Is there an archive of lightweight themes from old Mozilla Add-ons page?

[UCyborg]

Say you have some lightweight themes "installed" from the times before Firefox Quantum when Mozilla still hosted them on their add-ons CDN. It seems lightweight themes have a design flaw (IMHO) that they by themselves just contain URL to the images, which are kept in browser cache after being installed, but if the cache is purged and the images are gone from where they were hosted, those become useless and you might as well delete them as applying them won't work as expected since the browser can't get them from where they were hosted.

So we have Classic Add-ons Archive, but what happened to the themes?

[RealityRipple]

They really shoulda just base64-URL'd the images. You might be able to recover them through archive.org, but I kinda doubt it.

[UCyborg]

Guess they're gone then, archive.org doesn't seem to have anything from addons.cdn.mozilla.net. There are WebExtension versions of some of the old themes at least, but they lack the footer image since Firefox got rid of the status bar years ago.

[moonbat]

You might get lucky by searching for them on the archived version of AMO from circa 2013 or earlier.

[back2themoon]

Also look in the Thunderbird pages, if you are looking for something specific. I cannot find my old themes when searching there directly, but if I Google "<theme name> thunderbird/firefox theme/persona", they will be found somehow. The themes still work, so the links are still alive, including pre-2013 ones. Some themes are only available in non-en.US Mozilla pages.

Most point at:

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https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/etc.

and some at:

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https://addons.cdn.mozilla.net/user-media/addons/etc.

[UCyborg]

Great, so domain substitution might just work for already installed themes, though for how long is another question. I checked my older browser profiles and it seems I only got a handful of themes then. Now I got them all together, here's the unminified content of my lightweightThemes.usedThemes pref from about:config page:

