Which Firefox Extensions Do You Use?

[GB]

Firefox is such a great alternative to using Internet Explorer. It is safer and easier to use, plus you can add so many great extensions.

For those that do not know, extensions are very small programs that let you customize your browser the way you want.

In this thread, list the extensions you use in Firefox and if they are not obvious then let us know what it does.

Here is my list:

Colorful Tabs - This is really simple. It colors the tabs. Right now I have my google mail open and DC open. The google tab is blue and DC is yellow.

Adblock - This is one of the greatest extensions. Since I have loaded this and Adblock filter g, I have not seen a single ad on the internet.

Stop or Reload button - This turns the stop button and the reload button into one button which frees up a little space on your browser at top.

BugMeNot - Ever go to a webpage that requires you to log on to view a page (think NY Times or Snapfish or others like this). BugMeNot will automatically log you in with someones username and password who have submitted it to the site for this purpose.

BBCode - I find this one really helpful on DC. Among other things, it lets me submit links that look like this.

Stumble Upon - This one puts a little button on your browser. There are different categories. When you hit the button you are brought to a new random webpage within the category you selected. You can then hit another button to say if you like or dislike the page it pulled up. The more you rate pages the more the system learns what you like and dislike. After time it starts to show you more and more things it thinks you will like and it stays away from things you dont like.

Freeway Driving Directions - With this I just need to highlight an address on the screen and right click and choose get directions. It will then map out a route to the address from my home.

Smiley Xtra - Ever see all those crazy smily faces people use? This is a while bunch of them right at your fingertips.

McAfee SiteAdvisor - This puts a little graphic at the bottom of Firefox. It is color coded. When you go to a site, if it is green then the site is safe. If it is yellow then their might be some spyware or other nasty things. If it is red then their could be viruses or things like that. You can click on it for more specific info.

Aspellfox - This is a spellcheck extension. It is a little slow sometimes, but it gets the job done.

 

[Aurora]

Shazou is a combination mapping and satellite photo popup. It includes GeoIP and WhoIs lookup to give you more information about websites you are viewing.

Rainbowpicker is an extension that gives you a convenient color table for web programming. It is very convenient if you do any programming or website design.

Downthemall facilitates and speeds downloads even allowing you to start, stop and re-start at a later time.

PDFDownload is a nifty utility that makes it easy to open, download or view a PDF file as an HTML document.

Photo Map is cool because it allows you to use Google Earth to paste an actual picture of a property or site to an address. I am a real estate investor and use this utility to paste pictures of properties which I take with my cell phone camera to the satellite photo and map so that I can more easily catalogue the properties. It's got some bugs but it is a good utility.

Image Zoom allows you to right click on an image in zoom the size up or down for better viewing. I'm old enough to join AARP and I find this extension necessary sometimes.

 

[TATTRAT]

cooliris: Hover the cursor over the kllink to preview

fasterfox:faster page loads and response.

 

[Andy M.]

Help a microsoft captive a little, please. Is the benefit of firefox all the extensions or is it better then IE on its own?

I assume all this is free.

How does it interact/conflict with all the various Norton, McAfee and other security SW?

 

[GB]

Andy it is free and much better on it's own even without the extensions. It is set up so much better than IE.

There is a bulit in popup blocker.
There is a search box in the upper right corner. Say you want to google something. You just type it into that box. You can set that box up with tons of different things. I have foodTV recipes in that box so if I want to find a recipe for tomato sauce then I just type that in and select foodtv recipes. No need to open another web page to do it.
It is set up to do tabbed browsing. I wont try to explain what that is. Just go to this page to find out.
It is SO much more secure and safe than IE. Spyware and things like that are designed for IE, not Firefox. Since I started to use Firefox I have cut my spyware down by probably 95% or more.

Give it a try, you have nothing to lose. You can install it and leave IE on your computer as well. I have both on mine. When you install Firefox it will even ask you if you want to move all your favorites over from IE so you can actually start using Firefox right away without having to configure anything.

I do not use Norton or McAfee. I use AVG and Zone Alarm. It has been seamless with them. Enough people now use Firefox that I seriously doubt there would be any conflicts with Norton or McAfee, but I can't say for sure. It would really surprise me if they did not work though.

 

[VeraBlue]

I don't know this language. I need the universal interpreter that Captain Kirk had.

 

[candelbc]

I use a bunch of Web Developer Based extensions as well as my favorite. Mouse Gestures. I am surprised that no one else has mentioned it.

Mouse Gestures: Allows you to execute common commands (like page forward/backward, close tab, new tab) by mouse gestures drawn over the current webpage, without reaching for the toolbar or the keyboard.
You can also use click-only "rocker" gestures which are even faster than drawn gestures.

-Brad

 

[vagriller]

Firefox is such a great alternative to using Internet Explorer. It is safer and easier to use, plus you can add so many great extensions.

GB,
I use both Firefox and IE. IE is used for developing and viewing things for work. Firefox for all else (inlcuding researching stuff for work!). Some Microsoft stuff doesn't work all that well in Firefox. It's cool to know about all these extensions!

 

[vagriller]

I don't know this language. I need the universal interpreter that Captain Kirk had.

What don't you understand? I and others can help explain!

:gaze upon the candle of wisdom, Ed Gruberman:

 

[GB]

GB,
I use both Firefox and IE. IE is used for developing and viewing things for work. Firefox for all else (inlcuding researching stuff for work!). Some Microsoft stuff doesn't work all that well in Firefox. It's cool to know about all these extensions!

There is another extension I forgot to mention. This one might come in VERY handy for you. It is called IE Tab View. It lets you open a link in IE, but it actually opens in a tab in Firefox. I hope that makes sense.

I use it for the infrequent occasion that something works with IE, but not Firefox.

 

[vagriller]

I use it for the infrequent occasion that something works with IE, but not Firefox.

Have you heard of Sharepoint Portal Server? It and Firefox are arch enemies.

 

[GB]

.

 

[daisy]

I like Linkification. Whenever you type or copy and paste a URL, Firefox turns it into a link. Brilliant!

 

[daisy]

http://yellow5.us/firefox/

 

[Jaye Lewis]

My goodness, no one has mentioned the beautiful layout of the bookmarks column that I keep open to the left of my window. That, along with the security and tabs is my top three fav's about Firefox. The best thing about adblock, for anyone considering using it is that it won't load a new page it knows is fowl but still asks your permission to allow any new site with a humanistic explanation, then remembers your preferences. The tabs allow you to bring up several site pages so you can bounce between them w/o closing them - a must for product comparisons. IE is the contaminated info superhighway, so much so that I can't see how it will last into the future. Firefox is like staying safe at home. It's directly affiliated with google, and google is so keen on keeping it's site banks clean that the porn industry has attempted to sue. The progress is very interesting to watch.

 

[pdswife]

Hi GB... I loaded the smiley extention that you mentioned yesterday... but I can't get it to add smiles to anything... any advice?

Thanks,T

 

[GB]

I will have to take a look when I get home as I don't have that extension here at work, but try selecting the smily you want and then pasting into a message.

 

[pdswife]

Thank you I will.

 

[mudbug]

geebs, it would be cool if you turned this thread into a sticky for us computer morons to refer to in the future.

 

[GB]

I actually am not going to make this one a sticky for various reasons, but feel free to bookmark this page. Then you can get back to it at anytime. Or feel free to PM me with any questions of course