Listen I'm excited by your post because the answer is yes absolutely, this extension is exactly what you are looking for! Child protection is exactly what we launched this extension for, I think your going to love this, let me explain!
This is a long post, but as parents we both understand how priceless Children are. So it's worth the work!
All you have to do is ...
1 > Create a "protected" account for your child
To do this select your user menu (your username menu appears before the file menu) in the drop down items you'll see "Create Account >" click this then click "Create OwnArea Protected Account" or go to the create OwnArea protected account page here
2 > You now enter how many protected accounts you want to create
3 > When you've done this you will then be asked to enter your personal OwnArea username (so the protected account(s) will belong to you and you only)
4 > you now create as many protected account usernames as you want and follow the pages to the end (enter the promotion code “ownareatester” and registrations will be free)
5 > That's it! And now the magic happens!
There are lots of ways to now keep your child safe by only viewing a “Trusted” list of websites that “YOU” personally control.
I’m going to tell you how to easily get started now, but first let me tell you that you will now be able to do loads of amazing things, like...
• Create and update a trusted list of websites for your child, easily directly from Firefox from any location.
• Your child will sign into Firefox with their protected account (or you sign them in) and our extension will change the way Firefox works, they will only be able to see the sites you have allowed on their personal trusted list
• Once signed in, your child will only be able to see sites on their personal trusted list..
• Feel safer than sitting beside them. (It’s even better because the OwnArea extension is quicker than any human in blocking a click) you’ll gain the freedom to go into the Kitchen safe in the knowledge that they are 100% safe online because they will only be able to see the sites you’ve allowed on their personal trusted list, everything else is blocked by the OwnArea extension.
• But even better, remember that your child will be able to sign into Firefox* on any computer anywhere and have this exact same protection in any location anywhere using Firefox*, at other family members houses, even friends houses and school.
• You will be able to easily add other (trusted family members) OwnArea accounts to your child’s “Trusted Circle” so they too will be able to dynamically link into your child’s list and help maintain it with you, again from any location using Firefox*
• You, you child and your family when signed into Firefox with your OwnArea accounts will be able to use the built in browser to browser private “Trusted messaging” feature, No spam, no ads it’s just a private one to one system directly in the browser.
• Your child will be able to see when other family members are online
• You can even set your Childs account so that when they are signed in Firefox operates in a special “Full Desktop Mode” so that they can’t do things like signing out or minimize the browser which means that they can't get to other things on the desktop! This is a feature we added after observing what my six-year-old is capable of. (you can still alt-tab to get to other applications and you can still close down their browser by entering your username/password)
• You can even lock-Firefox so that it doesn’t work without a valid OwnArea username signed in, this means that you can be sure your child can’t use the web without being signed into Firefox with their OwnArea protected account. (all you have to do now is make sure Internet Explorer is deleted)
• Your Child will have their personal list of Trusted sites as their own personal "remote bookmarks" and the computer based Bookmarks menu is deactivated so they can't see the any other bookmarks. Even the Firefox Tools menu is deactivated when they are signed in so they can't mess with Firefox settings.
• You don't have to bother with Desktop profiles or even Firefox profiles, the OwnArea sign in handles the browsing for you. You can even have multiple instances of Firefox open on the same machine with different people signed into each instance at the same time without having to think about Firefox profiles, this means that each child has their own account, so they only get to see their own Bookmarks and their browsing is safely restricted to their own personal trusted list.
• I could go on forever (it already feels like I have) but I want to let you know the "Manage Account" back end even lets you send a copy of your Childs trusted list to another family/friend OwnArea user so they can use your Childs list as the start base for their own Childs trusted list too.
Note the "*" = Firefox with the OwnArea extension installed (I didn't want to have to write that every time I said Firefox)
Like I say your going to love it, it’s the ultimate scratch-your-own-itch system for me and my Wife, We found there was nothing out there that did-the-job to protect our own Children online effectively to a decent parental standard.
So I decided to design a simple system so that I could forget about trying to filter out bad stuff on the Internet and instead just easily choose what good stuff our children can see instead.
The way in which we can involve our “WHOLE” family in their "Circle of Trust" is just Awesome, our Children just love messaging with their family (and their little friends too I didn't mention the extension also lets you set up secure-messaging with other children of Moms and Dad who are friends)
My wife and I have been using this with our own children (4 and 6) for many months now and it’s absolutely rock solid!
So ok back to the practical what happens next after you’ve created your protected accounts.
This is just one way of managing your Childs trusted list…
When you next sign into Firefox you will now see a new "Trusted Circle" menu (after the help menu item).
Click it and you will see your child account(s) in it.
You can now browse the web and "ADD" any websites you want to your Childs own personal "trusted website list" right from Firefox, no hassle, All you do is .
