Kiwix JS Browser Extension

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Description from extension meta

Kiwix is an offline reader for content from Wikipedia, TED Talks, Stackexchange, and many other sources.

Image from store Kiwix JS Browser Extension

Description from store Kiwix is an offline Wikipedia (an many other offlined Web sites) viewer. See the official Web site: https://kiwix.org/ You need to download an archive (ZIM file) from https://library.kiwix.org, store it in on your device, and manually select it after starting the extension. You can search among the article titles, and read any of them without any Internet access. All the content of Wikipedia is inside your device (including the images). It can also work with other works packed in the ZIM file format (see https://openzim.org for more details), but has been only tested on the Wikipedia ones. If your Internet access is expensive/rare/slow/unreliable/watched/censored, you still can browse this amazing amount of knowledge and culture. Full unbundled source code of the extension is available from https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-js. 4.0.0 * FEATURE: High-fidelity Zimit archive reading, with fallback to static content for old browsers * FEATURE: Added preliminary support for forthcoming Zimit 2.0 archive types * FEATURE: Enabled multi-ZIM support (browsing different ZIMs simultaneously in different browser tabs or windows) * FEATURE: Added a security warning on opening a ZIM for the first time with fallback to Secure Mode (aka JQuery) * ENHANCEMENT: Support most Zimit (1/2) archives in jQuery mode if they have largely static content * ENHANCEMENT: Better UX for dealing with unsupported Zimit archives, and auto fallback * ENHANCEMENT: Added an active content warning when opening a Zimit 2 archive in ServiceWorkerLocal mode * UPDATE: Better detection for opening PDFs and external links outside the sandbox * KNOWN ISSUE: Dark mode inverts images in Zimit-based archives * BUGFIX: Restored ability to scroll the search results with touch or mouse * BUGFIX: Issue causing a bootloop in rare circumstances when the app is in JQuery mode * FIX: Failure to handle PDFs in some OpenZIM archive types * FIX: Opening of new tabs in Zimit-based archives * FIX: Updated some broken links * FIX: Added support for srcsets when reading a Zimit archive in JQuery mode * WORKAROUND: Provide alternative zimit2 link handling for browsers that do not support wombat.js 3.11.0 * FEATURE: Integration of in-app ZIM Download Library based on library.kiwix.org * FEATURE: Fallback to basic ZIM library for browsers that don't support library.kiwix.org * FEATURE: Remember picked files and folders between app launches with File System Access API * FEATURE: Slide away header and footer when scrolling an article, restored when scrolling up * FEATURE: On non-scrollable pages use Ctrl/Cmd + UpArrow/DownArrow, long swipe or mousewheel/touchpad scroll to toggle header/footer * ENHANCEMENT: Active content warning now fades out (auto-dismisses) when user starts scrolling * UPDATE: Turn off auto-focus of search bar on landing pages (option added to Home key setting) * UPDATE: Launch spinner as soon as possible and make it more informative * FIX: Added sanity checks to prevent runaway case-insensitive title searches * FIX: Active content warning now correctly detects new Kolibri-based archives * FIX: Translated some untranslated UI elements for Firefox OS * FIX: File/folder and library buttons now work with keyboard (tab to them, and space bar or enter to activate) * CLEANUP: Transition animations code cleaned up and animations now off by default * REGRESSION: ACtive content warning dismissed on changing tab * DEV: Build both MV2 and MV3 packages for Mozilla extension * DEV: Add facility to extract and set ZIM metadata (also displayed in console.debug) * DEV: Ensure all built packages contain i18n files * DEV: In the extension, completely exit local code when a success message is received from PWA * DEV: Dependencies for babel-core updated and other vulnerabilities fixed 3.10.0 * FEATURE: Full internationalization of the app in Spanish and French (more languages to follow) * FIX: Universal file picking in latest Chromium browsers for Android * FIX: Failure to show active content warning for PhET ZIMs * UPDATE: Documentation updates throughout app 3.9.0 * ENHANCEMENT: Enabled full dynamic content via the PWA workaround * ENHANCEMENT: Migrate to Manifest Version 3 * ENHANCEMENT: Added a Promise queue to prevent overlapping dialogue boxes * UPDATE: In-app documentation updated to reflect latest practices * UPDATE: JQuery updated to v3.7.0 * UPDATE: PWA server URL updated to https://browser-extension.kiwix.org * FIX: Restored dialogue box animations lost when JQuery was removed from the dialogue box code * FIX: Increase the number of download types recognized by the JQuery mode code * BUGFIX: Removed use of Promise.finally() incompatible with older browsers * BUGFIX: Fixed infinite loop with the Bypass AppCache option when returning from PWA to local extension code * DEV: Added a warning colour to Configuration when the appCache is disabled 3.8.0 * NEW: Expert/troubleshooting setting to disable drag-and-drop * SECURITY: Add sandbox to iframe to prevent third-party content and top-level navigation * SECURITY: Apply a CSP for the app as a whole (via meta http-equiv) * SECURITY: Apply a CSP for iframe contents in SW mode (via response headers) * UPDATE: API status panel now displays the PWA origin * UPDATE: The PWA version now notifies more reliably that an update is available * UPDATE: JavaScript libzim updated to v0.2 * CLEANUP: Removed usage of jQuery in Bootstrap modals * FIX: Full-text search results were not properly cancelled by user selecting a title search result * FIX: Fall back to using MIME type to determine type of document being downloaded from the ZIM 3.7.0 * FEATURE: Full-text search is now available in modern Firefox and Chromium if your ZIM archive has an ft index * NEW: The API panel in Configuration now informs you if full-text searching is available for your ZIM and platform * NEW: A new ZIM metadata property added in backend to show whether the loaded archive has an ft index * NEW: Added code to initialize the new javascript-libzim W/ASM if needed * UPDATE: Documentation updated to reflect the full-text searching capability * UPDATE: Renamed the GitHub Repository 'master' branch to 'main' * UPDATE: Changed some hard-coded values in build script to dynamic * UPDATE: Provide a Workflow dispatch option to set the build version number * UPDATE: Release packages that do not need to be signed are now automatically uploaded to the release server * CLEANUP: Many deprecated JQuery statements have been converted to native DOM equivalents, speeding up code * CLEANUP: Removed most usage of .innerHTML in the code * FIX: Tweaks to Wikimedia dark theme for greater compatibility with LaTeX images 3.6.0 * FEATURE: ServiceWorker Mode is now the default, and compatible clients upgrade automatically to this mode * FEATURE: On first run after update, the user is informed of the ServiceWorker Mode upgrade status (upgraded or incompatible) * NEW: A warning (with suggestions) is provided if user opens an incompatible Zimit (warc2zim) archive type * COMPATIBILITY: Minimum Firefox version has been raised to >=52, due to lack of full Extension APIs in earlier versions * UPDATE: Detection of active content updated for compatibility with more no-namespace ZIM archives * UPDATE: Nightly packages on the download server now include the date in their filenames * FIX: Kiwix icon now has an outline so that it is visible against dark OS backgrounds 3.5.0 * FEATURE: The Enter key is now handled in Bootstrap dialogue boxes, triggering the default action * FIX: Video seeking in ServiceWorker mode was not always working in some browser extensions * FIX: In ServiceWorker mode, open external links in new tabs (instead of inside the iframe, which could fail), and warn the user * FIX: Directory Entries were wrongly assumed to be no larger than 2048 bytes (this could lead to some infinite loop, with some very specific ZIM files * UPDATE: Update logo on Firefox and Windows stores 3.4.0 * FEATURE: Provide automatic dark mode switching (based on the underlying OS theme) in browsers supporting theme detection * FEATURE: Use bootstrap modal for alert and confirm dialogue boxes instead of native browser dialogues * FIX: Partially remove dependency of backend on the User Interface * FIX: Provide an alert if user selects random button when no ZIM is loaded * UPDATE: Routine updates to dependencies: Karma, node-fetch, follow-redirects, minimist 3.3.1 * NOTICE: This is a bugfix release to fix critical errors with the Ubuntu Touch app. For main changelog, see v3.3.0 below. * FIX: Improve packaging for the Ubuntu Touch app * FIX: Provide a platform-compliant hook name for the Ubuntu Touch app (note that settings may be lost when upgrading to this version) * BUGFIX: Correct the handling of version numbers in GitHub publishing workflow * BUGFIX: Correct race condition preventing initialization of decompressors in some contexts (e.g. file:// protocol) 3.3.0 * FEATURE: Provided a workaround to enable Service Worker mode in Firefox extensions (via a PWA) * NEW: App now defaults to Service Worker mode if accessed directly as a PWA (does not apply to browser extensions) * NEW: Provided methods for resetting the app and bypassing the appCache from the UI * NEW: Support for non-http URLs in img and link tags (e.g. data: javascript:) in JQuery mode * NEW: Added helpful tooltips to icons and settings in the app * NEW: Provided Code of Conduct and procedure for reporting bugs, for contributors (repository) * NEW: Provided contributing guidelines and information for future developers (repository) * FIX: Added missing 'controls' property to media containers in jQuery mode * FIX: Scrolling to anchor targets in JQuery mode * FIX: Caching of ZIM assets now includes any required query string in SW mode * FIX: Any favicon declared by the ZIM is now extracted and attached in JQuery mode * BUGFIX: Corrected the theme selection box height * BUGFIX: Aligned the search bar with the search button * BUGFIX: Disabled dragging of some UI elements * BUGFIX: Incorrect processing of titles with question marks or hashes prevented display of some articles 3.2.0 * NEW: Support latest format of ZIM archives (with no namespace) * NEW: Optimization of title search by eliminating redundancies * NEW: Support new format of title listings (v1) in no-namespace ZIM archives * NEW: 'Home' key can now be used to focus the search field * NEW: Use native Promises (or modern polyfill where required) instead of Q, improving performance in modern browsers and IE11 * NEW: Use fast binary WASM decoders with fallback to ASM if necessary * UPDATE: Clearer and more extensive documentation for end users in About * UPDATE: Unit testing updated to latest QUnit, and use Karma instead of Nightwatch * UPDATE: Replace Travis by GitHub Actions for continuous integration * UPDATE: Added helper scripts and instructions for recompiling decompressors with Docker * BUGFIX: Issue with calculation for selection of random articles * BUGFIX: Incorrect syntax in usage of classList method that caused an exception in older browsers with rare ZIM types 3.1.0 * NEW: Low-level block cache significantly improves binary search speed, and can speed up resource loading in most browsers * NEW: Archives with WebP-encoded images are now decoded in legacy browsers via a polyfill * UPDATE: Images are now extracted sequentially in jQuery mode from the top of the DOM * BUGFIX: Running binary searches are now cancelled completely if user enters new search term or navigates away * BUGFIX: Active content warning was erroneously showing on some ZSTD WikiMedia landing pages in jQuery mode 3.0.0 * NEW: Add support for reading ZIM archives compressed with the zstandard compression algorithm * UPDATE: Make Privacy Policy publicly accessible

