.co.uk, for example). Google’s encrypted search feature is not available for all search types, and is currently only available via one domain: encrypted.google.com. As such, here is how the new option in Googlebar Lite will work when enabled:

• For search types that support encrypted search, all queries will be sent to the encrypted domain. Your custom top-level domain (if you have one selected) will be ignored.
• For search types that do not support encrypted search, all queries will be sent to the top-level domain of your choice.

I want to make this option’s behavior as clear as possible before I release the extension, which I hope to get around to doing in the next week or two.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that contact via email should be back up and running here at the site. Comments are also a good way to get in contact with me (plus they benefit everyone).

I’m having a number of email problems here at the site, so please note that emails sent to me through the contact form may not be answered in a timely fashion. Please bear with me as I sort out these problems.

You can read more about my troubles at my blog: Website Email Headaches

A new build of CoLT has just been posted. This release features a small bug fix. Page titles weren’t being copied in the most appropriate manner, which led to undefined values in the latest alpha builds of Firefox 3.7. Let me know if you spot anything else!

A new build of Googlebar Lite is now available. This release fixes a bug that somehow cropped up with the release of Firefox 3.6: word searches would get stuck if the terms being searched for appeared in a text edit control. This should no longer be the case. Googlebar Lite is now using the same functionality found in the quick find bar, which should hopefully keep things working.

As always, if you spot a problem, let me know!

The sample toolbar that is available for download in chapter 1 of the Firefox toolbar tutorial has been updated to work with Firefox 3.6. The appropriate places in the text have also been updated. Many thanks to Nir for pointing out this error!

I have made a few navigation improvements to the Toolbar Tutorial. Each chapter now has a link back to the Table of Contents, which should be useful if you land on an interior page via a search engine. The new link appears at the bottom of each chapter in the chapter navigation block.

Would having a copy of this navigation block at the top of each chapter’s page be useful? It’s a bit of a bother to have to scroll to the bottom of each chapter to find a link to the next one. If you think that would be a useful addition, let me know in the comments below.

After one billion years in development, I’m finally proud to announce that the next version of Paper Plus is now available. Barring any major bugs, this will be the final release of this program. Newer versions of Windows come with built-in wallpaper rotation mechanisms, and I’ve never verified whether or not the tool works in Vista and later. As such, the need for such a tool has diminished in recent times.

There are lots of changes in this release:

• PNG images are now supported
• Multiple wallpaper list items can now be edited at once
• Default position and timer settings are now saved on a per-list basis, instead of globally
• New option has been added to automatically remove dead items from the file list on startup
• While minimized to the system tray, a new random wallpaper can now be selected by Shift+clicking the tray icon
• Automatic random wallpaper selection at startup can now be prevented by holding the Shift key when starting Paper Plus
• The application is now limited to a single instance, to prevent file overwriting and other similar issues
• Paper Plus no longer comes bundled in an installer
• Many minor cosmetic changes
• Removed the "Apply Least Viewed" action
• Removed the option to show random pool status in color
• Bug Fix: Paper Plus no longer crashes when a password-protected screen saver kicks in
• Bug Fix: Adding files from a folder only marks a list dirty when something was actually added
• Bug Fix: Minimizing the main window will now automatically minimize the preview window as well
• Bug Fix: The initial window size for brand new installations has been reduced significantly

As always, let me know if you find any problems.