Firefox is by far the best web browser available, no question about it. I could go on and on with its advantages, but here are just a few in case you’re still an unbeliever: tabbed browsing (copied by IE now), built-in spell checker, safer browsing, bookmarks toolbar, custom themes, and (my personal favorite) add-ons for ultimate customization.
There are tons of add-ons out there, some good, some bad, and some that you can’t live without. The following list of add-ons are some I’ve been using for quite a while. I wouldn’t recommend installing too many, just because it can slow down your browser a bit. But don’t let that scare you away from adding a few to your arsenal. Hopefully I have included a few that you haven’t seen before. Enjoy!
Web Developer
1. Web Developer
Web Developer is a must have for any web developer. It adds a toolbar to the browser with various web developer menus including:
- Disable - Options for disabling cache, javascript, java, page colors, popup blockers, etc.
- Cookies - Cookie management.
- CSS - Management and viewing options for stylesheets.
- Forms - Form Management.
- Information - About the size of the web page, meta tags, links, etc.
- Outline - Images, Div’s, Tables, Links, etc.
- Resize - Window and resolution.
- Tools - For validating CSS, Forms, HTML, Links, Feeds, etc.
- View Source - And edit in browser window.
2. Fire FTP
Fire FTP is a sweet FTP client that allows you to transfer files quickly and efficiently, FireFTP also includes more advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SSL encryption, search/filtering, integrity checks, remote editing, drag & drop, and file hashing.
3. ColorZilla
ColorZilla allows you to get a color reading from any point in your browser. Use the eye dropper to copy any color code and paste it into another program or CSS file for an exact color match. You can also zoom in on the page you are viewing and measure distances between any two points on the page. The built-in palette browser gives you the option to choose colors from a pre-defined color set and save your most often used colors in custom palettes.
4. ScreenGrab
ScreenGrab takes a snapshot of a web page and makes an image out of it. Nothing to fancy but very helpful when doing online tutorials or sending web clips to friends.
Tabbed Browsing
5. Tab Mix Plus
Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox’s tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, etc. It also includes a full-featured session manager with crash recovery that can save and restore combinations of opened tabs and windows.
6. NewTabURL
NewTabURL does one simple thing - allows you to open a new tab with any URL you specify. Perfect for those that just need the bare necessities.
7. ColorfulTabs
ColorfulTabs is pretty self explanatory - basically it allows you to have different colored tabs. This is especially helpful when you have several tabs open at once and need to label specific tabs for organization.
8. GooglePreview
GooglePreview is one of my absolute favorites. It inserts preview images (thumbnails) of web sites and Amazon products into the Google and Yahoo search result pages, so you don’t have to be constantly clicking the back button in your browser when you are disappointed with the result of a clicked link.
Downloading
9. Download Statusbar
Download Statusbar packs in more useful features than the standard download window. The fully customizable interface auto-hides when not in use, allowing full control without interruption.
10. UnPlug
UnPlug scans web pages and tells you where media players are getting their data from, and displays it as a link: in most cases, you can then follow the simple download link to save the media file. Unlike many other extensions, UnPlug scans the page, and if it doesn’t know where the data comes from it can guess - correctly most of the time. UnPlug works for lots of sites including youtube.com, ifilm.com, current.tv, revver.com, peekvid.com, video.google.com, mobuzztv.com, etc.
Security
11. NoScript
NoScript provides extra protection for Firefox: allowing JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides powerful Anti-XSS protection.
Weather
12. Forecastfox
Forecastfox puts a totally customizable status bar in your browser with real-time weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com.
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Categories: ToolBox Web Development
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
Barbara
I never realized Firefox had so many add-ons. I use the split screen/browser and love it for blogging. It makes grabbing links super simple. I also use it for when I answer my comments, so I’m not having to scroll up to reread what my commenters said. .
I’m going to try a few of the ones you mentioned.
Thanks for the tips.
Feb 5th, 2008
David Lano
I have never used the split screen browser but have heard some great things about it. Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to give it a try!
Feb 6th, 2008
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