Entry tags:

extensions, firefox

Firefox - Absolutely Necessary Extensions & Neat Tricks
Updated August 3rd, 2007.
As Firefox grows and changes, the extensions that I use and recommend grow and change as well. I've been using Firefox for over two years now, and I've learned lots of stuff about it. I love it even more than when I started, especially because of wonderful extensions like Deepest Sender, the blogging client I'm using to make this post.

Absolutely Necessary Extensions:
To make this list, I imagined that I was fixing up a copy of Firefox for my Mother, who is not overly computer savvy. I use more extensions than just this, of course, but these are the ones I think Firefox must have if I fixed it up for someone else. Hopefully, many of these features will be built in to future versions of Firefox, but until then...

1. Adblock Plus - Ads were yesterday! This eliminates almost all types of ads: banner ads, popup ads, embedded ads, etc. A wonderful extension that will make your browsing much more enjoyable.
   
2. Adblock Filterset.G Updater - Synchronizes Adblock with Filterset.G This adds pre-defined, regularly updated filters to Adblock Plus, which eliminates the need for user interaction and makes ad-blocking automatic.
3. Bookmark DD - Detects Duplicate Bookmarks and warns you when you bookmark a page that you have already bookmarked. Runs automatically and is wonderful for keeping your bookmarks under control.
   
4. Colorful Tabs - Colors every tab in a different color and makes them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appeal of the interface. Makes tabbed browsing easy for novice users to see and understand & cuts down on eyestrain. 
5. ErrorZilla Mod - Small extension that makes the "Page/Server Not Found" error page much more useful. Allows the user to retry, look for a cached version on Wayback Machine or Google, etc. Requires no user setup, simply install and enjoy.
   
6. Findbar Basics - Adds some useful features to the findbar. Adds a clear find box button on the findbar and allows the bar to be toggled on and off with the Ctrl+F hotkey. Also adds a toolbar button, which is a great way to cue new users to the feature.
   
7. FireFoxMenuButtons - Adds 36 Buttons (duplicating of menu strings) from Firefox Menu on the Toolbar. I include this on the list because it contains four very useful buttons: Font Larger, Font Smaller, Fullscreen, & Show Find Bar. I haven't been able to find comparable buttons in a smaller package. Fortunately, you can pick which buttons you want on the toolbar, so you aren't stuck with all 30. By now, I really have no need for this extension personally, since I have all the necessary shortcut keys memorized - but it can still be useful in order to cue new users to certain features.
   
8. PDF Download - Allows you to choose what you want to do with a PDF file: download it, view it with an external viewer or view it as HTML!  While this does deal with the PDF issue, I have found that the PDF-to-HTML converter often fails. Therefore, instead of downloading this extension, I recommend that you download and install Foxit Reader - a free, lightweight PDF Viewer. Set Foxit Reader as your default PDF viewer, and instruct Firefox to always open PDF files in Foxit Reader (you can do this the first time you open a PDF file via Firefox).
   
9. Undo Closed Tabs Button - This makes Firefox's inbuilt Recover Tab feature much more convenient by placing a button & drop-down list on your toolbar. Using this, you can recover several tabs at a time, with no need to wade through Firefox's menus searching for the elusive feature. Don't forget to right-click on the toolbar, choose customize, and drag the Undo Close Tab Button onto your toolbar.

All of these extension are simple to use: just set them up and forget about them. With no complex preferences to be set, even the most novice users should have no trouble. In fact,  if you're setting this up for someone else, they probably won't even realize that Firefox doesn't come with these functions built right in.
One extension that doesn't quite make the list, but that I would never be without is NoScript. This turns off javascript for your browser, only allowing it on chosen sites which you designate. This doesn't quite make the list because if the user doesn't understand what Javascript is, it may require some explaining. Also, it requires user input to select which sites to allow Javascript on. But it has a simple, easy to use interface, so once the user understands what it's for and how to use it efficiently, it makes browsing much more pleasant.

Neat Tricks:

1. Did you know that middle-clicking on a link will open it in a new tab? You can even use this in the bookmark & history sidebars! Middle-clicking: Push down on the scroll wheel of your mouse or on the middle button if you have one.
2. In the search box, Alt+Enter (hold down alt key and enter or return key at same time) will force the search results to open in a new tab. You can also use this in address/URL box: simply select the URL in the box and then hit  Alt+Enter and the URL will open in a new tab.

Inbuilt Features: Among the new features in Firefox 2.0 is the inbuilt Session Restore function.  Simply go to Tools> Options and under the Main tab set the startup setting to "Show my Windows and Tabs from Last Time".

I'm testing the Bon Echo (2.0) Nightly Builds right now. Wanna see what extensions I'm using? Click here.