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[Slightly Wonky Robob]

With the recent release of the latest version of Firefox, Firefox 3 I thought it would be a good idea to start a new list of my recommended addons.

My Top 10 Recommended Plugins

My top 10 plugins in (a rough) order, best at towards the top, although they are all great, otherwise they wouldn't be in the list

• Link Alert
  
• Adblock Plus
  
• Menu Editor
  
• TabGroups Manager
  
• Cooliris
  
• CustomizeGoogle
  
• Download Statusbar
  
• Organize Status Bar
  
• Update Scanner
  
• FaviconizeTab

See below for descriptions

A-Z of Recommended Plugins

Adblock Plus
- The ultimate plugin for blocking annoying pop-ups and adverts, and
generally making surfing the internet a nicer experience.

All-in-One Sidebar - This plugin is inspired by Opera's sidebar. The plugin adds a side bar with several buttons/sections on, including; bookmarks, history, downloads, addons. There is also an auto-hide option, so it doesn't get in the way when you aren't using it.

autoHideStatusbar - Hides the status bar when not in use, can be set 1) when a page is loading and/or 2) when you hover over link. Useful if you want just that little extra browsing space.

BBCode - This plugin adds BBCode, HTML and Custom Tags to easily format and input field through an easy to access menu. Unfortunately doesn't work in Rich text editors (at least not the one on E-Studios)

British English Dictionary - A British alternative to the default American dictionary.

BugMeNot - This is an extension of the website BugMeNot. It's main purpose is to supply logins to those pesky sites that require you to regsiter to (for example) download something. This plugin makes it a much simple process, by automatically filling in fields for you.

Check4Chnage - A neat little plugin that can periodically check specific parts of a page to see if they have changed. Various alerts can be set when a change is found. Similar: See Update Scanner *

Close Button - Allows you to add a close button that you can set to close the current tab, window or what I use it for, closing FireFox. *

ColorZilla - A small plugin that lets you find out the colour of various elements on the screen, and the ability to copy the colour code in many formats. I find this very useful when developing web UIs.

Cooliris - This turns Firefox into a 3D gallery with interactive images and videos. Watch the demo for a better explanation... and yes, it is as great as it looks.

CustomizeGoogle - Enables you to tweak various aspects of google. One tweak that I really like is when searching images, you can change it so that you go direct to the image when clicking on the thumbnail, instead of going to the website.

Download Statusbar - A great, light-weight alternative the the normal download manager. This addon adds a bar to the bottom of the window that displays all current/recent downloads. Objects can be removed manually, or by setting certain file types to automatically be removed once downloaded.

DownThemAll! - A great tool for batch downloading, that also adds pausing and resuming functionality.

dragdropupload - One of the more noticeable changes with the latest version of FF is the upload html element, you can no longer type in the box. This is a simple addon that lets you drag files from any explorer window straight into the upload element.

Extended Statusbar - This addon adds extra information to the status bar; Speed, Percentage, Time and Loaded size

FaviconizeTab - Allows you to "shrink" tabs to only show the fav icon, useful when you have alot of tabs open.

Find in Tabs - Adds a button to the find bar, allowing you to search all tabs at once.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchroniser - Great for synchronising bookmarks between several computers, keeping a back up.

FoxTab - A way of managing your open tabs in glorious 3D. It contains 5 different layouts, and can be customised to be used within a tab, a panel or fullscreen. Load time is minimal, even with large amounts of tabs. Similar: See Tab Sidebar *

Go Up - Adds a button that allows you move up one directory on the website you are viewing. *

IE Tab - Allows you to switch the rendering engine of tabs between Firefox and IE. Great for web developers since it easy to test in both FF and IE. Also useful for those pesky sites that only allow IE users. Filters can be set up so that certain site automatically render with IE.

Launchy - Allows you to open files in a program of your choice, additional programs can also be added to the already fairly large list. Useful for opening transparent pngs into PS, without saving it.


LoadTimePage - Simple plugin that add some extra information to the status bar (File size, speed and time to load page.)

Locationbar² - There are 2 main things this plugin does; 1) Puts emphasis on the domain of a website, and 2) adds links to the various segments of a URL. This is very useful for quickly navigating directories.

Link Alert - A simple, but useful plugin that adds a small icon the cursor depending on the link, allowing you to quickly what the link really is.

Menu Editor - When you have a lot of plugins you often have loads of unwanted menu items, especially on the right-click menu. This plugin allows you to show/hide and re-order various menu items. Similar: See Organize Status Bar

Multiple Tab Handler - A very useful plugin that allows you to manipulate multiple tabs a once. Unforntunately a little buggy, and not the best look when selecting tabs, but for the most part gets the job done.

