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

The post I’m retiring from Firefox theming. appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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

The post iAqua Has a New Home & Firefox 3 Compatibility appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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

The post iAqua and extero Themes Need Your Help appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

There are no major issues, but there are some minor ones. Like the bottom part of the scrollbar is missing and secure pages don’t render the secure part of the URL bar.  I consider these to be pretty minor overall, but do hope to fix the annoyances.

Since Firefox 3.5 is well on its way to being released in June, I thought it was high time I get a few updates in.

I have a lot more to talk about when it comes to my themes and Firefox, but those posts will be coming in the months ahead.

Also, if you use MidnightFox or MidnightFoxy, new versions have been uploaded to Mozilla’s Addon site to fix some status bar and form field bugs. Look for them coming your way via Firefox’s addon updates soon.

My Themes and Firefox 3.5 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post My Themes and Firefox 3.5 appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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

The post Why I Love Theming Firefox appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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

The post Why I would quit theming today. appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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

The post TwisterMc Themes and Firefox 3 – Vote for your favorite. appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

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.

If you try any, let us know how well they work. I tried Castripe which turned out to be a pretty decent theme.

And, believe it or not, Mozilla may actually be creating a Safari like theme for the Mac version of Firefox 3. The mockups don’t look to bad, but it’s not quite the polished Mac look and feel that Apple makes. I’m sure they’ll iron out those details though.

So what’s your favorite Mac like Firefox theme?

Mac Like Firefox Themes originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post Mac Like Firefox Themes appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

If you’d rather connect via Pownce, I’m now no that too. I’ll use it about as much as I do Twitter, and that’s not a whole lot.

I’ve also been checking out Skitch, the new little graphics program that’s suppose to be amazing. So far, it looks very cool, acts great, but has been troublesum to actually use. Maybe I haven’t put enough time into learning it, or maybe I’m just stuck in my Fireworks ways, but Skitch just doesn’t seem quite as cool as I though it would. As I use it more though, I’ll probably like it more.

One last thing, I have iAqua up on the Mozilla Addon site. However, I need a bunch of reviews before they’ll make it live. So, if you could, please go over and review it. Remember, it’s in the sandbox!

Feed My Cow. Catch me on Pownce. Skitch it Up. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post Feed My Cow. Catch me on Pownce. Skitch it Up. appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

So what’s new in beta 3? So glad you asked.

• Updated Progress Bar. Just a tiny bit.
• Updated Bookmarks bar so if you have more than one line, it doesn’t look completely ugly. It’s been condensed a bit too.
• Go button themed to be end of URL bar.
• Drop down icon in URL bar re-themed.
• Tab close button moved to the left of each tab.
• Buttons are now clear by default. Blue on hover/press. Like OSX.
• Button font is Lucida Grande for those that have it. Arial for those that don’t.
• Condensed navigation toolbar height.
• Main toolbar is now white. That’s a Windows only thing. (I think this works correctly)
• Minimize, Maxamize and Close full screen buttons are now Mac like. Again, Windows only. (Actually, I don’t think this feature works right. Just hit F11 on windows to enter and exit full screen mode.)

Please leave any feedback in the comments. This will probably be version 1.0 that will be released to the official Mozilla Addon’s site. Then the feedback will come poring in with many odd requests.

Download iAqua 0.3beta!

iAqua – Mac Like Theme – Beta 3 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post iAqua – Mac Like Theme – Beta 3 appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

The number of additions to 0.2beta are to many to count but here are a few:

• Apple like scrollbars.
• Re-worked and completed large toolbar buttons.
• Add small toolbar buttons
• Added preferences buttons.
• Added bookmarks manager buttons.
• Updated bookmark bar colors.
• Updated auto complete hover colors.
• Window backgrounds customized.
• Apple like progressbar.
• Apple like buttons.

Those are all that I can remember at this point. If you liked iAqua 0.1b you’ll love 0.2b.

Download iAqua 0.2beta – iAqua 0.3beta is out!

Note: Not tested on anything but Mac, but it should work.

iAqua Takes HUGE Leap Forward originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post iAqua Takes HUGE Leap Forward appeared first on Blog on a Stick.

This all started when I ran across a forum post over at MacThemes. Ed posted about an idea that Mozilla had for Firefox 2′s Mac interface. It never came to be, so I started working on something that would be similar. A few hours later, iAqua was born.

Currently I’m releasing beta1. It’s NOT complete. What I’ve done is taken iPox, replaced some buttons and a few other interface elements. I do not have all the items themed. Really, this is just the very beginning. Current issues:

• Not all large toolbar buttons are themed.
• I don’t have any small toolbar buttons done.
• No testing has been done on anything but Mac. However it should work on Windows and Linux just fine.
• Lots and lots of elements aren’t themed and still match iPox.

Even with all that in mind, you can download iAqua today and play around with it. Lots of work is yet to be done, but so far, I’m really liking it.

– iAqua 0.3beta is out!

iAqua Firefox Theme Beta1 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The post iAqua Firefox Theme Beta1 appeared first on Blog on a Stick.