Mozilla's New Inititiative Showcases Firefox Extension Developers

by Sam Dean - Jul. 16, 2009Comments (0)

Recently, we covered Mozilla's overhauled version of Jetpack, which is designed to make it easy for almost anyone to create Firefox extensions. Jetpack is one of several initiatives from Mozilla focused on the main advantage that Firefox has over other browers: the huge ecosystem of outstanding add-ons. Today, Mozilla's Firefox Add-Ons Lead Nick Nguyen and his team have announced the Contributions Pilot Program. It's a way for developers to better showcase themselves next to their Add-ons, as well as be eligible to receive a suggested contribution for their work through PayPal.

According to Nick and his team:

 

"Our goal with this project was to help developers tell their stories about add-ons, and the first thing we did was redesign the add-ons listing page. Our goal with the page was to give developers a better way of showcasing themselves next to their add-ons."

 

Through Meet the Developer pages like the one seen at the bottom of this post, developers can list various extensions that they've produced, provide some personal information, discuss directions their extensions are heading in, and more.

According to a FAQ from Mozilla:

 

"We are working with PayPal on this pilot to provide a secure and international solution for facilitating payments. Developers can optionally create a PayPal ID for each of their Firefox Add-ons. Users will be presented with a 'Contribute' button that gives them the option of paying the suggested amount or a different amount."


That makes sense. Google has had a lot of success getting innovative applications built for Android, through its Developer Challenges, where developers compete for cash prizes. Mozilla's PayPal idea is likely to work for developers of truly useful extensions. The company will not take a cut of any financial contributions, and people interested in joining the Contributions Pilot Program can sign up here.

 



 


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