My Image Here - A very useful plugin that allows you to replace images on a website with images stored locally. I've found this useful testing out new sigs, to see how they look on specific skins without uploading it. This could also potentially be used on image heavey sites to reduce the time it takes to load a page. But of course, it's always a laugh replacing all the images on here with yellow badgers

NoScript - A great security plugin. Only allows javascript, java and various other types of content if you allow or temporarily allow.

Organize Status Bar - When you have a lot of plugins you often have loads of unwanted icons in the status bar. This plugin allows you to show/hide and re-order various items. Similar: See Menu Editor

Plain Text Links - Allows you to open plain text urls by highlighting, right-clicking and selecting 'open selected URL.'

RefControl - Allows you to send your referer, a forged referer or no referer at all. This can be done on a site-by-site, page-by-page and global basis. Very useful for avoiding hotlinking messages.

Rotate Image - Not much to say... allows you to rotate images, could be better/have more functionality, but it gets the job done.

Sage-Too - A great a RSS reader that allows to easily add, change and organise your RSS feeds.

Scroll Search Engines - A small plugin that lets you change the search engine on the right click menu by simply using your scroll wheel on it. Unfortunately they are in alphabetical order, rather than the order you have them in, but this is a minor thing.

Server Switcher - Useful for web developers that are continually switching between a test server and live server. The plugin adds an icon to the address bar (next to the bookmark icon) that allows you to switch servers, while remaining on the same page. Plugin is unfortunately limited to 2 servers per project.

Source Viewer Tab - Another great plugin for web developers. I am constantly viewing pages sources, wether it be to see how someone created something, or to find out why my page isn't working as I intended. As a result, I tend to have multiple sources open, and this can become cluttered, this plugin opens page sources be default in a new tab.

Splash - Adds a customisable splash screen to the initial load of Firefox.

StumbleUpon - I can't say I'm a massive user of this, and I'm sure alot more of you out there know a lot more about this plugin/service than I do... but I do use on occasion when I'm bored. 2 Main function I guess, 1) Finds pages that it thinks you might like, 2) Allows you to possitvly or negativly rate a site you are viewing. It's been fairly accurate so far with my tastes (especially considering I only skim-read the set up proccess)

Stylish - Allows you to add custom stylesheets to a webpage. Very useful if you regularly visit a website, but can't stand the way it looks. Can be used to edit stylesheets of specific sites or globally change things, using filters. (NOTE: If you want to try this plugin, but have no knowledge of CSS (the language used for website styles) you can contact me, or someone from the FS Helpdesk)

SubmitToTab - Allows you to submit forms to a new tab (or window), by middle-clicking, ctrl+clicking or right-clicking. This feels like something that should work in FF, but doesn't by default.

Tab Control - Allows you to change several properties of a tab, IMO the most useful of which opens tabs to the right of a tab, rather than the end. This also allows you to change the minimum and maximum with of tabs. *

Tab Counter - Counts the number of open tabs per window.

TabGroups Manager - Allows you to add tabs to groups, useful for people who have large amounts of tabs open (saves you from either; 1. having multiple windows open or 2. having unmanageably large amounts of tabs open in one window.

Tab Mix Plus - A great plugin that allows to control many aspects of your tabs and tab bar.

Tab Sidebar - I've always liked the idea of tab previews, but I've found that they have always seemed out of place (most of which are on hover over tabs). This plugin adds previews of all your tabs into a sidebar, as well as adding basic functions (Forward/back, refresh, stop and close)

TabRenamizer - This plugin allows you to rename your plugins.

Tabs Menu - This plugin adds the menu item "tabs", which I find is a good alternative to the default tab menu on the tab bar.

ThumbStrips - You may remember this one from my previous plugin thread. This is a replacement for the default history menu item/sidebar. It adds a filmstrip of thumbnails of your history. Filters and orders can easily be applied to quickly find tabs you are looking for. This plugin is very resource happy, and can dramatically slow your PC *

Toolbar Buttons - Adds a whole host of buttons that you can add to your toolbars. If your looking for a button equivalent to a default function, chances are it's in there. Adds buttons to websites (e.g. Hotmail, Google, etc.) which are a useful alternative to the bookmark toolbar. Similar: See below
NOTE: May interfere with other plugins with custom buttons

translator - Adds a button to the status bar that allows you to quickly tranlsate a page using one of many popular translation services. Great if you visit alot of non-English websites. This unfortunately doesn't support many translations that don't invlove English.