1) browser onto a site
2) Click > Trusted Circle
3) Click > your Childs username in the menu
4) Click >Add site to trusted list
5) You will first have to confirm it’s still you at the computer (security remember) you simply enter OwnArea username and password (you can tick the box to say not to ask you again for either 3, 5 or 10 mins, this saves havng to doing this again during the session)
Then get some a few options for you because you don’t just have to add a site, the system is better than that! You get to choose if your child is allowed to
a) see that page and further "into" the site
b) just the single page you are viewing
or (c) all of the site.
Plus (and this is very neat)
You even get to control if you trust the site enough to allow your child to “link one step from the site" (defaults to no – unchecked)
If you leave this option un-ticked then your child will not be able to go to any sites that the trusted site links to (including adverts)
Even if you do trust the site enough to allow you child to link from it to other websites then the OwnArea extension keeps control and remembers where they are so it won't let your child go any further than that one site that linked form the trusted site. Anything further linking is blocked.
So That's just one way.
With OwnArea there are loads of ways to easily manage your Childs trusted website list, because this was my main aim when designing this extension It had to be easy, simple and to get the job done by doing what I wanted to do for my own children.
I’m going to create a video recording presentation over the next few days because it will be able to show in 30 seconds what it takes 10 mins to read about!
This post has helped me get some of the information down in writing I obviously need to promote this information more upfront on the Glaxstar website.
Briefly here are the other ways you'll discover how to create and manage your Childs trusted list
• When your child is signed into Firefox with their OwnArea Protected account and they try to browse a site that is blocked, you can reach over their shoulder and enter your username and password to unblock it and it gets added to their list (again you get to choose the additional trust settings)
• When a site is blocked the extension let’s your child send a request right there from within Firefox to any other family member that they can see is online, or alternatively they can tick the send email option and the extension back-end-servers handle sending an email to the trusted circle family member.
• You can even sign in to a secure web-based-page to see any website requests if Firefox is not installed on the computer you happen to be using.
• You can if you wish to start off with, simply unlock your Childs protected account gateway (using the manage account page) and use their account yourself to browse a whole load of websites with them that you trust for them to see and just keep adding them to the list as they are blocked, then when you are done you lock your Childs protected account gateway again (on the manage account page) and they are all set!
Try it out, please let me know how you get on, call me or email me, you sound like a great parent Zeke and I want to help you get set up and running with your OwnArea protected account for your Child.
Fri, 2006-03-17 16:02
Hi Zeke Thanks for the positive feedback.
Listen I'm excited by your post because the answer is yes absolutely, this extension is exactly what you are looking for! Child protection is exactly what we launched this extension for, I think your going to love this, let me explain!
This is a long post, but as parents we both understand how priceless Children are. So it's worth the work!
All you have to do is ...
1 > Create a "protected" account for your child
To do this select your user menu (your username menu appears before the file menu) in the drop down items you'll see "Create Account >" click this then click "Create OwnArea Protected Account" or go to the create OwnArea protected account page here
2 > You now enter how many protected accounts you want to create
3 > When you've done this you will then be asked to enter your personal OwnArea username (so the protected account(s) will belong to you and you only)
4 > you now create as many protected account usernames as you want and follow the pages to the end (enter the promotion code “ownareatester” and registrations will be free)
5 > That's it! And now the magic happens!
There are lots of ways to now keep your child safe by only viewing a “Trusted” list of websites that “YOU” personally control.
I’m going to tell you how to easily get started now, but first let me tell you that you will now be able to do loads of amazing things, like...
• Create and update a trusted list of websites for your child, easily directly from Firefox from any location.
• Your child will sign into Firefox with their protected account (or you sign them in) and our extension will change the way Firefox works, they will only be able to see the sites you have allowed on their personal trusted list
• Once signed in, your child will only be able to see sites on their personal trusted list..
• Feel safer than sitting beside them. (It’s even better because the OwnArea extension is quicker than any human in blocking a click) you’ll gain the freedom to go into the Kitchen safe in the knowledge that they are 100% safe online because they will only be able to see the sites you’ve allowed on their personal trusted list, everything else is blocked by the OwnArea extension.
• But even better, remember that your child will be able to sign into Firefox* on any computer anywhere and have this exact same protection in any location anywhere using Firefox*, at other family members houses, even friends houses and school.
• You will be able to easily add other (trusted family members) OwnArea accounts to your child’s “Trusted Circle” so they too will be able to dynamically link into your child’s list and help maintain it with you, again from any location using Firefox*
• You, you child and your family when signed into Firefox with your OwnArea accounts will be able to use the built in browser to browser private “Trusted messaging” feature, No spam, no ads it’s just a private one to one system directly in the browser.
