• Thursday July 3rd 2008
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petname

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Installation

• Requirements
• Installing
• Tips

Requirements

The Petname Tool extension requires Firefox version 1.0 (or compatible).

Installing

1. Install the petname tool hosted at the Mozilla Update site.
2. After restarting your browser, you will find the petname tool added to your "Navigation Toolbar".
3. Visit an SSL secured web site that you have a relationship with. The petname tool will initially look like:

   

   Figure 6: Initial petname tool display

4. Overwrite the contents of the petname tool with a description of your relationship with the current site. After pressing the 'return' key, the petname tool will store this information and update its display as shown below:

   

   Figure 7: Populated petname tool display

5. Repeat the previous step anytime you form a new relationship with a web site.

Tips

Listing your petnames

Each petname is stored as a bookmark. The bookmark is created in a folder named "petname" under the "Bookmarks Toolbar Folder". See "View" -> "Toolbars" -> "Bookmarks Toolbar". Use either the toolbar view or the menu view to list your trust relationships.

Organizing your petnames

The petname tool will find petname bookmarks anywhere in your "Bookmarks" menu. You can reorganize the created petname bookmarks any way you choose.

Deleting a petname

If you rename a petname to either "untrusted" or "", the empty string, the petname tool will delete the corresponding bookmark. After deleting the bookmark, the petname database is back in the state it was in before the deleted petname was created. Using this technique, you can easily back out of a trust relationship you have reconsidered.

Usage history

The Bookmarks Manager records a number of interesting attributes for bookmarks, such as the time a bookmark was created, last modified and last used. You can configure the displayed attributes using the "View" -> "Show columns" submenu. I've configured mine to show: "Name", "Added", "Last Modified".

Maximizing screen real estate

I keep two toolbars: the "Navigation Toolbar" and the "Bookmarks Toolbar".

My "Navigation Toolbar" contains: the back button, the forward button, the refresh button, the stop button, the petname tool and the activity indicator. The location tool is not necessary when using the petname tool. If I need to type in a URL, I use the "Ctrl-L" hotkey to open the "Open Web Location" dialog.

Finding bookmarks, petname or otherwise

The first bookmark in my "Bookmarks Toolbar" is a link to the bookmarks.html file where Firefox stores all bookmark information. To find a bookmark, I use Firefox's incremental search feature. After navigating to the bookmarks.html file, type in the first few characters in your bookmark name. When your bookmark is highlighted, hit the Enter key to follow the hyperlink.

Your bookmarks.html file is stored in your Firefox Profile folder. Look under "Application Data".