Since my previous review of add-ons for Firefox 3.5x, the newer Firefox 3.6.x has made some add-ons unusable, and other add-ons have appeared on the scene.
So I have decided to update my list of top Firefox add-ons.
First, to get the add-ons, you need to start Firefox, then go: tools -> add-ons
From the add-on window (which I have resized to full screen height), click on the “get add-ons” button, then enter the add-on name in the “search all add-ons” box.
- Tab Mix Plus
is an excellent replacement for “Tab Kit” (which is no longer compatible with FF3.6, and doesn’t seem to be updated any more). Tab Mix Plus has a huge set of configurable items, some of which replace a handful of other add-ons that I once used. I’ll be providing a review, and some configuration hints in a later post. - Adblock Plus
blocks annoying advertising. Just remember that some websites rely on advertising to survive… so if you use Adblock Plus, you should feel a certain level of guilt… but not too much 🙂 - Close Tab By Double Click. This add-on can be removed, as the same functionality is provided by “tab mix plus”.
- Flashblock
blocks flash objects, yet lets you re-enable the flash objects with just a click. Great for blocking ads that Adblock Plus cannot block. Also good for making a “busy” website look easier on the eyes. - Menu Editor.
I’ve only used this to change the right-click on a link action to: popup a menu that has the option: “Open Link in New Tab” option at the top of the menu. - QuickDrag: when you highlight a few words on a page, then drag the words a few pixels away, a new tab opens with the search results on those works (ie no need to copy and paste them into google). If you highlight and drag a url (eg: computer-aid.com.au ), then that url is opened in a new tab.
- Remove New Tab Button. This add-on can be removed, as the same functionality is provided by “tab mix plus”.
- SearchStatus
will display some ranking information about each site you visit. Once installed, I “move” it to the menu bar (at the top of the window). By right-clicking on the “q” logo, I select “highlight nofollow links” so all nofollow links show up as pink. I also enable pagerank, alexa, compete, mozrank. - Split Browser
works well on widescreen monitors. You can view 2 websites side-by-side, and I often enable the “sychronously scroll” option when comparing 2 versions of the same website. - Tab History Menu . I find I don’t use this add-on much.
- Tab Kit. This add-on can be removed, as the same functionality is provided by “tab mix plus”.
- TabRenamizer. This add-on can be removed, as the same functionality is provided by “tab mix plus”
- Undo Closed Tabs Button. This add-on can be removed, as the same functionality is provided by “tab mix plus”.
shows the tab history. Its just like the drop-down list near the forward – back buttons on the top-left, but you get the list when you click on the tab instead.
is like a Swiss army knife of tab organisation. There is too much to explain here. I’ll probably make a separate post that shows my tab kit options and how they make firefox easier to use. In the mean time, you can install it and try it out yourself.
renames tabs to something more reasonable that what the website decides for you. This might not work well for most people. Why? I use it to automatically rename tabs based on my bookmarks. But when I create a bookmark, I give it a short name (eg If I bookmark computer-aid.com.au, I make sure I call the bookmark “ComputerAid”… but I suspect most people don’t rename any bookmarks that they save. Otherwise you can manually rename tabs, or even have them renamed automatically to a “random” name!
just makes it easy to recover a tab that you might have accidentally closed (I seem to do it often). its just easier than going to history -> recently closed tabs -> then pick the tab you want resurrected.