Apple just released Safari 5. Among the exciting enhancements of this version, Apple is now providing a way for developers to extend Safari’s capabilities with plugins, bars and contextual menu items. People have been doing this for years using SIMBL and other black magic that lies beyond my comprehension.

Getting started is a bit tricky but once going it is very easy. You first have to become a Safari Extension Developer. This is a new level of Apple Developer. Registration is free. Once that is completed you have to generate a security certficate for yourself using a combination of Keychain and good luck. The instructions are available to Safari Extension developers once they register. Again, this costs nothing except a little bit of pain to jump through the hoops of getting a security certificate generated for yourself.

Enabling extensions is a bit wonky now too. First you have to enable the ‘Develop’ menu in the advanced tab of Safari preferences. Then from the Develop menu you have to check ‘Enable  Extensions’. Once this is done, the magic ‘Show Extension Builder’ menu item is available.

The best way to go from here is to grab someone else’s extension and use it as your learning point. And despite this being newly available, there are lots of extensions starting to float around. The best way to find what you need is to visit http://safariextensions.tumblr.com. The list is growing quickly.

I grabbed Amazon’s search bar because I knew I was going to be making a search bar too. I opened the file and unzipped it. Using the little ‘+’ at the bottom of the Extension Builder, I added this new directory by clicking on ‘Add Extension’. After that it was just like building and designing a web page. CSS gave me perfect control of the interface. I repurposed code from our site. Done. It took longer to become an Extension Developer than it did to build an extension.

Although Apple is really late to the extension game, I’m glad they made it. By opening up their browser to extension builders, they provide tremendous power to an already prolific community of developers. Let the good times roll.