FireBug 2.0.13

Overview

FireBug is an extension for the web browser FireFox, and essentially what it provides is an interface where you can edit any HTML, CSS, or Java Script on the current web page. This can be extremely useful for webmasters who are trying to fix any errors on their page, or for anyone who just wants to mess around with a website for fun. Of course the changes made don't save unless you copy them over to the admin interface of the website, but it is still very useful.

Installation

Installation is very simple, the easiest way to go about it is to download the software right here at Download3k, and then open up your downloads folder. Once you're there, drag the file into the FireFox window, it will then ask if you want to install - to which you should answer yes. There's no bundled software and uninstalling it can be done in seconds.

Interface

One of FireBug's best features is how sleek and inconspicuous it is while I'm browsing the web. The only thing you'll see related to FireBug is a small little bug icon with a down arrow on the top-right corner of your FireFox browser. Whenever you want to use the add on, just click the bug and a coding window will appear taking up roughly 1/4 of the screen. You can choose where you want to the window to appear, on any of the four sides of the screen or detached.

Everything within the coding window is put into collapse-able menus, and you can simply hover over a menu and it will highlight on the screen where it is located. There's a ton of customization options that can be accessed via the small bug icon on top of the coding window. In order to close FireBug, you can simply click the other bug icon from before which you used to open it.

Pros

- Extremely effective tool for webmasters to edit the live HTML, CSS, and JS of their website

- Tons of options to make the interface and working environment compatible with just about any type of user

- Installation is quick and painless, and best of all it's completely free (donations recommended)

- Stays well hidden while I'm browsing and never gets in the way, yet it's always right there whenever I want to use it

Cons

There are no cons with Firebug; There's nothing that Firebug does wrong, needs improvement on, or forgot to do - it's practically a flawless program.

Alternatives

The best alternatives to Firebug are going to be the ones built-in to your FireFox, Chrome, or IE browser. These can be accessed by pressing F12 for Chrome and IE, and Ctrl + Shift + S in FireFox. One more option would be Dragonfly, which is a built in developer tool in the Opera browser. This can be opened with Ctrl + Shift + I.

Conclusion

Firebug has been around for a while, and that is clear from how smoothly it operates. You can tell they've managed to work through just about any problem that has surfaced in the past - and the result is a wonderful Firefox extension.