What Are Internet Plug Ins

Installed Plug Ins
What Are Plugins
What Are Internet Plug-ins For Safari
What Are Internet Plug-ins

In computing, a plug-in (or plugin, add-in, addin, add-on, or addon) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. When a program supports plug-ins, it enables customization.
D-Link WiFi Range Extender, N300 Plug In Wall Signal Booster Ethernet Internet Wireless Network Repeater (DAP-1325-US), White 3.8 out of 5 stars 1,775 $29.99 $ 29.
A plug-in which outputs various info (number of uncompleted downloads, download time, percentage etc.) with large font. Status: Developer required.

Install the plugin(s) or restore them from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Disabled Plug-Ins, or the same folder within your user folder; then Safari - Preferences - Websites should include a plug-ins section.

Mozilla Firefox displaying a list of installed plug-ins

Look up plug-in or add-on in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In computing, a plug-in (or plugin, add-in, addin, add-on, or addon) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. When a program supports plug-ins, it enables customization.

A theme or skin is a preset package containing additional or changed graphical appearance details, achieved by the use of a graphical user interface (GUI) that can be applied to specific software and websites to suit the purpose, topic, or tastes of different users to customize the look and feel of a piece of computer software or an operating system front-end GUI (and window managers).

Purpose and examples[edit]

Applications support plug-ins for many reasons. Some of the main reasons include:

to enable third-party developers to create abilities which extend an application
to support easily adding new features
to reduce the size of an application
to separate source code from an application because of incompatible software licenses.

Types of applications and why they use plug-ins:

Digital audio workstations and audio editing software use audio plug-ins to generate, process or analyze sound. Ardour, Audacity, Logic Pro X and Pro Tools are examples of such systems.
Email clients use plug-ins to decrypt and encrypt email. Pretty Good Privacy is an example of such plug-ins.
Video game console emulators often use plug-ins to modularize the separate subsystems of the devices they seek to emulate.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] For example, the PCSX2 emulator makes use of video, audio, optical, etc. plug-ins for those respective components of the PlayStation 2.
Graphics software use plug-ins to support file formats and process images. (c.f.Photoshop plugin)
Media players use plug-ins to support file formats and apply filters. foobar2000, GStreamer, Quintessential, VST, Winamp, XMMS are examples of such media players.
Packet sniffers use plug-ins to decode packet formats. OmniPeek is an example of such packet sniffers.
Remote sensing applications use plug-ins to process data from different sensor types; e.g., Opticks.
Text editors and Integrated development environments use plug-ins to support programming languages or enhance development process e.g., Visual Studio, RAD Studio, Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, jEdit and MonoDevelop support plug-ins. Visual Studio itself can be plugged into other applications via Visual Studio Tools for Office and Visual Studio Tools for Applications.
Web browsers have historically used executables as plug-ins, though they are now mostly deprecated. Examples include Adobe Flash Player, Java SE, QuickTime, Microsoft Silverlight and Unity. (Contrast this with browser extensions, which are a separate type of installable module still widely in use.)

Mechanism[edit]

Example Plug-In Framework

The host application provides services which the plug-in can use, including a way for plug-ins to register themselves with the host application and a protocol for the exchange of data with plug-ins. Plug-ins depend on the services provided by the host application and do not usually work by themselves. Conversely, the host application operates independently of the plug-ins, making it possible for end-users to add and update plug-ins dynamically without needing to make changes to the host application.^[10]^[11]

Programmers typically implement plug-in functionality using shared libraries, which get dynamically loaded at run time, installed in a place prescribed by the host application. HyperCard supported a similar facility, but more commonly included the plug-in code in the HyperCard documents (called stacks) themselves. Thus the HyperCard stack became a self-contained application in its own right, distributable as a single entity that end-users could run without the need for additional installation-steps. Programs may also implement plugins by loading a directory of simple script files written in a scripting language like Python or Lua.

