#fluidapp

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# Create a Fluid Browser for 5by5 Podcasts # **ShortURL for this page: ** *I've been using the heck out of [Fluid.app](http://fluidapp.com/). I definitely recommend getting the $5 version for the "Create Fluid Apps with Separate Cookie Storage" feature alone, but you can use the free version if you want. I'll occasionally post how I've been using Fluid.* I love Dan Benjamin's [5 By 5](http://5by5.tv/) podcasts, and I often find myself on Twitter when I see that a show is "live" and I want to listen to it.  Now I could just open that in my regular browser, but I'd much rather open it in a separate browser. Why? In case my browser crashes, or in case the 5-by-5 stream crashes, etc. Also, I want to open not only the [live feed](http://5by5.tv/live), but also the [IRC channel](http://5by5.tv/chat). Fluid lets me do that. ## **~ Create and configure the Fluid app ~** ## The image above shows the basics: use the URL, name it (whatever you want), put it in /Applications/, and use the website's favicon for the app icon. A few seconds later, it will offer to open the new browser. Now you have a few more settings to configure in the "5-by-5.app" preferences. The first is ***Behavior Preferences:***  These are the most important settings. 1. "Closing the last browser window **only hides the window**" means that if you accidentally close the window while you are listening to the show, *it will still keep playing!* This works fine for me, because when I am done listening, I plan to quit the app. (Pro-tip: To get the window back is double-click on the app icon in the dock.) 2. "On startup [x] restore windows and tabs from last time" means that if you open the live stream and chat URLs, they will re-open next time you launch the app. Nifty! (Assign other preferences however you want.) The second is ***Security Preferences:***  1. Web Content: [x] enable plugins because you want to listen to the stream, right? Now, instead of going completely Flash-less on my computer, I have decided that I will install it because some apps work better with it installed, but in Safari (my default browser), plugins are disabled. This hardly ever presents a problem to me, but since I will *always* want the plug-ins enabled when I listen to 5-by-5, it makes sense to check that box. The other settings are all optional. (Note the cookie storage is the "advanced" feature.) ## **~ Menu Bar (Advanced Option) ~** ## If you have paid the $5 for Fluid.app, you can make Fluid.apps in your menu bar. There's a "Pin to Status Bar" menu option under the app menu. If you select it, you will be prompted to make sure you know what you are doing (and how to un-do it):  Making it into a menu bar item means that it won't appear in the dock or in the command-tab app switching list. That may either be what you want or what you don't want. The advantage is that you can click on the status bar item, open the /live page, start the feed, and then it goes away. All you'll see is a little 5 by 5 icon in the menu bar. (This is especially handy if you don't care about joining the chat, but *do* want to be able to quickly launch the live show at any time.) ## **~ Choosy (Really Advanced Option) ~** ## If you start making a lot of Fluid.apps, you're going to want to checkout [Choosy](http://www.choosyosx.com/) which will make it easy to automatically launch the browser that you want for certain sites. Here's my Choosy rule to make sure that if I click on a link to in a Twitter client or anywhere (except another browser), it will open my 5 by 5 browser:  You could change it to say "anytime I click on any link to 5by5.tv, use my 5-by-5.app: