Firefox Extensions

Posted by: wfaulk

Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 14:24

I think it's about time for us to let each other know about what Firefox extensions we're using again.

Here are the ones I find it hard to live without:
  • Adblock Plus
  • BugMeNot
  • Flashblock
  • Foxmarks
  • Greasemonkey
  • Live HTTP Headers
  • Long Titles
  • Platypus
  • Restart Firefox
And here are some that I like, but are not "necessary":
  • Aging Tabs
  • ChromEdit Plus
  • ClumsyFingers
  • CookiePie
  • Dictionary Tooltip
  • Edit Cookies
  • Enhanced History Manager
  • Fission
  • IE Tab
  • Resizeable Form Fields
  • Resurrect Pages
  • Tamper Data
  • TinyUrl Creator
  • View Source Chart
And here are some that I've tried recently but not ended up liking:
  • Undo Closed Tabs Button: only allows you to undo the most recent one; I was hoping to get a more easily accessible Menu than having to go through the History menu.
  • NoScript: won't allow me to universally allow Javascript while blocking Java
Which brings me to the real reason for this post:

Does anyone know of a Javablock extension? One that would simply put a placeholder for Java applets and allow me to choose to run them rather than automatically running them? Basically, Flashblock for Java.
Posted by: JBjorgen

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 14:47

I use many of the same ones you use.

In addition, I use:

for convenience:
Clone Window

for web development:
Firebug
Web Developer
View Cookies
Charles Autoconfiguration (for use with Charles Web Debugging Proxy)
Posted by: Attack

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 15:17

My Extensions:
Adblock Plus
Better Gmail
Configuration Mania
CustomizeGoogle
DonwTheAll!
Download Manager Tweek
keyconfig
Locationbar2
NoScript
Password Exporter
Slashdotter
Tab Mix Plus
VideoDownloader

I never install Flash in Firefox since it causes the memory to leak like a sieve.

Why do allow javascript to run globally? Only running javascript on sites you trust is the simplest way to prevent unwanted software from getting drive by installed. Now that I think about it Java is about the only plugin that I allow installed into Firefox since I need it for work. I don't have Real Player, Quicktime or Acrobat Reader plugins installed.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 15:33

I swear by:

Tab Mix Plus
Adblock (not adblock plus)
Adblock Filterset.G Updater


While we're here, I'm looking for a good addon that'll do the following thing for me:

In internet Explorer 7, I can zoom in and out of a page by going ctrl+mousehweel. This zooms the text and images.

In firefox, the same behavior only zooms the text. I want it to work exactly like IE7 in this regard.

I have tried the addon "Image Zoom" but it only lets me click on individual images and select a zoomlevel from a flyout menu, which is a pain in the ass.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 15:38

Quote:
And here are some that I've tried recently but not ended up liking:Undo Closed Tabs Button: only allows you to undo the most recent one; I was hoping to get a more easily accessible Menu than having to go through the History menu.

Try Tab Mix Plus.

I like it for the way it lets me control and unclutter the tab bar, as well as the way it gives me super-precise control over every mouse action related to tabs. But it also has an extensive undo-closed-tab feature, including a full session saver (restore all the open tabs you lost after a crash). See if that meets your needs.
Posted by: tonyc

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 15:47

Quote:

Adblock Filterset.G Updater



You may be aware of this, but in case you're not, the Adblock Plus maintainers recommend against using Filterset G. I can't verify all of the claims, but on my system I definitely did notice a speed improvement when I switched from Adblock + Filterset G to Adblock Plus with the "officially supported" ad subscriptions. I also had a lot more false positives (legit content being blocked) with Filterset G than with the Adblock Plus subscriptions.

