Morning Coffee – Quantum Blend

41 Replies

This past weekend, I decided to give myself a little coding project. With the release of their Quantum project, Mozilla Firefox has migrated away from its old extension format, and as a result, one of my favorite plugins, Morning Coffee, was broken. I wasn’t the only one sad about this, as the comments on addons.mozilla.org could confim.

Well, I could just be unhappy about it…or I could do something. I am a programmer, after all, if not necessarily a Javascript developer by trade. It’s been a while since I had a non-work coding project, so that would be a fun itch to scratch. And hey, it fills a need that at least a few other people have…so why not, right?

So fast-forward past a lot of time spent reading the Mozilla WebExtension documentation and some remedial Javascript education, and the end result is Morning Coffee Quantum! I’m pretty pleased with it. It does most of what the original plugin did (due to the way the new extensions work, it’s not exactly the same), and I even added a feature that I’d always wanted to have in the original. If no one else ever downloads it and uses it, at least I’ve got a working version again, and that’s good enough for me. But if someone else gets some use out of it, even better!

Here’s the extension’s permanent link on this site, if you’re interested.

41 thoughts on “Morning Coffee – Quantum Blend”

  1. Craig

    Hey, so I’m happy beyond words that you decided to resurrect this add on. It’s fantastic and I have been using it almost as long as you have. I just installed in into my FF quantum but the links don’t seem to load. It opens a tab and then gives me an error message similar to this:

    Firefox can’t find the file at moz-extension://33c0b9c3-9d9a-4ba2-8ee6-5ad6b3e6caa4/weregeek.com

    Any thoughts as to what is causing this? Or is this a bug that you’re currently working on?

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    1. Brandon Post author

      Craig,
      Do you have the protocol in the link (i.e., http://weregeek.com)? I’ll admit I didn’t try it without that. I’ll look into some basic validation to prevent that from happening, if that’s the case. Can you send me a screenshot of your configuration for that day?

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      1. Craig

        Your fix worked when I installed your new updated version. So thanks for that! And thank you for keeping this extension going!

        Reply ↓
  3. Nick

    Thank you, this is exactly why I hadn’t moved over to Quantum and am extremely happy to have this available now! (I know that’s silly, but addons are part of the browser experience and the best browser is the one that gives the best experience, even if its a little more clunky at times)

    The only features I wish it had is the ability to add a URL to multiple days at a time and ability to add from the icon rather than from the add on manager.

    When changing machines is there a way to export your list and import? I know this just got up and running and may be handled by firefox accounts but thought I’d ask anyways.

    Thanks again!

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    1. Nick

      Nevermind, I see how to do all the things I talked about via the instructions! I was too excited to use it and didn’t read through the instructions properly!! You’re awesome

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      1. Brandon Post author

        Thanks, Nick! I hope you enjoy it!

        I have been debating the usefulness of an import/export feature myself. If enough people found it useful I might consider it for a future release.

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        1. cindy

          Please do add an import/export feature! And in the meantime, can you tell us where in the FF profile the addresses are stored, so I can transfer that file or folder manually to another machine?

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          1. Brandon Post author

            Cindy, I’ve added an FAQ to the extension’s page (go to the top of this page for the link). It contains instructions for how to perform a “manual” import/export.

            Hope this helps!

  4. Osgood

    Thanks so much for this! Would you be able to add the ability to stay on your current tab instead of jumping to the last? Thanks again, great work 🙂

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  5. Joseph Land

    Brandon:

    Before you came out with this new version of Morning Coffee, I found that I could somewhat duplicate opening multiple pages of my choosing by putting the web address separated by the pipe symbol (|) in the homepage area under Firefox Options.

    Example:

    http://www.zdnet.com | http://www.pcmagazine.com | http://www.weather.com and so on…

    I was able to input 15 addresses as my home page that way.

    This worked just fine but I did greatly miss the ability to randomize the opening order.

    Great job in getting this developed in such a short time. So far it seems to be working with no problems at all.

