Mozilla Firefox recommendations

[Gryndyl]

Started using Firefox last week both at work and at home. Any extensions y'all would particularyl recommend? There are a whole lot of them to choose from!

[Steron]

I started using it last night based on what was said about it in here. I kind of had the same question.

[Enough]

Started using Firefox last week both at work and at home. Any extensions y'all would particularyl recommend? There are a whole lot of them to choose from!

Yup, get spellbound LOL!  It really is a good spell checker for forum posts and another good one for forums is BBCode which lets you automate all sorts of things for posting.  Mouse gestures is da bomb as is bugmenot.  Let's see there is also the gmail notifier and the open in ie view ones that I use regularly.  And the Google toolbar is quite handy.  There's more I use but these are all basic requirements for myself.  Have at it!    

[khomotso]

Adblock is one of my favorites.  It allows me to specify some wildcard expressions that commonly identify imported advertisement elements in a page (e.g. */ads/* or *adserver*), and simply strip them all out of the page.  It also allows you to view a list of the URLs of all blockable components of any given page, so that you can quickly block and unblock them, or more quickly identify the common URL substrings that you want to block.

Makes it sound like a lot of work, but with only a dozen or so such expressions I hardly see any ads at all on my web pages anymore.  Dramatically speeds up the loading time of ad-heavy sites, and reduces the clutter of my browsing experience.

[Gryndyl]

I have already gotten one of the mouse gesturing ones as well as one that allows me to drag a link to an empty space on the page to open it in a new tab. also has one that allows me to zoom in on images on the page. I highly recommend all of those

[gorky1]

And you can avoid tubgirl and the like.

SessionSaver's great too. Lets you continue where you were before last shutdown.

[Gryndyl]

I've heard that there's some way to open a bunch of tabs and set that particular configuration of tabs as your home page. How is this done?

[Montag]

All in one gestures
Bug me not
Ad block

[khomotso]

Oh, I also like Dictionary Search.  Lets me select and right-click a word in a page to have it automatically looked up in dictionary.com in a new tab.  A minor convenience, I suppose, but one of those minor conveniences that makes a difference over the long haul.

[Belgedin]

http://prefbar.mozdev.org/  (Couldn't live without it)

http://www.beggarchooser.com/firefox/ (Linkification: Tired of copying URLs? Me too. This one is very handy)

http://ieview.mozdev.org/ (Sometimes you HAVE to use IE, this makes it easy)


I have this "Undo Close Tab," but I don't remember where I got it. Apparently it is the same place I got the Linkification extension, but I can't find it. Anyway, it is really handy since I've often closed a tab by accident.

[Enough]

Oh, I also like Dictionary Search.  Lets me select and right-click a word in a page to have it automatically looked up in dictionary.com in a new tab.  A minor convenience, I suppose, but one of those minor conveniences that makes a difference over the long haul.

I really like that one too.  Other one's similar to this that are great include Google Pagerank status, Google Preview (gives a thumbnail of the webpage next to search results),  Wayback (displays an archived version of the page), and Gcache.  All simple things to do but even simplier with the extensions.  Another one I have not seen mentioned is the User Agent Switcher so if you go to a site that requires IE you can spoof it into thinking your browser is IE.  Doesn't always work but that's what ieview is for.

[Eco-Logic]

I just use mouse gestures, a plugin that allows me to get a stock quote by right clicking on a Ticker symbol anywhere & one more that changes the tabs some how.  (not even sure really).

Can someone tell me why anyone would use the google toolbar plugin for Firefox?

My copy already has a google search bar on the top and a pop-up blocker built in.  Why would I want another google search bar?

[Tscott]

Super Drag and Go - This is the one you highlight and drag to get a new tab with a google search of the text.  I couldn't live without it now.
http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=137&vid=266&category=Navigation

Tabbrowser Extensions - This is the best extension for tabbed browsing IMO.
http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_tabextensions.html.en

Spellbound - Spell checker, very useful
http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/

Download them all! - very useful if you want everything of certain file types that's linked on a page.
See: Pornzilla http://www.squarefree.com/pornzilla/ (link safe for work except for name)

Allow Right Click - lets you right click on pictures, etc. on sites that don't allow right clicking
http://extensions.roachfiend.com/index.php

Bug Me Not - useful for when some links news articles for sites that require registration and you don't want to give out your email
http://extensions.roachfiend.com/index.php

IE View - for those occasional times when what you want to see doesn't work right in Firefox.
http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=35&vid=156

(BTW, all the links in this post were quickly and easily found using Super Drag and Go.  Did I mention I couldn't live without it yet?)

[dangerballs]

I've heard that there's some way to open a bunch of tabs and set that particular configuration of tabs as your home page. How is this done?

