NOTE: Catalog has now been re-done as Devo. Check out Devo (works on Firefox 3).
Catalog is a Firefox extension that allows you to do any action in Firefox in 3 keystrokes. First, you hit an universal hot key which will open up a menu like the one below. Then, you can type what you want to do and then hit Enter. If you have used Quicksilver, Enso or Launchy, you would be familiar with this kind of GKUI (graphical keyboard user interface).
First off, I should say that in this post, I am not advertising to potential users. The reason for this post is to look for developers. I am really busy with schoolwork and other stuff. So, I can’t do this alone. I am looking for contributors to this project and any support in any form.
If you want to help, please leave your contact details in the comments or email to chimneydials@gmail.com
The extension is not meant for release right now although everything you see below is real and has already been coded. I will post the XPI file soon so you guys can try it out.
Here is a video of the extension in action. It is about 7 minutes long and you may want to watch it after reading the post.
Implemented features
Search
Catalog has built-in keywords for search and other simple web activities such as finding the most popular story on Techmeme or Digg. Besides, you can always add new actions or keywords as described in the section below.This is somewhat like a command-prompt (Yubnub is something similar).
In the future, there can be greater integration with your various web services such as searching your Gmail inbox or your friends’ contacts on Facebook. Hence, this is a very powerful concept where data from all your web services is collected just like in a filesystem on your local computer. We are trying to bring the centralisation of data in your desktop to the mess of data that is located on the web. Of course, all this is only stored on your own computer , so there are no privacy worries here.
History & Bookmarks
Catalog imports your history and bookmarks. It can continuously add your page history to its database as you surf and bookmark. Then, you can find pages you visited before very easily.
Of course, it can learn from the keywords you use for your pages. So if you use some pages frequently, you can navigate to them very fast.
Extension
Most people install too many extensions and thus, end up reducing their screen space due to the various toolbars, buttons and popups. Most of these toolbars are rarely used and even those that are used, only part of their functionality is repeatedly used. As a result, many delete extensions to save screen space although they would like to use the extensions.
Catalog hopes to let you fully enjoy Firefox. So, Catalog allows you to control the extension by typing what you want and hiding the toolbar if you need space. For example, when I use StumbleUpon, I only use the stumble button most of the time. So, I hide the toolbar and Stumble using catalog instead.
In general, when you download a extension you haven’t used before. You should play with its own UI first. After you have experimented and you know the functionality of the extension well, you should hide the native UI and use catalog instead to be more productive.
Browser
Using the catalog, you can also control your browser functions such as opening downloads in your chosen application or deleting bookmarks or even the back button.
Websites
Websites are no longer used only as sources of information. Many websites that I visit daily like Gmail, Meebo or Google reader are actually applications. These applications should be controlled by keyboard shortcuts just like desktop apps.
Besides web apps, even websites like Wikipedia and Digg could be navigated using shortcuts. A short while back, this list of Wikipedia shortcuts was popular around the blogosphere. However, it meant that everyone had to memorise the entire list of shortcuts. So, Catalog implements a GKUI instead of having to remember hundreds of keyboard shortcuts.
For example, Digg can navigated very quickly. But remember this is for efficiency and is not necessarily more pleasurable than using the mouse. For some websites, GKUI is fun for others, the mouse is easier and more fun.
Plugins
In order to achieve integration with so many different web services and extensions, there must be a way to add plugins or actions to catalog. This will be provided so that both the original writers of the app or extension and other users can create plugins. Plugins by the makes of the extension or app can be bundled with the app itself while plugins created by users for the different services can be shared or automatically downloaded from a central web database.
For now, the user can add actions easily using the Add Action window.
Learning
Learning from usage patterns is a very important aspect of such programs. Catalog is able to learn from your actions and keywords to make your searches better in the future. Currently, the algorithm is very basic but of course, it could be much better in the future such as in Quicksilver.
Possible features
Semantic Web
Semantic web is a buzzword these days but it is actually very powerful. There are various extensions that help you link content from one page to common web services. For example, if you are on a page that talks about a book. The extension is able to identify the content as a book and show you related options such as finding the book on Amazon and other bookstores or sharing the book on Facebook. Catalog should have this built-in and this should also include social features such as recoginizing that you are on a blog right now and allowing you to submit the article to Reddit.
Microformats integration
Basically, the idea here is just like Alex Faaborg’s idea in this post and in the picture above. Catalog should be able to recongnize microformats on the curent page and allow you to directly perform actions on them such as finding an address of a event on Google Maps.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please do help out in this project. If you want, leave your contact details in the comments or email to chimneydials@gmail.com
8 Comments
September 23, 2007 at 8:45 am
Wow,nice prototype you got here.Would love to be a tester or something if you need that.Email me if so.This is a great idea and ill be following this page!
September 30, 2007 at 5:33 am
Any more info on this?Im really eager to try it out,looks awesome!
November 11, 2007 at 6:23 pm
I love the idea! How long will it take to reach 1.0?
November 13, 2007 at 12:20 pm
this is very cool. where do i join the queue?
November 17, 2007 at 2:08 am
[...] XPI for the catalog extension is ready and can be installed from here (requires Firefox 3 alpha 7 or later). But I haven’t [...]
June 15, 2008 at 3:04 am
[...] (which requires web developers to integrate this into their site) could be a Firefox extention like Catalog which puts the same powerful command line interface under your fingers, but then for every webpage [...]
July 16, 2008 at 8:33 am
[...] by Enso and Quicksilver, I blogged about a keyboard command launcher for Firefox nearly a year ago. After writing a very lousy first extension back then, about a month ago, I started coding an [...]
May 8, 2009 at 8:59 am
[...] Devo had to be more like a catalog of everything in the browser. In fact, it was initially named Catalog (yeah, I suck at picking names). So, it had to import your browser history and bookmarks which was [...]