Firefox 3 Extensions - Updated

FF3 has lots of cool extensions.  Here's my list.

Last Update:  09.16.08

• Added FEBE to ESSENTIAL
• Added CLEO,  Gmail Redesigned (by Globex Designs), RetailMeNot to COOL BUT NON-ESSENTIAL
• Added Feedly, Kiobo Toolbar to TRYING
• Added Sxipper, Translator to RARELY USED
• Added to REJECTED
• Added xpi file so that you can download all at once!

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1. DOWNLOAD them all at once!

• Download all of my Essential, Cool, and Trying extensions in one file by right clicking the link below (NOTE:  Greasemonkey scripts and Stylish styles not included)
  extensions_20080828.xpi

2. ESSENTIAL

• * Adblock Plus - does what it says
• * AutoPagerize - similar to the AutoPager GM script, but works on more sites than just google. Not perfect, but nice.
• * Copy as HTML Link - awesome for copying a page ref for blog comments
• * Customize Google - cool idea - I especially like the links to other search engines, numbering of results, and filters (filter out certain sites from results).  Might conflict with Better Google 2, not sure.
• * Download Statusbar - don't use the awful download window, use this sleek status-bar toolbar.  Awesome.
• * Email This! - adds ability to "email this URL" to email client of your choice.  Nice.
• * FEBE - nice way to back up your extensions - can even backup online now.
• * Flashblock - a nice button for your toolbar that toggles flash objects - works perfectly.  May not be needed if the flash blocker in Custom Buttons 2 works fine.
• * Foxmarks - sign up for one of the few beta test slots if you can't wait for the final port of this great extension.
• * Google Preview - adds preview images to google results.
• * Greasemonkey - naturally - here's my fav scripts, not sure if some overlap with the Better Google extensions (below in TRYING)
  
  • AmazonBookCover - adds button to Amazon to view full sized image, not the "Search inside" image - good if you want to save the image for a blog post
  • Auto Add Feed - If you use Google Reader, this plugin allows you to skip that intermediate page when adding a new feed, and you end up directly in Google Reader.
  • Autopager (GM Script) - nice!  As you page down with the space bar on google results, it appends the next 10 results, forever!  No more page changes.  Nice.
  • Google Reader Print Button - allows better printing of items from GR.  NOTE:  To make this script work EVEN BETTER, you need to modify it (instructions) by (1) installing it in GM, then going into GM options to modify it, (2) commenting out two lines from the script, and (3) going in to the GM options for this script, and in the Included Pages section, add a * to the end of http://www.google.com/reader/view/*
  • Mouse Rocking - if you don't need lots of mouse gestures, just rocking, this works great.
• * IE Tab - allows you to emulate IE in a Firefox tab for apps that require IE (like Sharepoint or OWA)
• * Image Toolbar - nice toolbar like in IE
• * It's all Text - tired of typing up your comments in some puny comment box? Automatically launch your text editor of choice. Just click the 'save' icon to copy your text back to the original text box.
• * Package Mapping - select the routing number, right click and map it - mashup of shipping status and google map.  Nice.
• * PDF Download - enhances PDF features in FF
• * PriceAdvance - when on supported sites (Amazon, Walmart, J&R, Target, etc.), shows prices for item on other sites.  (See also Guide to safe, effective online shopping)
• * Pricepinx - this is not actually a firefox extension, but an online service that allows you to track price drops for your favorite items.  Very nice. (See also Guide to safe, effective online shopping)
• * Print Preview - Print Preview button for your toolbar.  Toolbar Buttons also has a print preview button, so this extension might be redundant, except that it has a better icon for the button.
• * TabMixPlus (dev) - currently still in beta, but works good enough
• * Toolbar Buttons - this excellent addon worked well in ff2.
• * Update Scanner - scans for updates on pages that don't have RSS, or that you would like to monitor for changes (like this one!)
• * WOT - community-feedback based evaluation of sites, measures trustworthiness.  Although I never rate sites, it has caught some evil sites for me.

