random wikipedia newtab

Firefox extension that redirects to a random wikipedia page when you open a new tab, because when you're opening a new tab you're looking for a distraction and that distraction might as well be a weird fact

this is the way I'm developing extensions although you can certainly do it without npm

1. install npm

2. install web-ext: npm install --global web-ext

3. run in project folder: web-ext run

4. navigate to about:addons in the firefox window that opens. click extensions. it's installed :D extension will auto update as you save files in the project.

5. navigate to about:debugging, make sure Enable add-on debugging is checked, and click debug next to the extension name. that's how you debug the extension.

notes

oh geez firefox extension development is a wasteland ):

cool stuff I found while trying to do the least work possible to scrape wikipedia pages:

• wiki api supports parsing :D
• wiki api sandbox! which I used to navigate the cumbersome wiki api
• nice

other notes

• web-ext run will watch for changes and reload. if you're working on extension options_ui page it kills it. if that's the only tab open it will kill the browser and end the web-ext run process. not sure the best workflow to deal with this but I've had about:addons opened in the other tab to easily open up the extension ui after it closes while refreshing

todo

• escape custom wiki page chars
• tests
• icons
• filter wiki links by ns
• load more than 500 links