FWIW.
Posted by: tonyc

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 15:50

Oh, and to answer Bitt's question:

Generated: Thu Nov 29 2007 12:49:04 GMT-0500 (EST)
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060508 Firefox/1.5.0.4 Mnenhy/0.7.4.0
Build ID: 2007111504

Enabled Extensions: [29]
- Adblock Plus 0.7.5.3
- Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper 1.0.2
- Aging Tabs 0.5.2
- Bazzacuda Image Saver 2.0
- BugMeNot 1.3
- ClumsyFingers 1.3
- CookieSafe 2.0.6
- De-ImageShack 0.6.0
- Download Statusbar 0.9.5.2
- Find Toolbar Tweaks 1.2b2
- Firebug 1.05
- Fission 0.8.8
- FoxyProxy 2.5.4
- Google Toolbar for Firefox 3.0.20070525M
- Greasemonkey 0.7.20070607.0
- Growl Download Notification 0.5
- keyconfig 20060828.1
- Linky 2.7.1
- MR Tech Local Install 5.3.2.6
- NextPlease 0.6.6
- Quick Sum 0.1
- ReloadEvery 2.0
- Resizeable Form Fields 0.2.1
- Resurrect Pages 1.0.8
- RetailMeNot 1.0
- Smart Middle Click 0.5
- TargetAlert 0.9-preview
- TinyUrl Creator 1.0.4
- View Source Chart 2.5.03

Disabled Extensions: [17]
- Advanced URL Builder 1.3.101
- CSSViewer 1.0.2
- DOM Inspector 1.8.1.10
- DownThemAll! 0.9.9.10
- Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer 1.0.1
- functions for keyconfig 1.3.8
- gladder 1.2.3
- Header Spy 1.2.2
- Image Toolbar 0.6.4
- ImageHost Grabber 1.3.5
- Live HTTP Headers 0.13.1
- Platypus 0.66
- ProxySel 1.0.06a
- RefControl 0.8.9
- Talkback 2.0.0.10
- Tamper Data 9.8.1
- UnPlug 1.6.06

Total Extensions: 46

Installed Themes: [2]
- Firefox (default)
- Noia 2.0 (eXtreme) 3.371

Installed Plugins: (7)
- Default Plug-in
- DivX Browser Plug-In
- Flip4Mac Windows Media Plugin 2.1.3
- Java Embedding Plugin 0.9.5+g+2
- QuickTime Plug-in 7.3
- Shockwave Flash
- Verified Download Plugin
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:06

Quote:
You may be aware of this, but in case you're not, the Adblock Plus maintainers recommend against using Filterset G.


Yes, I'm aware. I'm not using Adblock Plus, I'm using Adblock, so I need the filterset.g thing.

There was a reason I deliberately chose not to use Adblock Plus, but for the life of me I can't remember it now. I'm sure if I spent time looking through their web site again and/or trying their plugin, I'd remember what it was.

In any case, I've never had performance problems, false positives, or false negatives with my current configuration. Adblock and the Filterset.G updater together have been the only long-lasting 100 percent reliable 100 percent accurate (to my surf habits) trouble-free system that I've used so far.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:18

Quote:
There was a reason I deliberately chose not to use Adblock Plus, but for the life of me I can't remember it now.

I was in the exact same situation a while back, looked again, and couldn't come up with why not. I installed it and never looked back.

I want to say that it used to cost money and that was the reason I didn't want to use it, but I could be totally wrong about that.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:20

Quote:
it also has an extensive undo-closed-tab feature, including a full session saver (restore all the open tabs you lost after a crash)

That is built into Firefox now. I can get it all back as-is. I was just looking for a better UI.

In fact, it's been a while since I felt the need for any tab-improving extensions. I'm perfectly happy with what comes stock now.
Posted by: mlord

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:31

Quote:
Undo Closed Tabs Button: only allows you to undo the most recent one; I was hoping to get a more easily accessible Menu than having to go through the History menu.


Tab Mix Plus still rules that category. The "undo close tab" seems to have quite a good history of closed tabs.

I also use Tab History to have navigation history inherited whenever I open a new tab from an existing one (and other places).
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:54

Quote:
Why do allow javascript to run globally? Only running javascript on sites you trust is the simplest way to prevent unwanted software from getting drive by installed.

Because it seems that 90% of the sites I visit require it in one way or another.

As far as I know, I've never had any "drive-by installations".
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:54

Quote:
Quote:
There was a reason I deliberately chose not to use Adblock Plus, but for the life of me I can't remember it now.

I was in the exact same situation a while back, looked again, and couldn't come up with why not. I installed it and never looked back.


