Modified Google Notebook Extension

Extension Disabled by Mozilla

2011-03-19T12:26:00.000Z

Not a good sign. I've emailed them, awaiting updates. More to come.

New Forum for the Google Notebook Extension

2010-11-14T21:52:00.000Z

I have just added a forum to the blog, you will see a new page at the top of the blog for the forum. The forum can be a place to discuss the Modified Google Notebook Extension, the wider Google Notebook service and other alternative tools. It can be a place to provide help and assistance to each other.

Google Notebook Extension Still Broken in Firefox Beta 4.0b7

2010-11-11T16:17:00.003Z

The latest version of Firefox Beta 4 has been released and while there are some nice improvements to the JavaScript engine, there has been no fix for our beloved extension. The Google Notebook extension still remains broken.

In this beta version, in order to see the Google Notebook icon on the status bar/Add-on Bar you will need to enable the new Add-on Bar. This is done by selecting Options in the Firefox Menu, and selecting the Add-on Bar

I would encourage everyone to upgrade to the latest beta version, found at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta/ and then once again use the Add-on Compatibility Reporter to report the Google Notebook extension Incompatible. Give as much detail in your report on what you expect should happen and what does happen. In this case the Google Notebook extension icon is visible but when you click on it nothing happens. We have to keep reporting this if we ever hope to get our extension working again.

In the eventuality

2010-11-01T00:34:00.004Z

With the release Firefox 4 looming (early 2011) and the fact that as of yet our Modified Google Notebook Extension is still not working with the current Beta versions it may be wise to start considering alternatives. I know, I know, we all love Google Notebook, but if the day that we have to change services is not coming soon, I am sure it will come some time. So what alternatives are there? This may depend on what you use Notebook for.

Zotero
If like me, you are a student and you use Notebook for grabbing snippets from the web, names, dates, links, citations etc. Well I think Zotero is an excellent replacement. In fact I am using it now more than I use Notebook. Zotero allows you to grab pretty much anything from the web, whether it be text on a webpage, a PDF or video, sort that content into a folder and keep it stored in the cloud, for free (well 100 mb of content for free). They even offer integration with OpenOffice.org (and naturally NeoOffice, LibreOffice and Lotus Symphony)

Check them out: http://www.zotero.org

Evernote
For those of you who have looked into alternatives in the past, you will undoubtedly have come across Evernote. It is certainly champion in the field of note taking and collecting information. It has a stack of features and it aims to make your information available everywhere and in order by doing auto categorisation. It also has a neat Google Notebook Importer. Personally I have always seen Evernote as web clipper, taking snapshots of webpages and most of its other features are left to its desktop applications (Windows and Mac, for Linux try NeverNote).

Check them out: http://www.evernote.com

Zoho Notebook
Zoho has always been then closest competitor to Google's Office applications and their Notebook offering is definitely the closest to Google Notebook in regard to functionality and features. For those for you that want to transition quickly and without learning a new interface and new features, Zoho is probably the one for you.

Check them out: http://notebook.zoho.com

The joy of Linux!
If you are a Linux user like me, you may be aware of Tomboy and Gnote. Both applications are basically the same, Gnote being a rewrite of Tomboy in C++ for those of us who are not to keen on Mono which Tomboy is born out of.

These are two very simple to use note taking applications straight from the desktop. And if you are an Ubuntu user you can automatically synch your Tomboy notes to your Ubuntu One account to access them anywhere online or to keep several PC's in synch (syncing it not available in Gnote yet).

So check them out:

Linux, what's that then? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

And, Ubuntu? http://www.ubuntu.com

Ah right, so Tomboy: http://projects.gnome.org/tomboy

And, Gnote: http://live.gnome.org/Gnote

For OS X, em sorry I'm a broke student and I don't like being told I can do anything I want with my Mac as long Mr. Jobs says so.

Notebook Extension and Firefox 4

2010-10-31T23:42:00.006Z

It has been a long time since I have posted to the blog, I apologise for this but other life events got in the way. I do however read your comments as they come in and people have been asking what is the future of this extension with regard to upcoming Mozilla Firefox 4.

