Pop Out Browser Objects Into Their Own Resizable Window in Firefox

Martin Brinkmann
May 18, 2012
Updated • May 18, 2012
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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When you are only interested in a specific object on a web page, like a video player or Flash game, you may sometimes prefer to hide or remove the remaining page to concentrate fully on that single element. Maybe is it because the page is distracting you with advertisements, or because you would like the freedom to resize the object as you see it fit.

Back in 2011 I reviewed an add-on for the Firefox web browser that let you detach videos and games from the browser window. This allowed you to only display the selected video or game in a window, and to resize it anyway you wanted to.

The Firefox add-on lmnpop has been updated recently to be fully compatible with newer versions of the browser. Unlike the add-on mentioned above, it allows you to move any object that you see on a web page into its own resizable window. While it works excellent for videos and games, you are no longer limited to detaching Flash contents from the web browser.

Once you have installed the extension and restarted Firefox, the option to detach an element becomes available in the right-click context menu. You can use it to play videos in their own fully resizable window for instance. Why I'm highlighting the features of the extension with a video? Because it is a lot easier to detach a larger element from a page, than it is to detach a smaller one. Please also note that YouTube may not be the best example in this regard,  considering that it comes with its own pop out option.

firefox element popout

The easiest way to detach an item from the page is to right-click on the page or item. Why two different approaches? Because some plugins, like Flash, block the standard browser right-click option, so that you do not see the browser's context menu, but the Flash context menu instead.

pop out object

The extension recognizes objects, which can be games, videos or apps automatically, and displays them prominently in the context menu. A click on the object of choice pops it out of the browser into its own window.

pop out game

The extension picks up selectors in the site's source code, which you can modify in the program options. It by default recognizes the selectors embed, video, audio and object, with options to remove or add selectors quite easily here.

selectors

The selected object is by default moved from the page into its own window. If you close that window, the region where the element was on the page remains empty. You can however configure the program to clone elements instead, which basically loads a second instance of the object in the new window without removing it from the original website.

The add-on allows you to pop out a div that the mouse is currently hovering over as well, which improves the functionality significantly.

Please note that the latest version of the add-on is currently listed under Other Versions on the add-on page, and that an older version is provided as the main downloaded when you click on the install button on that page.

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Comments

  1. Ken Saunders said on May 26, 2012 at 12:11 am
    Reply

    Holy wow! I love this. Being able to add whatever selectors that I’d like rocks.

    Thanks!

  2. KRS said on May 19, 2012 at 9:40 pm
    Reply

    I’ve ben using Thumbnail Zoom Plus 1.7.1 , which pops each image when you hover over it. I particuary like that it shows linked images when you hover over the link.

  3. rodolfo said on May 18, 2012 at 5:36 pm
    Reply

    Unfortunately the add-on is not compatible with Firefox 12

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on May 18, 2012 at 5:41 pm
      Reply

      It is, if you download the right one. Scroll down, click on See complete version history and install the latest version there.

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