Tom, a fan of MidnightFox, emailed me the other day about issues surrounding the ugly status bar and other toolsbars in MidnightFox. I don’t see the issues, but some Windows users do. So we worked together to iron out the problems. Along the way, I started tweaking things I no longer liked about the theme.

One of the biggest updates were all new toolbar buttons. I used the same icons I have in extero and I took some direction from Pixelmator for that’s the graphic design program I was using. I also tweaked the tabs and a few other areas to create a darker more polished version of MidnightFox.

It’s that time of the year again. Time to put up the lights, shop till you drop and dress up your Firefox with Tinseltown, a Christmas theme.

I’ve no formal update plans for Tinseltown, so I’m asking you. What would you like to see updated?

I’ve been running Tinseltown for a few days and there are no major issues that I see. But you may be seeing something that I’m overlooking. So please do share.

My latest Firefox theme, extero, has hit version 1.0 and is live and ready for your enjoyment!

extero is a gray theme with bright brilliant icons from Jonas. It was created to be just a little bit different, but nothing overboard.

Checkout extero and see what you think.

PinkHope, a breast cancer awareness theme, has been completely re-vamped and released as version 1.0. The new version goes pink big time.

I’ve been talking about making PinkHope into it’s own unique theme for a while now and I finally did it. It now sports a pink background behind the tool, address, status and tab bars. Even the background of the address and search bars is now pink.

For some, this may be a bit of a shock, but I really wanted to go big and go pink with PinkHope. I wanted something that stood out and could be seen and noticed on your computer with just a passing glance.

iPox Remix has generated a lot of interest in themes, but there are many unanswered questions out there. Here are a few that have come across my email.

1. How do I use a different image/skin for the menu bar and the bar with the address box?
The main menu bar with File, Edit, View ect. can be themed with this code:
#toolbar-menubar {
background:red;
}
#main-menubar {
background:none;
}

The URL bar can be themed with this code:
#nav-bar{
background:red;
}

Are you one of the many fans of the iPox Firefox theme? Well I’ve got a treat for you. I created a quick Halloween costume for iPox. It’s a few tweaks to create a black menu & address bar along with an orange bookmarks bar and a green tab bar. Kinda spooky right?

If you’d like to dress up iPox for Halloween here’s how.

1. Make sure you have iPox installed and active.
2. Install Stylish (or Greasemonkey) and ensure that’s active too. It’s ready to go if you see the icon in the lower right corner of your browser.

If you’ve ever wanted a good Firefox theme to match the look of your Mac a bit more, there are lots of developers out there trying to make this happen.

The best one, if you are actually on a Mac, is probably GrApple by Aronnax. His attention to detail is amazing. Other good choices are Pinstripe (again Mac only), iSafari and iAqua, my own creation.

However, there are many many more choices out there. Mozilla Taiwan has a forum thread going with screen shots and download links for many other alternatives. Some look pretty good and some are, oddly enough, not very Mac friendly.

My latest Firefox theme is entitled extero and you can install a preview of it today!

What’s different about extero? The main thing is the tab bar. It was designed to bring the tab bar to the front. It’s kind of hard to explain, so you’ll have to check it out. extero also uses dots instead of little arrows for menus and, back by popular demand, the close button is on the left.

Granted, it’s not finished in my mind yet. I’m unsatisfied with the right click menus and am torn on what to do. If I leave them black, I have to get rid of the border somehow. If I change them, what to?

I’ve been working on a new Firefox theme called extero and it should be ready for release in a week or two.

extero uses great icons designed by Jonasrask Design which they gave out for free. Seeing as I couldn’t turn up the icons, I built them into a Firefox theme.

I’m trying to make extero a bit different. The tab bar is transparent and inactive tabs take on a dark look and feel to make them appear in the background. I’m also using dots to mark sub-menus in right click menus instead of arrows. Most area of extero are basic and flat where as the icons are colorful and nice. I’m still working out a few concerns, but am happy with it overall so far.

Did you know that there are Firefox themes and extensions stuck in the sandbox and that you can help save them? It’s true, with just a few clicks of the mouse, and taps on the keyboard, you can bring joy to a Firefox addon and their developer.

It’s really easy, just head over to the Mozilla Addon site and sign up for a free account. Once you are logged in, click on the ’sandbox’ link next to the search box and you can then browse though the sandbox looking at many brand new & updated themes or extensions. Some of which you may have never seen before! Find one you like, install it and try it out for a few days. Then, head back to the addon’s page in the sandbox and write a review. That’s all there is to it.