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Ask Slashdot: Most Useful Browser Extensions?

Posted by Soulskill on from the still-waiting-on-an-extension-that-makes-me-lunch dept.

An anonymous reader writes: One of the most powerful features of modern browsers is the ability to install third-party extensions. They allow third-party developers to work on really useful niche functionality, and let users customize their browser with the tools they need. Unfortunately, this environment has the same discover-ability and security problems as standalone software. Thus, my question: what are your most useful (and safe) browser extensions? I can't live without some privacy basics like NoScript, AdBlock, and Ghostery. I also find FoxyProxy helpful for getting around geolocation requirements for media streaming. OneTab works pretty well for saving groups of browser tabs, and Pushbullet keeps getting better at managing my phone while I'm at my PC.

7 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. Browser Makers Should Get The Message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A lot of these addons have millions of downloads. Perhaps browser makers need to get the message and include popular functionality that people want.

  2. Hola by X10 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hola internet is the most useful plugin. It helps me watch video's from the US, Canada and the UK that are limited to their respective countries. I wonder, I have BBC on my TV, I can rightfully watch any BBC program, but I can't use the service on the bbc web site to watch it a day later. With Hola, I can.

    --
    no, I don't have a sig
  3. My lists by Nexion · · Score: 5, Interesting

    FireFox:

    noscript
    ghostery
    noredirect
    firebug
    flash video downloader

    Chrome:
    scriptno
    ghostery

    1. Re:My lists by Jahta · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A couple more for Firefox:

      BetterPrivacy - Deals with "super cookies"
      HTTPS-Everywhere - Transparently turns HTTP requests into HTTPS requests for sites that support it

      TableTools2 - Sort, filter, copy, etc. table data, even if the web site doesn't support it
      Vimperator - Not for everybody, but if you use vi as your editor this adds a lot of keyboard goodness to your browsing experience.

  4. Web of Trust by Saysys · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Web of Trust rates pages before you click on them and when you hit a pop-up it blocks the page if it's not trustworthy until you explicitly give the pop-up permission.

  5. Re:web designers by whopub · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's not the web designers' fault! I'm a small time self employed web designer. When it comes to designing a website, we don't do what we want! We don't even do what the customer needs. We end up doing what he asks. Most of the time what they ask for sucks, and that's what they/you get.

  6. Re:web designers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    With all third-party resources blocked, that is an almost empty page. If you allow access only to s3.amazonaws.com, you get all the content you'd expect on that page. The page still wants to load from 8 more domains though. I find that amusingly self-referential, but I sincerely doubt it is intentional.