Firefox 55 has broken all my add-ons

[Happy112]

Here Tyler Downer (Mozilla employee) explains in plain English WHY the switch to webextensions is being made :

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... s_and_why/

[Virtual_ManPL]

Here Tyler Downer (Mozilla employee) explains in plain English WHY the switch to webextensions is being made :

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... s_and_why/

in tl;dr:
there was too much power for extensions developers and our (Mozilla) extensions reviewers mostly reviewed extensions badly and poorly just only for souvenirs, so no power for you (users) anymore?
or I'm missing something...

[GHM113]

Here Tyler Downer (Mozilla employee) explains in plain English WHY the switch to webextensions is being made :
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/commen ... s_and_why/

Thank you! That's a very interesting thread. The most relevant part:

..we can't make major changes to the browser without breaking all sorts of add-ons (which makes people sad).

WebExtensions let us do major changes to Firefox without having to worry about breaking add-ons (since we know what the blocks are), and keeps add-ons from doing bad things (accidentally or on purpose)

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

Or, once the next version of Waterfox is released for Windows, switch to that.

https://www.waterfoxproject.org/blog/

I was trying out Pale Moon and found out that it will run "some" of my add-ons, but not all. I had to find Pale Moon add-ons to replace the broken ones.

I'm now using Waterfox and evrything is exactly as it is in FX (since they use the same profile). In the next release (55.0.1), Waterfox will have it's own profile folder (divorcing it from the default FX profile). This will be nice. The developer, Alex Kontos, says he plans on keeping Legacy add-ons alive.

Why keep flogging poorly engineered third party builds?

Because FX is leaving us in the dust by eliminating Legacy add-ons. What's the problem with mentioning alternatives? It's the discretion of the user to decide which browser suits his needs.

[c627627]

When Fx57 breaks most extensions there is only one place where they will *ALL* work until June 2018 and that is Firefox ESR.

So why do anything else for a while... The question is not which alternatives take Firefox extensions now but which will do so in second half of 2018? Many that do now will also switch away by then just like Fx57.

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

So why do anything else for a while... The question is not which alternatives take Firefox extensions now but which will do so in second half of 2018? Many that do now will also switch away by then just like Fx57.

Like a Boy Scout, be prepared. It doesn't hurt to try out alternate browsers in the meantime to get the feel for them. You're not any worse off if they drop support for Legacy add-ons in the future, we'll all be in the same boat once FX ers's die.

[gwe45gh]

I require a fully customizable, high functional topbar.

https://image.ibb.co/iFpdE5/topbar.png

If the future of Firefox is to force users to have just a stupid back button, no title bar, no quicklaunch shortcuts, etc then there's no way I'll use the future of Firefox. I've been pimping out my topbar since IE5.

[c627627]

Yes, I've had my stuff setup since Firefox 0.x Beta.
This is a no-brainer for me.
Firefox ESR until June 2018 then see the landscape.

There may be more alternatives in mid 2018 than there are today, some of which may take old Extensions and most importantly some of which may be completely modifiable, the one and only reason I use Firefox today. Hopefully much will happen between Fx57 and June 2018 when Firefox ESR 52 stops being updated.

[gwe45gh]

ESR could even last through 2020, because how badly do you need the updates after June 2018 anyway. Are they really that important? I successfully used FF 3.6 long after it was supported.

[c627627]

Well in June 2018 Firefox ESR will break the addons for the same reason Firefox 57 will break them in November: ESR will switch away from being Firefox 52 based. So better disable those auto updates...
EDIT: [Disable updates when it comes close to June 2018]

Yes, if no other modifiable browser exists in June of 2018, I know of many people who will stay on June 2018 Firefox ESR and rely only on software Antivirus / Anti-Malware / Firewall protection untill Firefox can't be used as a browser any more because of some future feature that may come out years from now.

[therube]

So better disable those auto updates...

When the time gets nearer.
Or at least check periodically for 52 ESR updates & do update when they come out.

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

Well in June 2018 Firefox ESR will break the addons for the same reason Firefox 57 will break them in November.

Most add-on developers will set the add-on for specific versions of FX. Right now, AddBookmarkHere 2 has stopped updating to the newer version because the new version is incompatible with 52esr. I would advise on keeping the installer on your local HDD in case an add-on updates and is broken. That way you have the file of the older version to drop back to.

[DN123ABC]

Well in June 2018 Firefox ESR will break the addons for the same reason Firefox 57 will break them in November.

Most add-on developers will set the add-on for specific versions of FX. Right now, AddBookmarkHere 2 has stopped updating to the newer version because the new version is incompatible with 52esr. I would advise on keeping the installer on your local HDD in case an add-on updates and is broken. That way you have the file of the older version to drop back to.

It would be great if there were an extension which went and got the .xpi files for all your installed extensions, and put them in their own folders. Maybe there is. Anyone know?

[Frank Lion]

So better disable those auto updates...

When the time gets nearer.
Or at least check periodically for 52 ESR updates & do update when they come out.

Yep.

We all like a good old discussion, but there really is a limit about what there is to say on this subject. - if you want to keep using your legacy extensions/themes then use 52 ESR and let it do its security updates until summer next year, when it would update to the next ESR...which will break your stuff...and just be sure to turn off updates before that time.

This thread can run for another 10 pages, but that's all there is to this one.

got the .xpi files for all your installed extensions, and put them in their own folders. Maybe there is. Anyone know?

Help>Troubleshooting Info> Open Folder/whatever > copy extensions folder > you're done.

[DN123ABC]

...

got the .xpi files for all your installed extensions, and put them in their own folders. Maybe there is. Anyone know?

Help>Troubleshooting Info> Open Folder/whatever > copy extensions folder > you're done.

Thanks! Never knew that.