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MozillaQuest - Building Your Own Web Browser
Part II, Branding Your Lizard
Mike Angelo 28 December 2000 (c)
In this second edition of MozillaQuest the Series, you learn how to peel back the Lizard's skin. Then you start hacking the Mozilla GUI (graphical user interface) to learn how to build your own customized, Mozilla-based, browser suite. Or if you like, simply create your own personal Mozilla or Netscape browser skin or theme.
Today you will add to the basic feel you got in Part I for things you can do with Mozilla customizing and skinning. No heavy-duty skin surgery today -- just a few dabs of superficial cosmetic touch-up. But even so, just working at this very superficial level you will learn how to brand your own customized browser or browser skin by putting your name and logo on what then becomes "your" Web browser.
In Part I of MozillaQuest the Series we noted that the browser moneymaker is the Sidebar. That's mostly portal stuff, default bookmarks, links and all that sort of thing. You will learn how to make changes to the portal, Sidebar, and other moneymaking components of your customized Mozilla-based browser in future editions of this Mozilla-skinning series. But first-things-first --let's get the branding irons ready and use them today.
If you already have read Part I of MozillaQuest the Series, then you might want to skip the recap of Part I, immediately below, and go directly to the Branding Your Mozilla-Based Browser section further down. If you have not yet read Part I of MozillaQuest the Series, you might want to do that now to catch up -- and then skip down to that Branding section.
Brief Recap of Part I of MozillaQuest the Series
Everyone, including you, from average Web-surfers to major Web developers, ISPs, government organizations, educational institutions, publications, dot-coms,enterprises, and so forth now easily can have their own, custom-built Web browser suite. They, and you, can distribute your own, branded, customized browser suites or skins to customers, clients, employees, partners, friends, or whomever.
Commercially the significance of building and distributing a browser to a Web-site owner is the portal value of the side bar. Non-commercial organizations can use the portal features to provide users of their customized browsers with easy access to the organizations' on-line resources -- or selected on-line materials from other sources. Of course, non-commercial Web sites still can seek portal revenues to help defray the costs of maintaining their Web sites and to provide funds for other projects.
Schools can brand their own custom browsers with school mascots, mottos, and colors splashed on the title, menu, and navigation bars. Then they can install their customized browser suites on all the school's computers and distribute copies to students, staff, and faculty for their home computers too. Religious, charitable, social, civic, political, and all sorts of organizations can have their own customized and branded browser suites too.
Customizing the Mozilla browser suite is exactly what AOL/Netscape has done in producing its Netscape 6.0 browser suite. Now, you can do the same thing and have your own, branded Mozilla-based browser suite. Please see Part I of MozillaQuest the Series for more information about that.
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