Thursday, July 7, 2022

Sitecore Icon Search 2022 Web App and Extensions Updates + Microsoft Edge Addon v1.0.0 Release

It's been 671 days since the last update to the Sitecore Icon Search web app and 1,278 days since my last update to the Chrome and Firefox extensions. I've made updates to squash new bugs across the Sitecore Icon Search ecosystem that have surfaced since the previous release while mitigating the extensions' delisting at the beginning of 2023. 

WebApp: Sitecore.com dependency migration. 


I recently visited sitecoreicons.com only to find that all icon images failed to load. 😢

For context, by default, the app has always used www.sitecore.com to source the icon images themselves since sitecore.com happens to be a Sitecore site. Given how lazy loading is implemented in the data table, I always expected the strain on www.sitecore.com to have remained minimal.  

It turns out Sitecore has recently implemented DDOS security protection via Cloudflare. You might notice that if you go to www.sitecore.com, you'll land on a screen that looks like this before you are redirected to the site:



Due to this change, it left sitecoreicons.com imageless.   The latest updates to the Web app resolves this by hosting the icon images within the application - cutting out the dependency on www.sitecore.com completely. The browser extensions have also been updated to source icon images from sitecoreicons.com


Chrome Extension: Critical Manifest Updates to avoid looming January 2023 Deadline

The Sitecore Icon Search Chrome extension is actively used by ~500 active users. When I originally built the extension, the latest 'manifest' version (a JSON file containing information that defines the extension) was v2.  

Google has provided two critical dates as manifest v2 is deprecated and replaced entirely with v3.  

January 17, 2022: New Manifest V2 extensions will no longer be accepted by the Chrome Web Store. Developers may still push updates to existing Manifest V2 extensions, but no new Manifest V2 items may be submitted.

January 2023: The Chrome browser will no longer run Manifest V2 extensions. Developers may no longer push updates to existing Manifest V2 extensions.

This means that the Sitecore Icon Search Chome extension will no longer function after January 2023 and, in its current state, cannot be updated until upgraded. The latest release brings the extension's manifest version up to version 3 and provides code fixes for several deprecated APIs that surfaced with the upgrade. 


By default, Chrome should update to the latest version automatically. 


Firefox Add-on: Revival

Back in December 2021, I received an email from the Mozilla team regarding a policy update that I, unfortunately, hadn't found time to respond to.   This results in version 1.0.0 of the Firefox add-on being removed 😢


Version 2.0.0 of the Firefox addon contains all the latest updates made for the WebApp and the Chrome extension and resolves the policy issues. I'm actively awaiting the add-on approval process to conclude and will update this portion of this blog post once the extension is available.   


UI and UX enhancements 

While I was making some updates, I at least decided to have a little fun. I've updated some fonts and scattered emojis across the app. I've also included some phrases catered to Gen-Z Sitecore developers. 😁






Microsoft Edge Addon v1.0.0 Release

While Chrome Extensions can already be added to Microsoft Edge by toggling on a feature, however, to avoid requiring Edge users to jump through hoops, I've decided to port and release the Microsoft Edge version of the browser extension. Version 1.0.0 can be downloaded on the Microsoft Add-ons library.