14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla Labs has updated its social sharing add-on for Firefox. The latest F1 comes with a very slick new interface, better support for Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn support and a revamped interface for Gmail. However, the new UI elements are Firefox 4 specific so F1 is dropping support for the older Firefox 3.6.
"We’re releasing a new update to F1 with support for more services, more service specific features, and a brand new UI. Here’s a rundown of what’s new," Mozilla's Andy Chung announced.
The major new addition in the latest version is the new UI. While it meant dropping support for Firefox 3.6, the doorhanger UI element is not available in the older browser, it was a worthwhile sacrifice.
"The first iteration of F1 had a horizontal layout stretching across the width of the browser. This worked well enough for a simple user interface, but quickly became awkward when we tried to add more service specific functions," Chunge said.
"A vertical layout was more appropriate; it kept the line length of your text readable, allowed more space for direct messaging UI, and the doorhanger UI was less intrusive (e.g. it does not shift the content frame of the browser, it simply floats above it)," he explained.
Apart from the fact that it looks a lot better than the previous implementation, the new UI is also more useful. Supported services that you have linked to F1 are listed vertically and you can easily switch between them while maintaining the same layout of the elements.
If Twitter is your preferred way of sharing something online, the possibility to send a direct message rather than a public one should come in quite in some cases.
There is also the possibility to post to a group wall rather than your own on Facebook. And if you want to share something with your work buddies, maybe impress your boss with your valuable finds on the great web, you'll be glad to hear that LinkedIn is supported now as well.