Session Saver

[lildrgn]

Super Drag and Go - This is the one you highlight and drag to get a new tab with a google search of the text.  I couldn't live without it now.
http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=137&vid=266&category=Navigation

Tabbrowser Extensions - This is the best extension for tabbed browsing IMO.
http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_tabextensions.html.en

Spellbound - Spell checker, very useful
http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/

Download them all! - very useful if you want everything of certain file types that's linked on a page.
See: Pornzilla http://www.squarefree.com/pornzilla/ (link safe for work except for name)

Allow Right Click - lets you right click on pictures, etc. on sites that don't allow right clicking
http://extensions.roachfiend.com/index.php

Bug Me Not - useful for when some links news articles for sites that require registration and you don't want to give out your email
http://extensions.roachfiend.com/index.php

IE View - for those occasional times when what you want to see doesn't work right in Firefox.
http://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=35&vid=156

(BTW, all the links in this post were quickly and easily found using Super Drag and Go.  Did I mention I couldn't live without it yet?)

Uh, someone needs TinyURL creator... (too lazy to look up the link)

[Tscott]

http://jgillick.nettripper.com/tinyurl/

This one? (super drag and go strikes again)

And there was only one link that was super long...   :\

[Ummagumma]

On a related topic, for some reason after I install an extension into Firefox, when I try to start the program again it freezes, no menu items can be selected and nothing can be typed in the URL field.  It takes me a couple of restarts to get things going again.  I plan on alerting Mozilla about this, but I was wondering if anyone else was having this problem and if so, have they found a fix for it.  I'm using Firefox .09, BTW.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Can someone tell me why anyone would use the google toolbar plugin for Firefox?

My copy already has a google search bar on the top and a pop-up blocker built in.  Why would I want another google search bar?

There's no reason to have a google toolbar. Also, in firefox, you can just type 'google searchterm' in the address bar to search google. I'd like to get that down to just 'g searchterm' like in Opera, and I think that's doable with an edit somewhere.

[Ypmur]

Like Begeldin, I love the Prefbar Extension. In fact, I used to use Mozilla and I decided to wait until there was a version compatible with Firefox 1.0 before I would switch to Firefox, and now I use Firefox exclusively

[RookieCAF]

I have installed (And use most of em)  AdBlock, Download Manager Tweak, IEView, FoxyTunes (Use that one in Thunderbird as well) , Smoothwheel, Tabbrowser Extensions, Bugmenot , All In One Gestures and Minimize to tray.

Based on this thread I think I'm going to try Right Click, Spellbound , Download Them All.

How can I block tubgirl BTW, I hate when that pops up in forums  :shock:

[Enough]

Can someone tell me why anyone would use the google toolbar plugin for Firefox?

My copy already has a google search bar on the top and a pop-up blocker built in.  Why would I want another google search bar?

There's no reason to have a google toolbar. Also, in firefox, you can just type 'google searchterm' in the address bar to search google. I'd like to get that down to just 'g searchterm' like in Opera, and I think that's doable with an edit somewhere.

I dig the integrated search in FF but still find the Google bar useful.  It has hot keys you can use, specialized search buttons that are also configurable (want to search the University you work at with a click of a button, do a dictionary, news or image search, search stocks?), do any of these searches off of selected text in an article, blogger features, result navigation buttons, gcache searching, site search, translate to English-- the list goes on and on.  Really for most people it is overkill.  But for someone who regularly does more advanced searches it can be real time saver by automating a lot of keystrokes.  Think of it as increased productivity for the geeks.  I love it!  

[gameoverman]

I have currently(* are must haves, imo):

Adblock                            *
Imagezoom
FoxyTunes                        *
Singlewindow
Allow right click                  *
Bugmenot
Nukeanything
BBcode                             *
Pastengo                          *
Plaintext links
Tabbrowser Extensions        *
Compactmenu
Chromedit
All in one Gestures              *
Firesomething
Ieview                              *
Superdragngo                    *

[Ypmur]

Umma, you might want to upgrade to 1.0. That might fix it.

[swizzlest]

My extensions:

Single Window
Tab Preferences

^ These two don't seem to work so well with 1.0PR

Weatherfox
Foxytunes
Googlebar
Close tab on double-click

^ All work great.  

[O.DOGG]

Tscott, Super DragAndGo is awesome. Thanks!

[Ummagumma]

Umma, you might want to upgrade to 1.0. That might fix it.

I actually did that after I posted the problem, and other than SuperDragandGo getting nuked as an unsupported extension, the problem persists under 1.0PR

[Enough]

My extensions:

Single Window
Tab Preferences

^ These two don't seem to work so well with 1.0PR

Weatherfox
Foxytunes
Googlebar
Close tab on double-click

^ All work great.  

Make sure that you uninstall them first but there are working versions for 1.0PR of both.  In fact every extension that I use that came up as incompatible with FF 1.0PR worked again if I just uninstalled and reinstalled them, even if it was the same version.

Single Window: just go to the main FF extensions page and install there once you have uninstalled your old version and restarted your browser.

Tab Preferences: they are adding all kinds of stuff in a new version that you can get a beta build for that is being built for FF 1.0PR (the v 0.9 builds) or you can go with the v 0.6 builds which definitely work for FF 1.0PR (make sure you uninstall any current TB version you have, even if it's the same one if you have upgraded to FF 1.0 PR).   Link

Hope that helps!  