3. COOL BUT NOT ESSENTIAL

• * CLEO - great way to package up your extensions into one .xpi file
• * Configuration Mania - shows lots of FF3 config items without having to go to about:
• * Craigslist Image Previewer - very nice - lets you see thumbnails in search results rather than having to click into each one.
• * CuteMenus - adds nice icons to menus
• *** DragDropUpload - allows you to drag and drop attachements onto gmail - Causing some problems lately
• * Digg Firefox Extension - nice if you want to digg pages that don't have the icon
• * FaviconizeTab - minimizes tabs to their favicon.  Good if you have lots of tabs open.
• * Fission - adds progress bar to address bar, like Safari
• * Furl Toolbar - I use furl instead of delicious, mainly b/c it's friendlier and saves a copy of the page.  YMMD.
• * Gmail Redesigned (by Globex Designs) - slows down scrolling a bit, but pretty, and dresses up GCalendar too.
• * Google Redesigned - this advanced skin for Gmail is awesome!  Some people think it slows down the browser, but I love it.  It started out as a Stylish template, but then grew up to be a full extension.
• * Nuke Anything Enhanced - Temporarily remove anything from a page before printing - if you refresh page, nuked items return.  Nice.
• * Pencil - Pencil is a Firefox add-on to do GUI prototyping and simple sketching.  Works very nicely, nice substitute for using Visio for screen mockups.
• * RetailMeNot - finds coupons for you automatically when visiting various vendor sites.  Coolness.
• * StumbleUpon - find related sites to ones you visit and like
• * Stylish - provides alternate styles for various sites - indispensable for frequently visited sites like digg and youtube (and maybe gmail and greader too).  The styles are updated often, but my favorites now are:
  • Beautiful Digg - nice layout and dark theme for digg - though main nav color hard to read
  • Craigslist Craiggers - sleek, a must have for craiggers!
  • Check marking visited links - this is very cool, although on my home machine, the checkmark was somehow replaced with a small box with four numbers in it.  Not sure what's up with that. 
  • Combine Stop/Reload buttons - simple, works
  • Digg - Fluid, Ad and Spaceing Remover (Updated) - widens it out for higher resolutions.
  • Digg.com - comment tweaks 2.0 - really nice changes, with up/down ratings buttons
  • Google Calendar - colorize Sat/Sun (start on Mon) - adds color to the weekend, and starts the week on Mon.  They also have one that starts the week on Sunday.
  • Google Maps Max Updated! - maximizes use of space on google maps.  Nice.
  • My Yahoo Cleaner - removes ads from my.yahoo, but I wish it did a little more
  • OS X Style Google Reader - makes google reader look awesome!
  • Stylish customized toolbar button - nice functional button for stylish, mandatory
  • userstyles.org - sea green color scheme - best one for looking around userstyles, the place where you look for all of your stylish styles
  • Userstyles.org :: Enlarge screenshots on hover - also essential for looking around userstyles.org
  • Very clean lifehacker - no ads, no wasted space
  • Wikipedia - Grey Lady - a nice simplification of wikipedia
  • Website: cleaner - Yahoo! Mail Beta - removes ads
  • YouTube.com - dark gray redesign (vC) - one of the best youtube themes out there, black, but could be more compact.
  • YouTube No Comments - hides comments on youtube
• * TabScope - popup image when you rollover tabs
• * WebDeveloper - great all around tool for looking at what's under the hood.
• * Woot Watcher - see your daily woot in the status bar - now updates and shows percentages for WootOffs - WOOT!
• Yet Another Smooth Scrolling - Same as SmoothWheel, but more features.  Nice.

