Firefox "SiteAdvisor" plug-in

My weekly "Download Dispatch for Windows" (from CNET download.com) highlighted a Firefox plug-in called SiteAdvisor. I went ahead and installed it, and from what I can tell so far, I like the feature. I have a number of friends (esp. those whose children spend a lot of time on the internet) whom I think would be interested in the plug-in, but I'm curious as to why SiteAdvisor isn't listed under Mozilla.org's Firefox Add-ons - is it just because it's still only a beta version? I'm always harping at my friends that they should be careful of where they download things from, so I don't want to recommend something that isn't "officially" part of Firefox's "package "... Is anyone familiar with this plug-in, and if so, do you have any feedback for me?
For anyone interested, here's the quote from CNET's Download Dispatch dated January 31, 2005:


In this era of drive-by installs and unannounced browser hijacks, surfing the Web can seem like tiptoeing across a minefield: one wrong step, and you've got serious problems. For the past couple of years, I have been hoping someone would develop a tool that tests Web sites for potential safety issues, so when I found a Firefox plug-in called SiteAdvisor, I was excited. Even better, once I started testing it this tiny add-on actually exceeded my expectations, which is rare.

The short story on SiteAdvisor is that it gives you the dirt on more than a million Web sites. Its test bots constantly check sites to see whether they send unsolicited e-mail, bury users under a blanket of pop-ups, and--perhaps most importantly--contain software that could compromise your privacy. Whenever you visit a URL, SiteAdvisor's browser icon flashes one of three colors: green (safe), yellow (caution), or red (extreme caution). Then, with a couple clicks, you can head to SiteAdvisor's home page for more detailed information. According to the company, about 90 percent of the sites tested so far have scored a green rating, whereas only 5 percent haved earned the red flag for bad behavior. My favorite part about the plug-in is that it rates sites directly from search engines such as Yahoo and Google, which reduces your chances of falling victim to a drive-by install.

It appears Download.com visitors are just as enthusiastic about the program as I am: SiteAdvisor netted more than 7,000 downloads in its first week on the site and has garnered consistently high user reviews. Look for the program's official launch March 1, which promises a number of enhancements over the already impressive beta version.

Addendum: also, is there a way to save the program to my computer, the way extensions can be saved (as .xpi files)?

 

Rebecca,
please give a link. I may take a look at that file, but I will have to do some looking around.

 

http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/SiteAdvisor/siteadvisorfx.html

 

Thanks, James - your link was more informative than the one I would've provided (at Download.com)!

 

It's a great little program, Rebecca. I downloaded and installed it for myself and for my wife. I also like the fact that you can click on the systray icon and "get more details" on the page in question... as to "why" it is ranked the way it is. Very cool, indeed.

 

The site Advisor required a slightly different URL. Then Firefox blocked the download, and I had to allow the site to do the job. By then it must have given up, because I had to click on the "click here ". After three tries the extention installation came on. It is an odd bird, because it is neither an .xpi nor .jar file, which are used for extention installations.

 

rebecca,

A good find, indeed.
I really like this program.
Anything that tells the user what is going on, is welcome.

a big thanks,
savagcl

 

i googled it and if you go to www.siteadvisor.com i think thats it.

im going to put it on my windows 2k and one of the 98se's not sure about putting it on the xp (im trying ie7)

looks pretty interesting.and the site is looking for previewers.

 

A question please.

If you load a site that shows as yellow or red, is the damage already done or
must you take an action at that site to allow the damage (like downloading
something or providing information)?

Would like to see their info site get loaded first when attempting to go to a
site that has a bad reputation then allowing a user to proceed at own risk or
abort the load. As it is now, when i see a yellow or red, i immediately hit the
back arrow (normally the site is still loading).

thanks,
savagcl

 

clif,

Have you read the FAQ on the SiteAdvisor site? If not, it explains how the extensions works: http://www.siteadvisor.com/aboutpage/faq.html

I opened a page which Google listed with a red "X ". SiteAdvisor's icon turned red, and a red exclamation mark appeared, as I have popups blocked. I clicked on the siteadvisor icon and selected: "View Site Details" The information about the site's status was explained...

My conclusion is that it isn't necessary to back out of a site, but to load the site, and then read why it is marked red.

 

Ramona,

While i did read the FAQ page, it didn't really state that damage is done when
you load a bad page. So, i'll assume that some user action must be iniiated
before that page can cause any damage, like signing in or downloading
something. Or maybe thats a bad assumption!

Either way, its a nice app to have and i try to avoid red, yellow pages.

thanks,
savagcl