View source for Labs/Ubiquity

Back to [[Labs]].

= What is Ubiquity? =

Ubiquity was a Mozilla Labs experiment that was in development from 2008 to 2009. Its purpose was to explore whether a radically different type of interface to the Web — a task-centric, natural-language-based command line — could help us get common Web tasks done faster.

Development is currently on indefinite hiatus. We will most likely revisit the experiment at some point in the future. In the meantime, the Ubiquity extension for Firefox is still available for download (see below).  Also, some of the ideas from Ubiquity are being implemented in [[Labs/Jetpack|Jetpack]].

You can learn more about Ubiquity by reading Atul's blog post entitled [http://www.toolness.com/wp/?p=54 Ubiquitous Interfaces, Ubiquitous Functionality], or try it out via the [[Labs/Ubiquity/Latest Ubiquity User Tutorial|User Tutorial]].

Other informative blog posts about Ubiquity include:
# [http://www.toolness.com/wp/?p=64 Trusting Functionality] by Atul
# [http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/can-ubiquity-be-used-only-with-the-mouse/ Mouse-Based Ubiquity]
# [http://azarask.in/blog/post/sharing-streamable-functionality/ Sharing Streamable Functionality] by Aza
# [http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/language-based-interfaces-part-1-the-problem/ Language-Based Interfaces, part 1: The Problem] by Jono
# [http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/our-presentation-at-labs-night/ Our Presentation at Labs Night] by Jono
# [http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/why-verbs/ Why Verbs?] by Jono
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Selected Press|Selected Press]]

= Install =

== For Firefox 14.0 and up ==

[https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/9527 Install Ubiquity 0.6.2 for Firefox 14 and up]

[https://bitbucket.org/satyr/ubiquity/downloads/tip.xpi Install the latest beta of Ubiquity]  - Maintained by community member Satyr


== For Older Versions of Firefox ==

[https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/xpi/ubiquity-latest.xpi Install latest version of Ubiquity for Firefox 3.5]

[https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/xpi/ubiquity-latest-beta.xpi Install the latest beta of Ubiquity for Firefox 3.5]

[https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/xpi/ Install older versions (if the current version is breaking for you)]

= Participation =
# [http://groups.google.com/group/ubiquity-firefox General Google Group/mailing list] - Useful for discussion of command development, user interface, feature suggestions, and other high-level discussions.
# [http://groups.google.com/group/ubiquity-core Core Google Group/mailing list] - Discussion of low-level internals of Ubiquity.
# [http://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla/products/mozilla_ubiquity Get Satisfaction - Ideas, Complaints, Forum, and "Customer Service"]
# [irc://irc.mozilla.org/ubiquity #ubiquity irc.mozilla.org] - Live internet relay chat discussion.
# [http://ubiquity.mozilla.com/trac/search?q=good-for-beginners Good-for-beginners bugs] - bug tickets which may be good for a Ubiquity beginner to attack
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Frequently Encountered Bugs|Frequently Encountered Bugs]] - bugs that get reported a lot on the [http://groups.google.com/group/ubiquity-firefox mailing list] and [http://getsatisfaction.com/mozilla/products/mozilla_ubiquity Get Satisfaction] that would make lots of people happy if they got fixed
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Commands In The Wild|Commands In The Wild]] Add links to your commands here.
# [https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/trac/report/1 Issue Tracker] - Used to report/discuss bugs and submit patches for Ubiquity.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Trac Components and Keywords|Trac Components and Keywords]] - Keywords and categories to use when filing Trac tickets.
# [https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/hg/ubiquity-firefox/ Ubiquity HG Repository] - The Mercurial source code repository for Ubiquity.
# [http://ubiquity.mozilla.com/buildbot/ Buildbot] - Continuous integration that runs Ubiquity unit tests after every commit.  If the tests fail, they're reported immediately to the mailing list.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Credits|Credits]]

= Meetings =

* [[Labs/Ubiquity/Meetings|Meeting notes & times]]

= Documentation =
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Latest Ubiquity User Tutorial|Ubiquity User Tutorial]] 
# The latest [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_Source_Tip_Author_Tutorial|Command Authoring Tutorial]] (for command authors using a Ubiquity source checkout); or the frozen [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.5_Author_Tutorial|Ubiquity 0.5 Command Authoring Tutorial]] for those using version 0.5 of the extension.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Parser_2_API_Conversion_Tutorial|Command Update Tutorial]] for how to take a command written for Ubiquity 0.1 and make it work in Ubiquity 0.5.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Locked-Down_Feed_Tutorial|Locked-Down Feed Tutorial]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Secure_Coding_Practices|Secure Coding Practices]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Skins_v0.5|Skinning Ubiquity Tutorial]]
# [https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/hg/ubiquity-firefox/raw-file/tip/ubiquity/index.html Ubiquity Code Documentation] - Generated from the latest source code via [http://code.google.com/p/code-illuminated Code Illuminated].
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.1_Development_Tutorial|Contributing to Core Development]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Parser_2/Localization_Tutorial|Localizing Ubiquity to Your Language]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5_Command_Localization_Tutorial|Localizing Commands to Your Language]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.1_Nountypes_Reference|Noun-types Reference]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Bundled Libraries|Bundled libraries]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/jQuery in Ubiquity|Using jQuery in Ubiquity]]
# [https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript_style_guide JavaScript style guide]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.3_Architecture|Ubiquity 0.1.3 Architecture]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Parser_Documentation]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Parser_Interface]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/0.5_Documentation|Help Document the 0.5 code here]] - working copies of the wiki documentation for the latest source version
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Command_Documentation_Workspace|Help us improve the built-in command documentation by editing this page]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Interactive_Tutorial_Workspace|Help us improve the interactive tutorial by editing this page]]

