KeeFox

Survey Analysis

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:02:11 +0000

Thanks to the hundreds of people that offered opinions, suggestions, criticism and praise in the survey that I sent out last year.

I’ve now had time to analyse the results and read your comments so I thought I’d post a summary of the main points here. I’ll go into the results for each of the questions about feature priorities below but first here’s a summary of the actions resulting from this survey for those that want the quick version.

Searching KeePass entries from within Firefox is coming in KeeFox 1.3
Improved form detection and matching accuracy is coming in KeeFox 1.2; further improvements likely in 1.3 and ongoing
Right-click (context) menus as an alternative to the toolbar buttons coming in KeeFox 1.3
Fundamental changes to toolbar user interface not desirable but upcoming Firefox changes may force our hand in KeeFox 1.3 or 1.4
Improved multi-page login support is coming in KeeFox 1.2; further improvements likely in 1.3 and ongoing
Better support for specific unusual web sites (e.g. many banks) acknowledged as high priority for most users but technical and time restrictions will make for slow progress; some improvements in KeeFox 1.2 should help but many banks in particular will remain problematic for a long time to come.

Who answered the survey?

I only collected very basic demographic information but the following two graphs show that there was a nice variety of respondents who had been using KeeFox for varying lengths of time, with a slight skew towards long-term users (who presumably have had longer to form a “wishlist” of improvements). They also show that the vast majority of KeeFox users have installed KeeFox while looking to enhance their existing experience with KeePass (this ties in with the stats for the keefox.org website which shows that a majority of visitors to the download page are from the keepass.info plugins page).

Before getting into the details of the feature priorities, I’ll share this graph:

How content are you with the current KeeFox functionality? (1 = Not at all; 5 = Very pleased)

It’s encouraging to see that KeeFox is proving useful and this backs up some of the positive feedback you’ve been providing in AMO reviews. That said, there is clearly a long way to go before everyone is very satisfied so all we can do is hope that improvements this year will continue to push the graph in the right direction!

Individual feature priority breakdowns

I posted nine suggestions of improvements that need to be made to KeeFox and asked respondents to rank each from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (very important). Some of the suggestions were based on feedback I’d previously received and some on my own experience and expertise. I’ll put the graph of results for each improvement first and then comment on the results and explain what action might result.

Search KeePass entries from within Firefox

Result: A very mixed result, suggesting that many users are content with their current methods of initiating the login process for a website but there is a definite desire among enough users to justify the addition of this feature. My personal view is that this is a feature which some users won’t be able to fully appreciate until they have either tried it out or built up a larger collection of passwords.

Action: I’ll be implementing this in KeeFox 1.3

Improved form detection and matching accuracy

Result: Very clear desire from most users for an improvement in this area. There are always going to be occasional sites that don’t work but I’ll keep working to get as many as possible to work correctly. The list of reasons for which a site may not be filled correctly will shrink when KeeFox 1.2 is released but the reasons with no known solution so far are:

Sites that employ complex JavaScript to submit the form
Sites that use form fields without an actual form (often a strong overlap with the first reason)
Sites that ask for different information each time (usually banks)

Action: KeeFox 1.2 will improve matters for some websites. KeeFox 1.3 and beyond will continue to build upon the improvements in KeeFox 1.2 once achievable improvements are identified.

Support for filling in forms without password fields

Result: Slight desire for this feature but most people don’t see it as a high priority.

Action: KeeFox 1.2 will allow some forms that fall into this category to be filled in, but only if they are part of a multi-page form. Maybe the improvement will work on a wider range of sites than I’ve intended - we’ll keep an eye on how it behaves in the wild but given the lack of strong feeling to start with I think spending time improving this further might not be a great idea.

Securely store the KeePass password in Firefox to enable automatic login to KeePass

Result: A strong feeling that this is unimportant.

Action: When considered alongside the difficulty (impossibility?) of offering such a feature securely, I’ve got no plans to implement this in the foreseeable future.

Right-click (context) menus as an alternative to the toolbar buttons

Result: Not the most important feature in most people’s opinion but it’s got more supporters than detractors and I still think I’d personally find it useful.

Action: It remains a high priority task which I hope to implement in KeeFox 1.3 alongside the related feature of keyboard shortcuts.

Reduce the number of toolbar buttons

Result: A strong feeling that the current toolbar button situation is not a big problem. While I do personally re-configure the toolbar when using KeeFox I don’t ever wish for a reduced number of buttons. I still would like to investigate this topic in more detail because I’m interested to assess the reasons behind the very vocal strong opinions for a reduction in button quantity.

Action: While I acknowledge an increasing trend towards single button add-ons (to the extent that some systems only permit single button extensions) I remain to be convinced that it is a move that is always in the user’s best interest.

There are a lot of ways that the KeeFox toolbar could be modified or replaced - removing some of the buttons is one of those ways but I still like the idea of exploring a variety of possible user interface changes in future - if we can prove that a change will be beneficial to a majority of users, without significant detriment to other users I’ll implement the change.

In fact, some significant user interface changes are being worked on in Firefox as a whole at the moment. One of those changes appears to remove the essential functionality that KeeFox relies upon to create its toolbar. If Firefox do not reverse direction within a few weeks we’ll be forced to rapidly come up with an entirely new interface for KeeFox. That will be an exciting and interesting challenge but as explained above and borne out by your responses, it really would be best if we could focus on other priorities!

Improved multi-page login support (e.g. username on page one, password on page two)

Result: A strong preference for improvement here but a noticeable tendency for supporters to consider it an important but not crucial feature. I suspect this is due to the relative rarity of multi-page forms.

Action: KeeFox 1.2 will support forms with a username on page one and a password on page two although some sites may still require some extra configuration. With feedback from KeeFox 1.2 users I intend to improve the out-of-the-box behaviour in this area in future versions of KeeFox.

Better support for specific unusual web sites (e.g. many banks)

Result: Another strong desire for KeeFox to work accurately with more web sites.

Action: In this case, KeeFox 1.2 adds the ground work for some further improvements but as explained elsewhere, banks are sometimes going to actively try to prevent software like KeeFox from working - with very limited development time available we need to pick our battles carefully so while I can foresee some further improvements in this area over the coming years we’ll have to acknowledge the unlikelihood of getting every site to work.

Faster or simpler installation / setup procedure

Result: A strong feeling that the setup procedure is OK as it is, limited by the obvious caveat that nearly all respondents to this survey are people that have already successfully completed the setup process!

Action: There are a couple of tweaks I might make in a future version of KeeFox but since the broad setup procedure is dictated by the limitations of Firefox, KeePass and Windows (or Linux, Mac, etc.) there is not a huge scope for widespread changes at the moment.

Other comments

As for the open comments that many of you kindly supplied, I have done a little tallying and found a surprising lack of repeated comments. The main gist of the feature requests (most common first) and my response are:

Create KeeFox for Google Chrome: Sorry, I only just have enough time to devote to KeeFox so despite a desire to improve password management for everyone across all platforms, it’s just not realistic for me to take on a new project like this at the moment. If anyone is interested in working on a port to Chrome (or any other browser) I am going to be working on some changes in KeeFox 1.3 which should make it a more realistic possibility so please get in touch.
Combine toolbar buttons: Covered above.
Support Linux / KeePassX: Linux is now supported; making KeePassX work is not really an option at the moment but maybe that will change one day.

Finally, I have to share this gem: “Do not really understand what keefox is or what it does or how to use it. I may be using it and just not aware of it.” Some people really love filling in surveys!

Improved add-on localisation (translation)

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:52:04 +0000

It’s a lot of work for both developers and translators to ensure that an add-on is correctly translated into multiple languages but it’s a vital task for any add-on or software that will be used outside of the developer’s home country.

We want KeeFox to be available in many more languages but the existing Firefox localisation system does not do as much as it could to help us reach this goal.

This post will outline the changes I’ve made in KeeFox 1.2 in order to improve the localisation architecture for KeeFox and explain how other browser add-ons could use the same approach.

