How to Enable Incompatible Plugins for Firefox 3.6

You've decided to upgrade your Firefox installation to version 3.6, but you've discovered that some of your most important addons, or plugins as they are more commonly called, aren't working.  If you're a bit savvy, like many Firefox users tend to be, you've probably already tried the previously-useful about:config tweak where you add two new entries into Firefox's internal settings -- extensions.checkCompatibility and extensions.checkUpdateSecurity.  However, these Firefox settings entries, while they worked for previous Firefox versions, like Firefox 3 to 3.5, do not appear to work for the newly-release 3.6 update.  So, how can you get your incompatible plugins to work with Firefox 3.6?

Getting Incompatible Add-ons to Work with Firefox 3.6

Actually, the way to get your incompatible, and currently disabled, plugins to work with Firefox 3.6 is through a Firefox plugin -- The Add-On Compatibility Reporter.  This Firefox plugin will enable all of the disabled plugins, and allows you to test each of your installed plugins with the newest version of Firefox (currenly 3.6), and report whether the outdated plugins work with the new installation:

While some users are reporting that the plugin causes problems with Firefox, I didn't have any trouble with it.  In fact, most of my plugins disabled addons were functional, and worked with Firefox 3.6 perfectly.  However, there were a few -- such as the IE Tab plugin -- that apparently are not compatiable with the newest version of Firefox.

So, while the Compatibility Addon Reporter plugin does not appear to be a fix for Firefox plugins that do not work with the newest Firefox update, it definitly does enable those outdated plugins and allows you to use them.   That is, if they really will work with Firefox's last update. You can do everybody a favor, though, and once you install the Compatibility Addon Reporter plugin, take the time to send the status reports -- if the plugins work as they're supposed to, or whether they're broken.  While it's always a good idea to update your browser when updates are available, losing the functionality of our most used plugins is one of the unfortunate downsides of immediate web browser updates.  By confirming that your favorite plugins work, though, maybe that'll help the rest of us to be able to re-gain usage of our favorite Firefox add-ons a little bit quicker.

Here's the link again: Enable Disabled Firefox Plugins Addon