Here's a quick video while my computer gets fixed.

I need a Mac OS user to test my Newgrounds Firefox theme in Firefox 3.5 and help me solve at least one problem in order to keep Mac OS downloadability. Must have Firefox 3.5+ and the following Firefox Add-ons will be used:
-Newgrounds Classic 2.2.2
-DOM Inspector

EDIT: Problem Solved, waiting for approval by a Mozilla Editor (Thanks Laughingbox!)

If you want an add-on to work with the Newgrounds theme, post your incompatible add-ons here. Failure to do so will result in those add-ons remaining incompatible.

There have been a few Newgrounds Personas released and in light of a version of my theme that will be able to display these correctly being submitted earlier today I've decided to write a review on each of the Newgrounds Personas available at this time.

The new version of my theme is currently in the sandbox, go here to get it now.

1) Newgrounds, Designer: Jawnster, Added: 4/8/2009:

Images:
This is the first Newgrounds Persona so naturally I expected a lot and I wasn't dissapointed. It has a very simple header with a gray background and a Newgrounds logo with a smoking tank man just below the focus point that can accomodate any toolbar setup up to a 300px height.

The footer is a simple gray background that matches the header nicely, but has an angry face in the bottom right corner which can only be seen with a browser width of 3000px.

Since the footer's focus point is the bottom left corner making this visible at the risk of a white bar on the right side of the footer and another white bar on the left side of the header I'm taking a point off.

Text:
The text is a cool gray that and although it didn't quite seem to have enough contrast to me it was clearly legible and compliments the blackground well.

Overall: This is a very good Persona using a classic effect that reveals more of the image as new toolbars are added. The only thing this could possibly benefit from is moving the logo up a little towards the focus point, and although this is not necessary as part of logo is already visible on a standard or default layout it may encourage more users.

Scores:
Images - 8/10
Text - 10/10
Average - 9/10
Number users at time of review: 3

2) Newgrounds.com, Designer: andycastaneda, Added: 4/17/2009:

Images:
The header image is clearly three images stacked next to each other. At the focus point there is a a Newgrounds logo similar to the one the site with the bright yellow and orange sunbeams, in the centre is the classic NG cityscape with dark sunbeam background and at the left another logo and goes against the advise that "subtle, soft contrast images and gradients work best" available in the Persona site How To section. The left section is lower than the right leaving a dark border at the top and shows there wasn't much care in the compositing.

The footer show the same lack of care with similar problems along the bottom of it's three dark sections that consist of similar sunbeams to the centre of the header.

Text:
Because of the contrast between the header sections it's difficult to choose a colour that goes well with the background and the white text was difficult to see in parts over the header but worked well with the footer.

Overall:
This is an average Persona with very little consistancy or attention to the basic design principles introduced in the Persona How-To section.

Scores:
Images - 4/10
Text - 5/10
Average: 4.5/10
Number of user at time of review: 6

3) Newgrounds theme, Designer: AngryCat, Added: 4/17/2009:

Images:
The header image is by far the worst, or at least the most setup reliant of all Newgrounds Personas at this time. At the focus point is an old school Newgrounds logo with old style sunbeams behind and as for the rest the only consistency is the seemingly random blocks of various shades of gray that take over towards the centre. In the middle there's the image of a tankman standing while the other is smoking on the grounds that you see at the bottom of the Newgrounds site but instead of the "Everything by everyone" there's three angry faces.

The footer is a flat gray background with tank_sm.gif on the right which is at the opposite side to focus point.

Text:
The text is yellow, which although goes well with gray background doesn't go well with the orange background it covers on low resolutions.

Overall:
This is a crap Persona and there's little wonder as to why.

Scores:
Images - 0/10
Text - 3/10
Average - 1.5/10
Number of user at time of review: 1

4) Newgrounds Tank, Designer: Mihajlo95, Added: 5/13/2009:

Images:
The header consists of the word "Newgrounds" in a very large font on a black background and the NG Logo is at the focus point. As I've said before this kind of tacky separation is a clear example of what not to do and was very blocky or pixelated, making it look half-arsed.

When I viewed this Persona most of the header text was cut off and only the top of the tank logo was visible, this is a classic visual effect but the text takes away from this because at least on my computer all it revealed was more of the last four letters. The contrast between the sunbeams and the background looked out of place.

