Five Firefox plugins (with one bonus) you must have
Sidin Vadukut -
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:27 AM
As you may have gathered from my last blog post, I am a big fan of software apps that are portable and installation-free. Especially when they are light, bloat-free and do what they do without a huge hue and cry.
If someone asked me "Which bollywood star would most resemble the software you like?" I would have to say Irrfan Khan. (Did I get my F's right?)
Which is also why Firefox, and to a lesser extent Opera, are my browsers of choice. FF comes with a wonderful array of plugins and add-ons that extend the functionality of FF way beyond that of a fast, efficient browser. Not only is there a great range of apps to choose from, but they are a snap to install, use and even discard if you don't like them. And most plugins add no noticeable bloat to FF.
If you're new to Firefox or to plugins in general here is a quick guide to finding them, installing then and a list of my fave five pieces of code goodness.
Installing:
1. Get Firefox. Dowload it. Install it. And don't worry about installing the latest version. All the add-ons that matter have already been ported to the latest version. Go to www.firefox.com to get your copy.
2. Next you need to find a whole bunch of plugins to choose from and install. Thankfully the firefox guys have thought of that too: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/.
3. When you find one you like (my recommendations below), click on the Add to Firefox button on the side. It should install in a flash. Most add-ons are easy to setup and use and, if things get too complicated, to trash too.
The only issue I normally have with adding a list of add-ons is that you need to restart firefox to get the plugins to start working. This author has remarkably little patience you see.
Recommendation:
Here are my top 5 Firefox extentions and why I love them. And you may too:
1. Del.icio.us bookmarks: I use the del.icio.us service to manage all my bookmarks and even to publicise the sites I like and the articles I have written on my personal blog. (Check out the lists on the right side bar.) This plugin for firefox makes bookmarking and retrieving them a snap. Perhaps a detailed blog post on how to really get the most of del.icio.us is due. Expect that soon. The plugin is here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3615
2. Twitterfox: If you're not on Twitter, well you are a Web 2.0 nobody. Think of Twitter as an instant messenger where you get to broadcast your thoughts to all your friends in one shot and your messages are saved online for posterity. (Not really private, you have been warned.) Twitter may seem pointless to start with. But its not just good fun but pretty useful too. The twitterfox plugin helps you interact with your friends and keep abreast what everyone is upto in the comfort of your firefox browser window. Highly recommended for Twitter junkies. Get it here: http://www.naan.net/trac/wiki/TwitterFox
3. Screengrab: If you're a blogger, journalist or anyone who needs to ocassionally save the odd screenshot or web image then Screengrab is the perfect add-on. The plugin sits in the bottom right hand corner of your screen only popping up when you want to take a screenshot of something. And its got great option that let you grab only a little piece, which you can highlight with your mouse, or the entire screen from top to all the way to the bottom. You can then save the image on your hardrive. The files come as PNG. Remember to rename them! Its among the first plugins I install along with Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146
4. Foxytunes: I don't use this as mush as I used to. Ever since I got my Ipod my windows media player has been lying somewhere in the PC rusting and disintegrating into little useless slivers of corroded code. But if you still like listening to music while browsing the net then Foxytunes is perfect. It helps you control your media player (it handles most) from the comfort of your browser window. Takes some getting used to: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/219
5. Adblock Plus: My IT guys and marketing boffins will kill me for doing this. But sometimes websites have ads and animations that are annoying, heavy to download and kill your entire online experience. Adblock Plus zaps out all those banner ads and leaves you free from the evil money-grabbing hansd of capitalists: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
Bonus add-on: This is only for bloggers who post frequently using one of the popular blogging platforms like Wordpress, Blogger, Movable Type and so on. Zemanta is difficult to explain in brief. But what it does is amazing. As you write your blogpost (online on the blogging interface I mean. Not in MS Word or anything like that.) Zemanta scours the net for related free-to-use pictures and related links to news, blogposts and so on. Click on any of those images to incorporate them into your blog without worrying about rights and other legal hassles. Zemanta will also automatically add a line of acknowledgement at the bottom of your post and caption your picture.
You can also use any of those "Related Links" you like too. It really all very smooth and cool. Makes blogging a whole lot easier. Don't take my word for it. Try it yourself. The Zemanta plugin will sit in Firefox and automatically add the requisite functions on your blog post composition page. Its like magic: http://www.zemanta.com/download/firefox/
Tell me what your fave Firefox add-ons are. And always remember that this blog is always open to post ideas.
Ciao my dahlings.