As with every new milestone release of Firefox, Mozilla offer several concurrent beta versions for testing. This allows experienced users to give the new version of Firefox a road test and help iron out some bumps on the road before it hits the prime time. It also allows Extension developers work out any incompatibilities they may have with the new version. This of course applies to us. Although let me point out again, I am NOT an extension developer, maintainer, coder, guru or anything else other than a user just like you. There is no coding magicianary going on to keep Google's Notebook Extension available. I am merely tweaking some rules within the extension so the browser allows it to be installed, if the extension does break, which I foresee it will at some point in the future, I cannot fix this, only Google can, which they won't because they have abandoned their Notebook product.

So with that statement out of the way, here is where we stand. As of Firefox 3.6.12 our Modified Google Notebook Extension is still working and it should continue to work until the final release of Firefox 4.0.

I have updated the extension so it should install on Firefox 4.0 with any problems, whether it will work or not is another matter.

As of Firefox 4.0 Beta 6, our extension is completely broken. So, what can we do about this. We need to report, report, report and bang on Mozilla's door like an impatient child until they take notice and fix the incompatibilities. This is where YOU all come in. And with a total of 24,000 visits to this website over the past year (avg. 60 p/d) there is enough of you to make a difference. Here is what you need to do:

1. Download and install the latest Firefox Beta from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/beta. This will NOT install over or remove your current stable 3.6* version of Firefox. It will instead be a second separate installation which you can remove at any time.

2. Download and install our Modified Google Notebook Extension from, well you know where to get that from, I hope ;-)
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
3. Download and install the Add-on Compatibility Checker from https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/15003/

4. After you have installed the compatibility checker and restarted Firefox, then try and use the Notebook extension and see if it works.

5. If the notebook extension does not work at all for you or only partially works then you need to report it to Mozilla.

6. Go to your Add-ons Manager about:addons and on the Compatibility button beside the Google Notebook extension, select "This add-on no longer works" and explain in the error report what is not working for you and how you expect it should work for you. Then submit the report. Simple as that.

7. Keep both the Notebook extension and Add-on Compatibility reporting extension installed and update your Firefox 4 Beta to each new beta version that is released and again test if our notebook extension is working or not and report.

The more Mozilla gets reports from users about broken extensions the more they are likely to take notice and try and fix the problem.

8. Now get social, get on to Facebook, Twitter, Identi.ca, MySpace, post and add in your local newspapers, send your Grandma a postcard, get your priest to say a prayer. The point is, tell everyone and get as many people as possible to post reports to Mozilla about our broken beloved extension. To work people!

Update:
Here is an example of a report I have submitted:

Note: The original developers of this extension and the service it is connected to were Google Inc. however the extension itself is now being maintained by the user community as Google have stopped providing support for their Google Notebook service. Currently this extension is maintained simply by changing the maxVersion value in the install.rdf file of the XPI

Please download this extension from http://www.http://notebookaddon.tk or via Mozilla AMO https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/50380

When installed the extension should add a 'notebook' icon to the status bar. When you click on the notebook icon you should expect to see JavaScript window pop open presenting a login screen for the Google Notebook service. Currently this JavaScript window is failing to open when you click on the notebook icon.

The extension also adds an option to the context menu. When some text is selected on a webpage and you open the context menu, if you click on 'Note This (Google Notebook)' this should send the selected text to the Google Notebook service as a new note. Currently when you click on the 'Note This...' nothing happens.

The above mentioned features of this extension were working in Firefox 3.6*

Modified Google Notebook Extension not working in Firefox 3.6

2009-11-22T20:30:00.003Z

I have downloaded and installed the latest Beta of the Firefox 3.6. There is a serious problem in store for our Modified Google Notebook Extension, it simply doesn't work. I did as before and increased the maxVersion value for the extension to 3.6* so it will load in Beta. It appears to install and load no problem. However after you click on the Notebook link in the status bar, it will load but you cannot sign in. If you try and click into the username or password field of the sign in dialogue, you won't be able to click into it and thus cannot sign in and use the Notebook extension.

