20 Must-have Firefox Extensions

An anonymous reader noted that Computerworld is running a story on the 20 must have Firefox extensions. Several of my favorites are in there so I'm looking forward to playing with the ones I haven't heard of.

Comments

Adblock?

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

Why isn't adblock mentioned?

*fires up internet explorer, browses tfa*

Oh.

Two flash ads & an animated gif (along with the pop-up). Not surprised they didn't mention ad block plus and filterset g.

Install them & never see another ad again. Ever. (without any sort of configuration).

Re:Adblock?

[Tx]

It may be selfish, but I kind of wish people wouldn't mention those too often. If they get too widely used, it will just mean more annoying, unavoidable ads. Like those ones that make you visit an ad page in order to then get the link to the actual article. Those piss me off.

Re:Adblock?

[GetSource]

In a way, I agree -- but more about people blocking *all* ads in general.

However, while I don't mind people mentioning Adblock, I do mind people mentioning Filterset.g. For me, though, it's because ads are what make the internet run: if it weren't for ads, we wouldn't have near the amount of free sites that we do. Heck, Google would probably not even exist anymore.

The reason that I *do* like Adblock is that it allows you to get rid of the ads that should have never existed in the first place: Shaking/blinking ads, video ads that eat up all your bandwidth, and ads with blaring auto-starting sound.

What I generally do ... is leave most ads on, then block the ones that are especially irritating. This allows places to continue to have revenue, but only stunts the growth of the companies that produce ads that are more obtrusive/use more resources than an ad should.

It's a little hypocritical, perhaps, but I think that when choosing an ad provider, a site should think about the users' comfort at their site as well as about ad revenue.

Re: 20 Must-have Firefox Extensions

[Anonymous Coward]

20 Must-have Firefox Extensions

or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bloat.

20 is too many

[Mostly a lurker]

Based on my experience, Firefox often becomes unstable when too many extensions are included. The problem is that extensions can conflict with each other. This risk is low with a small number of extensions but increases as the number of extensions increases. Extensions are a great feature of Firefox, but it is best to select the 10 or so that really increase your productivity and let the rest go.

What about unplug? What about flashgot?

[Anonymous Coward]

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2254/

It allows you to rip streaming content easily from websites. It can handle everything from flash movies (.flv) on youtube to mp3 data streamed to your web browser. Paired with the Flashgot plugin:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/220/

You can download all of the links on a webpage, just like certain download managers used to. Its a great combo.

sensationalism

[Anonymous Coward]

IAAFPS and i call bs on this one


if this list were anywhere near accurate it should have included these extensions:

• Navigation
  • Thumbs - Shows the first thumbnail from each linked gallery, letting you skip galleries that don't look interesting.
  • Linky - Open all links in tabs, etc.
  • firefusk - view all images from galleries with numerically named image files.
  • Browse Images - Use the Forward button or Alt+Shift+Right to go to the next image.
  • Location Navigator - Select a portion of a URL that varies, then navigate up or down.
  • Digger - Navigate to parent directories in URLs, etc.
  • refspoof - Modify your HTTP Referer to gain access to sites that use insecure login mechanisms.
• Downloading and saving
  • DownThemAll - Download all the links to images/movies on a page at once.
  • FlashGot - Download all the links on a page at once using an external download manager.
  • Download sort - Save files to folders based on extension or download date.
  • spiderzilla - Download entire web sites.
  • Super DragAndGo - Drag a link to open it in a new tab; drag an image to save it.
• Videos
  • Launchy - Open links to video files in an external player, streaming, so you can watch a video without waiting to download it. (Note that not all video players support streaming video; for example, WinAmp 5.111 hangs. VLC works well. Here's my launchy.xml for VLC.)
  • MediaPlayerConnectivity - Open embedded video in an external player, so you can use features like Full Screen.
• Images
  • Image Zoom - Convenient shortcuts for zooming images.
  • mozImage - Browse images on hard drive or view them in a slideshow.

Most of the authors of these extensions are not yet members of the Pornzilla project.

Re:sensationalism

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of that looks like it is not for making regular internet viewing easier, but for streamlining the viewing of internet porn (not saying net porn viewing isn't normal, but there is a distinction between using the net and using the net for porn). Kinda freaky what you can tell about someone from what extensions they have installed...

Re:sensationalism

[djSpinMonkey]

IAAFPS and i call bs on this one

You are a first person shooter?

Wow

[HalAtWork]

Someone takes their porn browsing seriously!

The complete list

[Anonymous Coward]

Tools for taming the Web
StumbleUpon
Yahoo Mail Notifier
Gmail Manager
Greasemonkey

Visual Improvements
Firefox Showcase
Cooliris Previews
Colorful Tabs
ChromaTabs

Matters of convenience
Google Browser Sync
Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
Session Manager
All-in-One Gestures
IE Tab
Download Statusbar
Download Sort
Nuke Anything Enhanced

Information gatherers
Forecastfox
Answers

Web developer essentials
FireFTP
Firebug
Web Developer
MeasureIt
ColorZilla

Yes, there are more than twenty, but 20 sounds better, doesn't it? By the way, please skip the IE tab. If you are using Firefox, it is in your best interest to abandon sites that only support Internet Explorer. I should go on to say something more, because I apparently don't have enough characters per line: more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more

threat level

[magarity]

Those plugins are all very cute, but the plugin I rely on most is the one that displays the Homeland Security department's current threat level.