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

iPox v3 has landed with some re-designed elements, bug fixes, and iPox Aqua mixed in.

So what’s new?

1. The scrollbars have been re-designed utilizing CSS. They are now a light grey with a nice mouse over effect.
2. The throbber has been reverted back to the Mac throbber.
3. The URL bar has been re-designed to *hopefully* work better with URL extensions. It’s now all CSS and even highlights when active.
4. Added a full screen button.
5. Also includes many fixes under the hood to incorporate a bunch of smaller, missing elements. Probably didn’t catch them all, but it’s better.

As a bonus, iPox Aqua was rolled into iPox. No longer will there be two separate themes. If you want to change the navigation buttons to blue, you’ll need Stylish and a few lines of code. Full details on the iPox page.

If you already have iPox installed in your Firefox, it should auto-update. If you’d like to download it, you can via the Mozilla Add-on site.

Hope you like the updates!

iPox Version 3 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The bad news is that my themes are currently NOT compatiblewith Firefox 3.6. I tested it out the other day and nothing happened. No error, no theme, no luck.

The good news is I was able to find out why and fix it. I had to re-do the theme structure and install files but I did get it to work. If you are using iPox Remix as the basis of your theme, you’ll need to make the updates as well. I hope to have a how-to on that soon.

iPox has been submitted to Mozilla with 3.6 compatibly and some bug fixes. Hopefully that’ll be live sooner than later.

Tinseltown is next up on the list to fix. With Christmas basically here, fixing Tinseltown is a high priority.

Once you upgrade to Firefox 3.6 don’t be alarmed if my themes don’t work. I’m working on them as I get time and you’ll hopefully see them soon.

Firefox 3.6 Theme Compatibly originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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

iPox Remix is a set of tutorials on creating your own Firefox theme.  You are provided with a starter theme that contains all the necessary files and images to get you going.  It also contains a set of tutorials to help you customize the files and create your own theme.

Unfortunately I don’t have a tutorial for converting themes from Firefox 2 to 3.  I did it manually and re-coded everything.  It’s what worked best for me.

If you do use the iPox Remix tutorials to create your own Firefox theme, please let me know.  I’d love to showcase some of your creations!!

iPox Remix Theme Tutorials for Firefox 3 originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

iPox Aqua has the same style and feel as iPox, with a bit more colorful buttons and brighter blues.

Now I think I have only 3 more to update.

iPox Aqua Shines in Firefox 3 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

The new version, iPox 2, has been re-worked from the ground up in hopes of creating the most compatible theme for Firefox 3.

If you come across a bug, please post it in the bug tracker and I’ll take a look into it.  There are more updates to come, but this is a good start.

Enjoy!

iPox Officially Released for Firefox 3 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

The first theme to be released for Firefox 3 will be iPox and I’m happy to announce the beta is out today.

The beta was born from the Mac default theme and has been built from the ground up.  This is all new code people.

The beta has been working great on my iMac, but it’s not as pretty on Windows.  And Linux I have no idea.

One big change with Firefox 3 is that it ties into the system to create buttons, form elements and lots of things.  At this time, iPox has not overwritten most those items.  The Mac buttons look great in iPox, the Windows ones are so so.  I’m looking for your thoughts on those or just pointing out what isn’t working.

From my experience, iPox is looking mighty fine on Firefox 3 on a Mac.  But it’s all those things I don’t see that I need your help with.

If you see a bug or an issue, head over to the Bug Squasher and post it.  We can work together to get things figured out.

Once iPox is out of beta, the other themes will follow.  Some sooner than others, but none probably as fast as fans want them.

Remember, I am only one guy with a lot going on in life.  I don’t have as much time to theme as some may think.

So where do you get the latest iPox beta?  Over at the Bug Squasher!

iPox is no longer in beta, it has been released.

iPox for Firefox 3 – Beta 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

The new theme structure with Firefox 3 is different than Firefox 2.  I knew it would be.  And, at this time, there is nothing out there to help a theme developer know what to change or what to update.  There is a long list of ongoing theme changes, but what does that really mean?  What are the steps to upgrading a theme?

I tried to pull out the Windows default theme and code from that, however it didn’t look or work well on a Mac.  So I pulled out the Mac theme and tried it on Windows.  Amazingly that worked, so it was a step in the right direction.  However, I have no idea if it works on Linux yet and I’m afraid of future compatibility issues.

Then I looked into converting iPox’s buttons to the new toolbar format.  On the Windows side it was pretty easy.  Their theme uses nice 24×24 buttons that matched up pretty well with mine.  On the Mac side, the theme uses mostly the same buttons for big and small, but they are long and the odd shape makes it look way to spaced out with iPox’s buttons.  Additional coding is needed there, or I need to mix and match pieces of each theme.

I then threw in some of my backgrounds and it’s a decent start, but it’s got a long ways to go.

