InsaneJournal

Firefox Extensions: The Test of Time
Because it has been quite a while since my previous Firefox extension posts (see them here), I thought it might be time for a new one. I have been using Firefox for over two years now, and I still love it. In fact, it is probably the single most important and most used application on my computer. All told, about 95% of my computer time is spent in Firefox. Over time, extensions have come, extensions have gone, yet through it all, Firefox remains eternal.  I now present a list of extensions that have passed the Tests of Time, becoming so much a part of my browsing habits that I won't even consider switching to Firefox 3.0 until these extensions are fully compatible. And, to round it all off, I will list the Bookmarklets I use and add some nifty screen-shots of my current setup. I am currently using the Firefox 2.0 nightly builds, FYI.

Extensions Which Have Passed the "Test of Time":

• Adblock Plus: Now with readily available, automatically updated filter lists. Still love this extension, wouldn't want to be without it. In fact, I never realized what an impact it had until I began regularly using Campus computers, which don't have this extension installed. Ads Suck! There is nothing I hate more then those blasted full-page, time-delayed, click-here-to-proceed-to-your-content ads. Banner & text ads can be tolerated, but hi-jacking ads are among the evilest things ever created! Adblock = Browsing Bliss.
• Autohide: Absolutely essential. The best full-full screen extension I have ever used. Allows you to show or hide specific toolbars in full-screen mode, and the auto hide/show (much like I.E.'s new full-screen, in some respects) toggle allows for true full-screen browsing. Unfortunately, this hasn't been updated for quite some time, so you will need to download a compatibility-forcing extension such as Mr. Tech's Download Manager or Nightly Tester Tools first. It's worth it though, no other full-screen extension measures up.
• Colorful Tabs: A favorite of mine, this extension colors each tab in a different pastel shade, allowing you to easily tell them apart. Advanced features allow you to assign specific colors to specific domains if you like. I have been using this extension practically since it was born.
• Compact Menu Repackaged: Repopulates your menubar (i.e. File, View, Tools, Help, etc.) as a Menu of Menus accessed through a single button. This makes it possible to access any important functions while still saving space or while in full-screen mode. I don't know what I'd do without it.
• Deepest Sender: I have waxed poetic about this before, so I'll recap quickly: the absolute best blogging software for LiveJournal, GreatestJournal, InsaneJournal, DeadJournal, etc. Also makes a great html editor for small projects (simply switch between Normal, Source, and Preview modes as necessary).
• Findbar Basics: Allows you to use the Ctrl+F shortcut to toggle the findbar on and off. Absolutely indispensable. 
• Google Toolbar: To be honest, I wasn't too enthusiastic about this extension in the beginning, but I had to install and use it in order to use the Google Web History service. It has grown on me, however. One of the nice things is that you can arrange different parts of the bar wherever you like, instead of being forced to keep it all on one toolbar. 
• Last Tab: Enables tab flipping and has Firefox automatically go to the most recently accessed tab when you close the focused tab. Very useful.
• Menu Editor: I love this extension! It lets me get rid of all those right-click context menu items that I don't need, and to rearrange all of my menus as I please. For example, I use it to move the 'Page Style' menu off of the view menu and onto the right-click menu for easy access. 
• Nuke Anything Enhanced: Allows you to temporarily hide/remove unwanted content from a page. Especially useful for cleaning up a page before printing. I find it useful for removing page elements that may be interfering with the readability of a page, like extra-wide images, etc.
• Story Monitor: Tracks stories from a wide variety of sites, allowing you to see when a new chapter has been added. As an avid fan fiction reader, I use this all the time. 
• Undo Closed Tabs Button: Provides a button and history menu for Firefox's inbuilt undo closed tab feature. A small thing, but extremely useful. I wouldn't want to be without it.
• Update Scanner: Scans pages for updates at regular intervals. I love this extension, it's great for watching pages that don't have rss.
  

• All-in-One Sidebar: I have recently switched from my old sidebar setup (ezsidebar & optimiz tweakz) to this new, more widely supported extension. So far, I have been quite pleased, especially once I figured out how to turn on the auto hide/show feature. The sidebar toolbar is quite nice, and the high degree of customization is most welcome. I do miss the ability to save multiple personal sidebars, since AIOS only remembers the most recently loaded sidebar webpanel, but this is a small matter which can easily be worked around. New users, I highly recommend that you read all of the documentation available on the AIOS website in order to get the most use out of this extension.
• Custom Buttons^2: This allows you to create custom buttons to carry out any needed action. For example, I have a button that opens the Google Notebook clip window. If you don't want to mess around with creating your own buttons, don't worry, there's a whole database of buttons that other users have created. So far, I have been very pleased with this extension.
  