I looked again and realized why: Based on reading their web site, they seem to require you to subscribe to multiple different adblock subscription lists, and to do some kind of thinking and deciding which of the subscription lists are right for you, and they warn you against subscribing to too many (meaning I can't just subscribe to all of them so I don't have to think about it).

With adblock and filterset.g, I never have to think about it, never have to manage multiple subscriptions, and it Just Works.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 16:58

Quote:
Tab Mix Plus still rules that category. The "undo close tab" seems to have quite a good history of closed tabs.

Again, this is built into the stock Firefox (History->Recently Closed Tabs). There is no need to install an extension to get the feature. I was hoping for a better UI, but I don't need TM+'s ten thousand options in order to get at it.

Quote:
I also use Tab History to have navigation history inherited whenever I open a new tab from an existing one

Now that's handy.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 17:07

Quote:
I looked again and realized why: Based on reading their web site, they seem to require you to subscribe to multiple different adblock subscription lists, and to do some kind of thinking and deciding which of the subscription lists are right for you, and they warn you against subscribing to too many (meaning I can't just subscribe to all of them so I don't have to think about it).

With adblock and filterset.g, I never have to think about it, never have to manage multiple subscriptions, and it Just Works.

Ummm....

You don't want to use AdBlock Plus because it requires that you subscribe to a list. Instead, you use Adblock and subscribe to a list. I'm not really sure how that's different, other than the UI for subscribing in AB+ is built into the AB+ UI, and it keeps subscription filters totally separate from each other and from ones you define yourself.

Personally, I subscribe to "EasyList (USA)" and almost never see an ad. And most of the other choices are just for other languages.

Also, (and it's possible that this has been added to regular AdBlock), the UI makes it far easier to see what things have been blocked by what rules.
Posted by: tman

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 17:09

Quote:
With adblock and filterset.g, I never have to think about it, never have to manage multiple subscriptions, and it Just Works.

You're complaining about having choice??

The choices are mainly for non English websites. You can just pick the main US one. There is one for blocking tracking cookies as well.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 17:35

And, if you want, I can give you a nine-line perl script that will allow Adblock Plus to use Filterset.G as an Adblock Plus subscription, as long as you have a web server that you can put a Perl CGI script on:

Code:
#!/usr/bin/perl

use LWP::Simple;

my $base = "http://www.pierceive.com/filtersetg";

my $content = get("$base/latest.txt");

print <<EOF
Location: $base/$content
Content-Type: text/html

The document has moved <a href="$base/$content">here</a>.
EOF


I'm sure writing one in PHP would be equally as trivial.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 18:41

Quote:
You don't want to use AdBlock Plus because it requires that you subscribe to a list. Instead, you use Adblock and subscribe to a list.

No, I didn't want to use AdBlock Plus because it required me to figure out which of many lists I wanted to subscribe to, and worry about the *multiple* list subscriptions.

I liked adblock/Filterset.g better because it always *just worked* for me with that *single* list.

I don't know what adblock plus has above adblock that would be better, except for possibly better performance. But I have zero performance problems with what I'm using and see no need to change.
Posted by: mlord

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 18:55

Quote:
Quote:
You don't want to use AdBlock Plus because it requires that you subscribe to a list. Instead, you use Adblock and subscribe to a list.

No, I didn't want to use AdBlock Plus because it required me to figure out which of many lists I wanted to subscribe to, and worry about the *multiple* list subscriptions.

I liked adblock/Filterset.g better because it always *just worked* for me with that *single* list.

I don't know what adblock plus has above adblock that would be better, except for possibly better performance. But I have zero performance problems with what I'm using and see no need to change.


Yeah.

And the anti-FiltersetG comments at the Adblock-Plus page really just say "Not Invented Here" to me.

Cheers
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 18:59

I had the same reaction.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 19:17

It's certainly true that the Filterset.G folks don't like the Adblock Plus folks. It would take them three seconds to make it compatible with AdBlock Plus. It's the exact same file format. They just need a static URL for the file, which could be provided with a "latest" link. They have one, but it contains the filename instead of the data. All my script does is link you to the latest file.

I'm not sure how you can conclude from all of that that the Adblock Plus folks don't like Filterset.G other than their technical issues. Regardless, you can still use it. You can even still use the Filterset.G updater, although that bypasses one of the very nice features of Adblock Plus.