As I see it, these are the main problems with the standard Firefox localisation system:

Duplication	There are two distinct sources of text. In order to display a particular word or sentence in more than one part of an add-on it is sometimes necessary for that text to be translated twice. This can lead to mistakes and confusion, not to mention the extra workload it places on translators. This duplication is not a problem for simple add-ons that are created using recent improvements in the add-on infrastructure but many complex add-ons like KeeFox can’t be re-written in this new way (for both technical reasons and the shear amount of time it would take).
Fragility	Every language must have every piece of text translated or the entire add-on fails to function. This places a huge burden on translators and in add-ons such as KeeFox where there are many thousands of words to translate it can be a daunting prospect to start a new translation. From a developer perspective, this limitation leads to much manual work before each release in order to ensure that only the correct and complete translations are pushed out to the add-on users. Thorough testing of this manual process is also difficult and laborious.
Rigidity	Translation updates can only occur when the add-on code is updated. Even a one character typo correction has to pass through the full Mozilla add-on review process which often takes several weeks and distracts their review team from more useful tasks. (Note: the review team does not actually look for text accuracy - it’s mainly a check for basic add-on security and functionality). This also causes other issues such as unnecessary update installations for existing users and delays to the release date due to either waiting on ill or otherwise absent translators or the amount of work required to re-integrate the latest locale information every time.

To begin addressing these challenges I’ve developed a new locale system for KeeFox 1.2. It’s implemented as a JavaScript module so should be easily transferable to any other add-on.

Main features

All locales are defined through .properties files.
XML DTD files are not needed, even for localisation of XUL.
If a translation for a particular string in the user’s current locale is not found, the “default” string will be displayed.
In keeping with Mozilla standards, the “default” locale is “en-US” (although this would be easy to change if required).
Locale definitions can be loaded after the application has started.

So this means

No more XML DTD files.
It works with existing Firefox property files.
It works with dynamically loaded JSON locale files.
It could work with existing Google Chrome JSON files:
- Simple “messages” will work provided they are supplied through JavaScript rather than a separate locale file on disk.
- Parameters won’t work yet (mainly because Chrome takes a different approach to parameter selection but also because it’s not been a priority for me to implement that feature yet).
- See http://developer.chrome.com/extensions/i18n-messages.html for more details on the format of locale that could be supported in future.

What this means for KeeFox translators

I’ll still be looking for 100% completion for each language included in the main KeeFox releases. The flexibility of the new system will provide protection against the mistakes that have previously caused entire countries to be unable to use KeeFox for several weeks.
Temporary exceptions to the “100% complete” rule can be arranged as required.
Translation can occur more independently of the release cycle of KeeFox.
Languages do not have to be completed in order to be included in beta releases. This should help separate the task of translation from the testing phase of a KeeFox release and allow new translators to get their work seen before the entire translation process has been completed.
The messages delivered by FAMS will continue to default to the existing English language and continue to be updated only when a KeeFox update occurs. Any translations added to the FAMS.keefox.properties file in Babelzilla will be included in the beta and final releases; 100% completion of this file is not required (although obviously I suspect that users will benefit if you can translate the whole lot).
If I ever get around to implementing the “dynamic delivery over the internet” for FAMS messages there could be rare ad-hoc translation work (e.g. translating a security warning message) but I’ll provide further information on that when required.

Remaining problems

Having to manually construct a call to internationaliseElements() in each XUL file is messy. It should be possible to change this so that elements to be translated can instead be tagged with a class (or similar).
Dynamic update delivery: The localisation architecture allows for instant updates from the internet but there is currently no infrastructure in place to deliver this.
Dynamic update tools: The localisation file format is simple (JSON) but the existing Babelzilla translation does not currently support it so a temporary workaround will be required.

If you want to address any of those limitations please feel free to fork KeeFox and submit a pull request with your improvements.

Hopefully Firefox will release improvements to the core localisation system one day which will address the limitations that led me to develop an alternative solution for KeeFox. In the mean time, I thought other add-on developers might be interested in this work - documentation on its use is here: https://github.com/luckyrat/KeeFox/wiki/en-|-Technical#wiki-locales

KeeFox 1.2 experimental build ready for testing

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 23:51:52 +0000

Please test out the latest version of KeeFox. There are over ten thousand lines of changed code so I’d like to get some wider testing from willing users before pushing the new version onto the development (beta) channel.