Undo Closed Tabs Button - Adds an undo closed tab button to the tab bar and right-click menu.

Update Scanner - Checks for changes on websites, very useful for websites that don't provide an atom or RSS feed. You change the frequency a site is scanned and how big a change has to be. You can also compare changes betweens versions (old versions are kept locally). Similar: See Check4Chnage

URL Flipper - Quickly and easily increment/decrement numbers in URLs. Allowing you to navigate through URL sequences, for example image sets.

Web Developer - No web developer should go without this plugin. This plugin adds many functions such as being able to change styles of pages, without having to edit/save/upload css files.

NOTE: Plugins marked with a * I do not currently use (either because another plugin does the job or I don't (personally) really have much use for it), but in their own right are worth a mention

Create your own website buttons

From the same maker of Toolbar Buttons. He kept getting requests for x, y and z website buttons to be added to his plugin, so he created Custom Link Toolbar Buttons, which was nice of him . Below are the buttons that I have created, if you make any, feel free to request them to be added to the list. NOTE: The links are direct to plugin file.

• E-Studios
  
• BBC Radio 1 (iPlayer)
  
• Imagehsack
  
• OGame
  
• YouTube

A - Z of other people's recommended plugins

1-ClickWeather - Allows you to view current weather conditions.


Install Plugins faster

When you install a plugin, there is always a little countdown before you can click the install button. To remove this, go to about:config and find security.dialog_enable_delay. Change the value to 0, to remove the countdown.


If you have a plugin that you think should be in this list, then go ahead and suggest it.

Edited by Bob, 17 April 2009 - 19:53.

[CodeCat]

Bob, on 19 Jun 2008, 3:11, said:

Ctr-Tab - Adds Ctrl+tab functionality similar to alt+tab on various operating systems. The order is determined by the most recently viewed/used.

You realise that functionality has been default in FF2 already?

[Libains]

CodeCat, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:21, said:

Bob, on 19 Jun 2008, 3:11, said:

Ctr-Tab - Adds Ctrl+tab functionality similar to alt+tab on various operating systems. The order is determined by the most recently viewed/used.

You realise that functionality has been default in FF2 already?

True - and is also available in FF3.....but this has got a lot more functionality to it.... also, the Splash is not compatible with the latest build of FF3 - only the beta versions (according to the link)

Edited by AjPod, 19 June 2008 - 10:35.

[Dauth]

British English Dictionary This is a simple spell checker, helps when posting. If you don't like UK English then IIRC there is also an Australian one that's easy to find.

Update Notifier For those with a large number of addons, this will check for updates either daily or when you start up FireFox.

[TheDR]

Dauth, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:57, said:

British English Dictionary This is a simple spell checker, helps when posting. If you don't like UK English then IIRC there is also an Australian one that's easy to find.

Thank you for that, American spellings were getting really on my nerves.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

CodeCat, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:21, said:

Bob, on 19 Jun 2008, 3:11, said:

Ctr-Tab - Adds Ctrl+tab functionality similar to alt+tab on various operating systems. The order is determined by the most recently viewed/used.

You realise that functionality has been default in FF2 already?

Yes, but like already said, this adds extra functions/features. Instead of simply changing to the next tab in the tab when using ctrl+tab, you get simillar functionality as alt+tab. The drop down menu on the tab bar is also replaced with a speed-dial type page(/button).

AjPod, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:34, said:

CodeCat, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:21, said:

Bob, on 19 Jun 2008, 3:11, said:

Ctr-Tab - Adds Ctrl+tab functionality similar to alt+tab on various operating systems. The order is determined by the most recently viewed/used.

You realise that functionality has been default in FF2 already?

True - and is also available in FF3.....but this has got a lot more functionality to it.... also, the Splash is not compatible with the latest build of FF3 - only the beta versions (according to the link)

One of the comments mentions that it is in fact compatable (since it worked with the RCs) and I am using it, just go to the old versions page.

Dauth, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:57, said:

British English Dictionary This is a simple spell checker, helps when posting. If you don't like UK English then IIRC there is also an Australian one that's easy to find.

I thought that was common knowledge, but as doc has prooved, it isn't *added*

Dauth, on 19 Jun 2008, 11:57, said:

Update Notifier For those with a large number of addons, this will check for updates either daily or when you start up FireFox.

I used to use this, but it seemed a bit pointless with the built in notifier, as well as the easier manual update finder...

[Mortecha]

I tried Pic-lens, Its brilliant.