Other than "what I have currently works", none of your arguments seem to hold water to me. But you can ignore the updated features if you wish. No skin off my nose.
Posted by: mlord

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 20:16

What I want is a filter list that will banish the right-side propaganda boxes from linuxtoday.com.
Posted by: drakino

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 20:23

You don't like seeing this when visiting a Linux news site?

Quote:
When NCsoft, an online game provider with a global network, upgraded its popular online game Lineage II, it needed a server computer platform that would sustain hundreds of thousands of user connections to a huge virtual fantasy world. NCsoft chose Windows Server. 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition over Linux. As a result, it can offer hundreds of thousands of users uninterrupted access, and can easily find support for its computing environment and developer talent for its products.


Really makes you wonder how that got there in the first place. Guess I should dig out the ad code and start advertising the Neo35 here on the empeg site. :-)
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 20:40

Quote:
Really makes you wonder how that got there in the first place.

Microsoft paid to put it there?

Honestly, I kind of like that idea. Those reading Linuxtoday are unlikely to be swayed by any amount of Microsoft propaganda, but MS would pay top dollar to get that ad space, thinking they'll get some mindshare out of it. So in a distant sense, it's Linux people being financed by Microsoft's own hubris.
Posted by: drakino

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 21:21

I'm also curious about the claim too, as I can poke quite a few holes in it. Changing an MMO server to run on Windows after it ran on Linux isn't trivial, and also there is nothing that Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise offers that an MMO game server would need over just Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition.

So, just read the linked PDF, NCSoft never migrated from Linux to Windows. They ran Lineage 1 on Windows NT 4, and ran Lineage II on Windows 2000. The upgrade to 2003 occurred to also move to 64 bit.

I'd be more impressed by a story of an actual major Linux using service moving to Windows in an ad like this, over "Company running Windows continues to run Windows."
Posted by: lastdan

Re: Firefox Extensions - 29/11/2007 21:53

Quote:
What I want is a filter list that will banish the right-side propaganda boxes from linuxtoday.com.


have you tried the RIP extension?
http://rip.mozdev.org/

there's another called "stylish", but I it's a bit over my head.
someone linked to it, along with a ccs sheet (?!) that kills all that kinda side bar stuff from fark. that's all I know how to use it for.

the RIP extension is rather good at removing whole blocks of crap.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/11/2007 00:39

I was getting ready to be impressed with RIP, but it doesn't work half as well as Playtpus.

Mark, I've attached a Greasemonkey script generated by Platypus that seems to do what you want. You shouldn't even need Platypus installed to use it.
Posted by: mlord

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/11/2007 02:13

Quote:
I was getting ready to be impressed with RIP, but it doesn't work half as well as Playtpus.

Mark, I've attached a Greasemonkey script generated by Platypus that seems to do what you want. You shouldn't even need Platypus installed to use it.


Sounds good. What should I do with that attachment?

Thanks
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/11/2007 02:24

Uh, you'll need to install Greasemonkey, after which when you view the file, it'll give you an option to install it. Install it and have fun.

And since you've got Greasemonkey installed, you might want to see if there's anything else it can do for you. Check out Userscripts.org for a bunch of user submitted ones.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 10:13

Tony C. pointed me to "Tree Style Tab" yesterday. Once you tell it to put the tab bar back at the top and turn on the manual collapsing, it's awesome. Best tab upgrade since tabs originally appeared.
Posted by: tman

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 10:17

Keep away from Firefox 3 Beta 5! The new and "improved" Javascript engine is crap. It crashes Firefox regularly. I've tried removing all my addons + clearing my profile and it doesn't help.
Posted by: DWallach

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 12:06

I've been using Firefox 3b5 for a few weeks and have had zero problems. On my Mac, it's far improved from the 2.0.x builds, which would run out of memory after a day or two. On the other hand, I'm not using as many extensions (only AdBlock Plus, and Remember The Milk's Gmail plugin).