The biggest changes are to form detection and form field matching which I’m sure you can guess is a fairly large chunk of the add-on. The main benefits are:

Improved form matching and filling

Forms no longer need a password field (this feature is powered by a set of white/black lists which will need refinement during this testing phase and with each future KeeFox release)
More multi-page logins work correctly
New types of form field dealt with correctly (HTML5)
The old “monitor each web page for new forms” feature has been upgraded to allow monitoring on only specific websites (if you used the old feature, you shouldn’t notice any difference but I strongly recommend disabling this on all sites except for the occasional specific ones on which it is needed)

Per-site configuration allows:

You to quickly get many previously problematic websites working correctly
KeeFox developers to make most popular websites work for all users in a future KeeFox version (to start with we’ve got Microsoft live.com working which is the most frequently mentioned “problem site” at the moment)

New localisation module reduces work for developers and translators (hopefully leading to new translators joining the team) and allows the “useful tips” and similar messages to be translated for the first time. In the next few days I’ll publish a separate article with more background and detail about this work.

A new configuration storage system within each KeePass entry is required to enable some of the features above so once you upgrade your KeePass database you won’t be able to go back unless you revert to an earlier backup. The upgrade process has been tested (and applied to my personal database with 500 entries) but there may be edge cases I’m not aware of so please pay attention to the warning about making a backup.

Please use the new manual on the github wiki and the github issues tracker instead of the Sourceforge Trac manual and ticket tracker that we’ve been using for several years. I’ll announce this change to everyone in due course but it’ll be simpler if I wait until version 1.2 is released because it contains some information that doesn’t apply to KeeFox 1.1.

If you have a backup of your existing database (if not, why not?) please download version 1.2.0a1 from the usual experimental XPI location.

Please post on the forum if you have any problems or comments (and make sure to state that you’re using v1.2.0a1).

Error console can temporarily display passwords

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:57:55 +0000

I’ve just been made aware of a potential privacy concern which has been fixed in the latest version of KeeFox. Until you receive the updated version, please note that some of your passwords may be temporarily displayed in a console that is used for debugging. This “error console” is usually hidden from view and its contents are not retained but in certain circumstances this could be a problem so I’ve tried to fix it as quickly as possible.

If you do have this error console visible when using KeeFox 1.1.2 or earlier, please be extra wary of people looking over your shoulder when you log in to websites using KeeFox.

Also be aware that it is not possible to predict how long a password may remain visible somewhere in that error console so for extra security you could consider clicking on the “Clear” button at the top of the console window at a suitable time (e.g. when you would normally lock your KeePass database).

If you want to be the first to get the fixed version you can subscribe to the development (beta) channel but (although it is somewhat out of my control) I expect the fix to be made available to all KeeFox users soon.

Sorry for any inconvenience!

What next for KeeFox?

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:30:48 +0000

UPDATE: I’m currently analysing the results of the survey so please post any further suggestions or thoughts on the help forum. I’ll post any interesting results in a new article soon.

With KeeFox 1.1 recently released, I thought it would be a good time to ask you where you think KeeFox should be heading in future. To help me understand and keep track of your opinions and suggestions I have created a short survey which I would really appreciate you completing.

The survey has been active since version 1.0 was released but I’ve not yet received enough responses to draw any firm conclusions from the current results so please take a moment to answer the questions in the survey that you can find here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/view … rmkey=dEVIOHNxMnAtTy00c0w4TDVjX2loY3c6MQ

I’ll analyse the responses and then post a summary of the results in a couple of months.

If you have any further suggestions or questions in the mean time, don’t forget to check out the help resources at http://keefox.org/help/

If you have already completed the survey then thank you! I’ve not had time to read individual comments yet but will definitely do so soon.

KeeFox 1.1.2 released

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:46:01 +0100

The recently released KeeFox 1.1.2 contains dozens of new and improved features and a few important bug fixes, the highlights are below.

Multiple database support. Seamlessly work with more than one KeePass database thanks to these improvements:
- Logins from all open (unlocked) databases are matched (and automatically filled / submitted depending on your configuration)
- Logins from all open databases are listed on the Logins toolbar button
- A new login can be saved into any open database
- Changing databases from within KeeFox is now reliable and predictable
Improved form matching accuracy: when KeeFox knows how many form fields to expect for an entry it will now use that information to help select the correct form on a page
Instant edit feature added: Review and edit every entry that KeeFox saves (disabled by default).
Memory leak fixed: This will be a big improvement for heavy Firefox users who do not shutdown Firefox for days or weeks at a time
Added option to require more accurate URL matching for specific entries (previously possible through a hidden KeePass “advanced string”)
Thunderbird support (in beta testing)
Improvements to setup instructions, especially for non-admin users and Mono (Mac & Linux) users
First-run improvements (e.g. automatic save of your first KeePass database and a link to information about importing existing passwords)

You should get 1.1.2 pushed to you automatically unless you have disabled Firefox add-on automatic updates. You can manually install it from the main Add-on page.