• Your child will be able to see when other family members are online
• You can even set your Childs account so that when they are signed in Firefox operates in a special “Full Desktop Mode” so that they can’t do things like signing out or minimize the browser which means that they can't get to other things on the desktop! This is a feature we added after observing what my six-year-old is capable of. (you can still alt-tab to get to other applications and you can still close down their browser by entering your username/password)
• You can even lock-Firefox so that it doesn’t work without a valid OwnArea username signed in, this means that you can be sure your child can’t use the web without being signed into Firefox with their OwnArea protected account. (all you have to do now is make sure Internet Explorer is deleted)
• Your Child will have their personal list of Trusted sites as their own personal "remote bookmarks" and the computer based Bookmarks menu is deactivated so they can't see the any other bookmarks. Even the Firefox Tools menu is deactivated when they are signed in so they can't mess with Firefox settings.
• You don't have to bother with Desktop profiles or even Firefox profiles, the OwnArea sign in handles the browsing for you. You can even have multiple instances of Firefox open on the same machine with different people signed into each instance at the same time without having to think about Firefox profiles, this means that each child has their own account, so they only get to see their own Bookmarks and their browsing is safely restricted to their own personal trusted list.
• I could go on forever (it already feels like I have) but I want to let you know the "Manage Account" back end even lets you send a copy of your Childs trusted list to another family/friend OwnArea user so they can use your Childs list as the start base for their own Childs trusted list too.
Note the "*" = Firefox with the OwnArea extension installed (I didn't want to have to write that every time I said Firefox)
Like I say your going to love it, it’s the ultimate scratch-your-own-itch system for me and my Wife, We found there was nothing out there that did-the-job to protect our own Children online effectively to a decent parental standard.
So I decided to design a simple system so that I could forget about trying to filter out bad stuff on the Internet and instead just easily choose what good stuff our children can see instead.
The way in which we can involve our “WHOLE” family in their "Circle of Trust" is just Awesome, our Children just love messaging with their family (and their little friends too I didn't mention the extension also lets you set up secure-messaging with other children of Moms and Dad who are friends)
My wife and I have been using this with our own children (4 and 6) for many months now and it’s absolutely rock solid!
So ok back to the practical what happens next after you’ve created your protected accounts.
This is just one way of managing your Childs trusted list…
When you next sign into Firefox you will now see a new "Trusted Circle" menu (after the help menu item).
Click it and you will see your child account(s) in it.
You can now browse the web and "ADD" any websites you want to your Childs own personal "trusted website list" right from Firefox, no hassle, All you do is .
1) browser onto a site
2) Click > Trusted Circle
3) Click > your Childs username in the menu
4) Click >Add site to trusted list
5) You will first have to confirm it’s still you at the computer (security remember) you simply enter OwnArea username and password (you can tick the box to say not to ask you again for either 3, 5 or 10 mins, this saves havng to doing this again during the session)
Then get some a few options for you because you don’t just have to add a site, the system is better than that! You get to choose if your child is allowed to
a) see that page and further "into" the site
b) just the single page you are viewing
or (c) all of the site.
Plus (and this is very neat)
You even get to control if you trust the site enough to allow your child to “link one step from the site" (defaults to no – unchecked)
If you leave this option un-ticked then your child will not be able to go to any sites that the trusted site links to (including adverts)
Even if you do trust the site enough to allow you child to link from it to other websites then the OwnArea extension keeps control and remembers where they are so it won't let your child go any further than that one site that linked form the trusted site. Anything further linking is blocked.
So That's just one way.
With OwnArea there are loads of ways to easily manage your Childs trusted website list, because this was my main aim when designing this extension It had to be easy, simple and to get the job done by doing what I wanted to do for my own children.
I’m going to create a video recording presentation over the next few days because it will be able to show in 30 seconds what it takes 10 mins to read about!
This post has helped me get some of the information down in writing I obviously need to promote this information more upfront on the Glaxstar website.
Briefly here are the other ways you'll discover how to create and manage your Childs trusted list
• When your child is signed into Firefox with their OwnArea Protected account and they try to browse a site that is blocked, you can reach over their shoulder and enter your username and password to unblock it and it gets added to their list (again you get to choose the additional trust settings)
• When a site is blocked the extension let’s your child send a request right there from within Firefox to any other family member that they can see is online, or alternatively they can tick the send email option and the extension back-end-servers handle sending an email to the trusted circle family member.
• You can even sign in to a secure web-based-page to see any website requests if Firefox is not installed on the computer you happen to be using.
• You can if you wish to start off with, simply unlock your Childs protected account gateway (using the manage account page) and use their account yourself to browse a whole load of websites with them that you trust for them to see and just keep adding them to the list as they are blocked, then when you are done you lock your Childs protected account gateway again (on the manage account page) and they are all set!
Try it out, please let me know how you get on, call me or email me, you sound like a great parent Zeke and I want to help you get set up and running with your OwnArea protected account for your Child.
You can see screen shots of OwnArea Protected Accounts here (scroll down)
Please email [email protected] then I’ll email you back with my personal email address.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
- Ian Hayward
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