Top Firefox Extensions

Section: General
Date: 20 February 2008
Author: Tim Butler

Firefox is a well known of course for being a fast and innovative web browser but certainly far from perfect.  Thankfully because it has been specifically written to allow extensions, it can be tweaked to suit individual requirements much better.  Here's my list of top Firefox extensions that make a great browser nearly perfect:

1. Adblock Plus - This extension removes most of the annoying ads and banners from websites.  Yes I know that many sites do require this advertising to survive, however I really dislike the sites that have 30 ads on a page.  You can always allow the ads to be displayed for the sites you wish to support, as this extension is highly customisable. 
   
   
2. Download Statusbar - Instead of having a separate download window, this gives you a neat statusbar down the bottom of your browser to track downloads.  It's simple, sleek and should be how Firefox handles downloads in the first place.
   
   
3. Google Browser Sync - For those with more than one PC, this allows you to syncronise not only your bookmarks but your history, cookies and saved passwords as well.  Essential for anyone that has laptop and main PC or wanting to sync things between work and home.
   
   
4. Fasterfox - Some nifty performance tweaks to make full use of your broadband connection.  I also like the ability to see how long it takes to load a website, especially as a developer.
   
   
5. Firebug - If you're a web developer, this is a must have.  With a simple click you can edit and tweak a website and see the results right away.  As this works on the source code when you view a site, you can use this on any website!
   
   
6. Foxytunes - Control your favourite media player direct from your web browser!  No need to switch between applications to switch songs anymore, Foxytunes means you can do it directly.
   
   
7. Greasemonkey - This allows you to customise how a website looks and functions.  There are thousands of scripts available for it (userscripts.org), which allow you to do everything from customise the way gmail works to customising how youtube looks and functions.  Well worth looking at if you want to change the behaviour or look of an external site.

Hope some of these have been useful if you haven't got them installed already, please feel free to add any of your own favourites in the comments below!

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