Known limitation: Newsgroup authentication prompts in Thunderbird do not work with KeeFox.

Apple Mac support: The immaturity of the Mono platform that Mac users require to make KeePass work is keeping KeeFox Mac support in beta testing for the time being. You can install the development version if you’d like to give it a try (it seems to mostly work if you have some patience and know what you’re doing)

Known bug: Shortly after the release of 1.1.2 I learnt that users who enable the Firefox master password (for use by other add-ons, Firefox Sync, etc.) sometimes experience problems entering the master password when prompted before Firefox has completely started. I have put a fix into version 1.1.3 which you can download from here: https://github.com/luckyrat/KeeFox/blob/ … d79301bb/XPI-package/latest.xpi?raw=true.

1.1.3 is an experimental build - although it has very few changes since the well-tested 1.1.2 it has not been thoroughly tested itself so I advise only installing it if you need to. I’ll monitor its usage and consider releasing it as an official tested version if it looks like enough people are affected by this bug.

I’ll be starting work on version 1.2 in a few weeks time so do let me know through the support forum if you find any bugs that I should be working on for that release. In the mean time, enjoy version 1.1!

Firefox 3.x support ending

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:48:14 +0100

While I want KeeFox to support as many Firefox versions as possible, there does come a point where the security risks and development limitations mean it is not practical to continue supporting older versions of Firefox.

Therefore from KeeFox version 1.1 onwards, only Firefox 4.0 and higher will be supported.

If you’re in the minority that still use Firefox 3.x please plan an upgrade within the next month in order to ensure you can keep up to date with the latest KeeFox version.

Although I will try to support versions of Firefox earlier than the current version (13 at the time of writing) it is always going to be easier to support the latest version. The list below states the versions of Firefox that KeeFox will support from now on. The list is in priority order (so those users running versions lower down the list may sometimes experience slower responses and fixes).

1) The latest two stable versions of Firefox
2) The latest extended support release (ESR) version of Firefox (released roughly once a year)
3) The remaining stable versions since the current ESR
4) The latest Firefox Beta
5) The latest Aurora build (the version before beta)

Many older versions will continue to work and we’ll not block the use of KeeFox on other versions of Firefox until specific security threats or functionality limitations arise. However, for the best security you should adhere to Mozilla’s stricter upgrade advice wherever possible (i.e. only use either the latest stable version or the ESR version).

For example, at the time of writing KeeFox is supported on these Firefox versions in priority order:

1) 12 and 13
2) 10
3) 11
4) 14
5) 15

All other versions down to Firefox 4.0 should also work perfectly at the moment.

I’ll add this information to the manual in due course.

Win an Android tablet

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:16:15 +0100

Over 150 KeeFox users have already written a review of KeeFox and I’m sure some of you are in that group. I’m very grateful for the encouragement and kind comments that often accompany the the reviews.

Mozilla (the organisation that makes Firefox) are running a competition to encourage you to write a review of your favourite add-on (up to three per person). The prize is an Android tablet so if you haven’t yet written a 5-star review of KeeFox, now could be a great time to do it!

If you’ve already submitted a review, you can still enter it into the competition. Bear in mind that the content of the review matters so you might want to submit an updated review in order to increase your chances of winning.

The deadline is in two weeks. Full details and step by step instructions are available on the Mozilla add-ons blog:
http://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2012/04/2 … nce-to-win-one-of-three-android-tablets/

Please remember that you can get in touch using the support forum to comment or suggest improvements so if you have something to say that might benefit from a reply please post it on the forum instead of (or as well as) in an add-on review. I try to keep on top of comments and questions in reviews but sometimes I just don’t see them.

KeeFox 1.0

Tue, 01 May 2012 19:28:20 +0100

Version 1.0 of KeeFox has been released!

KeeFox adds free, secure and easy to use password management features to Firefox which save you time and keep your private data safe and under your control. KeeFox connects Firefox to KeePass Password Safe, the most popular open source (and free) password manager.

Four years, thousands of beta testers and seven international translations later I am delighted to say that KeeFox can be considered a stable add-on that is suitable for everyone to use.

