Happy Birthday Chrome Extension

Install this Chrome extension on your friend's computer for a great surprise!

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Inspiration

I wanted to learn something new, and I have a friend with a birthday coming up so I thought this was a fun idea! This small project combines my passion for learning new things in tech, with a genuine purpose of wishing friends and family a Happy Birthday!

What it does

This Chrome extension takes over the browser, displaying a 'Happy Birthday' photo everywhere possible while playing the classic happy birthday song on new tabs. I've embedded some Easter eggs in it too! There's also a popup that appears when clicking the extension's icon that gives some fun links to check out on your birthday!

How I built it

I built this extension using new skills that I learned in the Chrome Extensions workshop on Saturday morning. I combined various types of digital media with some basic HTML code, along with CSS and a JSON properties file to define the extension.

Challenges I ran into

I had trouble finding the right way to embed the Happy Birthday song in the new tab screen, as I wanted to hide the controls but allow the song to be paused if needed. I also wanted to override every displayed in the browser with a video of my choice for an extra level of surprise/shock value, but I found that most sites have their own way of implementing videos, so it was quite difficult.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

As a team of only 1, I'm proud of what I've been able to learn and build on my own in such a short time. I had a couple of other commitments over the weekend so my time was limited, but I'm proud that I was able to make something worth submitting! Regardless of the complexity, I'm proud that I was able to learn this new skill and make something fun!

What I learned

I learned a lot of new things about the way websites structure their pages, which has helped inform me about how to make my own pages in the future. I'm happy to have learned about how the Chrome Extensions we all love work, and I look forward to attempting to build much more complex and ambitious extensions in the future!

What's next for Happy Birthday Chrome Extension

I plan on improving this extension over time, making it even more immersive and surprising! In the meantime, I'll be posting this on the Chrome Webstore for public use! I want to hear about people's reactions when using this extension, and any possible improvements I can make.

I look forward to making it even better!

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