Install Firebug Extension Manually

Question

I want to install Firebug manually and update configuration settings on my own. I followed below steps:

1. Downloaded firebug-2.0b1.xpi file (3 MB)
2. Extracted the content by using winRAR.
3. put this extracted folder "firebug-2.0b1" inside "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\extensions"

Now, I run Firefox, but It seems firebug is not installed. This doens't work because some configurations are not done or Profile is not updated. I could like to know if any changes I need to do in folder.

I am doing this because, I couldn't install by drag & drop .xpi file on firefox or install through browser itself.

Answer 1

To install Firebug manually you have to do it differently. There are two ways to run extensions manually:

1. Extract the XPI

1. Download the XPI file that contains the extension
2. Locate the 'extensions' folder within your profile (e.g. via Firefox menu > Help > Troubleshooting Information > Show Folder)
3. Create a new folder within the 'extensions' folder and call it like the add-on's id (for Firebug this is firebug@software.joehewitt.com)
4. Extract the XPI into that folder

2. Get the sources from the git repository

A detailed description for how to do that can be found on the development setup description on the Firebug wiki. It's similar to the description above with the addition that you'll be able to always get the latest sources.

Answer 2

Two notes:

1. The folder name must be the same as the addon's ID (look in install.rdf of the addon) In your case it's not firebug-2.0b1 , but firebug@software.joehewitt.com
2. The directory where the addon should be placed is not where the Firefox itself is installed, but into your Firefox's profile. By default it's in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\XXXXX\extensions\ (where XXXXX is name of your profile folder. More info about profiles you can find here)