AnyColor for Firefox

KenSaunders — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:50:36 -0500

Every once in a while you come across a Firefox add-on that is so cool that it just blows you away and you wonder how you ever lived without it. Well I'm pleased to introduce you to an add-on that fits that description. It's the AnyColor add-on from developer Pavlos Touboulidis written specifically for use with Firefox 3. AnyColor is basically a Firefox skinning add-on. It allows you to change the appearance of Firefox without having to restart it to apply a new theme. There are several nice preset themes to choose from (and access to more) but its true power comes from allowing an AnyColor user to customize the appearance of Firefox themselves. After all, isn't customization one of Firefox's strongest features? With AnyColor you can choose from a nearly infinite number of color combos and apply your chosen color(s) to different areas of Firefox's interface. You can also choose to display an image as a background for Firefox's header (includes all visible toolbars) and footer (status bar) by either specifying an online location or a local file. A new feature that has just been added to AnyColor 0.2.0 is an accessibility feature that allows a user to change the font size of Firefox's interface globally so now both web pages (by using Accessibar or similar) and Firefox can be set to display the same sized fonts. AnyColor does not add the ability to change any interface icons or buttons. That would probably weigh AnyColor down quite a bit, and it may or may not be compatible with other themes, you'll just have to experiment on your own because there are simply too many themes to test AnyColor against, however, Pavlos has made it easy for other developers to build upon AnyColor. There are many more features and tweaks available that you'll discover along the way of using AnyColor. For now, this is an add-on that I highly recommend. Please take the time to add a review for AnyColor on its page on the Firefox Add-ons site. It is currently listed as an experimental add-on (all add-ons are classified experimental when first uploaded to AMO) but you have the power to help in getting AnyColor listed in the public section of the Firefox Add-ons site where more Firefox users will be able to discover it. You'll have to login or create an account to install it and to add a review but it takes very little time to do so. On a side note. I had made a request to Pavlos to provide a way for users with visual impairments to enlarge the text size on the Firefox interface and he didn't hesitate at all to implement it making AnyColor a very useful accessibility tool for creating high and low contrast themes with large text that many will benefit from. Visit the AnyColor page on AccessFirefox.org for more information and screen shots..

firefox theme

AnyColor for Firefox