    The one option that is still missing in your version is the ability to choose to have previously opened tabs stay open or to close them down before opening up my set list. The original Morning Coffee had that option. If you inadvertently click twice on the Morning Coffee button by mistake, I can easily wind up with 30 tabs opening up instead of, in my case, 15.

    Look forward to any updates that come out.

    JL

    Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you’re enjoying using MCQ!

      I’d forgotten about the “close existing tabs” feature. Most likely, that can be done, although I’ll have to see what the best way to go about doing it is. Perhaps in the future I will be able to include that as a setting on the options page. Thanks for the idea!

      Update: I’ve added this feature in version 1.1.3, which has just gone live. Enjoy!

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        1. Brandon Post author

          Great! I’m glad it works as you’d hoped.

          If it’s not too much to ask, would you consider leaving a positive review on addons.mozilla.org? The add-on is still pretty new, and any good PR goes a long way… Thanks for considering!

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  6. Jim Friedlander

    Fantastic! Thank you so much. I too was waiting until I had add-ons like Morning Coffee before completely switching to Quantum, and now I have.

    This new Morning Coffee works flawlessly for me, so thank you so much!

    I’ll add my vote for having import/export; I use MC with about 60 sites, so I’d love to have an easy way to backup/restore would be nice.

    Thanks again for your work!

    Jim

    Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      Jim, I’ve added an FAQ to the extension’s page (go to the top of this page for the link). It contains instructions for how to perform a “manual” import/export.

      I’m still thinking about adding the feature, but there’s a lot of extra coding and debugging that goes along with that. We’ll see. In the meantime, I hope this works in a pinch!

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      1. Jim Friedlander

        Thanks Brandon. Sorry I missed the note about the FAQ in your response to Cindy.

        That works fine and it’s all I need 🙂

        Thanks again,

        Jim

        Reply ↓
  7. Joseph Land

    Brandon:

    I have a question for you on Morning Coffee and I will try to explain it as best that I can without confusing you. This has to do with loading 2 separate profiles in Firefox Quantum.

    I have 2 profiles setup in Firefox Quantum. I have my “default” profile and a new one which I created which is named “Tech”

    In my “default” profile has a Morning Coffee storage.js file populated with my sites that I look at each morning.

    In my new profile which I setup (Tech), I also have a Morning Coffee storage.js file that is populated with sites dealing only with Technical Geek sites that I also check out periodically.

    I looked at both of them using the Notepad text editor to verify that they are populated with different web site addresses and they are indeed different. That being verified I then go to switch profiles.

    To switch profiles, I use the address “about:profiles” to bring up the profile switcher screen in Firefox which I then click on “Launch Profile in New Browser”.

    That opens up my Tech Profile in a new separate Firefox Browser window BUT the storage.js data file in my Tech Profile is not being used, Morning Coffee still uses the storage.js file located in my Default Profile instead of my Tech Profile.

    As an experiment I only had 1 site listed in the default profile storage.js file which was http://www.cnn.com
    In the “Tech” profile I verified that that storage.js file was populated with the site http://www.zdnet.com

    When I checked the setting in Morning Coffee with both profiles open, Morning Coffee showed http://www.cnn.com on both profiles even though each storage.js file was different.

    It seems to me that Morning Coffee is not recognizing the fact that there are separate profiles available.

    My understanding is that different profiles are supposed to be separate and distinctive.

    As an afterthought, the old Firefox Extension “Profile Switcher” is no longer compatible with Quantum and I do not see a working replacement yet. That is why I have to use the native Firefox address “about:profiles” to switch them.

    Thoughts?

    Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      Hm. I had not tried this, but I would have figured that each profile would use its own browser extension folder and storage.js file, just as you mentioned. There is no code in the add-on that looks for a specific profile. I wonder if you might have found a browser bug, where the profile browser extension data isn’t being switched when the profile is.

      I’ll do a little testing and see if I can replicate what you’re seeing.