Also, for what it's worth, I use AdBlock Plus with a 100% hand-build list. I found that the official lists tended to cause too much collateral damage, particularly at the New York Times. I've even used AdBlock Plus's ability to nuke DOM elements in a few cases, although I suppose other plugins can do that better.
Posted by: tman

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 12:49

It might be doing something that Vista doesn't like since it dies with a DEP error every so often.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 13:59

Hey, anyone know the name of the firefox plugin that will time how long your pages are taking to download? Ideally, I'd like to find one that helps me pinpoint which sections or files of a web site are the longest.

By the way, IETab is the business. I just discovered that you can right-click to set it to automatically open certain sites in the IE renderer in case they are chronic offenders. We have some internal development tools that fall into that category, so this is a godsend.
Posted by: mlord

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 14:39

Originally Posted By: tfabris
Hey, anyone know the name of the firefox plugin that will time how long your pages are taking to download?


Fasterfox has a basic page-load timer, bottom right of the app window.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 15:26

Good suggestion, but that's not the one I was thinking of. The one I'm thinking of, that I can't seem to find, was specifically a dev tool for checking the timing of web pages and possibly their subcomponents.
Posted by: tonyc

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 15:57

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3371
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 16:49

That's the one I was thinking of. I'm going to try that one and Firebug as well. Thanks!
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 09/05/2008 16:52

Okay Firebug is THE BUSINESS. Should have been using it all along.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 12/05/2008 16:29

Firebug slows Firefox waaaaay down for me. Every time I open a new tab, it spikes the CPU for like two seconds and hangs during that time. And this is with it configured as "disabled". If I actually disable the whole extension it's fine.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 12/05/2008 18:50

Interesting. I don't get that behavior, so it's clearly not intended to work that way. I'll bet the Firebug people would be interested in seeing what's up with your system that causes it to happen.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Firefox Extensions - 12/05/2008 21:53

I just wanted to chime in with my favorites. Every time I install Firefox on one of my systems, I instantly install the following:

-DownThemAll (IMO, the best extension out there)
-AdBlock (of course)
-FoxMarks (use it for syncing bookmarks on my desktop and laptop computer)
-AutoHideStatusbar and Hide Menubar (I want to maximize the browsing space, especially on my laptop due to a lower resolution. I hide the status bar unless I hover over a link, and I can bring the menu bar up with the Alt key)
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 12/05/2008 22:18

FoxMarks is great. It works perfectly, and you can even get to your bookmarks via their web site if you're at someone else's computer. They need to implement a search on that site, though. (Edit: Um. Nevermind. They did.)
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 13/05/2008 17:20

Originally Posted By: wfaulk
Firebug slows Firefox waaaaay down for me. Every time I open a new tab, it spikes the CPU for like two seconds and hangs during that time. And this is with it configured as "disabled". If I actually disable the whole extension it's fine.


Follow up: I think I might be experiencing the spike when *closing* tabs. That's something that's been reported to them based on threads I was reading.
Posted by: tman

Re: Firefox Extensions - 17/05/2008 13:58

FF3 RC1 is out now.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/05/2008 15:41

Does anyone know of an extension that will remember web site usernames but not passwords?

Most, if not all, of the ones I've found (Sxipper, Autofill Forms, Secure Login, PasswordMaker) require that the builtin Firefox password manager be turned on, and they don't seem to have a way to disable password remembrance.
Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Firefox Extensions - 31/05/2008 11:34

Originally Posted By: wfaulk
Does anyone know of an extension that will remember web site usernames but not passwords?


If you want to use this only with Mac OS, you can use 1Password, which contrary to its name, saves a lot more than passwords and can be used to save nearly any form element and exclude the password.

It's a stand-alone application that ties into every browser on the Mac, so its use is fairly transparent.

Posted by: gbeer

Re: Firefox Extensions - 01/06/2008 17:06

What is this! addon.mozilla.org is now requiring a log-on to install extensions?
Posted by: tman

Re: Firefox Extensions - 01/06/2008 18:37

Looks like it is only experimental addons that need you to log in first. Regular ones don't.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 01/06/2008 22:59

Unfortunately, I need to use it on Windows and MacOS (potentially amongst others). Thanks, though.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/06/2008 19:29

Originally Posted By: tfabris
Originally Posted By: wfaulk
Firebug slows Firefox waaaaay down for me. Every time I open a new tab, it spikes the CPU for like two seconds and hangs during that time. And this is with it configured as "disabled". If I actually disable the whole extension it's fine.


