Kiosk extensions

I wrote three extensions for kiosks during my 2004 summer internship at IBM:

Allowed Sites

Lets you control which sites the browser will connect to by editing a file called "allowed-sites.txt" in your profile directory. You can create a whitelist, blacklist, or more complicated set of rules. You can specify rules using regular expressions, URL prefixes, or exact URLs.

mozdev page.

Inactivity Reset

When a user stops using the browser for a specified period, resets the browser and clears all user information. Use about:config or prefs.js to set extensions.kioskreset.inactivity.seconds to the desired value. Does not reset clipboard, prefs, home page, JavaScript console. Also adds a "Done" (reset) button to the toolbar. This button does not have an icon, so you have to switch to text-and-icons mode to see the button.

install, todo.

Chromeless full-screen

Chromeless full-screen window without keyboard shortcuts. Use by running fierfox.exe -chrome chrome://fskiosk/content/fskiosk.xul. Not compatible with Inactivity Reset (which you can fix by editing Inactivity Reset to use this chrome URL instead of browser.xul).

install.

Kiosk features

I created a list of common kiosk features. If you're creating a kiosk, you should at least skim this list to make sure you didn't miss a security feature you'll need.

I've also gathered some thoughts on cookie expiration for kiosks.

Andrew Mutch: detailed instructions for converting Firefox into a kiosk browser
update.mozilla.org: Extensions for kiosk browsing
David Irvine: cut-down Firefox UI
kiosk.mozdev.org
iLockNess extension: adds preferences to restrict Mozilla's user interface
Open Kiosk, a kiosk extension that is actually maintained.

Where to get help

Help with these extensions: Jesse Ruderman, Doron Rosenberg (IBM).