Getting the sources

To help with development or just tinker on your own, you'll need to get a copy of the latest sources. There are two ways to do this: downloading a snapshot archive or downloading a copy of the repository.

Downloading a snapshot

Downloading the snapshot is easier, just grab one of these files and unpack it (see below for how to have Firefox use the unpacked sources instead of the installed packages):

However, if you plan to get a newer archive later, porting your changes from the older one will be tricky.

Downloading a copy of the repository

Alternatively, you can download a copy of the repository, and later update it without losing your local changes.

You will need the darcs program. On Debian-based Linux distributions (e.g. Ubuntu), you can install it with: 

$ sudo apt-get install darcs

Pre-built binaries for other systems are available on the darcs web site.

Following instructions are for Unix-like systems, but should be easy to adapt elsewhere (feel free to add instructions for other systems on this wiki page). 

$ darcs get --partial http://repo.hyperstruct.net/sameplace/unstable sameplace

This will create a "sameplace" directory with a local copy of the repository.

Later, when you want to check for updates: 

$ cd sameplace
$ darcs pull

Having Firefox use SamePlace sources instead of the XPI package

If you're going to modify sources, you don't want to repackage and reinstall the extension after each change. Fortunately, there is an easier way.

First, if you installed an XPI package of SamePlace, uninstall it and restart Firefox.

Then locate your profile directory (see this Mozillazine page if you don't know where it is) and create a file "<profiledir>/extensions/sameplace@hyperstruct.net" (note that it's under "extensions", not directly under profile directory!). It should contain a single line with the absolute path of your your "sameplace" directory, for example: 

/home/joe/projects/sameplace

Now restart Firefox and you should see SamePlace again.

Finally

If the above didn't get you the expected results, feel free to ask. The venues for SamePlace-related talk are:

Once you're set up, be sure to check out the development pages.