My Top 5 Recommended Addons
- Tab Mix Plus
- LocationbarĀ²
- Download Statusbar
- Adblock Plus
- Firebug
A-Z of Recommended Addons
Adblock Plus - Blocks all those annoying adverts and popups a lot websites tend to use.
Add to Search Bar - Some larger websites, for example google, allow you to add a search plugin, directly from your search bar menu. There are, however, a lot of websites that don't provide this functionality, some can be fond on Mycroft, but if that fails, you have to go through a tedious proccess of making a search plugin by hand. This plugin eliminates all the hassle; Simply right click in a search box, and click "Add to search bar...". This works for most GET or POST searches, including FS!
All-in-One Sidebar - Allows you to open several FireFox features (e.g. Bookmarks, History, Downloads, etc.) in a sidebar. Works especially well in widescreen.
Dictionaries - Since many people didn't know about these last time, here is a link to a list of available dictionaries (and language packs). Saves non-Americans using the silly American dictionary.
Download Statusbar - Adds a download statusbar to the bottom of the window (when downloading something), which allows you to monitor / manage downloads, with out having to flick between windows.
Firebug - A necessity for any web developer out there. Allows you to edit, debug and monitor HTML, CSS and Javascript.
FireGestures - Allows you to preform various (customisable) mouse gestures to execute various FireFox commands. Very useful when you're being lazy or your second hand is otherwise preoccupied.
Image Zoom - Allows you to resize and rotate images, even images embeded in a website. Uses very convenient mouse shortcuts.
Launchy - Allows you to open links / images in your chosen program. Supports many programs by default (on windows), unfortunately requires you edit an xml file to add new programs. Very useful for opening transparent images in PS without having to save (or getting an annoying black background).
NOTE: I haven't been able to set up any programs on a Mac, does anyone else have this problem? I'm not that familiar with Macs, and I haven't seen any Mac examples, so it could be just that I am using the wrong filepath.
LocationbarĀ² - Linkifies the different directories in the locationbar. Many modern websites have a proper, URL-friendly, file structure that can be easily navigated by simple clicking on the locationbar. At the very least, this can be used for a convenient way of returning to the home page of a website.
Omnibar - Merges the location bar and search bar into one, convenient to use bar. Gives you a little bit more room on your toolbar, which can be very useful for smaller screens.
Personas Plus - Apart from ports of old FireFox themes, this is about as close as you will get to me recommending a theme for FireFox. This addon allows you to add a background image to your toolbars and change the font colour. You can get a bunch of pre-made personas from here.
Source Viewer Tab - Allows you to view page source in a tab, rather than a seperate window. I honestly don't know why this isn't a standard FireFox feature.
Stylish - Allows you to tweak or completely change the styles of websites and even FireFox itself. You can find a bunch of premade styles here or you can create your own (this does require knowledge of CSS).
Tab Counter - Adds a tab counter to your toolbar. Simple, yet effective.
Tab Mix Plus - Enhances FireFox's tab browsing capabilities. Some of my favourite features include: Setting the min and max width of a tab, Altering the default tab opening order and customising the different (mouse) shortcuts.
TabGroups Menu - Adds a menu and menu button that allows you to quickly navigate tab groups (i.e. Panorama).
URL Flipper - Allows you to quickly and easily increment or decrement a number in a URL. Very useful for quickly navigating pages or sequential images.
My FireFox
As an added bonus, here is a screenshot of my my FireFox:
From left-to-right, top-to-bottom we have:
- A small menu button base on (a slightly edited version of) a style for Stylish.
- The tab bar, which has been tweaked with Tab Mix Plus.
- Closed tabs button also from Tab Mix Plus (IIRC).
- Personas button, which has been enhanced into a menu button by TabGroups Menu.
- Tab Counter
- Standard forward/back buttons.
- An enhanced location bar (Linkified and styled with LocationbarĀ² and merged with the search bar using Omnibar).
- URL Flipper buttons
- Bookmarks
- Custom photobucket button, which when clicked, brings up a menu of all my different galleries.
- Custom smiley plugin button, which open up a smiley sidebar which integrates with All-in-One Sidebar.
- Bookmarks button (opens in All-in-One Sidebar).
- All-in-One Sidebar menu button.
I am using the Karriere.at Persona and Firefox 3 theme for Firefox 4+. I can't find the original website I found this out on, but to get personas to work with a custom theme you must do the following:
- Enable the persona you want (restart if prompted).
- Enable the theme you want and restart.
- Set "lightweightThemes.isThemeSelected" to true in your about:config and restart.
Don't forget to show off your FireFox and give a brief description!
I'll update the thread as and when I find interesting plugins.
Edited by Bob, 22 June 2011 - 19:22.