If you are already signed into Google, the Notebook will open up and load into your account, but still there is problems. You cannot click on any of the menu items or click in the New Note space to create a new note.

I have tested this running no other extensions on a clean Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 installation. I have not changed anything in the XPI file other than increasing the maxVersion value so it will pass the compatibility test and install. So, something has changed in this latest Firefox build that is screwing with the Notebook interface.

Mozilla have given users a way to report problems with broken add-ons. This is a pretty serious problem for us, so I am asking everyone to install the latest Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 along with an Add-on compatibility reporter to report this problem to Mozilla.

You can download the latest Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 from here, you also need to install the Mozilla Add-on Compatibility Reporter here, and you know to download the Modified Google Notebook Extension from this website. Do the installation in that order please. Don't install the Notebook extension before install the Compatibility Reporter or will have problems with it passing the compatibility test.

When you install the Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 it will be installed as a separate Firefox installation, it will not replace your existing stable Firefox 3.5.5 installation. So make sure you are loading up the Firefox 3.6 Beta 1. Try the Notebook extension and see if it will work for you. If it does not work as before, go to your Add-ons menu and find the Google Notebook Extension. Look for the Compatibility button and click on it, select "This add-on no longer works". This will open a window asking you to give a description of the problem. Type in a brief description of what is happening, or rather not happening, and press "Submit report".

When you are finished if you want to go back to using the stable Firefox 3.5.5 installation, just close your current Firefox and open Firefox 3.5.5. You can even uninstall Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 if you wish, it will not affect you stable Firefox 3.5.5 installation.

Hopefully if Mozilla get enough of these reports they may do something about it and try and fix whatever is messing with the Notebook interface. If they don't get enough reports and they don't fix it then it really is the end of the Google Notebook extension, there is nothing more I can do. So please make an effort folks.

Thanks for reading.

We're listed on AMO

2009-11-19T01:46:00.002Z

The Mozilla AMO (Mozilla Add-ons) team have update the AMO service to begin listing Add-ons that are hosted on developer web pages rather than on the AMO service. So I created a listing for the Modified Google Notebook Extension, and it is now listed here.

When you visit the Add-on page it will give you all the information about the Add-on but when you click on the link to install the add-on you will be redirected back to this website. You will also be able to rate, review and comment on the add-on there, so please toddle along over there and give it a rating or a review :-) , thanks.

This does not mean that you will be automatically notified when I update the add-on, that is not a service I can offer. However the only time the add-on will be updated is when a new version of Firefox is released. So when you install the new version of Firefox and it reports that the add-on is not compatible with that version, then you'll know to come here or to the add-on page on AMO to download the latest version of the add-on.

New Domain Name

2009-06-29T23:40:00.002+01:00

The new domain name for this website is: www.notebookaddon.tk . Please update your bookmarks.

Google Notebook Extension for Firefox 3.5+

2009-06-19T07:31:00.002+01:00

Installation:

Click the Add to Firefox button.
A download file dialogue box will open.
Select Save File and press OK.
Save the file to your PC Desktop or some other folder.
In Firefox open the File menu and select Open File.
Browse to the google-notebook.xpi file you downloaded and press Open.
The Firefox Add-ons software installation window will open, press Install.
The Google Notebook Extension will now install as normal.

Some background;

Well, it was going to happen. Mozilla upgrades Firefox to 3.5, Yeah! :-) ,but breaks the Google Notebook extension, booh :-(

So the usual work around is to change the maxVersion value in the extension as described on 'Google Operting System'

If you use a beta version of Firefox 3.5, here's a way to install the extension:

* save the extension to your computer: right-click and select "save link as".
* download 7-zip, an excellent open-source software for archiving files, and install it.
* right-click on the extension (google-notebook.xpi), click on "7-zip" and then on "open archive". Right-click on "install.rdf", select "Edit" and replace "3.0.*" with "3.5.*". Save the file, close Notepad and update the archive.
* now you can drag the .xpi file to your browser and install the extension.

I have done this and will most likely continue to maintain the modified version for as long as I continue to use Google Notebook and as long as the extension will work with Firefox.

You can download this modified extension above for Firefox 3.5+