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[
    {
        "id": "171553",
        "name": "Stylus Orange",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171553/StylusPersonaOrange.png?1275661484",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171553/StylusPersonaOrange-footer.png?1275661484",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171553/preview_small.jpg?1275661484",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171553/preview.jpg?1275661484",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171553",
        "version": "0"
    },
    {
        "id": "46852",
        "name": "Sunset Over Water by MaDonna",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/46852/NSH.jpg?1422485862",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/46852/NSF.jpg?1422485862",
        "textcolor": "#faf5f5",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/46852/preview_small.jpg?1422485862",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/46852/preview.jpg?1422485862",
        "author": "MaDonna",
        "description": "This is a photo I took on Chuckanut Drive in Washington state.\n© MaDonnas Personas\n\nDesigned by MaDonna\n\nI have a desktop wallpaper that matches and you can find it at:\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http://outgoing.mozilla.org/v1/1687c5b2724e719966c797b44e3eb79ba02fae6f32729b1c7344a911ba8449ea/http%3A//nature.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/335230/\">http://nature.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/335230/</a>",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/sl/themes/update-check/46852",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171547",
        "name": "Stylus White",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171547/StylusPersonaWhite.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171547/StylusPersonaWhite-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171547/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171547/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus White Persona , BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris,Thamyris71.\n\nPlease visit my DeviantArt Page to get the Matching Wallpaper to go with this persona.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171547",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171559",
        "name": "Stylus Teal",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171559/StylusPersonaTeal.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171559/StylusPersonaTeal-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171559/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171559/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Teal Persona, BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris, Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171559",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171557",
        "name": "Stylus Red",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171557/StylusPersonaRed.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171557/StylusPersonaRed-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171557/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171557/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Red Persona, BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris, Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171557",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171556",
        "name": "Stylus Purple",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171556/StylusPersonaPurple.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171556/StylusPersonaPurple-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171556/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171556/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Purple Persona, BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris, Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171556",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171564",
        "name": "Stylus Multi",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171564/StylusPersonaMulti.jpg?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171564/StylusPersonaMulti-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171564/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171564/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Multi Persona, BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris, Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171564",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171551",
        "name": "Stylus Green",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171551/StylusPersonaGreen.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171551/StylusPersonaGreen-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171551/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171551/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Green Persona, BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris, Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171551",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171548",
        "name": "Stylus Golden",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171548/StylusPersonaGolden.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171548/StylusPersonaGolden-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#ffffff",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171548/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171548/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "description": "Stylus Golden Persona BY: Michael E Herndon, Thamyris,Thamyris71.",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171548",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    {
        "id": "171543",
        "name": "Stylus Blue",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171543/StylusPersonaBlue.png?1275686684",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171543/StylusPersonaBlue-footer.png?1275686684",
        "textcolor": "#c7c7c7",
        "accentcolor": "#000000",
        "iconURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171543/preview_small.jpg?1275686684",
        "previewURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/171543/preview.jpg?1275686684",
        "author": "Thamyris",
        "updateURL": "https://versioncheck.addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/themes/update-check/171543",
        "version": "0"
    },
    {
        "id": "319259",
        "name": "romantic firefox",
        "headerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/319259/romanticfirefoxalto.jpg?1398931991",
        "footerURL": "https://addons.thunderbird.net/user-media/addons/319259/romanticfirefoxbasso.jpg?1398931991",
        "textcolor": "#ffff00",
        "accentcolor": "#c9c9c9",
        "author": "candelora"
    },
    {
        "id": "palemoon",
        "name": "Pale Moon",
        "headerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon/header.png",
        "footerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon/footer.png",
        "textcolor": "#092040",
        "accentcolor": "#8bb3e3",
        "iconURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon/icon.png",
        "previewURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon/preview.png",
        "author": "Moonchild",
        "description": "A blue moon on soft light blue background gradients, in the style of the theme used on www.palemoon.org",
        "updateURL": "https://addons.palemoon.org/?component=aus&persona=palemoon"
    },
    {
        "id": "palemoon-classic",
        "name": "Pale Moon Classic",
        "headerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon-classic/header.png",
        "footerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon-classic/footer.png",
        "textcolor": "#092040",
        "accentcolor": "#8bb3e3",
        "iconURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon-classic/icon.png",
        "previewURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/palemoon-classic/preview.png",
        "author": "Moonchild",
        "description": "A pale blue, painted moon on soft light blue background gradients, in the style of the theme previously used on www.palemoon.org",
        "updateURL": "https://addons.palemoon.org/?component=aus&persona=palemoon-classic"
    },
    {
        "id": "basilisk",
        "name": "Basilisk Gradient",
        "headerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/basilisk/header.png",
        "footerURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/basilisk/footer.png",
        "textcolor": "#0C503E",
        "accentcolor": "#F8F5E4",
        "iconURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/addons/default/theme.png",
        "previewURL": "http://addons.palemoon.org/datastore/personas/basilisk/preview.png",
        "author": "Moonchild",
        "description": "A persona in the style of the theme used on the Basilisk home page",
        "updateURL": "https://addons.palemoon.org/?component=aus&persona=basilisk",
        "updateDate": 1698517472382,
        "installDate": 1698517472382
    }
]

Discoverability of the themes though, that seems to be the problem, at least on newer pages, I'm yet to check the old one from 2013, but obviously old one won't have newer themes. When you visit the old add-on page on archive.org, eg. https://web.archive.org/web/20170913051251/https://addons.mozilla.org/en-Gb/firefox/themes/nature, you can only see the first page, can't search either. There were thousands of those, we only have 3 on Pale Moon Add-ons page. I was looking at another older version of Mozilla Add-ons page with pagination yesterday, first page was viewable, the rest was not archived.

[loxodont]

Yes, I looked into the 2017 archive snapshots and there are only the Personas/Themes overview pages saved with thumbnails, not the files. Also the old Personas on thunderbird.net are gone, too.

But as I see on AMO you can at least download the *.xpi-files and extract the Header-image out. You could put these in a local themes folder and load them as Personas into the browser with "Personas Plus" from CA-archive.
The Footer-images were obviously removed with the big AMO Theme conversion, but it should be possible to create your own sized Footer image (3000x100 px) from the Header file.
Works for me since years - I never understood why Mozilla removed the local option for Personas from Firefox.

[moonbat]

I never understood why Mozilla removed the local option for Personas from Firefox.

Part of their gradual shift since version 4 of taking away control from end users. It stays on their server, to be removed at their whim (as they eventually did).