My Firefox setup
I’ve been using Firefox since version 0.6 and never switched back. It is real pleasure to watch it slowly shrinking down in size (about double from .6 to .9) while greatly expanding its usefulness. There are things I want to see improved, but this post is not about that.
This is meant as the reference for the extensions I use every day. For me, so I can check for updates and new stuff. For you, so you can try them out and see what you were missing.
Where to find extensions
Hectic as all pre-1.0 open-source projects are, FF extensions can be found on several places. Since 0.9 release, Mozilla crew went to organize things a bit, with creation of update.mozilla.org. Some great extensions are not there yet, but I believe it’s just a matter of time.
Until then…
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Official update @ Mozilla.org (mentioned above)
Those above are sorted in order of relevance. Currently, MozillaZine forum is the place to watch for updates and new extensions, but I think that very soon everyone will post at the first site, simply because it is linked from Extensions panel in Firefox. MyExtensions is also very active.
For every day
TabBrowser preferences
Fantastic piece of work, that allows you to toggle/change how Firefox handles links and clicks. I like to use just one browser window and have all pages opened as tabs, not as new windows. That counts external links as well (from RSS reader, mail client etc.). You can fine-tune the behavior of middle-click.
This is extension that enables it. I use older, 0.5.x gen, which is now called Lite, while 0.6.x offer much more options. I will certainly try it out as soon as time allows. Also read the author’s explanation of specific options.
Be careful with this, as it is fragile and can mess up the FF install. Always backup your profile first.
There’s a new kid in town, that claims the same purpose: Window-Q. I haven’t tried it yet.
Flowing tabs
When you have dozens of tabs, this comes pretty useful. It will try to shorten the tab length (if page’s title is short) and will also reflow them in several lines.
AdBlock
Name says it all. Download link is located on Installation page, although not very obvious.
Show failed URL
When you open URL in background tab and the loading fails, FF will not keep the URL in the address bar. This will keep it in the bar…with a little tweak in user.js file (see the explanation on home page).
Disable target for downloads
Prevents FF to open empty tab when you click on downloadable files (like .exe). The link above is for the home page - you might also want to check this out.
IE view
Adds context menu items: Open page in IE and Open link in IE. Very handy for sites coded for that outdated PoC.
Flat bookmark editing
One of the things I’d like to see improved in FF is add-bookmark process. Ideally, each time I add bookmark, I want the Edit bookmark panel to appear so can change the title (as it is usually stupid). Wait and see.
In the meantime, this extension eases up bookmark managing.
For web development
Web Developer
Currently in version 0.8, this is a-must. I can’t imagine working without it. It can do so much, it’s impossible to mention just few of the features.
User agent switcher
Another gem from Chris’ lab; two clicks and FF will be masked as IE, Opera or something else you need. Great for testing, as well as circumventing badly coded sites.
Javascript console status
With this, you don’t have to keep the JS console window opened all the time. As soon as gecko throws an error, large red X will appear in the status bar to notify you.
Paste IP
Adds two items in the context menu for form text fields, using which you can paste your IP address and User-Agent string. Very handy.
That’s it. What do you use and find useful?