Firefox Add-ons Pt. 1

By Jake



At the time of the publication of this article 77% (according to Google Analytics) of our reader base is viewing this site using Mozilla's FireFox web browser. What this tells me is that our audience is made up of mostly people who are under the age of 45. I felt like it would be fitting to make an article discussing all of the great Firefox add-ons that may be slipping through the cracks. With that being said, I shall take it upon myself to share the add-ons that I use.

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Here is a list of Add-ons I currently use:

Addblock Plus
Adblock Plus is one of the most essential Firefox add-ons. This is actually essential and not "essential" like Tab Mix Plus is said to be by some individuals. This add-on allows you to block, get this, ads. It actually allows you to block images that you find annoying, as well. Say you're perusing a furries forum and somebody has an avatar of themselves dressed up as Tweetie from Looney Tunes, okay? Maybe you don't like Tweetie and find the image offensive, for some reason. Adblock allows you to block said image.

Better GReader
This add-on allows you to "preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar for more reading area, add favicons to feed subscriptions and more with Better GReader." I stole that bit of quoted text from the link. I mean, if you use GReader this is a pretty good add-on. I am favicon crazy. I am to favicons as Gallagher is to watermelons.

Download Statusbar
Download Statusbar is an add-on that is essential to me, but may not be for you. I download a lot of pictures and audio throughout a normal day and I hate the download pop-up window. This puts those downloads right above the statusbar.

Stealther
I have this but really don't know what it does or if it works. Here's what they claim that it does: "temporarily disables:" "Browsing History (also in Address bar), Cookies, Downloaded Files History, Disk Cache, Saved Form Information, Sending of ReferrerHeader, Recently Closed Tabs list" I don't think I like it really. I'm going to uninstall it because of this article. Thanks folks.

Fast Dial
Fast Dial is like speed dial on a telephone. You can set it to have as many different websites in it as you want. I use it as my homepage, which is great when I hit F11 and have my browser full screen. I usually forget to do that, though.

FaviconizeTab
As I have already divulged to you, my readers, is that I love favicons. We even have a pretty neat one here. This add-on makes your tabs smaller, so that you only see that favicon. I like it because I often have 7-10 tabs open at a time. I'll spare you from any more Gallagher references this time.

ForecastFox
This gives you weather updates in your status bar. I find it necessary because my girlfriend asks me what the weather is like every ten minutes. This way I can tell her without visiting a different website. It makes my life easier, but I am still aggravated every time she asks.

FoxyTunes
This is another add-on that I find to be essential for my own personal use. This allows me to pause, stop or skip songs without leaving my browser. I use Winamp (Please leave comments about how I should be using itunes you fucking jerks), and this works wonderfully with it.

Interclue
This allows you to peak at what's behind a link before you click it. I'm a newcomer to this one, but I think it's going to allow me to miss out on a lot of scat porn and other boner killers. People sending you links to stuff like that is the internet equivalent of a Chinese person peeing in your Coke. Too bad there isn't a webapp for that yet.

Power Twitter
I love Twitter. A lot of people don't understand it, claiming that it is "like Facebook status updates" (as if we didn't already know that!) and that "they don't get it." It's fun and obnoxious, what else is there to get? It can get you out of jail, in some more extreme cases. This is POWER Twitter. Besides the fact that it says that you updated from "Power Twitter" under your update, it also allows you to see people's status updates by putting your mouse cursor over their name, peak at the links behind the "tinylink," Facebook status updates ("Wait isn't that what Twitter is?" Fuck you.) and something with "inline" Youtube videos. I like it. Thanks to RadZack for the recommendation.

TwitterFox
TwitterFox adds a Twitter icon in your status bar that shows you how many tweets you have and even allows you to update your status. I like it a lot and just started using it.

Save Image in Folder
Right click on an image and go to "save image in folder" and then choose a folder. I just started using this, and haven't actually used it once yet, but I feel like I will use it and find it useful.

Splash
This adds a splash screen to Firefox. Not necessary at all, but I use it to add this image:

as my splash screen. I'm real mature.

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon adds a toolbar that allows you to randomly visit a website. It's good if you get bored. I haven't been using it lately, but I recommend it. Also, if you already have it give OYIT a 'thumbs up,' it'll help us out a lot.

Text Link Opener
To add this on you have to log into Mozilla. I don't know why, so don't ask. What it does is if you see a link like http:www.oneyearintexas.com and it's not clickable, you can highlight it with your mouse, right click it and open it in the current window or a new window. I use this a lot.


That concludes my tour of Firefox add-ons I currently have installed. I will now be trying new ones out and will come back next week (or whenever) with another installment. I'll give you my feedback. Like Gallagher pulling things out of his giant couch, I'm sure I'll find some treasure and I'll find some rubbish. In closing: