Information Addicts

 

Firefox is possibly the best internet browser available, because it is secure, easy to use and you have the option of around a thousand add-ons and plug-ins to make this great browser even better.
What are Add-ons?
Add-ons are small pieces of software that can add new features or tweaks to your Firefox. They can add new search engines or dictionaries in other languages, change the look of Firefox with a new theme, and so much more.
The trouble with so many options and adds-ons, is where do you start, how do you know what is junk and what is really useful.
I have searched the web to find the best extensions for you, these are what other web users have recommend, and also tried myself, (some of them I already use).
While I have dug deep, there will be some great ones that you use but may not be included. So please be sure to share your favorite extension in the comments at the bottom of the page.

Click on the numbered links below to go straight to the the add-on web page.

1. Tabbrowser Preferences.
This extension is an enhancement for the basic tab controls provided in Firefox. It replaces the existing user interface with a new, more visible user interface. This extension has many options and other hidden features than the default version of Firefox. Once installed you will not want to go back to the default.
Below are some of its features:

• Open URLs in the URL bar and searches from the search bar in new tabs
• Open the homepage in every newly created tab
• Select tabs by moving the mouse onto them, instead of clicking on them
• Moving the tabbar to the bottom of the browser window
• Opening URLs from the Extension/Theme Manager and the Help window in new tabs
• Control the focusing/unfocusing of various tab-creating functions, such as the File->New Tab command
• Per-tab locking, to force left-clicked links to open in new tabs
  compatibility with Tab Clicking Options
• Ability to drag and drop URLs on the new tab button on the tab bar.

2. Stumble Upon toolbar.
Warning, Stumble Upon is very addictive and once you get started, can be very difficult to tear yourself away from your PC. Stumble Upon is a social networking web application that lets you view pages to find great websites, videos, photos and more based on your interests. These pages are submitted by other people with similar interests to yourself. You can submit any internet webpage yourself, including informationaddicts.com (sorry about the plug). In order to use Stumble Upon you need to sign up, then choose and click on any interests that you have. When you have joined Stumble Upon you then install the toolbar. Click here to view the Stumble Upon Website.

3. Ebay Buddy.
This extension allows you to quickly navigate to Ebay and other related tools through the right click context menu or toolbar. There are a lot of advanced search features with this extension. You can browse categories, go to the discussion boards view a full site map of Ebay and much more. If you are an Ebay addict or visit the site now and again then this is for you.

4. Greasemonkey.
With this extension you will either grasp it with both hands and run with it, or you will never want to go near it. The reason I say this is because Greasemonkey allows you to add JavaScript to any webpage, which basically means you can edit just about anything in your webpages. In order to do this you need to be able to write Javascript, well not entirely true, if you visit userscripts.orgyou have a repository for any script that you can think of to make any changes of your desire, and all you have to do is copy the text and paste in to the Greasemonkey extension.
When Greasmonkey is first installed it does nothing as it just enables the scripting. You have to add the scripts before you see any changes on your pages. If you like tinkering and tweaking then this is for you.

6. Clip Marks.
With clip marks you can copy paragraphs, images or videos, bookmark them, and you also have the option to keep them private or share them. There is a feature called ClipSearch that lets you do a search based on matching keywords inside the content you clip, which makes it a valuable search tool.
This is a very handy tool and is well worth trying.

7. Read it later.
This is a great extension for saving any webpage that takes your interest but haven’t got time to read straight away. Rather than copying the URL (webpage address) and then emailing it to yourself or copying and saving it somewhere, just click on the Read it later button and that’s it.

In order to install this extension you need to visit the website directly. There is a good demo video to watch.

8. Mouse Gestures.
This extension allows you to surf pages much quicker without using the keyboard, menus or toolbars. For example, if you are wanting to go back to a previous page in Firefox, all you do is right click on the mouse and drag it to the left. Or if you want to go one page forward right click on the mouse and drag it to the right. Again if you want to close a tab you would drag your mouse down and to the right. There are many other gestures you can do, and if you go into the options tab in Mouse Gestures you can print them out.

9. IE Tab.
Now and again you will come across a Web site that requires (or works better with) Internet Explorer as it will not display or work with Firefox. Once installed, it places a small icon in your status bar. Clicking this icon swaps out the rendering engine from Firefox’s to Internet Explorer’s. This is particularly helpful with sites that refuse to play video in Firefox.
You can set filters so that certain sites are always displayed in an IE tab. In fact, the extension comes preconfigured with filters for the Microsoft Update site. It also adds an “Open Link in IE Tab” option to the right-click context menu of Firefox. Simply brilliant.

10. Nuke Anything Enhanced.
Do you print out Web pages but find the logos and ads that are also printed annoying? Then this extension is for you. Once installed it adds a “Remove this object” option to the right mouse menu. If you then want to print out a webpage but not all the images, logos, etc, right click the mouse and choose “Remove this object” to hide them, clean up the page and then print out just what you need.

What are your favorite Firefox extensions?

Popularity: 18% [?]

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 3:20 pm and is filed under PC Tips, PC Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.