Brian On Software

One of the first things I did upon receiving my laptop from work was to install Firefox and some extensions to enrich my browsing experience on the Web.  Firefox is not only a solid Web browser, but it is also a great platform that provides a plugin architecture for developers to create useful extensions to extends the software’s usability and functionality. 

The following is a list of recommended Firefox extensions (for Windows) that will no doubt enhance your experience when surfing the Web.  As the guys behind Firefox would say…Rediscover the Web!  At the end of this list, I’ll share with you my five favorite ones.  Here we go:

1. AdBlock
   With AdBlock, I can filter HTML elements that I want Firefox to remove or hide so that they won’t appear on the screen anymore.  The elements can be mostly any HTML tag that contains a URL such as an Image, a Div block, etc.  The beauty of it is that the filter can use either the wildcard character (*) or full Regular Expression syntax.
2. AutoCopy
   This extension simply copies selected text from Firefox to the clipboard automatically.  If you do a lot of copy/pasting with text, this extension will no doubt be of great help to you.
3. BugMeNot
   This one is such a time saver when dealing with popular and annoying web registration forms.  You basically activate the extension by right-clicking on a user name and/or password field of a site that asks for registration.  BugMeNot will log in for you automatically using user-submitted passwords. So far it delivers its promises on many sites I need to log in.  It can’t guess or analyze captcha just yet…but many in a couple of versions.
4. del.icio.us buttons
   This extension helps me to quickly tag a link in my del.icio.us account directly from Firefox.  Over 17,000 downloads of this extension…you can’t go wrong!
5. Dictionary Tooltip
   Since English isn’t my first language, there are some words I don’t understand when reading a blog post or an article.  This extension is very helpful in that case, because I just have to double-click the selected word to see its meaning/definition in a popup.
6. Download Statusbar
   A simple extension that helps me view and manage downloads from the browser’s status bar.
7. FireFTP
   This is a wonderful FTP extension for Firefox.  It basically integrates a FTP client within the browser so that you don’t have to launch an external FTP client to manage your FTP sessions.  It’s a handy tool for bloggers or web designers who wish to upload some files in their web servers.
8. Flashblock
   Gosh I hate it whenever I’m visiting a site with an embedded Flash video in Internet Explorer because some of them start playing automatically…that’s fine, but when there’s more than one video at a time playing, things can get pretty annoying.  This tool is a great remedy to such a problem because it replaces Flash objects with a button that you must click in order to view them.
9. FlashGot
   It enables single and massive downloads using the most popular external download managers for Windows and other platforms.  I’m currently using LeechGet Personal Edition as my download manager and this extension recognizes it without problems.
10. Get directions from Google Maps
    This extension allows me to select an address on a web page, right click the mouse, and choose the "Locate on Google Map" menu item to see the location at Google Maps.  Simple!
11. GmailSpace
    What a great innovative extension this one is!  It allows you to use your Gmail account space (almost over 7 GB of space) for file storage.  That means that you can upload/download folders from your file system to your Gmail account’s storage system.  Just remember to create a Gmail filter for every file/directory that you will upload because you’ll receive an email about it and if you delete that email, the file(s) you have uploaded will get deleted.  Set up the filter to send such emails automatically to another label for a cleaner inbox.
12. Google Calendar Quick Add
    Basically a shortcut to add calendar entries quickly without having to open Google Calendar.  Which reminds me…I still have to figure out how to sync my Exchange calendar at work with my personal Google calendar to better utilize this extension.  So far I’m using Exchange over Google calendar mostly because I can also sync with with my PDA without hassle.
13. Google Gears
    This extension is what allows me to cache my feeds from Google Reader so that I can view them offline. 
14. IE Tab
    Enables you to use the embedded IE engine within Mozilla/Firefox.  It’s extremely useful whether you want to test your web design on both popular platforms or when you’re visiting a site that mostly works on IE, such as a SharePoint site.  It’s very easy to make the switch since you just click on the toolbar button to switch from one engine to the other.
15. Image Assistant
    This extension launches an image in an external viewer.  It allows for zooming and other rich functionality not available in the browser.  It’s a great companion when dealing with images whenever you’re writing a blog post or article.
16. Image Zoom
    Adds zoom functionality for images whenever you right-click on them.  Love it!
17. PicLens
    I haven’t got a chance to fully experience this extension, but I like it so far.  As stated in the extension’s site: "PicLens transforms your browser into a visually stunning experience for enjoying online photos and videos.  Its interactive "3D Wall" lets you effortlessly search and zoom your way around thousands of images and YouTube videos faster and more immersively than ever before."
18. ScrapBook
    It’s an organizer of saved Web pages so that I can view them offline (it’s stored in a cache).  This extension offers so many features such as text highlighting, HTML elements removal (so you can just keep the essential of a page), full text search, etc.  Check out LifeHacker’s post on ScrapBook.  In other words, it’s another way to bookmark your pages for later use.
19. Session Manager
    Saves and restores the state of all windows.  It’s very useful for instance if Firefox should crash and you had multiple tabs opened.  No more worries about losing the tabs you had opened prior to the crash.  You can also configure the extension so that it can remember how many sessions back you can revert your tabs to.
20. Tab Mix Plus
    Tab browsing with an added boost.  As per its description: "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, plus much more".

My three favorite extensions from this list are:

1. ScrapBook
2. Session Manager
3. AdBlock
4. IETab
5. GmailSpace

What’s yours?