• del.icio.us IncSearch: I have only recently begun using del.icio.us, but this extension is the most useful del.icio.uc extension I have found so far. It makes finding your bookmarks truly simple. I keep it loaded in my sidebar at all times for easy access. Don't forget to sync it after you go on a bookmarking spree.
• Extension List Dumper: An excellent way to keep track of your extensions, or to share them with others. I switched to this extension when it became apparent that I no longer needed all the features of the extension I was using for this purpose. So far, I have been very pleased.
• Favicon Picker 2: Allows you to pick your own icons for specific bookmarks. Very useful when you're using bookmarklets, or want to save space on the Bookmarks toolbar by eliminating the text of a bookmark. I use it all the time.
• Locationbar^2: Makes portions of the Location URL more visible, links each portion of the URL, making browsing by level much easier. I am finding these features very useful. 
• Nightly Tester Tools: Allows you to force extension compatibility, among other things. Very useful for using some of my favorite extensions without needing to alter them manually.
• Quiet URL: Fixes common URL mistakes in a hyperlink (i.e. http://http://) and purposely disguised URLs (i.e. hxxp://, common in many forums), making them click-able. Also makes text URLs click-able when you hover the mouse over them. Extremely useful, and I have been quite pleased with the performance so far.
• Todoist Sidebar: Integrates the Todoist todo list features right into your sidebar. Very useful, and as an avid user of Todoist, I consider it indispensable. However, the built-in keyboard shortcuts didn't work with my setup, instead, the side bar opened whenever I hit the Tab button or the T button. Not Good. Fortunately, there is an easy about:config fix for this. Simply modify the entries specified on the extension's website to use keys that you don't regularly use for other purposes. 
• User Agent Switcher: Lets you change your User Agent and make websites think you're running IE, or Opera, etc. Great for accessing sites that only allow IE, etc. I don't use it very often, but it does come in handy.

• Post to Delicious: Takes you to the fullscreen posting page on del.icio.us, with the URL and Title fields pre-populated with the current page's info, and then returns you to the bookmarked page when you've posted. 
• Quick Post to Delicious w/ 1Tag: Quickly posts a page to del.icio.us, pre-tagged with a pre-defined tag.
• Delgate to Todoist: Allows you to post tasks from gmail to todoist. Once you have a Todoist account, go to the Info page and click on Gmail Integration to get the bookmarklet.
• LJ Style=Mine: This automatically appends ?style=mine to a LiveJournal URL, and then reloads the page, allowing you to view it in your own style. This is one of the most useful bookmarklets I use. It makes reading on LiveJournal a pleasure instead of a pain. It also works on InsaneJournal, GreatestJournal, DeadJournal, and other LiveJournal clones.
• Increase Font Size: Increase the text size. Yes, you can do this in increments with Firefox's text zooming, but this allows you to jump straight to your preferred size.
• Toggle Style Sheets: Turns style sheets on or off. Can greatly improve the readability of some pages. 
• Linearize: Re-orders content on the page into a single column. Great for reading blog entries.
• Zap Colors: Makes page white with black text and blue links. 
• Force Wrap: Forces text to wrap. Doesn't work everywhere, but makes reading those .txt files in your browser a lot easier.
• Duplicate Tab: Creates a copy of the current tab in a new tab. I use this on those fiction sites with the little Javascript age statement popups - they don't allow you to open links in a new tab, so I go through the statement & then duplicate the story to a new tab so that I can return to list. Very useful.
• Wayback AutoSearch: Find previous versions of the webpage you are visiting with this. Absolutely brilliant! I use this all the time!
• Share in Reader w/o subscribing to feed: Great for sharing that interesting article when you don't really want to subscribe to the feed.
• Quickly Add Feed to Google Reader: Exactly what it says. Eliminates that Reader or iGoogle step, and provides a nicer interface.
• Wikapedia Search: allows you to lookup the selected word on Wikapedia.
• Make Quote: Make a formated and referenced Quote for use in blogging.
• Fit Images: Squeezes over-large images so that they fit on the page.
• No Images: Turns off images for the page.

 

Above, this is what my toolbars look like in fullscreen mode, when I use the auto hide/show feature mentioned earlier to make them slide down over my content. If you look, you can see the Google logo peeking out from underneath at the bottom.