Totally blew my mind. Unfortunately there is no black japan plugin yet for it so the default FF3 looks will have to do.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

List Updated:

Menu Editor - When you have a lot of plugins you often have loads of unwanted menu items, especially on the right-click menu. This plugin allows you to show/hide and re-order various menu items.

Edited by Bob, 19 June 2008 - 18:59.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

List updated again, with the following:

Feed Sidebar - Takes your live bookmarks and puts them into a side bar, can be used in conjunction with the All-in-One Sidebar (see above). Lacks some functionality, but good for organising your rss feeds into one place.

Launchy - Allows you to open files in a program of your choice, additional programs can also be added to the already fairly large list. Useful for opening transparent pngs into PS, without saving it.

Scroll Search Engines - A small plugin that lets you change the search engine on the right click menu by simply using your scroll wheel on it. Unfortunately they are in alphabetical order, rather than the order you have them in, but this is a minor thing.

EDIT:

Plain Text Links - Allows you to open plain text urls by highlighting, right-clicking and selecting 'open selected URL.'

Edited by Bob, 20 June 2008 - 20:56.

[BeefJeRKy]

Any themes you might recommend? I'm using NASA Night Launch for its PURE WIN.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

I just use the default theme, dark themes don't look great with the majority of websites IMO, and most other themes are just crap...

[Lucid]

might i also suggest the "Nuke Anything" add-on?it allows you to hide any parts of a website you don't want to see

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Removed several plugins that I have either found better equivalents, or have had major problems with them. Also added the following plugins:

BBCode - This plugin adds BBCode, HTML and Custom Tags to easily format and input field through an easy to access menu. Unfortunately doesn't work in Rich text editors (at least not the one on E-Studios)

Check4Chnage - A neat little plugin that can periodically check specific parts of a page to see if they have changed. Various alerts can be set when a change is found.

Go Up - Adds a button that allows you move up one directory on the website you are viewing.

Multiple Tab Handler - A very useful plugin that allows you to manipulate multiple tabs a once. Unforntunately a little buggy, and not the best look when selecting tabs, but for the most part gets the job done.

My Image Here - A very useful plugin that allows you to replace images on a website with images stored locally. I've found this useful testing out new sigs, to see how they look on specific skins without uploading it. This could also potentially be used on image heavey sites to reduce the time it takes to load a page. But of course, it's always a laugh replacing all the images on here with yellow badgers

Sage-Too - A great a RSS reader that allows to easily add, change and organise your RSS feeds.

Source Viewer Tab - Another great plugin for web developers. I am constantly viewing pages sources, wether it be to see how someone created something, or to find out why my page isn't working as I intended. As a result, I tend to have multiple sources open, and this can become cluttered, this plugin opens page sources be default in a new tab.

Tab Control - Allows you to change several properties of a tab, IMO the most useful of which opens tabs to the right of a tab, rather than the end. This also allows you to change the minimum and maximum with of tabs.

Tab Sidebar - I've always liked the idea of tab previews, but I've found that they have always seemed out of place (most of which are on hover over tabs). This plugin adds previews of all your tabs into a sidebar, as well as adding basic functions (Forward/back, refresh, stop and close)

Tab Menu - This plugin adds the menu item "tabs", which I find is a good alternative to the default tab menu on the tab bar.

translator - Adds a button to the status bar that allows you to quickly tranlsate a page using one of many popular translation services. Great if you visit alot of non-English websites. This unfortunately doesn't support many translations that don't invlove English.


----------------------------------------------------------


I have also been using Tweak Network which is supposed to speed up the loading of pages and I think for the most part, does. Although it's hard to tell for sure, so some opinions would be appreciated before I add it to the list.

Well that's it for now, enjoy ;D

EDIT: Also, in the near future I plan to add ratings to these plugins, so keep your eyes peeled

EDIT2: Missed one:

Close Button - Allows you to add a close button that you can set to close the current tab, window or what I use it for, closing FireFox.

Edited by Bob, 07 July 2008 - 01:07.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

2 more:

ThumbStrips - You may remember this one from my previous plugin thread. This is a replacement for the default history menu item/sidebar. It adds a filmstrip of thumbnails of your history. Filters and orders can easily be applied to quickly find tabs you are looking for.

tabgroups - Another "does what it says on the tin"-plugin. This allows you to essentially add a second tab bar, where you can easily switch between groups of tabs. This plugin saves me from having multiple windows open.

[Brad]

very nice selection, I have downloaded a variety of these. I especially enjoyed the piclens although i hate the fact that when you zoom in, only 50% of the images are good quality >_<.

