May 13, 2009

Sample Google Chrome Extensions

Last time when I wrote about Google Chrome extensions, they were nothing more than repackaged user scripts. Since March, the extension system has been improved by adding new APIs and options to create custom UIs.

If you use a recent version of Chromium or a Google Chrome dev build, you can already install two useful extensions. But first you should find a Chrome shortcut on your desktop, right-click, select "Properties" and append a flag to the target field: --enable-extensions. Restart the browser to use the new option.


The sample extensions are actually enhanced bookmarklets that show the number of unread messages in your Gmail inbox and an option to subscribe to feeds in Google Reader.


For those that want to write similar extensions, there's a tutorial that will walk you through creating a very simple extension.

In other news, Linux and Mac users can try some early builds of Chromium. "The software, available for download from the Chromium Web site, is incomplete and definitely buggy, as one would expect for a developer version that reflects all the latest changes programmers are making with the project," says Stephen Shankland from CNet, who tested the Mac version.
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44 comments:

  1. RemizMay 13, 2009 at 5:23 AM

    Thank you so much,
    Have a look on my Chrome extension :)
    http://www.htmlremix.com/projects/developer-style-switch-chrome-extension

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bluegrass GeekMay 13, 2009 at 6:53 AM

    The minute there's a working Delicious plugin for Chrome, I'll uninstall Firefox from my Windows partition.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    When I try to download the latest Chromium for Linux, I get an error message "You don't have permission to access /buildbot/snapshots/chromium-rel-linux/15951/chrome-linux.zip on this server."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alex ChituMay 13, 2009 at 8:04 AM

    @ign:
    You can also try this page [Ubuntu daily builds of the Chromium browser].

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 9:22 AM

    I can get the extension to work.

    Can anyone post detailed instructions on how to run extensions in chrome?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownMay 13, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    just how does one enable a flag- i added the -enable extensions to the highlighted chrome.exe but good a message box that this not valid,check your text...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alex ChituMay 13, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    As you can see in the screenshot, you need to separate the path from flags using a space.

    For example:
    C:\Users\Daniel\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --enable-extensions

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 10:51 AM

    Shrink my browser space with a new status bar? I don't think so.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 11:22 AM

    @Anonymous: yeah, my thoughts exactly :-)
    And it's a shame because those two extensions are the first 2 I wanted!
    now, move them to the bookmarks bar and I'll be a happy man...

    ReplyDelete
  10. HunnterMay 13, 2009 at 1:43 PM

    @May 13, 2009 10:51 AM

    I semi-agree on this.
    I would love to be able to add them on the Bookmarks bar, even more points if i can put all of them inside a folder like i do with my current scripts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    I tried the beta version of Chrome to tried and add some extension but it didn't work. I saw on Lifehacker a post about extension but when I went to add the extensions, Chrome wouldn't load Gmail. The extension was Better Gmail for Chrome.

    Google said Chrome isn't going after Firefox, and that might be the case, but it's Firefox users who are waiting for Chrome to support extensions, not IE users.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Alex ChituMay 13, 2009 at 4:37 PM

    Better Gmail is a collection of Greasemonkey scripts. Chrome has some basic support for user scripts, so a few of those scripts will probably work in Chrome too.

    Chrome doesn't use Firefox's rendering engine and it doesn't implement XUL, so you can't expect that it will support Firefox extensions.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 5:49 PM

    Chrome won't change to Dev Channel..cant make those work. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 6:51 PM

    @Alex Chitu: I think the Better Gmail scripts were for Chrome. Maybe I did something wrong when I tried to add the extension but I went back to the "stable" release of Chrome. I'm going to wait for something easier from Google.

    http://lifehacker.com/5180011/better-gmail-for-google-chrome

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousMay 13, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    I'm not that cut because I removed the favorites bar (pointless imo).