4. TRYING

• * Better Gmail 2 - compilation of GreaseMonkey scripts to make gmail work better. 
• *** WARNING *** I have isolated my crashes to this extension, not sure why.
• * Better GReader - bunch of GM scripts to enhance Google Reader
• * Better YouTube - automatically loads higher res videos if available, and other GM scripts to enhance YouTube
• * BlueOrganizer - a bookmark organizer on steroids, with some sort of widget creator for bloggers too.  Hmmm.
• * Bookmark Previews - gives you a visual way to flip through your bookmarks.  Cool.
• * Craigzilla - a Craig's List status bar widget
• * DownloadHelper - for downloading video content
• * drop.io - a file upload widget.  There are so many of these popping up, but this one seems pretty usable.
• * Feedly - basically, a social bookmark start page.  Meh.
• * FireBug - web development info.  Still in beta.
• * FireShot - screenshot util
• * Fuller Screen - an improved full-screen experience
• * GSpace - use your gmail accounts like disk drives to store files
• * GiftWisdom - gift tracking and such
• * Greasemonkey- here are the scripts I am trying
  
  • GoogleMonkeyR - Google results - multiple columns of results, Remove "Sponsored Links", Number results, Auto-load more results, Remove web search dialogues
  • View image links - generate album view for image links. all button has access key (the first letter).
  • Clean TheFreeDictionary.com - for when I get this page when searching for a definition.  No more ads.
  • eBay Hacks - Show only negative feedback Mod - adds two new tabs to ebay - Complaints Received and Complaints Left
• * Interclue - I haven't got a clue what this does yet.
• * Kiobo Toolbar - Similar to stumble, but suggests sites you might like based on your browsing history.
• * MR Tech Toolkit - extension and theme manager with lots of options.
• * myibay eBay bid sniper - ebay bid sniper tool.
• OpenBook - adds advanced features to bookmark add dialog
• * OPIE - backs up file extension preferences ().  Probably just as good as other extensions by Chuck (FEBE/CLEO).
• * Print/Print Preview - Replace the default "Print" button with the Mozilla Suite style "Print/Print Preview" toolbar button/menu
• * RAMBack - supposedly lets you clear Firefox memory.  We'll see.
• * Remove It Permanently (RIP) - selectively removes any element from a web site.
• * ScreenGrab - formerly, did not copy to clipboard properly.  Testing this against FireShot
• *** Shareaholic - allows you to tag via multiple services. MAY SLOW FF DOWN CONSIDERABLY
• * SmoothWheel - I like Yet Another Smooth Scrolling better, but testing.
• * Stylish - here's the latest styles I am trying out.
  • Greasemonkey - cleaner manage window - not sure it works until gm is updated for b5
• * ThumbStrips - a visual representation of your browser history, lets you view thumbnails
• * VeriSign's OpenID SeatBelt - one of many OpenID tools.  I like theirs best, but I don't love it.
• * Video DownloadHelper
• *** WebMynd - browse your web history from google.  MAY SLOW FF DOWN CONSIDERABLY
• * Xoopit for Gmail - very cool app that adds features like list files, list photos/videos, etc. 
• * Zotero - helps you save online references.  Might help w/ blogging, we'll see.

