Shane J. M. Liesegang

<cuppa joe>

Morning Coffee

I first released this Firefox extension in 2005. The idea is simple. You know how you have that list of websites that you visit every day? For me it's Google News, Slashdot, some blogs, SlickDeals, the IMDB celebrity gossip news... you get the idea.

But then there are sites that update infrequently. Penny Arcade only updates on MWF, so I don't want to waste my precious time reading them on any other day. Roger Ebert's movie reviews come out every Friday, and special features on Sunday. On Monday (during the season), I want to read the summary of the week's NFL games.

Man, keeping track of all those was a pain in the butt.

So I wrote a Firefox extension to take care of it for me.

It's called "Morning Coffee", and it stores sets of bookmarks by day and opens the appropriate ones in tabs for you depending on what day it is. It installs as a button (but can be changed to a toolbar), where clicking "Load My Morning Coffee" will load up the day's sites, "Add My Morning Coffee" (and it's associated drop-down menu) will add the current site to the appropriate day (or every day, if you don't specify) and "Configure Morning Coffee" presents you with options.

The latest version (1.26) is available for download from Mozilla. Please contact me (shane at shaneliesegang dot com) if you have any problems. Please note that I do eventually respond to all e-mails — but it might take me a little while.

Also, I created and support Morning Coffee in my free time. It's something I happily do, but some folks have asked about making donations. If you are so inclined, please feel free to drop a few bucks into PayPal. Thanks!

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How can I back up my Morning Coffee sites or transfer them between machines?

    This is actually relatively easy to do, but you need to track down your Firefox profile folder first. If you are using Windows, this is typically C:\Documents and Settings\[YOUR USER NAME]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[GOBBLEDYGOOD].default. On the Mac, it's /Users/[YOUR USER NAME]/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/[GOBBLEDYGOOK].default/. If you're using Linux, check around for a directory called .mozilla in your home directory.

    Once you have this folder, look for a folder inside it called "morningCoffee." That's where all your sites are stored. Take this folder and back it up or move it to the analogous location on your new machine and your sites will follow you. If you're rather enterprising, you can even directly edit your sites by editing these files (they're fairly straightforward), but I can't support any problems you might run into.

  2. My button disappeared!

    Sadly, this happens sometimes when another extension gets in the mix or a Firefox upgrade gets particularly aggressive. Right-click on your toolbar, select "Customize", and drag the Morning Coffee button back where you want it. Presto!

  3. Can you add a feature to have Morning Coffee set up categories like "Sports", "News", etc. and have them open in separate windows?

    With computers, all things are possible. I receive many requests for a feature like this. I have nothing against it, but it would, at this stage, require a pretty substantial rewrite of the extension. It also introduces interface problems, but I think those are manageable.

    The point is, it will take a good amount of time, and I'm not sure when I will have that time, since I don't do this professionally. I am always trying to find new ways to improve the software, and this one is at the top of my list. Keep your eyes peeled for a future version. Sorry I can't give an ETA; this is a great idea!

  4. Can you add a feature to let me put more specific time controls on when I view a site? Like, only once per month?

    This is another feature I get a lot of requests for, and my answer is almost identical to what I said for question 2, above. Keep watching the auto-update. :-)

  5. Can I help with Morning Coffee? If you don't have time, I could add the features people are clamoring for.

    Go for it. Firefox extensions are, by specification, open source. You can crack open the extension file and see all the JavaScript laid bare before you. Make sure to send me your changes so I can incorporate them into the next version. Patch files are always welcomed.

  6. I want to help you add these features, but don't know how to code!

    Hey, that's what the PayPal and Amazon Honor System buttons are for. :-)

  7. I really like Morning Coffee! Can I put it up for download on my site?

    Ever the attention whore, I welcome links either to this page or the Mozilla download page. I'd prefer you not directly post or link the files themselves, though, since they can get out of date as I release updates. This page and the Mozilla page will always have the most up-to-date information.

  8. Your translation for my language is horrible! Can I give you a new one? —or— Could you translate into my language?

    I coordinate all my translations with the sterling volunteers at BabelZilla. Sign up if you want to help out!

© 2000-2024, Shane Liesegang