Follow up: I think I might be experiencing the spike when *closing* tabs. That's something that's been reported to them based on threads I was reading.


Follow up: Firefox 3, with the latest beta of Firebug, does not have any slowdowns for me, either opening or closing tabs. I'm in love with Firefox 3 for lots of reasons, but overall speed improvements and better memory usage tops the list.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/06/2008 19:32

Thought I'd chime in here with a new extension I tried out today that I fell instantly in love with: ColorfulTabs.

If you configure it so that it bases the tab color on the URL, then that URL will always be that color. You can also assign custom colors directly.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Firefox Extensions - 30/06/2008 19:37

Originally Posted By: wfaulk
Other than "what I have currently works", none of your arguments seem to hold water to me. But you can ignore the updated features if you wish. No skin off my nose.


Update: I'm conceding here that I finally switched to Adblock Plus after the Adblock+Filterset.G combination epic-failed on me, by blocking some Flash plugins on some sites in strange situations (even with Adblock disabled). Adblock Plus seems to work fine if I simply subscribe to the first list offered to me, so I'm happy with it now.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 13:00

Extension update time!
  • /Find Bar/ 1.0.1
  • Adblock Plus 1.1.1
  • AFOM Addon 2.0
  • BugMeNot 2.2
  • CookieMan Context 2.1
  • CookieSafe 3.0.5
  • Custom Buttons 0.0.4.4
  • Download Statusbar 0.9.6.5
  • DownThemAll! 1.1.6
  • Firebug 1.4.3
  • Firefox Throttle 1.1
  • FireShot 0.78
  • Fission 1.0.9
  • FoxyProxy 2.14
  • FxIF 0.3
  • Google Redesigned 0.3.5
  • Greasefire 1.0.4
  • Greasemonkey 0.8.20090920.2
  • gTranslate 0.5.1
  • Hide Find Bar 1.3.1
  • IE Tab 1.5.20090525
  • It's All Text 1.3.1
  • Java Quick Starter 1.0
  • keyconfig 20080929
  • LastPass 1.51.4
  • Lazarus: Form Recovery 2.0.4
  • Live HTTP headers 0.15
  • Menu Editor 1.2.6
  • Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant 1.0
  • Move Media Player 1.0.0.07103010
  • MR Tech Toolkit 6.0.3.4
  • myTimeZone for eBay 1.7
  • NoScript 1.9.9.01
  • NoUn Buttons 1.1.3
  • OPML Support 1.5.4
  • PDF Download 2.2.0.2
  • Platypus 0.81
  • ReloadEvery 3.5.1
  • Resurrect Pages 2.0.4
  • RetailMeNot 2.3
  • Stylish 1.0.6
  • Tabhunter 0.8.6
  • Tabs Menu 1.4.8
  • TooManyTabs 1.0.0
  • translator 1.0.4.4
  • Tree Style Tab 0.8.2009090201
  • UrlbarExt 1.6
  • Xmarks 3.3.2
Significant new ones since last time:
  • /Find Bar/: Lets me use regular expressions in Ctrl-F search
  • AFOM: Windows only, but dramatically reduces memory footprint. How? No idea.
  • Custom Buttons: You can add your own toolbar buttons that run javascript code
  • Firefox Throttle: bandwidth throttler, so when I download a big file at work, I don't kill everyone else, or, more accurately, they don't kill me.
  • FxIF: Puts EXIF data in image properties dialog
  • Greasefire: shows userscripts for currently loaded page
  • gTranslate: Translations in context menu; no need to load another page
  • Hide Find Bar: makes the find bar go away on its own after a period of time
  • It's All Text: allows you to open textareas in an external editor
  • keyconfig: define your own keyboard accelerators
  • LastPass: the best form filler I've found; too bad it's closed source
  • Lazarus: remembers data entered in forms, for a period of time, so a browser crash or a poorly designed site doesn't eat that essay you wrote
  • Menu Editor: Organize your menu items. Great for the Tools menu when you have this many extensions loaded
  • NoScript: Can selectively disable JavaScript, Flash, Java, etc. Often kind of overbearing, though
  • NoUn Buttons: get rid of the stupid unified forward/backward/history buttons in Firefox 3
  • Tabhunter: search for and select tabs with the keyboard. ("Under no circumstances should this software be confused with Tab Hunter, an actor best known for his work in the mid-20th century.")
  • UrlbarExt: adds little icons in the URL bar next to the bookmark star for things like tinyurl, go up a level, etc.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 13:08

    When I saw that list I thought you were nuts. Then I started reading what those last extensions do and I can honestly say that most of them sound very handy.