4. RARELY USED BUT OK

• * Aardvark - allows some tweaking of pages before printing, etc. - just never used it
• * AideRSS - this GReader plugin gives you a numberic value of each article's popularity - but it slows down the process too much, and I didn't really need that info after all.
• * Badges On Favicon - Adds item counts (like how many unread emails) to the tabs - nice, but not really necessary for me.
• bookStack - advanced bookmark management capabilities (experimental)
• * BugMeNot - I still haven't figured out how this works for bypassing mandatory registration for sites like the NYT - whatever, never used it.
• * BuyLater - amazon price drop notifier (see also my Guide to safe, effective online shopping).  Works fine, but I like using PricePinx better.
• * Cooliris (formerly PicLens) - a cool image search tool - lots of eye candy, not sure how useful
• * Copy Link Text - right click on a link and choose from drop down
• Custom Buttons 2 - custom buttons for the toolbar.
• * Dugged - firefox 'mirror' app - just not useful to me.
• * EditCSS - works fine, but not as nicely as the tools in Web Developer toolbar
• * Extended Copy Menu - has 'save as html,' but doesn't really do what I want.  Blah.
• * FireGestures - same as MouseGestures, I think - but I only need the 'rocker' function, so I just use the Greasemonkey script.
• * Firefox Activities - experimental, adds ie8 Activities functions - not too many yet, so not that great.
• Flash Killer - Flashblock works fine
• * GA? - Is Google Analytics Installed
• * InstaClick - for laptops or mice without center button - can open link in new tab by right clicking.  Works great, but not good for desktops.
• * Mouse Gestures Redux - there are about three different gesture packages, this one was my old favorite.  However, if all you need is rocker functionality, use the greasemonkey script Mouse Rocking
• * Personal Menu - does the same as TinyMenu, but with buttons.  Too much learning curve for me, and TinyMenu does enough.  But for the uberTweaker, this is a cool app.
• * Phoenity Aura (theme)
• * PMOG - the Passively Multiplayer Online Game you play from a FF toolbar.  Neato.
• * Pluribo - Instant summaries of items on Amazon - but only works for certain categories right now (like electronics), and NOT books.
• * Sxipper - password manager, but the built in one seems good enough
• * Smoothwheel - makes scrolling in firefox much more smooth and pleasurable.  But YetAnotherSmoothScroller works better.
• * Translator - allows you to translate any web page into nearly any language at the click of a button.
• * Tiny Menu - shrinks menus down to one small, but highly configurable dropdown.  But I don't want to condense my menus anymore.
• * Translator - page translator.  Nice, and unobtrusive, but I didn't use much.

5. REJECTED

• * Autofill Forms - just another form filler, like AI Roboform - except doesn't handle credit cards
• * Bandwidth Meter - bandwidth diagnostics
• * CookiePie - log into multiple Gmail accounts at once (finally!)
• * Find Bar - adds expressions to the / find bar - but seemed to disable the '/'
• * Glubble Family Edition - safe, child-oriented browser experience, but too intrusive.  Better to just install something on the back end like K9 Web Protection.
• * HyperBK - bookmark manager enhancement - but just too much going on to be helpful
• Quick TransLation - language translation tool.  For some reason, this thing kept adding a bunch of javascript into my blog posts in HTML view.  Scary. I think it was just bad coding, though, not malicious.
• * Router Status - lots of network stats available from status bar icon - but doesn't work with my Belking router.
• * Stylish - here are the stylish styles that I tried that were close, but not good enough.
  
  • Addons header styling - works ok, but a little messy
  • Add Bookmark Dialog: Show Folder Tree - doesn't seem to do anything in ff3
  • Add-ons Manager - cleaner design - does nothing
  • Combined Stop, Refresh, and Throbber buttons! - doesn't exactly work, throbber seems to take up a second spot, over whatever button is nextdoor.
  • Customize Toolbar window - For the Customize Toolbar option in FF, did not work in ff3b5
  • Firefox 2+3 - Slim Extension List - works, but kinda ugly with hard lines
  • Mozilla Add-ons Cute icons - didn't do anything in my ff3b5
  • Toolbars - Buttons Closer for Firefox 3 - i like this, removes wasted space in dropdowns, but interferes with Stylish button checkmarks and mouseover on top menu (makes choices disappear)
• * Ubiquity - all kinds of cool command line stuff and right click menu stuff.  However, too buggy, did not respond to commands at all, perhaps b/c am behind a firewall, or conflicts with some other plugin.  Argh.
• * Yapta - airline ticket search and notification - but no real value add

Firefox 3 Tips, Tricks, and Resources

• Firefox 3 beta 2 and incompatible extension workarounds
• Strange but complete list of all firefox extensions, with current level of FF3 readiness
• Animated PNG article and tools (Mozilla labs, very cool)

Comments

[Chuck Baker]

While CLEO wont be ready for Fx 3 until later, FEBE 6.0beta is available now. This version contains a new function called "Quick backup" which will backup selected extension/themes and store them in a cleo-like package.

See http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions/febe/febe60.html

[seeker]

Wow. Thanks Chuck. It doesn't back up Greasemonkey scripts, does it? Please oh please? Thx.

[Fraser]

A bookmark addon on steroids, with the ability to share the things you love as a widget. AND the ability to enjoy contextual browsing.

