Category:Plugins: Difference between revisions

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(linked to wikipedia's article, reworded first paragraph to generalize, with web browser as an example. Replaced multimedia "file" with "content". Contrasted with helper application.)
 
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: ''This category is about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPAPI Netscape-style plugins], most commonly used in {{Firefox}} and {{Mozilla Suite}}''
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plugin Plugins] add new functionality to an application, such as viewing special graphical formats or playing multimedia content in a web browser. A plugin works within the browser, as opposed to a [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Gecko_Plugin_API_Reference/Plug-in_Basics#Plug-ins_and_Helper_Applications helper application] that is started from the browser but runs as a separate application.  Plugins also differ from [[Installing extensions|extensions]], which modify or add to existing functionality.  Common uses of plugins on the web include displaying video in the browser, games, and music playback. Widely used plugins include [[Java]], [[Flash]], [[Quicktime]], and [[Adobe Reader]]. 


Plugin is a piece of software that is used to extend browser's functionality. Unlike [[extension]]s which are capable of doing a wide range of things, from [[Keyconfig extension|changing keybindings]] to [[Adblock|blocking advertisements]], plugins are only used to display content, not understood natively by the browser, such as [[Flash]], [[Java|Java applets]] etc.
A plugin in the context of Mozilla-based applications is a binary component that, when registered with a browser, can display content that the browser itself can't display natively. The plugin API used in Firefox and many other browsers, including Opera and Safari, is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPAPI NPAPI].


A major source of information about plugins in Firefox and Mozilla Suite is [http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/ PluginDoc].
A good source of information about plugins for end users is [http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/ PluginDoc]. Additional documentation can be found at the [http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Plugins Mozilla Developer Center], including a comprehensive [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Gecko_Plugin_API_Reference NPAPI reference].
 
'''See also''':  [[:Category:Websites]]


==Plugins in Linux==
[[Category:Firefox]] [[Category:Mozilla Suite]]
Plugins may often be installed for all users or for individual users. On a standalone system it would be sensible to install it for all users, which would require root privileges. Note that the browser must be restarted to enable a plugin.
 
Most installation instructions glibly advise installing the files to the ''plugin directory'' and this section is intended to give its location for various Linux distributions. Feel free to include the paths for your flavour of Linux...
 
'''Tip:''' Firefox installs a default plugin named libnullplugin.so. Finding it will reveal the location of the correct directory. The following command should work ''find / -name libnullplugin.so -print''
 
===Fedora Core3===
Where Firefox has been installed with the FC3 distribution:
:For all users (will require root privileges)
::/usr/lib/firefox-''<version>''/plugins where ''<version>'' is a numeric reference to the version e.g. /usr/lib/firefox-0.10.1/plugins

Latest revision as of 13:23, 25 June 2009

Plugins add new functionality to an application, such as viewing special graphical formats or playing multimedia content in a web browser. A plugin works within the browser, as opposed to a helper application that is started from the browser but runs as a separate application. Plugins also differ from extensions, which modify or add to existing functionality. Common uses of plugins on the web include displaying video in the browser, games, and music playback. Widely used plugins include Java, Flash, Quicktime, and Adobe Reader.

A plugin in the context of Mozilla-based applications is a binary component that, when registered with a browser, can display content that the browser itself can't display natively. The plugin API used in Firefox and many other browsers, including Opera and Safari, is NPAPI.

A good source of information about plugins for end users is PluginDoc. Additional documentation can be found at the Mozilla Developer Center, including a comprehensive NPAPI reference.

See also: Category:Websites