The footer is a black siluohette of a cityscape that no one will see unless they have a lot of status bar extensions.

Text:
The text colour is black, making it completely unusable.

Overall:
This is by far the worst Persona and not even the creator is using it.

Scores:
Images - 1/10
Text - 0/10
Average - 0.5/10
Number users at time of review: 0

5) A Newgrounds Theme, Designer: BeeZee, Added: 5/25/2009:

Images:
Although the header and footer are clearly made of three pieces, they tile well and the soft contrast sets this Persona apart from the other mor complex attempts. In the focus point of the header there is a modified Newgrounds logo in which the text is black with an orange logo, giving it a more subtle contrast than the original black and white. The background is made up purely of sunbeams and can easily survive different setups.

The footer is pure sunbeams and maintains a soft contrast as well.

Text:
The text is black, making it very easy to see over the background and easily readable.

Overall:
This Persona is a little bright for my tastes but like the first Persona it is clearly a cut above the rest.

Scores:
Images - 9/10
Text - 9/10
Average - 9/10
Number of user at time of review : 12

6) The Official Theme Of Newgrounds.com, Designer: Spagneti, Added: 7/22/2009:

Images:
Having been named as the official theme I had high hopes, especially since this Persona had been made by one of the Newgrounds staff or at the very least directly approved.

The banded blending make a nice transition between the tank in the focus point and the dark metalic background and similar banding in the footer compliments it.

But why is there a yellow bar in the middle of the header?

Alas, that's not the only downfall. Both the header and footer images are mostly white and this theme doesn't even reach the tab bar of the default layout. It has a yellow imprint of an address bar that makes it extremely difficult to read the text in anything other than a default setup and makes it difficult to use Firefox even with the default layout due to the "Newgrounds, Everything by Everyone" surrounding the false address bar making text difficult to read on those areas.

Text:
The gray text contrasts well in the darker areas of the Persona but is hard to read in the lighter areas, especially in the find bar at the bottom of the browser.

Overall:
This could've been an amazing Persona if it accomodated setups not identical to the author and if there were no whitespace. As for being official, due to the low quality I find it more likely to be a marketing ploy rather than fact.

Scores:
Images - 6/10
Text - 7/10
Average - 6.5/10
Number of user at time of review: 0

Conclusion:
There are a few basic design mistakes being made in these Personas and I hope they are fixed soon as all of these Personas are unique and could compliment Firefox well.

As much as respect Flash developers' opinions on whether or not widescreen should be available, I've found some games or movies where it simply wasn't absolutely necessary or was more of a conservative choice, rather than a decision based on the submissions ability to function or enlarge gracefully.

This script puts the power back in the user's hands and allows them to make mistakes while viewing the portal and to decide for themselves whether or not the flash runs properly on their particular computer in the wide mode. Now for the disclaimer:

The author has made his or her decision based on the experience on their computer. Your computer may not be powerful enough to run all submissions in widescreen or it may not run properly at all.

(Linky)

I should have it out within the next two weeks if there are no bugs found. This new version will make several improvements over the current, most of which can't be seen but there is one that can, Personas.

Personas are skins made up of a header and footer image along with colours for text and an extra colour for Macs that affects the title bar. Because they're simply two images with a text and title bar colour they are very easy to make, often confused with themes and unfortunately not many actual themes support them.

With NG Classic 2.1 Personas will completely override the toolbar and allow you to use them with all three toolbar icon sets as well as the compact mode. You can change the backgrounds of the windows to anything you like. If you want a darker Newgrounds theme you can have a darker theme, or maybe something to match your favourite aura? Can't find what you're looking for, dust off your favourite image editor and make it.

If you'd like a larger preview visit the official website entry to see the Persona I used for testing. To find out more about Personas, visit the Get Personas website.

Oh and one last thing, if you do decide to make one, people may not always have the same setup that you do so be kind and leave toolbars, menubars and their contents out of the actual image. The persona in the screenshot does exactly this and can survive almost any setup. You don't want to end up making a piece of crap like this.

If you've heard of Newgrounds Navigate Plus and have customised the Newgrounds theme then send me a PM if you want it added to the next update. There are currently no requirements other than that it work and people will see it along with a link to userpage in the custom list(s).

Tips:
Try to break your theme down into pieces such as "logo", "header", "nav bar" and "style" based on what areas of the page they affect. This maximises potential and keeps in the spirit of the designer.