Latest reviews

(2022-10-20) Eswar Rao: great solution for offline wikipedia. thanks to kiwix team
(2022-01-28) alaska Canyon: only need update gui . big search bar is ugly and make read page hard
(2021-01-23) عبدالله السُقياء: من افضل الاضافات في المتصفحات ولكن لم استطع ان اضيفها في متصفح مايكروسوفت ايدج
(2020-06-26) Mikhail Gribanov: Как скрыть нижнюю панель которая дублирует функционал браузера?
(2019-04-13) TUMUSIIME ISAAC: This extension has saved me alot. It is really fast and I just set it to open as my homepage to avoid the hustle of having to load the files every time I open. I have even written a review about it at http://www.freetechug.blogspot.com
(2018-12-26) Евгений Рылов (Yewgen): Каждый раз приходится указывать расположение файлов-zim: закрыл страницу браузера и всё пропало... :-(
(2018-08-05) Fairly useless due to the torrents failing to even start. Every ftp I've tried doesn't finish.
(2017-11-28) Moctar Cissé: COOL

Latest issues

(2021-04-04, v:3.1.0) Adnan Tariq: Can not open wikipedia article links in new tabs
When i have a wikipedia article open in kiwix chrome extension and i want to 'open a link in new tab' (through right click context menu), it does NOT work. although the link can be opened within the same tab but it's very inconvenient, especially when people are so used to working in multiple tabs. This feature works in kiwix desktop app but not in the browser extension.
(2019-09-04, v:2.6.0) Jim Johnson: I need a version of Kiwix or some other .zim reader that I can run from a USB drive, Can you help?
I have been trying to use kiwix-desktop_windows_x64_2.0-rc1 to act as a viewer for Wikipedia files that can be loaded and displayed completely offline, by saving everything to a USB drive. The software basically works but with a lot of deficiencies. Problems include: 1) the Wikipedia files (8) that I have downloaded cannot be made to appear in either the Local Files or the All files directory. I would like to point Kiwix to the Wikipedia content and have it display all of the .zim files present there. 2) When I open .zim files manually using the file menu, I can only get 6 files open at a time.
(2018-12-03, v:2.4.0) Brian McGlynn: audio for crash course and other .zim files
It does not appear that there is audio support for the recent versions of Kiwix available for Mac users with the standalone app or as a Google Chrome extension. Is this the case? If it is not available, do you foresee it becoming available soon? We use these resources as supplemental material when teaching our three kids who live and travel aboard our sailboat. Everything mist be offline given remote travel with no internet access. In the past, we have found these materials to be wonderful but the lack of audio in the newest version is problematic for us. Thank you for any information or recommendations that you can provide. Best wishes, Brian, SV Counting Stars

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