Summary of Make Browser Extensions Great Again... Again - Dhaya Benmessaoud & Jean François Grand

00:00:00 - 00:25:00

In this YouTube video, titled "Make Browser Extensions Great Again... Again," Dhaya Benmessaoud and Jean François Grand discuss various aspects of browser extensions. They explain what browser extensions are and discuss different categories of extensions. The speakers introduce a toolkit called "Web Extensions Toolbox" that aims to harmonize the development process. They delve into the key components of browser extensions, such as the manifest file and user interface elements. They then discuss features like "web accessible resources," initialization steps, customization options, and requesting permissions to access user information. The presenters also demonstrate how to retrieve random GIFs using the Giphy API and display them on the browser's current page. They go on to explain how to implement options and configuration settings for the extension, including handling form field values and programmatically restarting alarms. The speakers discuss packaging and deploying browser extensions, highlighting the lack of harmonization and standardization in this area. They provide links for further reference and suggest their code source and previous talk on YouTube. The section concludes with a mention of a book giveaway and a question about extension compatibility and communication.

• 00:00:00 In this section, the speakers introduce the topic of browser extensions and explain that they are small software programs that extend the functionalities of your browser. They mention different categories of browser extensions, such as security and privacy, productivity, and accessibility. They also highlight the heterogeneous nature of browser extension development across different browsers and introduce a toolkit called "Web Extensions Toolbox" that aims to harmonize the development process. They then go on to discuss the key components of a browser extension, such as the manifest file, background script, options page, and user interface elements.
• 00:05:00 In this section, the speakers discuss the "web accessible resources" feature in browser extensions. They mention that this feature acts as a whitelist for resources that can be loaded in other sections of the extension. They also touch on the initialization step of their project, where they plan to display a GIF periodically to remind users to take a break. Additionally, they discuss customizing the extension with options and show how to set up the manifest file. They demonstrate the process of generating an extension version and loading it in Chrome, and they conclude by showcasing a simple alarm feature that plays a sound and logs a message every six seconds.
• 00:10:00 In this section, the presenters discuss adding some configuration to their browser extension. They create the core of the extension, which involves retrieving random GIFs using the Giphy API. They update their console log to display the retrieved GIF instead of the previous message. They then proceed to modify the browser's current page display to show the GIF, which requires creating a content script and a CSS file. They also explain that they need to request additional permissions in their manifest file to access the user's current tab information. The presenters demonstrate how to make a request to retrieve the current tab and display its URL. The process involves using the chrome.runtime API and sending a message with the URL of the tab.
• 00:15:00 In this section, the speakers discuss implementing options for the browser extension. They create a HTML page that will be included in the manifest, allowing them to store and retrieve configuration settings using the storage feature. They explain the code that handles retrieving and saving the configuration, as well as providing a default config option. The options page will include inputs and radios for choosing API endpoints and passing tags. They discuss the script for handling options, which loads the configuration and updates it atomically when form field values change. They also mention using the alarm handler to programmatically restart an alarm if the periodicity is changed in the config. Overall, they are making progress in developing the extension and are ready to continue working.
• 00:20:00 In this section, the speakers discuss the process of packaging and deploying browser extensions. They mention that packaging involves creating a zip file containing all the necessary files for the extension, and deployment can vary depending on the browser vendor and their market share. Some browsers may require payment for entry, such as $5 for Chrome or between $19 and $99 for Edge. They also mention that there hasn't been much progress in terms of harmonization and standardization in browser extensions, as the v3 group responsible for it has been inactive. They provide links for further reference and suggest checking out their code source and their first talk on YouTube. The section concludes with a mention of a book giveaway related to web extensions and a question about the compatibility and permissions of extensions across browsers.
• 00:25:00 In this section, the speakers propose some tips for creating browser extensions that will save time, but then admit that scaling up these tips would be difficult. The subject of testing is discussed, with the suggestion that unit testing can be done using the Toolbox. The asker wonders about testing individual extensions, as well as testing in the browser. Finally, the question of whether it is possible to have extensions communicate with one another is asked.