13 Useful Firefox Extensions

Whether you are a Windows, Mac or Linux user, the chances are you have come across Firefox. Web trends show that Firefox is quickly catching up with Internet Explorer as the internet browser of choice. The Ace up Firefox’s sleeve remains its enormous collection of third party extensions which can be installed to enhance the browsing experience in countless numbers of ways. We have sifted through hundreds of them to give you a short list of the extensions we have found to be most useful.

1) Foxmarks

Foxmarks will automatically synchronise your bookmarks to a central server allowing you to access them from multiple computers. Foxmarks also gives you the option to upload and download your bookmarks from your own server if you wish. Currently for Firefox 2 users only although Firefox 3 beta users can also use the service by joining their beta here.

2) Picnik

Picnik is a handy free online image editor which performs all the basics with aplomb. The extension allows you to right-click on a web image (or create a screenshot) and send it straight to Picnik for editing and then downloading. If you find yourself dealing with minor imaging chores such as resizing or cropping on a regular basis this extension can be a real time saver.

3) FireFTP

FireFTP is an FTP client that runs from a tab in your Firefox. Supports drag and drop, SSL encryption and import/export of accounts to name but a few.

4) Scribefire

Scribefire is a must-have for all you budding bloggers out there. It integrates with your browser to let you easily post to your blog: you can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post. In fact, I am writing this post using Scribefire.

5) Greasemonkey

Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript. There are literally hundreds of scripts that can be applied within Greasemonkey, most of them can be found at http://userscripts.org. A notable example is the Better Gmail 2 script which alters the look and functionality of Gmail.

6) Adblock +Flashblock

Both of these extensions deal with the same type of common gripe on the internet and do exactly what they say on the tin. Adblock will block all advertisments on any page you visit, Flashblock will prevent those annoying flash animations from starting up of their own accord with the option to view flash content if you specifically choose to.

7) Downthemall

A nifty download manager that replaces Firefox’s download feature. Boasting faster downloading speeds, this extension also adds functionality and more versatility to your downloading. Downthemall also lets you automatically download all links or images contained within a webpage simultaneously and with ease.

On a similar note, Facebook fans can use the Facebook Photo Album Downloader to automatically download entire photo albums with a few clicks of the mouse.

8.) Shareaholic

For the avid social bookmarker Shareaholic adds a small icon to your browser which, once clicked, will submit the page you are on to any of a long list of social bookmarking sites. Shareaholic will also pre fill in the url saving you the tedious task of copying and pasting it manually. If social bookmarking is not your thing, you can also use it to quickly email your page to any email address. (Account needed)

9) Gtranslate

With gTranslate you can translate any text in a webpage by selecting and right-clicking it. The extension uses the Google translation services to do this.

10) TinyUrl Creator (Firefox 2.0 only)

Converts long and unweildy urls into smaller urls from within your browser. You can see an example of this here.

11) LinkBunch (Firefox 2.0 only)

This clever little extension will transform every single open tab in your Firefox into a single link, which will in turn open those same tabs when clicked on.

12) BugMeNot

This extension integrates with the popular BugMeNot service. The service allows you to access thousands of sites which force you to register prior to giving you access to their content. The extension will auto complete existing (user submitted) shared login details therefore allowing you to skip the registration process and protect your anonymity as well as save you time.

13) Dr.Web anti-virus link checker (Firefox 2.0 only)

If you have little faith in your anti-virus software then this is the extension for you.  Right click on any link and let Dr. Web will scan the file or webpage you are about come into contact with, giving you a full report.  This is very handy for any suspicious links or dodgy software that you are just itching to give a go and download.