      Reply ↓
    2. Brandon Post author

      Joseph, pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink. I think you’ve uncovered a Firefox bug. Here’s what I did to come to that conclusion:

      1. I created a new profile as well. I then set it as the default profile and closed out of Firefox entirely.
      2. I launched Firefox (which now came in as the new profile), and added Morning Coffee Quantum into it. I left all site lists blank.
      3. I went to about:profiles, and asked to run my original profile in a new browser window, just as you’d mentioned doing.
      4. In the new window, I clicked the coffee cup button – nothing. I would have expected to get my original profile’s site lists. So this replicates your results.

      But then I noticed something else. In my original profile, I have another add-on that uses a toolbar button. In this new browser window, supposedly opened under my original profile, it wasn’t there at all!

      I think this confirms my original theory – Firefox is not using the browser extension data for the profile you open in a new window in about:profiles; rather, it’s using the data for the profile you originally launched Firefox under.

      So, great job finding that bug! Unfortunately, this means there’s nothing I can fix to make it work. So sorry about that. I did figure out a workaround – when you’re ready to switch profiles, set the profile you want to switch to to the “default”, then close Firefox, and relaunch it. It’ll come in with the correct add-on extension data loaded.

      Since you found this, I’d encourage you to take the credit, and help the Firefox developers out: file a Firefox bug!

      Reply ↓
      1. Joseph Land

        Brandon: Well as a work-around I did the following. I put one set of bookmarks, the non-technical sites, in Morning Coffee and then I setup my home page to show all the Technical sites. Now when click on Morning Coffee I get one set of tabs open up. When I click on my homepage button I get the 2nd set of tabs open up. There is always a way to get things done.

        Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      When adding a site through the tab context menu, you can add a site to Monday through Friday’s lists at once by selecting “Weekdays”.

      A feature like opening a site every other day might be interesting. Maybe one day I’ll consider adding it!

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  9. Greg Kinlaw

    Evidently I’m not smart enough to find the FAQ to the extension’s page (go to the top of this page for the link) for instructions for how to perform a “manual” import/export. Please assist me.

    Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      Greg,
      Sorry, I meant the top of this page. There’s a link that reads “Here’s the extension’s permanent link on this site” in the text. But here’s the FAQ in question.

      Reply ↓
  10. Walter Cooke

    Yeayyyy! I postponed switching to the new Quantum release because Morning Coffee was DoA. Much appreciate your efforts to revive it and keep us coffee (and tea) drinkers up to date!
    Thank you!
    Regards,
    wjc.

    Reply ↓
  11. Suchetha

    Thank you for doing this!

    this was the one addon i truly missed when quantum came along

    i tried writing my own, but my javascript skill was zero. so thank you for making this happen

    all the best

    Suchetha

    Reply ↓
  12. Eric Bloch

    Excellent add on. My suggestion is to make the Coffee Cup icon darker and/or larger because compared to other icons it is “weak” and hard to see.

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  13. Sheree

    Since updating Firefox I have been so unhappy because Morning Coffee stopped working. And now here it is again – thanks to you! (Cue applause).

    Bless thee!

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  14. Milton Dudley

    Really thrilled to have discovered this great add-on. I open the same four pages throughout the day and now this does it for me. I only wish it could be an icon on the desktop or in the Links folder, then I could avoid having to open a website to get to the coffee cup.

    Reply ↓
  15. JB

    Thank you very much for doing this. I’m lost without it. Nine pages open up every morning, just like before, BAM.

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  16. John

    Thanks so much Brandon for the quantum version. I love LOVE LOVE IT!
    One request if you can… when you right click the coffee cup icon in the menu bar, have the options selection there also instead of having to go into add ons to edit the morning coffee selections.
    Thanks my brother and many blessings!!

    Reply ↓
  17. Eric

    Thank you for recreating Morning Coffee. I still depend on the plugin to get a fast view of daily news.

    For some reason, the import and export instructions no longer work. I’ve been trying to locate where the plugin currently stores its URL list to synchronize across devices.

    Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

    Reply ↓
    1. Brandon Post author

      Eric, I’m sorry that this doesn’t seem to work for you. I am currently unable to troubleshoot this issue, but I should be able to do so sometime next week. I will try to have an answer for you as soon as I can.

      Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

      Reply ↓

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