Mozilla definition[edit]

In Mozilla Foundation definitions, the words 'add-on', 'extension' and 'plug-in' are not synonyms. 'Add-on' can refer to anything that extends the functions of a Mozilla application. Extensions comprise a subtype, albeit the most common and the most powerful one. Mozilla applications come with integrated add-on managers that, similar to package managers, install, update and manage extensions. The term, 'plug-in', however, strictly refers to NPAPI-based web content renderers. Mozilla deprecated plug-ins for its products.^[12] But UXP-based applications, like web browsers Pale Moon and Basilisk, keep supporting (NPAPI) plugins.^[13]^[14]^[15]

History[edit]

Plug-ins appeared as early as the mid 1970s, when the EDTtext editor running on the UnisysVS/9operating system using the UNIVAC Series 90mainframe computers provided the ability to run a program from the editor and to allow such a program to access the editor buffer, thus allowing an external program to access an edit session in memory.^[16] The plug-in program could make calls to the editor to have it perform text-editing services upon the buffer that the editor shared with the plug-in. The Waterloo Fortran compiler used this feature to allow interactive compilation of Fortran programs edited by EDT.

Very early PC software applications to incorporate plug-in functionality included HyperCard and QuarkXPress on the Macintosh, both released in 1987. In 1988, Silicon Beach Software included plug-in functionality in Digital Darkroom and SuperPaint, and Ed Bomke coined the term plug-in.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

^'PCSX2 - The Playstation 2 emulator - Plugins'. pcsx2.net. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^Bernert, Pete. 'Pete's PSX GPU plugins'. www.pbernert.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^Team, Demul. 'DEMUL - Sega Dreamcast Emulator for Windows'. demul.emulation64.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'Android Emulator Plugin - Jenkins - Jenkins Wiki'. wiki.jenkins.io. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'KDE/dolphin-plugins'. GitHub. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'OpenEmu/SNES9x-Core'. GitHub. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'Recommended N64 Plugins'. Emulation General Wiki. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'Playstation plugins & utilities!'. www.emulator-zone.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^'PS3 Homebrew Apps / Plugins / Emulators PSX-Place'. www.psx-place.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
^Mozilla Firefox plugins – Description of the difference between Mozilla Firefox plugins and extensions under the general term add-on.
^Wordpress Plug-in API – Description of the Wordpress Plug-in architecture.
^Paul, Ian. 'Firefox will stop supporting plugins by end of 2016, following Chrome's lead'. PCWorld. IDG. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
^'Pale Moon: Technical Details - Features'. Pale Moon. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
^'Basilisk: Features'. Basilisk. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
^'Re: Remember: Plugins are outdated'. Pale Moon Forums. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
^EDT Text Editor Reference Manual, Cinnaminson, New Jersey: Unisys Corporation, 1975

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Lesson 10: Installing and Updating Browser Plug-ins

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Installing and updating browser plug-ins

What is a plug-in?

Plug-ins are small applications that allow you to view certain types of content within your web browser. For example, you'll need a plug-in called Adobe Flash Player to view some videos.

Other common plug-ins include Adobe Reader, which lets you view PDF files in your browser; and Microsoft Silverlight, which is often required for video sites like Netflix. You might also be familiar with some older plug-ins, such as Java and QuickTime, although these aren't too common anymore.

Note: If you're using a mobile device instead of a laptop or desktop, you won't need to worry about updating your plug-ins manually.

Keeping your plug-ins up to date

Plug-ins are updated for various reasons, including new features and security fixes. Because of this, most websites expect you to have the latest version of common plug-ins like Adobe Flash Player. If you're not running the most recent version, you might see an error message instead of your content.

It's worth pointing out that some web browsers will update all of your plug-ins automatically. If you're using a browser like Internet Explorer, you may need to update your plug-ins from time to time.

How to install or update a plug-in:

In this example, we'll update Adobe Flash Player, but you can follow these instructions to install or update just about any plug-in.

Installed Plug Ins

If you see a message like the one below, you'll need to download the most recent version of the plug-in.

However, we don't recommend updating the plug-in directly from this warning message—some misleading advertisements are cleverly disguised as warning messages, but they won't actually take you to an update page. This is why it's best to download the update directly from the plug-in's website.

To do this, go to a search engine like Google, then search for update or install [your plug-in name here]. In this example, we'll search for update adobe flash player. In most cases, you'll find the correct page at the very top of the search results.

Locate and select the Download or Install button. Some plug-ins may also try to install additional software, so be sure to deselect any offers like this.

What Are Plugins

Locate and double-click the installation file (it will usually be in your Downloads folder). Note that you'll need to close your web browser before you can install a plug-in.