ReadWriteWeb

Mobile app development framework PhoneGap announced today that it is releasing a plugin that will allow developers to easily connect their apps to Facebook. PhoneGap is bypassing the normal Facebook software developer kit and using Facebook's Javascript SDK to connect apps to the social giant.

Nitobi, which created PhoneGap, said that the normal channel for Facebook Connect that uses OAuth 2.0 created challenges for developers because it did not transfer well to mobile. Hence, PhoneGap is working around the Facebook SDK with its JavaScript framework.

Quixey, an application search startup and makers of an accompanying suite of tools for app developers, is today announcing three more tools to aid in application discovery. These tools provide new ways for publishers and partners to integrate app search into their own websites, and include everything from a simple widget up to fully customized solutions built to a specific publisher's requirements.

Yesterday, we rounded up some handsome, business-friendly Wordpress themes for small business sites. Regardless of which design you go with, you're going to want to bolt some plugins on to your installation of Wordpress to extend its functionality.

If Wordpress doesn't do something you need it to, chances are there's a plugin available that will help. If not, the beauty of open source products is that anybody with programming chops can build a plugin.

TinyMCE is an extremely powerful WYSIWYG editor that is easy to set up. It comes with a good selection of plugins, which were designed to work without the need for server-side scripts, such as PHP.

One plugin I quite like is the Emotion plugin (yes - it's Emotion rather than Emoticon - I'm trying not to type it the wrong way). However, it's a bit of a pain to add new images. It can be done, but if you use PHP, there's a much, much easier way...

Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox web browser, introduced a "plugin checker" page last fall that analyzed whether the plugins you had installed in your web browser were up to date. Now that tool has been updated to check plugins installed in other web browsers too, including Safari, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer.

According to the Director of Firefox Development, Johnathan Nightingale, plugin safety is an issue across the web. "Outdated plugins are a major source of security and stability risk for web users," he wrote in a recent company blog post.

Mozilla Contacts, the experimental project from the organization behind the Firefox web browser, has released a new version of their Contacts add-on which introduces Facebook integration. Previously, Mozilla Contacts allowed you to import your various address books spread out across the Web (think: multiple email accounts, Twitter friends, LinkedIn colleagues, Plaxo contacts, Mac OS X address book, etc.) into the Web browser itself - in this case, obviously, Firefox. Once there, the combined address book information could be used in form autocompletion everywhere across the Web and more.

Now, an updated version of Mozilla Contacts (download link) introduces a number of new features, most notably integration with Facebook Contacts and something called a "person URL."

Firefox has released a new beta of their web browser called Firefox "Lorentz," a test build of Firefox 3.6.3 that's designed to minimized crashes. Previously, when a plugin caused a crash in Firefox, the whole browser went down in flames too. But in Lorentz, this will no longer be the case. The page running the errant plugin will offer you the ability to submit a crash report while the rest of the browser remains up-and-running like usual. The improved stability is due to Lorentz's process isolation, a feature which runs plugins as processes separate from the web browser itself.

Does this sound familiar? It should, if you're a Google Chrome user.

Automattic, the makers of WordPress.com, have introduced VaultPress, a plugin to plug the backup gap.

Users of WordPress' hosted service have their blogs backed up automatically (so to speak). So if something goes pear-shaped, the content is caught before it hits the ground. However, if you use a self-hosted version of the software you must back up your content yourself, and heaven help you if you forget.

Earlier this month, Google attempted to make a shot across Microsoft's bow with an Apps Sync for Outlook. Unfortunately for them, it completely fizzled when Microsoft made clear that the plugin disabled key Outlook functionality.

Google admitted as much at the time. But today, they've announced that the issues have been fixed. Windows Desktop Search now works, and users can control how the archiving operates. For those who continued to use the completely dysfunctional version, Google will save you from yourself by automatically updating to the current release.

Glubble, which provides families with their own free social networks and also features a Firefox plugin that makes surfing the net safer and easier for children and hooks right into Glubble's web services, released a major update of its service today. Most importantly, Glubble now features a very well thought-out photo sharing solution, the Glubble Family Timeline, which also smartly incorporates messages and status updates. In conjunction with the release of the new family timeline feature, Glubble also announced a new premium product today, which, for $39.95 per year, allows users to upload and store more photos per month than the service's free offerings.