SQJ Taipei

With more people downloading (and loving) the FIREFOX browser every day… I’m sure that some of my readers have also chosen to do so.

One of the coolest things about FIREFOX is that it is a very nice package upon installation, but that you can find TONS of “extensions” you can download and add to the basic browser which will “extend” its functionality. In other words… you get all the basic browsing features that everyone will want or need… and then you can add on the features that YOU want.

I’d be surprised to find any 2 users who have the exact same set of extensions installed… so I’m not saying these are the best for you or for anyone certain person other than me… but this list might get you started as you start to realize the versatility of FIREFOX.

This list is NOT in order of favorite to least favorite or any other order… I like them all or else I wouldn’t use them. They are SO EASY to install and uninstall.

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FLASHGOT - This lets you download a single link or multiple links on a webpage. You’ll need a download manager such as Free Download Manager and the extension will work with it from within Firefox. DOWNLOAD FLASHGOT

CHATZILLA - This is simply a simple IRC chat client. If you don’t know what IRC is… you won’t need this… but if you do use IRC, you might like it. DOWNLOAD CHATZILLA

RELOAD EVERY - This reloads a webpage every so many seconds or minutes… whatever interval you choose. I most often use this when I’m trying to follow a sporting event on the web while working on other things… For example, I use this when following the Tour de France text updates. I’ll set the page to reload every minute or two… then keep working on other things and then check that page from time to time and know that the info posted there is current. DOWNLOAD RELOAD EVERY

CONTEXT SEARCH - Have you noticed that box up at the top right of your FIREFOX window? It comes preloaded with several popular search options. I’m not sure any more which ones it comes with… but you can add several search engines to that list. Then… once you have the engines you want… this extension will become very powerful. It will allow you to select some text on the screen and then “right-click” and choose one of your search engines to search for what you’ve selected. So let’s say you were reading on the web about the movie “Star Wars”… you could just select the words STAR WARS and right click and search for it in IMDB or WIKIPEDIA or whatever. DOWNLOAD CONTEXT SEARCH

QUICKNOTE - This is a notetaking extension. Basically… it is like post-it notes… but has lots of advanced features… I usually use it to jot down “to-do” items… but I’m now trying out REMINDERFOX for that purpose and think I like it better than QUICKNOTE. For now… I still have both. QUICKNOTE is really very powerful, but I know I don’t use it for all I could so I leave it installed thinking I’ll check it out more someday. DOWNLOAD QUICKNOTE

UNDOCLOSETAB - This does just what the name says… it will allow you to “undo” the tab you just closed… meaning… it will re-open that tab. I can’t believe how often I accidentally close a tab… this saves me daily. DOWNLOAD UNDOCLOSETAB

GOOGLE TOOLBAR - Even though you can use the built-in search box (upper right corner) to search Google… I really like the toolbar because I often search for images or within websites. And sometimes I’m feelin’ lucky. DOWNLOAD GOOGLE TOOLBAR

FOXYTUNES - I don’t name them… I just use them. This one is maybe the coolest one I use… it totally runs your media player from within FIREFOX. It runs down in the status bar (at the bottom of your window) and will show/hide your player in addition to all the usual controls you’d get with your media player. I love this one. I use Windows Media Player 11… but it also supports WinAmp, iTunes, Yahoo Music Engine, foobar2000, Musicmatch, Quintessential, J. River, jetAudio, XMPlay, MediaMonkey, Media Player Classic, Sonique, wxMusik, Real Player, XMMS, Noatun, Juk, Amarok, Music Player Daemon, Rhythmbox and many other players. If you listen to music as you surf the web… this will probably be one of your favorite extensions. DOWNLOAD FOXYTUNES

SPIDERZILLA - This will allow you to download an entire website for offline browsing or to make an archive. I use this most often to download large collections of desktop wallpapers. It takes a long time to download an entire website sometimes… but this runs in the background and then you can view the site at your leisure. DOWNLOAD SPIDERZILLA

SAGE - This is an RSS reader/aggregator for FIREFOX. If you don’t know what RSS is… you need to learn. This puts all your RSS subscriptions on your screen with the ALT-S keyboard shortcut….. nice. One of the most polished extensions I’ve seen. This is a HUGE timesaver if you have lots of subscriptions. DOWNLOAD SAGE

FOXCLOCKS - This puts puts the local time for any city in the world on your status bar. You could put Taipei on there and then know if it is OK to call us or if we’ll be sleeping. Integrates with Google Earth. DOWNLOAD FOXCLOCKS

CHROMEDIT - This gives you an easy way to modify various files regarding your profile. You rarely if ever need to modify those files… but if you do… this extension will make it easier. DOWNLOAD CHROMEDIT

ADBLOCK PLUS and ADBLOCK FILTERSET.G UPDATER - This is THE ONE. Get this one if you only get one. Get it now. This will virtually ELIMINATE any of the ads you are used to seeing. I was an early adopter when the “scroll wheel” mouse came out and I found that it was so AGGRIVATING to use a computer that didn’t have a wheel. That is what it is like to use (and get used to using) ADBLOCK PLUS. After you install ADBLOCK PLUS… go get the FILTERSET UPDATER and install it. The FILTERSET UPDATER will keep the filters ADBLOCK PLUS uses up-to-date. You’ll be amazed. DOWNLOAD ADBLOCK PLUS DOWNLOAD ADBLOCK FILTERSET UPDATER

REMINDERFOX - This manages reminders and to-do lists. I just started using this a couple weeks ago and I’m liking it… lots. I’ve got it installed in Thunderbird also and they share the same data file so it is sync’d no matter which one I use. It is not a big “full-featured” calendar program… but does really well with basic reminders and to-dos. DOWNLOAD REMINDERFOX

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Well… that took longer than I planned… but I do think you’ll find most or all of these to be very useful extensions. Let me know which ones you like and don’t like and also let me know which other ones you’ve found and can’t live without.

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