I started the process of converting iPox to Firefox 3, but I doubt I’ll do much until the release clients come out or at least the Proto Mac theme is finalized.  If you notice above, the stop button is blue.  That’s not my issue, it was mis-coded in the Proto theme and who knows what other bugs it has. Never mind, it’s not a coding issue, I just need to learn how the theme works.

Additionally, if someone knows a good way to port Firefox 2 themes to Firefox 3, I’m all ears.

I am excited for Firefox 3, but not to excited about re-working all my themes.  A part of me does like the idea of re-coding them as I hope they’d be better then ever before, but there are a lot of other things I’d like to spend my time on too.

At this time I will tell you that iPox will make it to Firefox 3; eventually.  I know there are a lot of fans out there and I won’t let you down.  I just don’t know when I’m going to do it just yet.

Firefox 3 & iPox – An Update originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I was hoping for an easy transition from Firefox 2 to 3 but I’m not sure that’s going to happen.

Once the betas become release clients, then maybe I’ll start theming.  However, this looks like it could be a complete re-code.

iPox on Firefox 3 – What a Mess originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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.
3. Then head over to the UserStyles page and click the install button.

That’s it, your iPox should be ready for Halloween!

To un-install, you know when November hits, just open Stylish and un-check the iPox Halloween Costume.

iPox Halloween Costume originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

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

iPox Remix is not only the files, it is going to also be a set of walkthroughs that help you better understand how to create a Firefox theme. They could be used to modify iPox as you wish, or it could be to use it as a base to create your own, all new, Firefox theme.

Judging from the HUGE success of my basic How to create a Firefox Theme post, there are a lot of folks out there that would love to create a theme. So I’m expanding upon that post to bring more in depth information and tutorials. The basic tutorial work well, but it lacks some detail and I’d like to expand upon it more.

I’m going to try and hit the main areas but it’ll take a while. If you have requests of what you’d like to learn, go ahead and let me know.

Overall, this is meant to be an easy exercise. I hope to keep things on a level that is easy to understand. And really, with the iPox Remix source, all you need to do is replace some graphics and you’ll be well on your way to creating your own version.

You can get all the details on the project and the source files necessary on the official iPox Remix page.

iPox Remix – Modify or Create Your Own Theme originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Thanks to BitBox for the base buttons that started this re-work and thanks to you all for making iPox such a huge success.

And this is just the beginning, in the upcoming weeks I plan on helping everyone create their own version of iPox. Or, if you really excel in my tutorials, you can create your own theme. So stay tuned for that.

iPox Aqua – It’s all about the blue! originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Fission support was requested and I looked into it. It turns out that Fission doesn’t work well with a rounded toolbar. I played with it and added in support as much as I could. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than it was.

AddBlock Plus fixes should be in place. This was an issue where red or green text was always black.

New Tab Button on Tab Bar support was requested. It turns out that I like this extension and so I built in support for it.

And the throbber. When I unpleased the new, custom throbber a while back, lot of people complained because they didn’t like it. Yes, I know, change is difficult. Well I decided to put the old one back in as a hack. Add a bit of code and the old one will re-appear.

@import url(“chrome://global/skin/extra/old-throbber.css”);

More information on hacks on the iPox page.

Look for an all new version of iPox soon.

iPox Mini Update originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Not only do I have an all new theme to offer but just about everyone will get some sort of an update. Some long overdue, some just minor things.

I’ve been working on a brand new theme for a few weeks now if not longer. It’s not completed, but it’s in a good spot. So a release should be coming up sometime in March.

I also have a few pieces of news regarding iPox. Not only is there a new version, but I have an idea to make most everyone happy. Keep checking back for those announcements.

HalloFF should make a return in March as well. It’s my Halloween theme with Jack Skelingtion and it seems to have a fan base that lasts all year long.

That’s right, March will be full of Firefox themes with at least three theme releases, one of which is brand spanking new. How exciting is that?

Month of the Firefox Themes originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Whenever I think of breast cancer I think of lots of pink and white. So I thought iPox was a good starting point. I took a few hours and I converted iPox from blue to pink.

PinkHope includes a Breast Cancer ribbon for the inactive loading icon and the throbber is a beating heart. Also includes pink scrollbars, bookmark bar, window background and icons. I don’t think it’s overly pink, but some might.

Now here is where I could use some help. If you are an icon designer, I’d love an original set of toolbar icons. Contact me for details on sizes and formats. Currently I’m just using the default ones, turned pink of course.

For a quick couple of hours work, this is quite a nice theme and I hope that it serves it’s purpose. PinkHope is not endorsed or affiliated with any cancer groups, it’s just my personal contribution to breast cancer awareness.

For install instructions, see the PinkHope page.

iPox Goes Pink for Breast Cancer originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com