    What I am cut about is you can't have it use your domain account.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jack StanleyMay 14, 2009 at 11:33 AM

    CNet recently mentioned the latest Chrome, especially the extension side:

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10240057-2.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousMay 14, 2009 at 11:40 AM

    I still haven't heard what to do with the ext files once they are dl'd.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alex ChituMay 14, 2009 at 11:42 AM

    @Anon:
    You need to have a version of Chrome that supports extension (try the dev builds), then you need to enable the extension support (I mentioned how to do this in the post). If all is set and done, when you click on the extension link, it should install automatically.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousMay 14, 2009 at 1:46 PM

    I guess I'm the idiot of the day. I have a dev build running. Now that I know to click on them instead of dropping them into the browser window, I still get the same result: it loads them into the download bar at the bottom with a sequential number on the end. Clicking on that, just does the same thing again.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anxiety TherapyMay 15, 2009 at 1:51 PM

    Hi Alex, Do you have any idea why it is taking them so long to develop a social bookmarking plugin for Chrome? Chrome rocks, but I really miss my social bookmarking abilities I get from Firefox. -Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  21. Health And FitnessMay 18, 2009 at 4:09 AM

    You have to turn “Ask where to save each file before downloading” OFF if you want it to prompt you for installing extensions. I’m assuming they will fix this in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ibrahim AwwalMay 18, 2009 at 9:28 PM

    I'd like to point out that there's an ad blocking extension, adsweep, that's been out for a while. http://adsweep.org . It purports to be better than Adblock Plus, which is not true, since it uses site specific filters, so if you go to sites that are less common, it's useless. Still it's better than nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Alex ChituMay 18, 2009 at 11:30 PM

    @Ibrahim:
    The user script works exactly like AdBlock Plus, except that it doesn't have an interface. The filters are regular expressions for URLs and they're not necessarily site specific. You can also add your own filters.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jack StanleyMay 22, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    You might also be interested in checking Cleeki. Cleeki has provided its add-on for Chrome. You can consider Cleeki as an alternative to IE8 accelerators, only superior. Select any text, and Cleeki can search/share/publish on the Internet and preview the results immediately in the same page. Check it out yourself:

    http://blog.cleeki.com/?p=70

    ReplyDelete
  25. Andrew HeenanMay 27, 2009 at 3:57 PM

    1. High time they were available for all - at least the vital ones!

    2. Judging from this thread, there's work to be done on making them match Chrome's mission - they need to be USER FRIENDLY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. JMay 29, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    I tried adding the text in the target path but it said it is not valid?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Alex ChituMay 29, 2009 at 8:14 AM

    Did you also add a space before the flag? I bet you didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  28. ajayJuly 7, 2009 at 7:29 PM

    is there a different process 4 xp cos i tried whatever uve mentioned but wati manage to get is only an error message tellin the target is not valid

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2009 at 3:25 PM

    For Windows XP users, change the target to this:

    "C:\Documents and Settings\*user*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --enable-extensions

    Windows XP has quotation marks unlike Vista, you need to put the --enable-extensions after these quotation marks.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Alex ChituOctober 2, 2009 at 12:33 AM

    Can you give more details? Extensions are now enabled by default in the dev builds, so the only thing you need to do is to download Google Chrome Dev Channel and then to click "Install" next to one of the sample extensions.

    ReplyDelete
  31. AnonymousOctober 2, 2009 at 12:52 AM

    I'm sorry if my computer skills are not enough. I installed the Google Chrome Dev and it keeps saying "extensions are not enabled". The extension I want to put is adblock or adsweep for them it sais "invalid value for 'permissions[0]'." I tried also from this website http://www.chromeextensions.org/

    ReplyDelete
  32. AnonymousOctober 2, 2009 at 12:58 AM

    Well you're right Alex Chitu. I only had to restart my computer and now it works. Thank you :D

    ReplyDelete
  33. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    Hi,
    Actually I have built an Extension for Chrome which will check bugzilla page and if found then it will add some link to that page and put some validation on form submit,same javascript which i had used for Mozilla and which was working fine there is not working in chrome can anybody tell me the reason and solution..?? Please it will be very helpful.

    Thanks in advance..

    ReplyDelete
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