I’ve really come to appreciate and rely on the SpellBound Firefox extension. Whether it’s creating a new blog entry, submitting bug reports and comments, or any other web-based content, having spell check only a right-click away is very handy.
Things were going swimmingly, until Firefox 1.5.0.1 update came out. Unfortunately the SpellBound extension and the corresponding dictionaries both reported incompatibility with the newer version. A quick web search revealed one possible solution: editing the install.rdf file inside the XPI packages to raise the “maximum” version number supported.
After uninstalling my existing extensions, then installing these newly-modified ones, spell check was back again! Here are copies of my modified XPI files that could be installed directly into Firefox 1.5.0.1 for Windows without any editing:
- SpellBound extension (
spellbound_0.7.3_1501.xpi) - Spellcheck library, English (
spellbound_lib_win32_1.0+_20050727_1501.xpi)
Update: In the comments, some people suggested using Google toolbar’s spellchecker. Nathan Sharp cautioned that this would send your data to remote Google servers which may be a concern. I followed up in an entry about Google Toolbar.
Update #2: Based on the number of comments and visitors, this post has become fairly popular. I’m glad people found it helpful. I also just updated my server so that these .xpi files are served with the correct MIME type so you should be able to install directly into Firefox by clicking the links above (and allowing www.cantoni.org as a trusted install site).
I've been using the spell checker that comes with Google toolbar - Have you had any experience with it, how does it compare to SpellBound?
The one that comes with Google Toolbar works by shipping the text unencrypted to the Google servers, which is highly inappropriate for private or corporate data. Since it is so easy to install and use, it is a significant concern for corporate environments. You may not care, but though I'd mention it.
The loss of a spellchecker drove me nuts too.
I'm glad my instructions could be of some Service.
;-)
Thank you so much!!!
I've been using the Spellbound Development version since Firefox 1.5.0.1 was released. It's been working great. It includes the added benefit of spell as you type. It's only compatible with 1.5 and newer. Hope this helps.
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=351130
THANK YOU!
Hey, I really appreciate this. I love the SpellBound extension as well, and was disappointed when FireFox 1.5.0.1 "broke" it. Thanks for posting this and making it available for download--it made my day.
thank you so much for this.. I have really missed spellbound!
Thanks a ton. I really like Spellbound and appreciate you posting a fix. Thanks.
Good Job !
Thanks very much for that, it is most useful!
Thanks this was a nice find and I love spellbound
Many thanks for not only your hard work here, but a informative solution toward the evil google spellchecker which as you stated, and is correct, a major security concern for privately typed data.
Again, many thanks and best wishes.
Thanks! I was going crazy trying to make spellbound work with the updated firefox!
Thanks much. I was going to do this,but in all honestly I was to lazy. :P However now that was when Ff 105 was just released and after a week,or two,but lately I been gone away and I see They still have not updated it. Well Im very glad you modified the number for us.
Thank you, this was the first hit on Google. I was considering downgrading Firefox until I found your site.
Brian, you rule. Less is more. Thank you.
I also was forlorn over possibility of losing spellbound.
Thanks for putting the files together for us.
Thank you so much for posting this. I've really been missing SpellBound.
Thanks, this is a great idea and I did like the tool before it has gone due to the upgrade to 1.5.x.
Now, finally my English spelling got back in rut!
Thanks,
Dezso has spoken
Brian, Thanks for keeping up with the Spellbound extension. Could you post an update for .05 upgrade? Thanks