Web Development Preferred Browser: Seamonkey 1.1
If your daily activity requires that you analyze in detail a variety of Web Site Element Properties and Page Information; if you are involved in Web Design or Web Development, and if you prefer to use the latest version of the Mozilla Project’s Seamonkey (currently 1.1.1 at time of entry) in the Linux‡ environment, on Windows XP, you may find some of these tips to be useful to maximize the potential of this no-nonsense, open-source Gecko-based web browser.
Seamonkey recommended Web Development Extensions
- SeaMonkey.be
- the Official SeaMonkey FAQ
- Firefox Translated to Seamonkey - at MozDev.org
- Multizilla
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Any explanation provided here will not do justice to this extraordinarily robust browser enhancement– you simply get so much from this single Mozilla addon. You absolutely must check it out for yourself, but if you’re really in a hurry, i’ll try to explain
Multizilla practically turns Seamonkey into a whole new browser. To start, it offers Session Management, Tabs and Toolbar management, a complete list of customizable elements common to most Web Sites, such as JavaScript, Images, Feeds, and so much more.
Do yourself a favor and check it out now!
- Aardvark - DOM Inspector Deluxe!
- Aardvark is a great tool to install on Mozilla Suite / Seamonkey. For web developers looking for a way to test out different layouts, or to find a pesky, problem element, or error in code which might be causing a layout problem, Aardvark might be for you.
It’s difficult, in truth, to properly describe Aardvark because, in truth, it’s unlike any other XPI addon i’ve used, and in my opinion, just that makes it a fresh, welcome change worthy of more users’ investigation.
NOTE: You may need to first install X-Sidebar in order for Aardvark to function as a Seamonkey Addon. Please read the details here for more info about the X-sidebar enhancements. - HTML Validator
- I’m not crazy about the name, Relaxed HTML Validator, which is “…written in Relax NG with embedded Schematron patterns…”(2) but the extension itself has proved to be a nice little add-on for Web Development in Seamonkey. It’s already helped me to find and correct a few validation issues in my own documents.
- Web Developer - Chris Pederick
- the Web Developer extension has long been a favourite of mine, ever since I first discovered its powerful potential back in my days of learning CSS, and frequenting CSSCreator.com where i learned how to reap the power from the robust add-on. i thought that Web Developer was a Firefox-only extension. When I converted from a full-time Windows XP user to a Linux, Fedora Core 5 user, I began to use the Mozilla Suite on a regular basis– it is after all a default browser in the FC5 distro, and available in the RPM Packages. Visiting the web site of Web Developer’s Chris Pederick, I learned that there is a Mozilla / Seamonkey specific version of Web Developer browser extension. Perhaps more so than any other extension i’ve used in both Firefox and Seamonkey, Web Developer integrates seamlessly with the browser.
Highlights of Web Developer include:
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- View Style Information
- Crosshair-style mouse-pointer hovers over HTML page elements, detailing the element attributes, including CSS Style selectors and declarations, and the properties thereof.
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- View CSS
- Gathers not only the primary dot-CSS file info, but also the CSS appended to the primary stylesheet by way of any @import directives. Web Developer makes it easy to distinguish which is the primary CSS and what styles are imported by separating the selectors according to source (@import or .css file, or “embedded styles” from the respective document’s <head>), and offering a Collapse / Expand feature to enable viewing of each of the listed items individually.
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- Validate Local HTML
- Take a trip without ever leaving the farm! With Validate Local HTML, Web Developer makes a temp html file and sends it to the W3C validator for scrutiny. the feature simplifies the process of coding for validation by eliminating the need to upload the file to a remote server.
- and much more!
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- ColorZilla - Alex Sirota
- Colorzilla is a great extension to have available for the Design aspect of Web Development. the Extension includes an “eyedropper” feature which allows the user to transform the mouse-cursor, similar to that of the View Style Information feature of Web Developer, into a powerful tool for gathering style data, such as the Hexadecimal color code of ANY object over which the cursor is hovered (when it’s in the eyedropper state).
Colorzilla Users NOTE:
If you’ve had difficulty using Colorzilla with Seamonkey, please have a look at the notes here at Seamonkey.be, the “Unofficial Seamonkey Site” (page down to Colorzilla). Users are advised to ensure that the xpcom.dll dynamic link library file is in the Components directory. I’m pleased to have discovered this bit of advice, as I have experienced problems using the eyedropper feature in Seamonkey. If xpcom.dll isn’t in your Components directory, simply find it, and copy it there (don’t cut / paste, just copy(1)).
As somewhat of an XPI hound, I can tell you that I have tested, failed, and re-tested much if not all of what is listed below. I’ve used Seamonkey 1.0.7 and Seamonkey 1.1, preferring the latter because of its several very nice, new standard features (such as built-in spell-checker based on aspell, and tabbed-browsing mouse-over thumbnail images which afford the user a quick-reference to the content of not-active tabs).
(2)Relaxed: The HTML Validator. Jaroslav Hanslik. Rel. Nov 23, 2006. Available at https://addons.mozilla.org/mozilla/3939/ . Viewed Mar 07, 2007 If you have yet to venture into the rapidly advancing Linux X-Server Graphical Desktop Environment / Window Manager GUI environment-based distributions, I recommend you start with Mandriva Linux if you consider yourself an intermediately advanced user of Windows (or Mac). Other very popular Linux distros such as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and SuSE are also known to offer relatively painless transitions for Windows users. If the thought of it has crossed your mind, stop what you’re doing right now, visit LinuxQuestions.org if you absolutely must research every distro before you make a move– or go straight to Mandriva Linux, and start downloading your installation CD’s. Depending upon your selections, it might take a while to download, so it’s best to initiate the download as soon as possible– you can worry about the details, or try another distro after you’ve gotten acquainted with the idea of a non-Microsoft desktop GUI.
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