= Blogs =

# [http://ubiquity.mozilla.com/planet Planet Ubiquity]
# [http://www.azarask.in/blog/ Aza]
# [http://www.toolness.com/ Atul]
# [http://blog.reybango.com/ Rey]
# [http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/ Jono]
# [http://web.archive.org/web/20130928165103/http://abcdefu.wordpress.com/ Abi]
# [http://web.archive.org/web/20090415165647/http://www.indolering.com:80/indolering.com/Ubiquity_Blog/Ubiquity_Blog.html Zach]
# [http://mitcho.com/blog/ mitcho] (see also his [[User:Mitcho/ResearchTopics|future topics to blog on]])
# [http://geeksbynature.dk cers]

= Twitter =
# [http://twitter.com/mozillaubiquity @mozillaubiquity]: The main source of news & info about the Ubiquity project via Twitter. Be sure to follow.
# [http://twitter.com/azaaza @azaaza]: Mozilla's co-lead developer for the Ubiquity project
# [http://twitter.com/toolness @toolness]: Mozilla's co-lead developer for the Ubiquity project
# [http://twitter.com/reybango @reybango]: Evangelist for the Ubiquity project
# [http://twitter.com/theunfocused @theunfocused]: Fellow Mozillian Blair McBride
# [http://twitter.com/_abi_ @_abi_]: Created the Devo Firefox extension which provided a keyboard command launcher similar to what Ubiquity is today.
# [http://twitter.com/fernando_takai @fernando_takai]: Major supporter of Ubiquity.
# [http://twitter.com/mitchoyoshitaka @mitchoyoshitaka]: Resident linguist
# [http://twitter.com/bpung @bpung]: Mozilla labs intern, developer for Ubiquity
# [http://twitter.com/ChristianSonne @ChristianSonne]: Developer for Ubiquity

= The Herd =
The Herd keeps track of all Ubiquity scripts. For more information, see the following links:
# [http://ubiquity.mozilla.com/hg/ubiquity-site/ Herd HG Repository]
# [http://ubiquity.mozilla.com/hg/ubiquity-site/file/tip/README Herd Developer FAQ]
# [http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/HttpViewApi CouchDB] - database used for Herd
# [https://ubiquity.mozilla.com/herd/ The Herd]-The Herd Itself.

= Proposals =

# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Roadmap|Ubiquity Roadmap]] - from 0.5 to 1.0
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity Command Suggestions|Command Suggestions]] - use this page to suggest new Ubiquity commands you'd like to see.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Nouns | Proposals for New Nouns]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Magic_Words | Proposals for new "Magic Words"]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_Commands_Center | Ubiquity Commands Center]] - an idea for a web-panel that maintains a database of Ubiquity scripts.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/TrustNetwork | Ubiquity Trust Network]] - a proposal for a distributed trust network
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Thunderbird | Ubiquity In Thunderbird]] - let's make Ubiquity work in Thunderbird!
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/0.2 Roadmap Proposals | 0.2 Roadmap Proposals]] - Brainstorming on possible directions to go for Ubiquity 0.2.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/0.2 Design: UI and Security Extensibility|0.2 Design: UI and Security Extensibility]] - Design-related thoughts on how to make Ubiquity extensible in regards to security/command-execution and access by other Firefox UIs.
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/0.2 Proposed Uplift Commands| Proposed commands for uplift into Ubiquity 0.2]]
# [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/writing-commands-with-semantic-roles/ Writing commands with semantic roles] - would enable commands to be automagically localized
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/The Great Renaming|The Great Renaming]] -- proposal for renaming all built-in commands for consistency and to work with the Overlord Verbs system.

= Internationalization and Localization =

# [[Labs/Ubiquity/i18n|internationalization and localization pages]]
# [http://groups.google.com/group/ubiquity-i18n Ubiquity i18n Google Group/mailing list] for discussion of internationalization and localization topics
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5_Command_Localization_Tutorial|Command Localization Tutorial]] for how to translate commands to your language

= Release Notes =
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5.4_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.5.4 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5.3_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.5.3 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5.2_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.5.2 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5.1_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.5.1 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.5_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.5 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.9_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.9 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.8_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.8 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.7_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.7 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.6_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.6 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity_0.1.5_Release_Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.5 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.1.3 Release Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.3 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.1.2 Release Notes (Raging Stream)|Ubiquity 0.1.2 Release Notes]]
# [[Labs/Ubiquity/Ubiquity 0.1.1 Release Notes|Ubiquity 0.1.1 Release Notes]]