Learn more and find out why hundreds of people think KeeFox deserves a 5 out of 5 star rating on the official home page: keefox.org

KeeFox is available for download from the official Firefox add-ons website. Linux and Mac support is in beta testing so you’ll need to install the development version at the bottom of this page.

In response to many requests I have begun accepting donations so if you would like to express your appreciation for KeeFox in this way you can now do so via a contribution on the addons.mozilla.org site .

Version 1.0 has been subject to some “last minute” polishing for a number of months now and online help resources have been greatly improved during that time. While the KeeFox features have not been improved a huge amount in the past 6 months, I have been hard at work on version 1.1 which will be available for beta testing soon. Version 1.1 will bring improved support for users with multiple databases and a few bug fixes.

I would like to know what you think of KeeFox and what improvements you would like to see before we reach version 2.0 so please take a moment to fill in the user survey

The launch of version 1.0 coincides with a revamped KeeFox website which I think makes it easier to navigate and more pleasing on the eye; again, feedback is welcome!

I’m extremely grateful to everyone that has helped KeeFox reach this milestone; while I can’t list everyone here there are few that warrant particular attention.

Ben Roberts: KeeFox logo design and early alpha testing
Ken Bass: Development work to support Linux and Mac (currently under beta testing in version 1.1)
The team of translators on babelzilla.org: Lakrits, Ramesses, yfdyh000, meilon, softcat, Siggi0904, maniosus and degit

PS: The official version number is 1.0.2 for administrative reasons

KeeFox 0.9.5 and Linux/Mac support

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:07:18 +0000

Version 0.9.5 has just been submitted to Mozilla for review so will hopefully be winging its way to you through the usual update channel within a week.

Changes this time:

HTTP Auth login boxes now correctly state when no matching passwords were found
New domain matching rules prevent IP addresses from matching incorrectly
Improvements to message/tip display (easier to prevent the same message appearing again once you’ve seen it)
Miscellaneous changes to meet recent Firefox add-on best practice guidelines
Dutch translation added

Also note that (thanks to krbvroc1) you can now run KeeFox on Linux and Mac systems but we’ve not had enough beta testing feedback to enable support outside of the development channel. In fact to my knowledge, it has not ever been installed on a Mac, although in theory it “should work”.

Please install version 0.9.5b if you want to help us test KeeFox on Linux or Mac systems. There are no significant changes between version 0.9.5b and 0.9.5 so you’re not missing out by moving to the development channel.

More details are available in the release notes for 0.9.5b (look a little bit down the versions page)

0.9.6b will be pushed to the development channel in a couple of weeks so if there are any important changes that need to be made to improve Linux and Mac support it would be great to hear about them soon.

KeeFox 0.9.4 released

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:30:35 +0000

Version 0.9.4 has been added to the Mozilla add-ons site so you should receive an automatic update in due course.

This version works with KeePass 2.18. It also adds a new message display service aimed primarily at new users (but which I hope to extend to delivery of important security notifications in the future).

There are a number of other changes too: fixing some bugs, improving the translations for some languages and making some fairly invisible improvements.

Full list of changes:

Works with KeePass 2.18 (and installs it by default for new users)
.NET installer is now .NET 4 (Client Profile)
Firefox addon messaging service (FAMS) added to help new users with handy tips, other important messages and potentially future security notifications - see https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/keefox/wiki/Manual/Technical%20architecture/FAMS for more details
Fixed bug that caused old style HTTP realm data, priority selection and alternative URL data to be lost under some circumstances during migration to the current advanced string formatting scheme
Users of FF4 and above can now setup KeeFox automatically even if they have non-latin characters in their profile path
Fixes #116 (bad regexp in any entry breaks keefox) - KeeFox no longer breaks and also notifies the user of the problematic regular expression
Locales updated
.NET framework detection considered successful if 2 or 4 installed (also should work on x64 FF builds now)
New version of Jayrock libraries added; modified to work in .NET 4 Client Profile
Projects/solution source code upgraded to run on VS2010
other minor changes

Tutorial improved

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:14:02 +0000

A revamped tutorial has just been switched on. The fundamental principles highlighted in the tutorial have not been significantly changed but the process should now be more streamlined. Additionally, new users are now encouraged to complete at least the first three steps of the tutorial (instead of four).

