Some handy Firefox extensions
I tend to keep the number of my Firefox extensions at a minimum only keeping those I think I need at that time. Today I was just reviewing my Firefox extensions and I am now just left with three which are Link Alert, TrustWatch Search and Colorful Tabs.
I find Link Alert useful because it alerts me about the type of link I am about to click, say for example a new window/tab or a e-mail link and so on. This is useful especially when the link doesn't show that its going to open your e-mail client, for example or that the link opens a pdf file.
The TrustWatch Search extension rates the search results when using the top three search engines, Google, Yahoo! and MSN. If you want to be pro-active you can report sites that look suspicious but I haven't done that so far. Its another thing to verify whether the ratings are actually accurate but at least you get some sort of indication.
I like the Colorful Tabs extension because it adds some colour to the tabs. It just gives a good looking interface especially if you have a few tabs open. Also this extension works with the Mozilla browser because the other two only work with Firefox.
Hi,
These look great. The Web Developer Toolbar is also fantastic - check it out sometime (it's a great "live test/analysis" tool for websites under construction - and also a good tool for 'checking out' other websites for ideas (a more flexible approach than the usual 'view page source' option which also works but is also over-information in some cases).
r
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Weston, some other good extensions I have found in Firefox are as following:
PDF Download : If you download PDF's this asks you the question whether to open or download. Very handy instead of waiting for a PDF to open.
FootieFox : for all football fans, a good extension that allows you to view updated scores.
Colored Tabs : handy extension that distinguishes tabs using different colours.
Download StatusBar : lets you see the download and its progress, as well as resuming downloads. Very handy.
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I use SiteAdvisor instead of Trust watch search. I haven't tried Trust watch though, SiteAdvisor does a good job, it allows you to do a bit of customisation. Try it out.
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Thanks Ron about the Web Developer Toolbar. It does countless number of things and makes it so easy to look at source and css or to just have a look at the javascript. I will be using it a lot in my web development. I am still struggling to get it to work in the Mozilla browser though.
John K, FootieFox addon is quite good and keeps you abreast with results. Still evaluating the pdf one, haven't had many pdfs yet this week.
Leo, at some stage I will unistall Trust Watch and give SiteAdvisor a go.
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I recently installed the new Firefox 2.0 and now I no longer have the colourful tabs extension. I am hoping it will not be long until its available for Firefox 2.0.
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Actually Wayne colored tabs is now available for Firefox 2.0. I don't think I will be keeping for long though because it disables the ability to close individual tabs. I was getting to like that feature(close individual tabs) so much so I think for now I am thinking of uninstalling colored tabs until that bug is fixed.
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The colourful tab bug has now been fixed. If you had not yet uninstalled the extension just update it.
Thanks, Wayne I have just updated the colored tabs and yes, you can actually close individual tabs now. Thanks.
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I found another interesting article on FireFox extensions. I have installed most of these, and find them to be very useful. Have a look and see what you think. I especially like the three noted below:
ColoUnREaDTabs 1.0: makes the tabs more distinctive, and easier to see which is open or not.
Download Sort 2.5.7: I like this, as I tend to download JPG files, PDF's and ZIP files, and have seperate areas for these on my hard drive. Makes it easier to save these as you can default a location per extension. Very handy!!
Unhide Passwords 1.1.3: some might not like this, but I use a number of passwords for different sites, and have to write these down to remember them (I know, not very secure!) This makes it easier to log into different websites. Very nice!
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Thanks John for the link to the article. It has caused me to further review my Firefox extensions.
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One of the extensions that I have found very useful for web development is Firebug. It is very useful when it comes to debugging, editing and monitoring CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.
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