Contextual browsing?

Let's say you're reading a movie review on Meta Critic - with a single click you can add it to your Netflix Queue, find it on Amazon, etc.

It's the power of our SmartMenu and contextual browsing

Read more about it if you're interested:
http://blog.adaptiveblue.com/?p=891 (books)
http://blog.adaptiveblue.com/?p=1024 (music)

If you have any questions or feedback please drop me a line - I'd love to hear them!

Fraser

[seeker]

I've been trying adaptive blue, it looks cool, but it or one of the other add ons i added recently is slowing down ff3 something fierce. Also, I've been working with your support group to figure out how to add my saved books to my widget, but it's not clear. I'll figure it out.

[meetjoe]

Drop shipping is a method many wholesale suppliers use by shipping your orders directly to your customer.

[Gary Krall]

Hi: I am the technical director for the PiP/SeatBelt product here at Verisign. I'd love to know what you'd like to see improved in SB to take you from "don't love it" to "do love it".

Thanks!

[Jay Meattle]

hi! I am the developer behind shareaholic. first of all, thank you for using Shareaholic :) if you ever have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to drop me a line directly.

you sparked my curiosity by mentioning "may slow down ff down" for shareaholic. this is the first time i've heard about this issue (shareaholic has been downloaded over 200,000 times thus far). let me know if you're facing any issues, will be happy to troubleshoot with you.

jay at meattle dot com

[Melanie Baker]

Thanks for taking our extension for a test drive! If you have any questions or problems with the AideRSS extension, do let me know.

Thematic PostRank can show some interesting results, too. When you're looking at the items for a single feed, the rankings are Feed-based, so ranked according to that one site's past performance. At a folder level in Google Reader, however, Thematic kicks in, and all the feeds in that folder are ranked against each other's performance.

A couple other things you can play with - pressing Ctrl-Z changes the filtering drop-down at the top right to a text box, so you can specify filters by number if you want to get a bit more specific. You can also use Ctrl-C in List View to make each feed a different colour to enhance readability.

Enjoy!

[Cineaste]

Seeker/Daniel I found a Linux distro that you should try!

Ubuntu Christian Edition

"Ubuntu Christian Edition is a free, open source operating system geared towards Christians. It is based on the popular Ubuntu. Along with the standard Ubuntu applications, Ubuntu Christian Edition includes the best available Christian software. The latest release contains GnomeSword, a top of the line Bible study program for Linux based on the Sword Project. There are several modules installed with GnomeSword including Bibles, Commentaries, and Dictionaries. Ubuntu Christian Edition also includes fully integrated web content parental controls powered by Dansguardian. A graphical tool to adjust the parental control settings has also been developed specifically for Ubuntu Christian Edition. The goal of Ubuntu Christian Edition is not to bring Christianity to Linux but to bring Linux to Christians."

[Loren Bast]

Hello - I'm a product manager at Yapta. Mind if we get some feedback on why you didn't perceive any value-add with our extension? Just to share some data - in the last month, about 1 in 5 of our users have been able to get a refund or travel voucher on flights they've already purchased - since our launch in 2007, we've helped get users about $17mm back.

[danielg]

The main reason is, we don't fly that much! And when we do, we use Mexicana to fly to Mexico, which Yapta doesn't track. While Yapta would be good for us if we traveled domestically, we don't need a persistent plugin. When we do travel, we can just go to the site and enter it, correct?

[Loren Bast]

You're absolutely right on both counts, Daniel - we don't track Mexicana (yet), and you don't need the plugin to track flights - you can go to Yapta.com and do flight tracking there!

Phew! I just wanted to make sure the plugin didn't crash your browser, make snide remarks about you, etc.

Thanks again for the feedback!!

[Deborah]

Thanks for including Web of Trust on the essentials list! We're all working together to make the Internet a safer place to surf.

Deborah
Web of Trust

[Cineaste]

This one looks interesting.

YouTube Comment Snob

YouTube Comment Snob is a Firefox extension that filters out undesirable comments from YouTube comment threads.