We all Fall Down
The ": ."s are to add an extra return.

Dear Mum,

I heard you banging on the door and calling for what seemed like ages, you've probably heard that I haven't been seen for days. I went to the doctor and said I was depressed becoming apathetic, we were able to joke and he told it'll pass, I'm still waiting for that to happened.

I still like writing though, here's my story and I hope you like reading it. I would have let you in, but I don't much care for visitors any more.

Love,
Simon

Simon died at home two days ago from starvation, his last story is also on the table:

: .
My teacher is always giving me detention and for what? She didn't like that my story had stories in it and I refused to change it. This is creative writing and I should be able to write anything I want. I think I'll burn the school down tomorrow but first I'll post my plan on a forum so people know not to mess with me. Here's the story they didn't like:

It was a cold summer night, the moon was full and the sun was about to come up. No time for a tan, I've got to bury the body.

Earlier tonight some guys approached me in the park and asked for a cigarette. Since I don't smoke I told them I didn't have any. They asked for a dollar so I pulled out my wallet and gave them two.

They grabbed my wallet, threw me to the ground and stabbed me over and over again. The last thing I remember before I bled to death was an uncircumcised dick sliding up my arse and more of them reaching inside several wounds before a warm substance fills them. That's why I have to hide my body, so no one will know what happened to me. At least I've got my book:

: .
Oh my god this is so fucking awesome!! You finally got your test results and are hoping to get into to the women's group you applied for before you turn 17.

You worry about the contents and think 'What kind of group requires a blood test?'. Hell, you don't even know what they're looking for because they sent it in on your behalf as a medical advocate. It doesn't matter, those getting to know you parties over the last four months are worth it.

All the other girls are looking at you, waiting in anticipation and you notice some are holding back a smile. You tear the envelope open.

It's from a pathology centre, no surprise there. The leader, Jessica, takes it from you and unfolds it. You read at the name of the group from a demountable plaque on the wall."WOMen", a cute little name that's somehow reassuring. A smile emerges Jess's face and she says, "Congratulations, you're H.I.V. Positive. Welcome to the war on men, you may only have 15 years to live, but they'll be the best years of your life". You shouldn't have picked a cult that has unprotected orgies to "Get to know you better".

A pamphlet is shoved into your hand. Jess tells you it contains a copy of a detective's account of one his cases and proves all men should die if they have more than one girlfriend in their lifetime and that God has proven it, and also if they don't like a certain band:

: .
. . .You've got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative. . .

"Damn it, it's the Andrews Sisters again!"
Dave was in witness protection and he hated the upbeat music because it made him feel like he'll never have a good life again. In fact, he never had a good life to begin with on account of marrying the first girl he met, someone who still beats the shit out of him today.
"What's wrong with the Andrews Sisters?", a detective inquires.
"Turn that shit off I don't want to listen to it!". Dave is getting agitated so the detective turns it off and the D.A. returns to his questioning.

"What happened the day of the shooting?".
"I was selling my car and I noticed this guy fell over it, he was bleeding in my trunk so I popped him in the face with a wrench."
"And then you shot him." the detective interrupts. The detective thought if he could provoke fear it would make Dave look guilty. He was right.

"I didn't shoot anyone! He was shot before I saw him! I did see the shooter though and I was cheating on my wife with her. I didn't she know was a dealer!", Dave is certain he won't be able to prove his innocence in court.

The detective turns off the microphone and calls it a night, reminding Dave to get his story straight and calm down or there will be consequences during the cross-examination.

When the detective wakes up Dave is gone, and so are his handcuffs. The Andrews Sisters are playing on the radio.

Dave takes the long walk to the station. "It'll be over soon.", he says to himself, accentuating the positive. Going over his life piece by piece, he eliminates the negative. He latches on to the affirmative by cuffing himself to the tracks and by leaning his head towards the train he doesn't mess with Mr In-between.

GET RID OF IT!!!

Having a theme or add-on slows down the start-up of Firefox. In the best case scenario none of your add-ons should be disabled. This way you get the most out of Firefox and the best start-up time possible.

Thank you.

I updated my website to include a tutorial to add the NG Search and others to Opera and Google Chrome.

Comments have been disabled in an effort to redirect them to my website so if you like this tutorial please leave a comment and if you have problems please send a PM or use the contact form on the website.

(Link to tutorial)