[
]1My study
needs participants to use Firefox, and a browser extension (Coagmento),
but there are some issues with this: 1. the extension can’t be
downloaded through the usual route so is very slightly more faff to
install 2. ideally we don’t want participants to use their usual Firefox
profiles when taking part in the study (although this is basically no
biggie as long as a) they don’t have 300 tabs open like I do, and b)
they ideally use a separate window for all the experiment browsing) 3.
if we’re using university machines, they might not have Firefox
installed (or let users install their own extensions), and they’re
unlikely to let users install their own programs 4. if we want to
install a ‘custom build’ (or just an ordinary version with our
extension!) of Firefox on uni machines, that’s a lot of faff for IT and
us So, another option I’ve been thinking about which I think would also
be useful for other studies based on using Firefox extensions, is to use
a ‘portableapps’ version of Firefox (see e.g. [lifehacker]2). This
has a few advantages: 1. portable apps don’t actually install anything
on the machine, so you don’t need admin rights to set them up 2.
portable apps clean up after themselves – when you delete them, that’s
it, they’re gone 3. you can set them up in advance – so for example, the
one I’m running is set to run alongside my main version of Firefox (see
) 4. you could then set it up as you wish (install extensions, set
homepage, etc.), and provide it as a download, which can then be deleted
after the study Note this is a) probably [against Mozilla’s
terms]3 (see section on ‘modifications’ and the section below that
on shipping with pre-installed extensions) (see also [this
discussion)]4 and b) [may not work if you move directories]5
– although for Firefox I’ve just done this and I don’t seem to be having
any issues. As a slight aside, this [thread]6 (re: ‘auto’
installing extensions) is also useful for people who want to roll out
‘custom’ firefox installs. You can download: 1. [Windows
Firefox Portable]7 (also works under Linux with Wine) 2.
And a [Mac Firefox Portable]8 (I haven’t tested this one
yet) So – long live portable apps! Anyone see any other uses here?
Footnotes
-
/static/2014/05/portable_turntable_1960s_years.jpg ↩
-
http://lifehacker.com/5890856/kick-windows-installers-to-the-curb-go-portable-for-a-considerably-more-awesome-windows-experience ↩
-
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/trademarks/policy/ ↩