Usefull Firefox Extensions (A Firefox Extension Overview)
Since Firefox 1.5 came out, there's been a lot of discussion about the plug-ins people are using to make the browser more customized. For those new to this concept, one of the elements that makes Firefox so compeling is not just that is small in size and uses little resources, but the ability for users to create and add elements to the browser so that it has everything you want. With thousands of plug-ins built and more being built every day, most of what you might want if you designed Firefox from the top down for yourself. Some are toolbars, like IE traditionally has, some are extra search engines for the instant search box. Here is the list of plug-ins I currently use either at home or in the office for different reasons (if you don't have firefox, use the button the bottom right of this page to download):
del.icio.us extension - adds buttons and right-click menus to instantly view your del.icio.us page, as well as to instantly tag the page you are viewing, including all features of the del.icio.us pages without having to go to the add page every time you want to save something new. makes web-based bookmarking seamless.
Session Saver - An invaluable tool that saves your browser state. If Firefox or your computer crashes, this reloads Firefox next time you open it with all of the tabs you had open to all of the sites you had been viewing, in as many different browser windows as you were using at the time of the crash.
Performancing Blog Tool - blog from directly within firefox via a split screen view; compatible with many of the standard blog tools, and utilizes drag/drop from websites. You can import pictures, choose categories (when applicable), and delete posts all without leaving the page you are on.
Pearl Crescent Page Saver - ads the ability to take a complete screen grab of a site you are visiting, including the information out of view, and saves to a png file.
BugMeNot - ads right-click menu option to fill out site log-ins with submitted passwords from bugmenot registration site, allowing quick access to sites you may not want to waste time registering for (news sites, etc).
Send-to-Phone - text message web content you highlight on a page or type into a box directly in your browser, brought to you by google. User receives a prompting text before the actual message, so pay attention to carrier fees.
Gmail Notifier - get instant alerts when you receive a new email to your gmail account.
IE Tab - allows you to open page made for Internet Explorer only directly in an IE optimized tab in firefox. This is significant for many media pages on MTV, AOL, and anything Microsoft, among other things. Also many sites that have heavy form submission only work correctly in IE.
Viamatic Foxpose - pushing a key combination causes all open panels to be displayed at once in a grid that easily lets you choose which you want to view. This is based on what Mac already allows users to do to view what programs are open at once, but doesnt run as smoothly.
download statusbar - shows files being downloaded from the web in the bottom statusbar of your browser rather than causing an extra window download manager to open just for the file download.
Feed your reader - allows you to use the one touch feed notification in Firefox to add feeds to any common feed reader, rather than just the top link bar. For example, you can now add feeds to BlogLines by clicking the orange RSS icon that firefox uses to announce an available feed.
All-in-one Sidebar - sidebar management tool that lets you switch easily between various sidebars, including extension manager, bookmarks, history, download manager, in-page media, and even load website in a sidebar panel.
Tab sidebar - as an alternate to foxpose, this displays all current tabs as preview thumbnails in a sidebar of the browser.
Reveal - another alternate to foxpose, that offers a more interactive interface and a zoom feature that lets you magnify sections of a website. Also adds preview panes to the history buttons when you mouse over.
Google Toolbar - adds instant google searches, blogging, spell check, and other features, and is capable of being mixed into the browser so that it doesn't look like an independent toolbar.
Yahoo Toolbar - instant access to all of the yahoo daily management features, like calendar, myweb, etc, and built to work with Firefox commands like opening in new tabs.
Icerocket, Technorati Search - add blog search engines, torrent search engines, and various other quick search options to the instant search box in your upper right. Reach these immediately by hitting (CTR+K).
posted by kbs @ 2:08 AM
