New Firefox Extension: X-Ray

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One of my “New Year’s resolutions”:http://www.designmeme.com/2005/12/30/new-years-resolutions-for-2006/ was to create an “interesting script, plugin, extension, or widget.” I didn’t think I’d write a Firefox Extension only six days into 2006, but after writing about using the CSS :before and :after pseudo elements to create “CSS Curly Quotes”:http://www.designmeme.com/articles/csscurlyquotes/, it got me thinking about other uses for that technique. I thought that wrapping the elements on a page with the actual tags from the sourcecode might be a good tool for learning and debugging, but wasn’t sure how to go about creating an extension. Fortunately, I found “a great tutorial at roachfiend.com”:http://roachfiend.com/archives/2004/12/08/how-to-create-firefox-extensions/ and with a little trial and error, I’ve finished my first extension.

The “X-Ray Firefox Extension”:http://www.designmeme.com/xray/ let’s you see the tags on a page without viewing the sourcecode.

Install Extension Install X-Ray Extension for Firefox

One installed the X-Ray command is available by right-clicking as well as in the Tools menu. When applied to a page it can help you see how the document was constructed without having to go back and forth between the sourcecode and the page in your browser. Is that list made of li dd or p elements? Is that an h3 tag or just some bolded text? X-Ray shows you what’s beneath the surface of the page.

While I create webpages all the time, there’s something about writing a piece of code you have to _install_ that’s very satisfying. Even better was finding that it was actually something I’d find helpful myself.

For version 0.5 the current list of supported tags is: h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, ol, ul, li, dt, dd, font, div, span, blockquote, pre, a, b, i, strong, em. If some other people find this extension useful, I’ll probably add support for more tags, and possibly experiment with adding some other enhancements as well.

Update

By request from the nice folk at digg.com here’s a screenshot of the extension in use:

Screenshot of X-Ray Firefox Extension in use

Donations to The X-Ray Tip Jar are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your support!

97 thoughts on “New Firefox Extension: X-Ray”

  1. I am also having the same problem W.Peckham descibes. I did notice that aardvark has a new update available. Great work on X-Ray, I use it all the time.

    Thank You.
    Mark

  2. Any news on the update for X-Ray to work with the latest version of Firefox? I just found the extension and I’m looking to use it but it won’t install…then I saw this update, so hopefully the update will be out soon so I can join in on the fun. Thanks a million!!!

  3. A clever extension–nice idea.

    If you’re looking to add a feature, what about displaying the CSS class name?

    You could probably abuse the abbr tag to make the class name appear when you hover over the xray inserted tags.

    Thanks for a useful little util.

  5. ya i tried downloading the plugin on firefox on the latest updated version and its not working…u comin out with an updated extension soon?

  8. I’d install this if it wasn’t playing right into the hand of the evil Captain Context-Menu Bloat and his ever-swelling ranks of Context-Menu Menu-Item Minions.

  10. I love it, except that it messes up the page layout. I would love an option that shows all the markup in a tooltip. But I guess that’s getting close to the functionality in Aardvark.

  21. I don’t usually agree with new year resolutions but I really like your idea. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!

  33. Dude.. that’s awesome! I do web development as a full-time job, and soon I’ll probably be close to starting my own business with it if I can. This tool will save me a TON of time chasing down those rogue tags! Sir, I congratulate you on an awesome add-on!

  38. Good job. This is actually a very creative and useful tool. I think that there are going to be quite a lot of my friends who will be happy with this – so I’ll be sending them a link of your site. I like the little logo as well (I know that’s just something aside, but I do.) It’s a great idea. The screenshot looks neat as well.

  45. I’m really looking forward to that x-ray update! I’ve recently realized how much I depend on it – I use it practically every day.

    thanks for the amazing plug-in and thanks for the pending update!!