A fresh new look should help everyone to concentrate on the important messages and familiarise themselves with KeeFox more quickly.

What do you think? How could it be improved in future? Are there any concepts missing that should be added into the tutorial?

A link to the tutorial is displayed after Keefox is successfully set up and can also be found in the KeeFox main menu (help / getting started).

KeePass 2.18 compatibility

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:23:09 +0000

Thanks to everyone that notified me of the problems with the recently released version of KeePass.

I hope to release a new version in 4-6 weeks with a beta available within a few weeks. In the mean time, the existing version of KeeFox will continue to work with KeePass 2.17. As with the previous problematic KeePass upgrade, your upgrade route will be much simplified if you continue using KeePass 2.17 until after you are running a new version of KeeFox*. There are currently no known security problems with KeePass 2.17 that necessitate an immediate upgrade.

This time there were many changes to KeePass that prevented KeeFox from working. I was notified of at least some of these changes in advance of the release of KeePass 2.18 but did not have a development environment to work and test with until after the official release last week.

I have identified a way to get KeeFox to work with 2.18 and most users shouldn’t notice any differences but in light of the following major changes to the KeeFox code I have decided to push the fix to existing users quite cautiously - there’s no point in risking breaking KeeFox for everyone just so that some people can run the very latest version of KeePass.

For anyone interested, the two major changes to the KeeFox code are:
1) I’ve upgraded (and then customised) the Jayrock JSON-RPC server bundled within KeePassRPC
2) I’ve set .NET 4 as the default runtime for KeeFox users who don’t yet have a copy of .NET installed

This work required an upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 and I took that opportunity to make a clean break from the existing SVN revision control at Sourceforge; KeeFox code is now available on github, details will be announced in the coming weeks.

* Or at least downgrade to 2.17 before installing the new version of KeeFox.

KeeFox 0.9.3 released

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:14:02 +0100

A new version of KeeFox has just been approved on the official Firefox add-ons site.

This version supports KeePass 2.17 (and earlier). There are a few other improvements too - full details are in the release notes for version 0.9.3a on this page: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keefox/versions/

I recommend installing the updated version of KeeFox while still running version 2.16 (or earlier) of KeePass. If you have already upgraded to KeePass 2.17 you will need to “paste and go” this URL in your location bar and click “Upgrade KeeFox”:
chrome://keefox/content/install.xul?upgrade=1

A change was made to KeePass in version 2.17 which means that KeeFox 0.9.2 and earlier no longer work. Specifically, the KeePassRPC KeePass plugin no longer loads (it gives an error message saying it is incompatible with the new version of KeePass). This sort of plugin incompatibility issue was supposed to have been eliminated with the new “plgx” plugin format but there are evidently still a few edge cases that can cause a problem and KeeFox was the unlucky plugin this time around.

Dominik (the main developer of KeePass) has kindly agreed to try to give me advance notice of future KeePass releases so emergency fixes like this can be developed before the new KeePass version is made publicly available. Neither me nor Dominik can make any promises but we think the 2.17 upgrade problems are atypical of past and future KeePass upgrades.

Special thanks have to go to the addons.mozilla.org team (particularly Jorge Villalobos) for fast tracking this new version through their thorough and often lengthy review processes!

Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused you.

NB: A few bits of text are “NOT TRANSLATED” for non-English users - they shouldn’t be crucial to understanding the add-on and will be replaced with correct translated versions as soon as possible. Sorry, this decision was the lesser of two evils!

Translating KeeFox

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:20:35 +0100

KeeFox is now ready for an international audience with translations into non-English languages. Incomplete Swedish and Russian translations are available in version 0.9 but complete versions have already been submitted ready for the version 0.9.1 release, along with Chinese (Simplified).

It will be great if we can increase the number of translations over the next few weeks so that version 0.9.1 can be understood by as many people as possible. If you (or anyone you know) are willing to contribute to the translation of KeeFox into other languages please register on Babelzilla and follow the simple instructions they provide.

See:
Babelzilla
The KeeFox section on Babelzilla
KeeFox thread on the Babelzilla Discussion forum (please direct all translation related queries here)

Note that there is currently no way to modify the text of the KeePassRPC plugin. If anyone has any time to implement a suitable localisation system for KeePass PLGX plugins I’m sure it will be appreciated by many KeePass plugin authors. I’m thinking maybe a seperate plugin or patch for KeePass that allows runtime modification of strings; it would be good if PLGX compilation were not a requirement for translators. Please post any further thoughts or offers of help in the main KeeFox forum or KeePass forum (depending on how specific your comment or solution is).

