It can take a while for the world to realize the best way to put an idea to work. Pilgrims were tying their hair back with shoelaces long before they stopped buckling boots. Football was a messy sport before someone got the idea to skin the pig. And handless pirates were reeling in fish with their teeth before they thought to resize the hook. No matter how much nonsense it takes to reel you in, this add-on is a nice treat…

Reframe It approaches the idea of Web page comments from a different angle. It puts them in a sidebar that changes for any page you visit—so you can comment even if a page has no comments functionality, and there’s no moderation.

Because you start by setting up an account, Reframe It provides a hub to connect all your comments with all your social networks. So it’s easy to bring friends into a discussion, and give them plenty of context.

Restart Firefox after installing Reframe It and you’ll see a prompt in the sidebar (called the Reframe It Margin) to create a Reframe It account. After that’s set up you can open and close the sidebar in a few ways:

One popular way to make a comment is to highlight text on a page, make a comment about it and post:

Share comments with contacts:

And when you point someone to a site it’s easy to clarify what matters on that site. Right click on an image and choose “Reframe It – Add Comment Here”.

Then the picture appears in the Margin, so you can make specific notes:

Think of it as a social network that follows you around on the Web. Then think of it as a comments function established by the commentators themselves. Then watch this video for clarity.

Reframe It optimizes the relevance and ubiquity of your comments for any online topic. If you like to comment in an unfettered way, and love social media, this one’s for you.

Post from Elise Allen, who has consulted on Mozilla Engagement projects since 2007. See all posts by Elise Allen.