This month, I'm working on Windows-specific improvements to Sync Clippings Helper, the companion app for the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird. I fixed a long-standing bug where it wasn't installed correctly for multiple users on the same PC. Currently, all users on the same PC who wanted to use Sync Clippings had to be Administrators, and each of them had to run the setup program, created using NSIS, to correctly set up their per-user settings. But this didn't work at all if users were Standard Users, even when entering an Administrator's credentials to allow the installation to proceed.
I was able to find the cause of the bug after realizing that Sync Clippings Helper wasn't correctly registered for Firefox and Thunderbird for all users on the PC. Fixing this bug also involved fixing the Sync Clippings Helper app so that it creates the per-user settings file, syncClippings.ini, during first run. This fix will get rid of the need for each user on the PC to run the setup program.
A beta release of an update to Sync Clippings Helper for Windows will be released soon for testers and early adopters. Users on macOS and Linux aren't affected by this issue, and can continue using Sync Clippings Helper 2.0.
While working on these fixes, I came up with some ideas for improving the installation experience of Sync Clippings Helper on Windows for IT-managed environments such as schools, libraries, businesses and other large organizations. These ideas will be considered for a future release.
The other priority for this month is to release the first public version of Check Links, the new Thunderbird extension that lets you review the web addresses of all links in a draft message before sending. Keep an eye on this blog for the release announcement!
An Update on Read Next
In a previous blog post, I had planned on working on a new version of Read Next, the reading list extension for Firefox from AE Creations. Due to low user numbers, I've decided to abandon this effort. Minor updates for Read Next with bug fixes and improvements to keep pace with Firefox will continue to be released as needed.