KeeFox 0.9 Release candidate available

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:58:03 +0100

You can now download version 0.9b from the development channel at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keefox/

Users already subscribed to the development channel (i.e. running 0.8.22b at the moment) will be upgraded automatically.

You can easily swap back to 0.8.21 if you find a problem with 0.9 so please try it out and post in the forum if you do find any new issues.

Assuming a successful beta testing period, this version will be rolled out to all 0.8.21 users in a couple of weeks.

This version is suitable for widespread use but may still contain a few bugs.

This version has a few improvements to the features added in 0.8.22, updates the default version of KeePass to 2.16 and adds the first two (incomplete) translations:

Swedish
Russian

The previously unannounced version 0.8.22 also changes:

FIXED: Editing passwords with KeePassRPC GUI sometimes showed an empty password
Master key entry dialog focuses correctly on all versions of Windows (most of the time)
Improved form filling for some types of form

Note that earlier versions of Firefox 6 had a bug which prevented KeeFox from working. FF6b3+ should work fine, as should Firefox 7a*.

A full record of changes is available in the changelog as usual: http://keefox.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/keefox/trunk/Firefox%20addon/CHANGELOG.txt

Before releasing version 1.0 I will improve documentation / help, add as many translations as possible and of course fix any bugs that I can.

KeeFox 0.8.21 released

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:21:11 +0100

You can now download version 0.8.21 from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keefox/

This is a required upgrade for all users. You must upgrade before the end of June 2011 or KeeFox will stop working. Firefox should automatically prompt you to install a new version soon and future versions of KeeFox will keep up to date automatically through the official Firefox add-ons site.

Apart from the switch to an automatic update system, there are a few other minor improvements too. Full details are available in the changelog as usual: http://keefox.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/keefox/trunk/Firefox%20addon/CHANGELOG.txt

KeeFox is on the official Firefox add-ons website

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:21:26 +0100

I’m pleased to announce that KeeFox has recently been accepted into the official Firefox add-ons directory and can now be found at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keefox/

After the 30th of June 2011 versions of KeeFox previously downloaded from this website will cease to function so you will need to install the version from the Firefox add-ons directory sometime in the next month. This expiry time is simply to ensure that no-one gets stuck using potentially insecure old versions of KeeFox; all future updates will be delivered automatically in the same way as most Firefox add-ons you have installed (so a fixed expiry time is no longer required).

Version 0.8.20 is currently available and can be installed from the Mozilla add-ons website even if you have already installed version 0.8.20 from this website. Since future updates will be installed automatically it shouldn’t make a big difference whether you install KeeFox from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keefox/ now or when the next update is announced.

Note that this does not change the beta status of KeeFox. I still think it is nearly ready for an official “1.0” release and the Mozilla add-ons review team think that it is “good enough” to be included in the official directory but there is still work to be done, especially with respect to documentation.

Getting started tutorial improved

Sun, 22 May 2011 02:06:38 +0100

The interactive tutorial at http://tutorial.keefox.org has been upgraded. Please complete it if you’re unsure about any KeeFox features, particularly before asking for help in the forum. These are the main improvements since the initial tutorial was launched:

Added some troubleshooting tips on the first page
Created a demonstration of customising KeeFox auto-fill and auto-submit behaviour per entry
Added an example of recording a non-text field (specifically, a radio button)
Uploaded some new and updated screenshots
The last two steps have been marked as “advanced” - they are still useful for some people but probably not as important as the first 4 steps.
Streamlined the path through the 6 steps
Clearer form layouts

Please use KeeFox version 0.8.20 or higher to complete the tutorial. Earlier ones will probably work but that’s not been tested.

KeeFox 0.8.20 released

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:49:42 +0100

Version 0.8.20 has just been released - download it now.

There may still be a few bugs here and there but I think the long list of improvements since version 0.8.10 warrants a release now.

There have been over 15 bug fixes along with some new features, the most notable being:

Several username/password field matching improvements
HTTP Auth dialogs now prompt to save password

All feedback is welcome, as always. Please submit support or bug requests to the forum: http://keefox.org/help/forum