[lildrgn]

Don't forget Tab X (little X next to tab to close) and Tab Scroller (hold down right mouse button, scroll to different tab).

Good stuff!

[Jeff]

Don't forget Tab X (little X next to tab to close) and Tab Scroller (hold down right mouse button, scroll to different tab).

Good stuff!

On it! nice one.  

Gameoverman, are all yours 1.0PR friendly?

btw, just read on the mozilla forums that 1.0 RC1 will be released this Monday, the 18th.

[lildrgn]

Adblock is one of my favorites.  It allows me to specify some wildcard expressions that commonly identify imported advertisement elements in a page (e.g. */ads/* or *adserver*), and simply strip them all out of the page.  It also allows you to view a list of the URLs of all blockable components of any given page, so that you can quickly block and unblock them, or more quickly identify the common URL substrings that you want to block.

Makes it sound like a lot of work, but with only a dozen or so such expressions I hardly see any ads at all on my web pages anymore.  Dramatically speeds up the loading time of ad-heavy sites, and reduces the clutter of my browsing experience.

Do you actually type *adserver* in the box and they're all gone? I have t manually block each ad. I did do just an "*" once and it took everything, including smileys, etc. How do I get the ads to go away?

[Jeff]

Do you actually type *adserver* in the box and they're all gone? I have t manually block each ad. I did do just an "*" once and it took everything, including smileys, etc. How do I get the ads to go away?

lildrgn, your best bet is to clear your list entirely, then someone can export their comprehensive list, which you can then import.

[gameoverman]

Don't forget Tab X (little X next to tab to close) and Tab Scroller (hold down right mouse button, scroll to different tab).

Good stuff!

On it! nice one.  

Gameoverman, are all yours 1.0PR friendly?

btw, just read on the mozilla forums that 1.0 RC1 will be released this Monday, the 18th.

Yeah, these are all updated 1.0 versions.

Before the official updates came out, all I had to do to get these same extensions to work was edit a file in each extension(I forget which one dammit). In those files, there is an entry 'minfileversion' set to .7 usually. The 'maxfile version' is set to .9. Well, if you changed that value to 1, the extension works with 1.0pr just fine. A search on the Firefox messageboards would turn up the exact way to do it, I'm sure of that because that's where I read it.

[lildrgn]

Here's another question. I just installed the Tab Extensions and am trying to figure it out.

When I loaded tabs before, the tabs would load in the background. Now, each tab I load loads, but I'm bounced to the newly opened tab. For example, if I want to open 3 links on the CG forum index, it takes me directly to the new tab. Then I have to go back to open the other 2 links. Big pain.

Also, the Tab X extension appears to be disabled with the Tab Extensions extension. Too bad.

EDIT to add: nevermind, just figured out the first half. Now if someone can figure out the Tab X.

[Jeff]

Also, the Tab X extension appears to be disabled with the Tab Extensions extension. Too bad.

Same here, TabX wouldn't work if TabExtensions was enabled. I was having some goofy problems with certain links not working too, with TabExtensions enabled. I uninstalled TabExtensions, and now TabX works, and those other problems are fixed now too.

[Tscott]

With Tabbrowser Extensions I'm so used to using the middle mouse button to close tabs now that I don't see the point of adding Tab X.  Also the middle mouse button on an empty spot of the tab bar brings up the last tab closed (and so on up to three times).  I'd imagine Tab X doesn't have a quick way to re-open recently closed tabs.

[Jeff]

Whoa ... SuperDrag & Go rocks.  It may be my new favorite extension!

whoa whoa whoa ... really cool! I just set Super Drag n Go to dnload images to my desktop. Drag the image to any empty part of the page and it pops onto my desktop. awesome.

[lildrgn]

With Tabbrowser Extensions I'm so used to using the middle mouse button to close tabs now that I don't see the point of adding Tab X.  Also the middle mouse button on an empty spot of the tab bar brings up the last tab closed (and so on up to three times).  I'd imagine Tab X doesn't have a quick way to re-open recently closed tabs.

Thanks for this! I didn't know MMB would close the tab. You r0x0rs, T$c0Tt!

[Gryndyl]

I just had some weird little instance where firefox had me create a new profile since the default profile was already in use. Now it's loading with a "new" user profile...with no extensions installed.  Anyone have any idea how to switch user profiles on firefox?

[Boxcar]

Gryndyl wrote:
I've heard that there's some way to open a bunch of tabs and set that particular configuration of tabs as your home page. How is this done?


Session Saver

Or (if you don't want to use session saver) open the tabs you want for your homepage(s) then go to Tool -->  Options --> General and click "Use Current Pages" for your Home page.

[Ypmur]

I just had some weird little instance where firefox had me create a new profile since the default profile was already in use. Now it's loading with a "new" user profile...with no extensions installed.  Anyone have any idea how to switch user profiles on firefox?

I've had this happen to me when using Mozilla a few times. When this happens. Check your process list. Probably means you already have firefox open and it's hanging and in that case, end the process and it should be fine when you start up firefox.