How can I make a Chrome extensions that is not a popup or a button?
I wanna have a script running whenever the window is opened and iterate thru all its tabs performing actions on each tab.
I also need (is this possible?) want to add to the same extension buttons (+keyboard shortcuts?) that when clicked, perform actions on all tabs.
Then I need control on these buttons visibility, and make them visible only in certain conditions (e.g. show only when page is loading, hide when not-loading).
Where do I put my script and how do I refer to it in my *.json manifest?
Any info/links will be appreciated.
The answers to 0 and 1 can directly be found in the documentation, specifically background pages, chrome.windows API and chrome.tabs API.
To bind global events, use the chrome.experimental.keybinding API. Because this API is experimental, you have to enable it first at chrome://flags. Also, the extension cannot be uploaded to the Chrome Web store.
If you want to add an "extension button" which performs some action on click, define a browser action and bind an event listener to chrome.browserAction.onClicked.
To select all tabs, use chrome.tabs.query({}, callback) method ({} means no filter, so all tabs are selected).
Browser action buttons are always visible. If you want to create a button which is not always visible, use a page action instead. The chrome.tabs module includes several events which can be used to find out whether your conditions are met.
As for putting up the script and the manifest file, read the documentation on Manifest files and explore some examples.
Related
I am trying to migrate my extension which records screen/tab/window according to the chosen option from manifest V2 to V3. In manifest V2 I was able to use background script as persistent and reach html page objects such as mediaRecorder, navigator. However in manifest V3 background script works as a service worker. So, I have to start the screen record in content-scripts to be able to reach the html objects. When I start chrome.desktopCapture API from the background script, I have to start the screenRecord in one of the tabs (should give a tabid to chrome.desktopCapture.chooseDesktopMedia API call). I cannot start it on the background page and when the page was refreshed or changed to a new URL screen record stops. Is there any workaround for this?
I believe the best way to handle updates such as a URL change on a tab is to attach the onUpdated listener to the chrome tabs in the background script.
chrome.tabs.onUpdated.addListener(function(tabId, changes, tab) {
//Detect Type of Change and Handle Accordingly
});
There are quite a few other events that may be of use that are listed in the chrome documentation Chrome Tabs Events. It's also possible to inject inline JavaScript from the content script so you can access the pages window object directly and attach event listeners there to handle reloads or URL changes. Check this stack overflow post for more information Modify Window Object in Chrome Extension
With this code I want to create an event listener for whenever chrome storage updates.
I want 2 things to happen when the event listener is triggered:
The code will console log the updated values. This part works.
I want the HTML for the extension (the document that opens in the corner when you click the icon) to update and render the data value that is in chrome storage. This is that part I need help with.
chrome.storage.onChanged.addListener(function(changes, namespace) {
//part 1
console.log('New data type is %s. New value is %s',
changes['type'].newValue, changes['data'].newValue)
//part 2
document.getElementById('output').innerHTML =
changes['data'].newValue
});
I realize that calling "document" inside the function doesn't make sense, but I'm unsure how to move forward to get it to render in the extension's HTML.
I tried creating an event listener for when the context menu is accessed (users can update the chrome storage but clicking a button in the context menu) but I couldn't get it to work. Also the event should trigger when chrome storage is updated, not when the context menu is simply accessed.
Right now I get this error:
Error in event handler: TypeError: Cannot set property 'innerHTML' of null
(There is an element with id 'output', so that isn't the problem)
Thanks for your help!
The background script runs in a separate hidden background page. It's not related to the browserAction or pageAction popup page, it doesn't have any of the popup page elements, its DOM is empty except for the auto-generated script tags of the background scripts.
The popup is also a separate page and just like any normal page its environment/DOM exists only when the page is shown. You can't modify it when it's not shown. You can't show it from your code in general case either.
Solution 1
Put that onChanged listener in popup.js script that's loaded in your popup.html (declared as "browser_action": {"default_popup":"popup.html"} in your manifest.json) using the standard <script src="popup.js"></script> tag. It will update the popup page if it's shown, and to display the current values when the popup opens read them with chrome.storage.local.get or chrome.storage.sync.get depending on which storage you're using in your extension.
Solution 2
Use chrome.notifications API to show a small notification at the bottom of the screen, see also the official demo extensions.
Solution 3
Use chrome.browserAction.setBadgeText to display short text like a temperature right under the extension icon. Don't forget to declare at least "browser_action": {} in your manifest.json.
When an extension is installed in chrome, a popup comes up which says [Extension_name] has been added to chrome.
This is the default popup having extension icon and some message. I want to modify this popup data. is there any api which we can use to modify it.
There is no such API, but you can use onInstalled event to open new tab with your own description.
In addition to Deliaz's answer, you can create either a browser action or a page action popup. You can change popup html dynamically to make it look completely different depending on the situation but you can't open it programmatically (desktop notifications could be used for alerts).
Here's another reference which might also help.
I came to know that crossrider.com is helping us to develop extension for different browsers, while keeping the same code.
I have two questions
Question 1:
After going through docs and libraries in crossrider, I still wonder how to get the active tab url.
Question 2:
I also need to open a popup after clicking toolbar icon, similar to google chrome extension.
I came across crossrider siderbar plugin. But, I am unable to change the url for sidebar dynamically.
Do we have any other crossrider plugins which opens like an popup ?
Answer Q1: You can use our appAPI.tabs.onTabSelectionChanged(function callback([{tabId, tabUrl}])) method (soon to be documented). To keep track of the ActiveTab URL, in the callback, simply set a global variable to the callback's optional tabUrl parameter. This is currently supported in Chrome and Firefox.
Answer Q2: I'm afraid that currently there isn't a native popup plugin (your welcome to write one and submit it for consideration ;-)). However, you can configure and use jQueryUI popups from within the extension.
I need to get active tab url in IE.
If it is not possible using jquery in IE, can we use messaging api to send messages from pages to background scope, and store the active tab url in background's global variable?
For example, Adblock has a "turn off" option when you click the browser icon in the dropdown.
I would like users to be able to toggle on/off my extension for a domain, instead of having to disable it to turn it off.
Another option could be to put a static button on the webpage layout and have that toggle the extension or stylesheet on/off.
You need to add a 'browser_action' to the extension. You define it in the manifest.json as detailed here.
Use the onClicked event listener in your background script/page to disable/enable the application based on user clicks.
You can also use the same event handler function to make changes to the browser action icon or badge text to show the state change / current state to user.
Update Feb 2023:
When using manifest version 3, use action instead of browser_action. Details here.
you could try a mixture of local storage, a toggle in a popup, and conditional statements surrounding your code
Abraham, you could try and use this Chrome extension:
Link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/niemebbfnfbjfojajlmnbiikmcpjkkja
You can use it to quickle enable/disable all your extensions.
I found this extension on this website:
http://www.addictivetips.com/internet-tips/disable-all-extensions-in-chrome-with-a-single-click/
The article also mentions 2 extensions with which you can enable/disable an extension through a command in the URL box ("enable <>")