It’s been a fun journey over the past 5 years creating Firefox themes. I created nearly a dozen themes, stating with iPox, and I’ve got over 5 million downloads! However, I just can’t keep up.

With Firefox 4 just around the corner, my themes would probably need to be revamped from the ground up and I just don’t have the time. Heck, some of theme aren’t even updated for Firefox 3.6!

It’s a hard decision to make though as I loved creating them. I loved making the fans happy and I wish I could keep up with them.

I’ve got other things going on that are a better use of my time so I’m saying goodbye to Firefox themes.

So what’s going to happen to the themes? Good question!

At this point and time they’ll remain as they are. No updates, no development.

If you’re a Firefox themer, I’d be open to discussing letting you take them over and continuing their creation. The only thing I ask is that you keep the integrity of the themes intact.

I gave iAqua away years ago and it found a nice home. I was happy to see it continue to live on with a new developer.

extero also went to the same developer, however it turned into a completely different theme and extero as I knew it disappeared.

It’s hard for me to give my themes to a new developer as I worry that they’ll turn them into something that I don’t like. Then again, I have to get over that as it’s their theme now and it’s better to live on then fade away into nothingness.

If you’re waiting for me to update one of my themes, it’s sad to say, but it’ll probably never happen. Then again, I may pull a Brett Favre. You never know, but I doubt it.

It’s been a great journey and everyone who downloaded my themes rock! It was a lot of fun and I’ll miss it.

Thank You!

I’m retiring from Firefox theming. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I’m really happy at how iAqua has grown in the hands of another developer. One of the downsides to letting go is worrying about what someone else will do.

You can grab iAqua 3.5 from the Mozilla Addon’s site for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Also, the same developer is working on extero and taking it in a different direction. I have not tried out that one yet though.

iAqua Has a New Home & Firefox 3 Compatibility originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

So, if you’d like to take the files, update them, and release them, you are free to. If you’d like to take the files and create your own theme, you can do that as well.

Below are the files for each theme that work with Firefox 2. Combine those graphic elements with the code from the iPox Remix set of tutorials and you should have enough to get started.

Good luck and I hope someone takes the time to update iAqua and extero because they are really nice themes with a lot of fans and both deserve to get updated.

iAqua Theme Files

extero Theme Files

iAqua and extero Themes Need Your Help originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Check out these stats!

Miint
Total downloads since April 8th 2007: 234,303
Active Daily Users on Wednesday September 3rd: 35,425

PinkHope
Total downloads since January 29th 2007: 530,214
Active Daily Users on Wednesday September 3rd: 80,814

iPox
Total downloads since January 4th 2006: 1,479,462
Active Daily Users on Wednesday September 3rd: 79,518

MidnightFox
Total downloads since March 30th 2006: 1,960,530
Active Daily Users on Wednesday September 3rd: 166,482

This is only a sampling of the themes I have available, but all represented above are available for Firefox 3.  Knowing that so many people enjoy my themes makes me happy.

Thank You!!!

Why I Love Theming Firefox originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I’ve recently got a few comments from a visitor saying “hurry up and release the f**king theme” and “do your f**king job.”

Now I know that there is bound to be one jerk out of hundreds of users, but it’s comments like these that make me wonder why I continue to spend my time on themes.  It’s not my job and, the more negative comments I get, the slower my progress will be.  These things take hours to build and there is a lot to take into consideration.

On the other hand I’ve gotten a lot of comments recently about people who are so passionate about Miint that they’d switch back to Firefox 2 until it was ready for Firefox 3.  These kind of comments drive me.  They are not yelling at me but encouraging me to spend more time theming.  And the good news is, Miint for Firefox 3 has come along way in just two and a half hours.

What I’m trying to point out here is that when you don’t pay for something, you should not demand updates and start swearing at developers.  We do this because we want to, because we love to, not because we have to.

Give a little respect to those that create free addons, themes and free software in general.

Why I would quit theming today. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

With the Firefox 3 release upon us, a lot of people will be wondering about the status of my themes.

So what is the status?

Currently, I have started work on iPox.  It’s looking pretty nice and it has advanced a bit from the current Firefox 2 version.  However, it’s a complete re-write.  I started from scratch and have a lot of editing to do.

To help me prioritize the order of other theme updates, please vote for which theme you’d like to see updated sooner rather than later. I do have a vague idea for the order that I’m going to work on them, but the votes could sway my decision.

Poll Closed

Notes: iPox is not in the poll as it’s going to be completed first.  You may also vote for up to two.

I don’t have a release date on iPox yet and the other themes are a ways off.  Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found an easy way to transfer a theme from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3.

I do plan on continuing to theme and getting everyone converted over.  It’s just a matter of time.

TwisterMc Themes and Firefox 3 – Vote for your favorite. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

MidnightFox has always been a great theme. It’s dark, yet usable and, as stated by others, one of the best dark themes out there. However, I wanted more.

While fixing a few toolbar issue with MidnightFox, I started updating other pieces. I reworked the tabs, the bookmarks, some menus and the the navigation buttons. Taking extero’s icons and leveraging Pixelmator’s menu design, I created much nicer toolbar with icons that ‘pop’ when you roll over them.

MidnightFoxy was first set to replace MidnightFox, however some of the testers were partial to the old buttons. So MidnigthFoxy was born. It’s basically the same theme, only with a more polished toolbar.

Give it a try, especially if you like dark Firefox themes.

Introducing MidnightFoxy – Dark & Stylish Theme originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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.

Before I shock all the current users by releasing an update, I’d love to get your feedback. Do you feel it’s a worthy update to MidnightFox? Or do you feel that this should be a spin off theme all together and leave MidnightFox’s buttons alone?

It’s always best to try things out first, so you can get a real feel for the theme. You can install the latest MidnightFox beta, give it a spin, and leave your comments below.

To install, right click this link and save the file to your desktop. Then open Firefox’ addons window and drag and drop the mf66a.jar file onto the addons window.  It should then install.

Firefox 3 not yet supported.

MidnightFox Theme Gets All New Buttons?? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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.

extero Firefox Theme Launches originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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?

A HUGE thank you goes out to Jonas Rask Design who created, then gave away, the icons used in extero. Without them, this theme wouldn’t look half as good.

As the progress of extero slows down as it nears competition, I thought I’d give a public preview. Feedback is welcome! Enjoy.

Install extero Preview 1

extero Firefox Theme – Preview 1 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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.

I’m not giving a release date, but it should be out, in beta or final form, in the upcoming weeks.

Looking for Brute Extero Wrestling Shoes?

extero is Coming originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com