    But that's still a shite-load of extensions. Wow.

    I'm not so demanding with Safari thankfully. I'd just love a simple prompting pop-up blocker.

    I might give Firefox another try when it hits 4.0. 3.x still seems like a bit of a pig to me.
    Posted by: TigerJimmy

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 13:28

    Bitt, your semi-regular updates to this thread are awesome! I have this thread bookmarked and refer back to it pretty regularly. Thanks for doing this!

    I assume you have 3.0 still? I can't seem to find an installation link for /Find Bar/ on 3.5.x...

    Thanks again!

    Jim
    Posted by: tfabris

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 14:39

    Nice list, there Bitt. I will be trying a few of those out.

    I personally don't like NoScript, as it's too intrusive and makes many web sites stop functioning properly. Everything that I'd want done with NoScript is handled already by AdBlock Plus.

    My own addition: I giggled when I saw Filler Item yesterday. Don't know if I'll ever make actual use of it, but once you install the Firefox extension, it's easy to use. Brilliant idea.

    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 15:07

    Originally Posted By: TigerJimmy
    I assume you have 3.0 still? I can't seem to find an installation link for /Find Bar/ on 3.5.x...

    No, I'm on 3.5.4.

    MR Tech allows you to force install unupdated extensions. It won't necessarily make them work, but more often that not, it's just the metadata doesn't include the version you're running.
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 15:26

    Originally Posted By: tfabris
    I personally don't like NoScript, as it's too intrusive and makes many web sites stop functioning properly. Everything that I'd want done with NoScript is handled already by AdBlock Plus.

    In general, I agree, but my work computer is underpowered enough that a lot of pointless javascripts were consuming enough CPU time to make the computer … less useful. It's a pain, but now I just use NoScript to turn them on for the one web site when I need them right then. There are a good number of sites that I've told it to allow by default.

    As a side note, it's fascinating to see how many different javascripts are loaded on some web pages. I've seen a few that are loading, like, thirty of them.
    Posted by: Dignan

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 18:43

    Wow! That is a super impressive list! I think you give Firefox users everywhere hope when it comes to running more than a half-dozen extensions. I had pared mine down, but I might look at installing some more now smile

    I simply can't switch to another browser now. I don't care if Safari or Chrome or Opera loads my homepage 1.5 seconds faster from launch. What I care about are my extensions. I wouldn't be able to function without X-Marks, the Better Google extensions, and AdBlock, among others.
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 16/10/2009 19:39

    Well, Xmarks, for one, is available for Chrome, Safari, and IE, at least.
    Posted by: gbeer

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 17/10/2009 00:52

    I'm assuming you don't load all of those all the time, otherwise your FF startup time must be way long.
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 17/10/2009 11:56

    I load all of them all the time. Ignoring the time to reload all the saved open tabs, Firefox starts in about 12 seconds.
    Posted by: Folsom

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/10/2009 12:08

    wfaulk, do you have a list of all your greasemonkey scripts?
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/10/2009 12:15

    I don't have anything that's universal. Most of it is saved Platypus modifications. Other than that:
    • Homestar All-In-One
    • (New) Gmail Bottom Posting
    • Experts Exchange Filter
    • YousableTubeFix
    • Boxoh Links
    • SOFU links in new tab
    • SOFUread
    (Warning, those last three are ones I wrote.)

    I may have others installed at home.

    Those are all on userscripts.org.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/11/2009 03:46

    i'm giving Firefox 3.6beta-something a try in Mac OS 10.6.2. There's a lot to like about the newer versions, including the much faster startup speeds. Unfortunately it still looks like turd compared to Safari. Which I'm hoping I can change.

