A settings page gives users a way to see and change settings (sometimes also called "preferences" or "options") for the extension.
With WebExtension APIs, settings are generally stored using the storage
API. Implementing a settings page is a three-step process:
options_ui
key in manifest.json
. By doing this, the HTML document will be shown in the browser's add-on manager, alongside the extension's name and description.Note: You can also open this page programmatically using the runtime.openOptionsPage()
function.
First, we'll write an extension that adds a blue border to every page the user visits.
Create a new directory called settings
, then create a file called manifest.json
inside it with the following contents:
{
"manifest_version": 2,
"name": "Settings example",
"version": "1.0",
"content_scripts": [
{
"matches": ["<all_urls>"],
"js": ["borderify.js"]
}
]
}
This extension instructs the browser to load a content script called "borderify.js" into all web pages the user visits.
Next, create a file called borderify.js
inside the settings
directory, and give it these contents:
document.body.style.border = "10px solid blue";
This just adds a blue border to the page.
Now install and test the extension.
Adding settingsNow let's create a settings page to allow the user to set the color of the border.
First, update manifest.json
so it has these contents:
{
"manifest_version": 2,
"name": "Settings example",
"version": "1.0",
"content_scripts": [
{
"matches": ["<all_urls>"],
"js": ["borderify.js"]
}
],
"options_ui": {
"page": "options.html"
},
"permissions": ["storage"],
"browser_specific_settings": {
"gecko": {
"id": "addon@example.com"
}
}
}
We've added three new manifest keys:
options_ui
This sets an HTML document to be the settings page (also called options page) for this extension.
permissions
We'll use the storage
API to store the settings, and we need to ask permission to use this API.
browser_specific_settings
You have to include an extension id in order to save and retrieve settings from synchronized storage.
Next, because we've promised to provide options.html
, let's create it. Create a file with that name inside the settings
directory, and give it the following contents:
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
<form>
<label>Border color <input type="text" id="color" name="color" /></label>
<button type="submit">Save</button>
</form>
<script src="options.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
This defines a <form>
with a labeled text <input>
and a submit <button>
. It also includes a script called options.js
.
Create options.js
, again in the settings
directory, and give it the following contents:
function saveOptions(e) {
e.preventDefault();
browser.storage.sync.set({
color: document.querySelector("#color").value,
});
}
function restoreOptions() {
function setCurrentChoice(result) {
document.querySelector("#color").value = result.color || "blue";
}
function onError(error) {
console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
}
let getting = browser.storage.sync.get("color");
getting.then(setCurrentChoice, onError);
}
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", restoreOptions);
document.querySelector("form").addEventListener("submit", saveOptions);
This does two things:
"color"
from storage using storage.sync.get()
. If the value isn't set, it uses the default "blue"
. This retrieves the values from the sync
storage area.storage.sync.set()
. This saves the value to the sync
storage area.Note: Specifying a separate .js
file is required. You cannot use inline JavaScript.
You could store the settings values in local storage instead if you feel that local storage is preferable for your extension.
Note: The implementation of storage.sync
in Firefox relies on the Add-on ID. If you use storage.sync
, you must set an ID for your extension using the browser_specific_settings
key in manifest.json
, as shown in the example manifest above. See Firefox bug 1323228 for related information.
Finally, update borderify.js
to read the border color from storage:
function onError(error) {
console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
}
function onGot(item) {
let color = "blue";
if (item.color) {
color = item.color;
}
document.body.style.border = `10px solid ${color}`;
}
const getting = browser.storage.sync.get("color");
getting.then(onGot, onError);
At this point, the complete extension should look like this:
settings/ borderify.js manifest.json options.html options.js
Now:
about:addons
to open the settings and click the Preferences button next to the extension's entry and change the border color.options_ui
key of manifest.json
reference documentationstorage
API reference documentationruntime.openOptionsPage()
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