The all-in one sidebar is also very useful

[Warbz]

Really good, thanks.
StumbleUpon is another great add-on.

[Reaper94]

there is another one, i cant remember its name but it works like NoScript but it blanks up the javascript programme and puts the symbol of whatever uses it (java/shockwave etc) and u must click on it, though i conceed it can be quite annoying after a while but its good for security

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

autoHideStatusbar - Hides the status bar when not in use, can be set 1) when a page is loading and/or 2) when you hover over link. Useful if you want just that little extra browsing space.

BugMeNot - This is an extension of the website BugMeNot. It's main purpose is to supply logins to those pesky sites that require you to regsiter to (for example) download something. This plugin makes it a much simple process, by automatically filling in fields for you.

CustomizeGoogle - Enables you to tweak various aspects of google. One tweak that I really like is when searching images, you can change it so that you go direct to the image when clicking on the thumbnail, instead of going to the website.

Find in Tabs - Adds a button to the find bar, allowing you to search all tabs at once.

Organize Status Bar - When you have a lot of plugins you often have loads of unwanted icons in the status bar. This plugin allows you to show/hide and re-order various items.

RefControl - Allows you to send your referer, a forged referer or no referer at all. This can be done on a site-by-site, page-by-page and global basis. Very useful for avoiding hotlinking messages.

Rotate Image - Not much to say... allows you to rotate images, could be better/have more functionality, but it gets the job done.

StumbleUpon - I can't say I'm a massive user of this, and I'm sure alot more of you out there know a lot more about this plugin/service than I do... but I do use on occasion when I'm bored. 2 Main function I guess, 1) Finds pages that it thinks you might like, 2) Allows you to possitvly or negativly rate a site you are viewing. It's been fairly accurate so far with my tastes (especially considering I only skim-read the set up proccess)

Tab Counter - Counts the number of open tabs per window.

Toolbar Buttons - Adds a whole host of buttons that you can add to your toolbars. If your looking for a button equivalent to a default function, chances are it's in there. Adds buttons to websites (e.g. Hotmail, Google, etc.) which are a useful alternative to the bookmark toolbar.

Update Scanner - Checks for changes on websites, very useful for websites that don't provide an atom or RSS feed. You change the frequency a site is scanned and how big a change has to be. You can also compare changes betweens versions (old versions are kept locally)

URL Flipper - Quickly and easily increment/decrement numbers in URLs. Allowing you to navigate through URL sequences, for example image sets.

Just a small note, Piclens has changed it's name to Cooliris since my last update.


I've also added the following sections to the first post:

• My Top 10 Recommended Plugins
  
• Create your own website buttons
  
• Install Plugins faster

EDIT: I thought I'd done some of those before, and it would appear I'd posted them, but never added them to the list... well, they're there now

EDIT2: Forgot to actually link to the button maker. I've added it now.

Edited by Bob, 21 September 2008 - 21:32.

[BeefJeRKy]

Tabcounter is obsolete. Replace with this.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

Sweet! They have finally got a version for FF3!

It was one of my favourite plugins from FF2, but last time I checked there was only an unofficial version of it, that ended up screwing things up more than actually helping in anyway

I will give this a try, make sure it lives up to the previous version

EDIT:

Scope, on 17 Dec 2008, 17:03, said:

Tabcounter is obsolete.

Where is the tab counter in TMP? I've had a quick look through, and can't see it

Edited by Bob, 17 December 2008 - 17:21.

[BeefJeRKy]

tab control the plugin my bad

Edited by Scope, 17 December 2008 - 18:25.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

I've given TMP a quick test, and unfortunately I have read reports that it doesn't work with tabgroups. I have tested the tabgroups/TMP combo on a fresh profile for FF and that is indeed true... thankfully, for what ever reason, tabgroups still works on my default profile... however it prevents one of the functions TMP from working (open new tabs next to the open one).

So while I would recommend TMP, and say it is a great plugin... I would be weary if you are a heavy plugin user as it will most likely interfere with it.

EDIT: I have enabled Tab Control again, to remedy the new tab problem, and all seems to be working fine.

Edited by Bob, 17 December 2008 - 20:37.

[BeefJeRKy]

I don't use tabgroups. I simply have TMP expand into a second and third tabbar if needed.

[Slightly Wonky Robob]

If I did that, I would just have a page of open tabs

EDIT: I have added TMP to the list, I have also added a note to Toolbar Buttons.

Edited by Bob, 17 December 2008 - 20:44.