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View Full Version : Get Firefox (tell non-Firefox users to get Firefox)


AngelBlue
10-28-2007, 05:28 AM
I would like a product that :
* Detects if the surfer is using Firefox or not.
* If they are, displays an icon on the site (possibly with some text) saying "Thank you for using Firefox", and links them to the Mozilla addons page for Firefox (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox) to make sure they know about the cool addons it has.
* If they aren't, displays this (http://getfirefox.deviantart.com/art/Get-Firefox-48883837) image (or one like it) somewhere on the homepage.

I would like this product because :
* Firefox has a built-in spell checker. I would love all my users to use this.
* Firefox has better privacy options than IE, etc. I would like to encourage my users to take advantage of these.
* Firefox is not prone to exploits like IE is.
* For many other reasons, I believe that one's browsing experience is much better when using Firefox than when using IE.

The product should have the following options, in its own settings area of the admincp options page :

* Display for non Firefox users:
** on/off
** where the button/box/link/icon/whatever is inserted (FORUMHOME or every page? where on the pages?)
** if the user can remove the button from being displayed by clicking on it
** a link to edit the template that is shown

* Display for Firefox users:
** on/off
** where the button/box/link/icon/whatever is inserted (forumhome or every page? where on the pages?)** if the user can remove the button from being displayed by clicking on it
** a link to edit the template that is shown

* Misc settings
** Minimum version of Firefox to qualify as 'installed' (default to most recent version)
** Enable/disable the hack completely
** Hiding of icons is permanent, for this session, or for a set amount of time.
** Search string to use for Firefox in the HTTP headers. You should be able to edit this so you can use the mod to recommend Opera or whatever other browser you want your visitors to use.

The default should be :
* Encourage people who aren't using a recent version of Firefox to get Firefox.
* Encourage people who are using a recent version of Firefox to check out the Mozilla addons page for Firefox (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox) via a link in the box shown to them.
* Allow anyone to click on the icons to hide their display for 3 months. The icons stay there until they are clicked to hide them, though.

Imagine if every vBulletin forum owner installed this mod. Imagine what a difference we could make to the internet. For example, we'd probably save a TON of people from being attacked by the exploits/spyware/etc which target IE. This would be very good for the security of the internet as a whole.
It would also be great for us as forum owners. Users would like us for watching out for their interests, and it would give us a reputation for being ahead of the crowd. Plus it would have good effects on the content of our forums (e.g. the spell-check feature would help deal with newbies who post in text-speak).

I have searched, but I couldn't find an existing mod to promote Firefox.

Is there anyone out there who knows where to find one, or is willing to write one?

Marco van Herwaarden
10-28-2007, 12:32 PM
Imagine if every vBulletin forum owner installed this mod. To be honest, personally i would stop visiting vBulletin boards then.

In my personal opinion no admin of a board should tell his users what browser/etc... they should use.

Paul M
10-28-2007, 12:36 PM
I certainly would think twice about visiting any forum that started trying to dictate I use FF.

If everyone used Firefox then it would have just as many security issues as all the hackers would be concentrating on it. The only reason they target IE is becaue it is the most common browser.

deezelpope
10-28-2007, 12:56 PM
Geez, that seems rather dictative, don't ya think, AngelBlue? :erm:

AngelBlue
10-29-2007, 04:48 AM
If someone isn't aware of Firefox, this might encourage them to check it out.
If they are, but don't like it, then by default they can just click on the reminder to banish it.

Yeah, if you set it so that they can't get rid of the button, then yes, that would be annoying.
But that's not how I want to set it up. I want people to be able to squelch the reminder if they want to.

I want to encourage (but not force) people on my forum to use Firefox, because :
1) we have a lot of younger users, and the spellcheck feature of Firefox is a godsend.
2) a lot of our users are very privacy conscious, and because of this, they would jump at Firefox if they knew about it.