Restoring Firefox Extensions After The Firefox 43 Update

Update: Our extensions are now signed, so you should be able to download the most recent version of them & use them with the most recent version of Firefox without having to mess with the Firefox plugin option security settings.

Firefox recently updated to version 43 & with that, they automatically disabled all extensions which are not signed, even if they were previously installed by a user and used for years.

If you go to the add ons screen after the update (by typing about:addons in the address bar) you will see a screen like this

Extensions which are submitted to the Mozilla Firefox add ons directory are automatically signed when approved, but other extensions are not by default:

Only Mozilla can sign your add-on so that Firefox will install it by default. Add-ons are signed by submitting them to AMO or using the API and passing either an automated or manual code review. Note that you are not required to list or distribute your add-on through AMO. If you are distributing the add-on on your own, you can choose the Unlisted option and AMO will only serve as the way to get your package signed.

In a couple days we will do that submission to get the add ons signed, but if you recently had the extensions go away it is fairly easy to override this signing feature to get the extensions back working right away.

If you recently saw rank checker, SEO for Firefox or the SEO toolbar disabled after a recent Mozilla Firefox update, here is how to restore them...

Step 1: go to the Firefox settings configuration section

Type about:config into the address bar & hit enter. Once that page loads click on the "I'll be careful, I promise" button.

Step 2: edit the signing configuration

Once the configuration box loads you'll see a bunch of different listed variables in it & a search box at the top. In that search box, enter
xpinstall.signatures.required

By default xpinstall.signatures.required is set to TRUE to force add ons to be signed. Click on it until it goes to bold, which indicates that the TRUE setting is set to FALSE.

Step 3: restart Firefox

After changing the add on signature settings, restart Firefox to apply the setting & your Firefox extensions will be restored.

Installing These Extensions On a New Computer

If you are having trouble setting up your extensions on a new computer, start with the above 3 steps & then go here to download & install the extensions.

Published: December 17, 2015 by Aaron Wall in seo tools

Comments

Birgit807$
January 29, 2016 - 12:46am

Could not find 'about:config' in the drop down menu.
You did not tell us where to find this...sorry, not a techie!

February 1, 2016 - 3:05pm

...where URLs normally appear (for instance, on this page you will seobook.com/restoring-firefox-extensions see up there). you remove the seobook.com/restoring-firefox-extensions part & then replace everything that is up there with about:config

Aerial
February 1, 2016 - 2:05am

Hello,
Seems the issue isn't solved yet. I hope the plugin can get signed soon, thanks!

February 1, 2016 - 3:04pm

...should be done before the month is out.

SEOGoogle
February 24, 2016 - 6:06pm

about:config + xpinstall.signatures.required seems to open a door. that then one does not close afterwards, or? Just afraid to alter the sequrity settings. Is it any risk witg doing this?

However i luv SEO for Firefox and hope it will soon be back in business as the front tool it is. Thank you for a great addon

March 9, 2016 - 12:13pm

...thus if you get the most recent versions of them installed you shouldn't need to turn off the extension signing features.

that said, it is not like there was a huge problem with that issue in the past, as the requirement for security signing of the extensions was something that was only recently added.

bseo9bseo7
November 28, 2016 - 6:58pm

The fantastic Seobook toolbar works great, except for the SEO Xray. Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks!

jwhotshot21
November 29, 2016 - 10:07pm

The SEO XRay feature is not working at all for me. I tried following all the suggested ideas for fixing but nothing worked. Please advise!!

November 15, 2017 - 7:03am

I have downloaded SEO Book and all seems to be working except SEO XRay. When I go into my add ons, next to SEO Toolbar, it shows a box saying "Legacy" and it says it is version 1.3.6. I only just removed the toolbar yesterday and reinstalled. Any suggestions/ Thx

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