    I'd rather not use a third-party theme since they all invariably screw something up. The default theme, Firelight, seems to be the best overall, but I'd really like to lighten up a few of its background images. Can anyone tell me how I can accomplish this? Basically I just need a pointer to where the graphic files are located or how to access them if they're packaged somewhere.

    I'm going to give it an honest shot by checking out a lot of the plugins mentioned in this thread - at least the ones I thought sounded interesting when you guys mentioned them.

    I gave Firebug a quick spin a little while ago and.... Wow. I didn't know what I was missing. I love the interactivity, it's even better than the X-Ray mode of CSS-Edit in many ways. This could be a real time and hair saver when working on pages.

    Does anyone know if there's a plugin to move the Find bar to the top of the window instead of at the bottom where it is now?

    Thankfully, my favorite password manager, 1Password works just as well in Firefox as it does in Safari. I think it would be a complete non-starter for me if it didn't.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/11/2009 04:11

    Oh, one more thing... I also really need to change the default drop down menu style in Firefox. Currently it shows a smallish list with a scroll bar. I'd like a style as similar as possible to that of Mac OS, where the list is long and without scroll bar. You simply move the mouse up or down to scroll the list or type into it to select.
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/11/2009 13:18

    Creating a Skin for Firefox

    You should be able to move the findbar by modifying userChrome.css, but I can't immediately figure it out.
    Posted by: wfaulk

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/11/2009 13:34

    Firefox/Gecko doesn't use Cocoa UI elements. As such, that sort of stuff would be in a theme, if it's even accessible there; I don't know that it is.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 19/11/2009 14:11

    Originally Posted By: wfaulk
    Firefox/Gecko doesn't use Cocoa UI elements. As such, that sort of stuff would be in a theme, if it's even accessible there; I don't know that it is.


    Exactly, I'm hoping it can be customized. I'm pretty sure it can be because I've seen that some themes cause the drop-down menus to look different. Currently, the pop-up menus, namely contextual ones, look fine, rounded corners and all. This is a pretty big stumbling block for me and it surprises the hell out of me that Mozilla would not have addressed this by now.

    EDIT: That link confirms what I'm talking about. That al the Mac OS-like elements in Firefox are custom. Which is exactly why I have to scratch my head when I look at the drop-down menus. They took the time to make custom look-alike versions of so much else but not those?

    It's a shame because every third-party Mac OS theme is less Mac OS like than Firefox's default theme. Frankly they all suck pretty bad and really make FF look much much worse than default by breaking so many controls.

    So far I can't even find the png files that control the look of the button/address/title bar. I modified ones I thought were the right files but no dice. I can't spend much time on this, so I suppose I'll just put this on the shelf until Firefox 3.7 to see if they've done anything to fix the glaring issues. Firefox will be a complete non-starter unless the drop-down menus can be addressed, regardless of what other benefits any plugins might have.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 21/11/2009 01:32

    After discovering that the majority of the initial plugins I'd need to install would be solely to try and bring Firefox to Safari's level, I was pretty much ready to give up. The final nail in the coffin is simply that it's slower at pretty much everything than Safari. Javascript, plain HTML page loads and rendering. So I'll just have to take a look again at 3.7. I know they're working on the speed issues, I just hope someone starts to take the Mac platform more seriously. It's not difficult at all to make the necessary artwork to match the typical Mac look and feel.
    Posted by: gbeer

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 21/11/2009 17:05

    One difference between FF and Safari I've noticed - the three finger drag up/down gesture doesn't seem to work for Safari. In FF it's a jump to top or bottom of page.
    Posted by: hybrid8

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 21/11/2009 21:53

    That's a very handy gesture. Unfortunately, up until this point, the only multi-touch I use is two fingers to scroll the page and two fingers plus click for right-click. The same stuff I used with my PowerBook in fact.

    I just haven't gotten used to the other stuff to use it much. I can't stand the pinch for zooming nor the two finger rotate in the apps that implement them. Too touchy and impossible to easily set the views back to their defaults. In Photoshop this is really problematic. In Safari and Mail it's just asinine - especially in Mail since there's no "100%" or "default" view to get back to in any way shape or form. I'm running a hack to disable the zoom in both those apps.
    Posted by: gbeer

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 22/11/2009 00:02

    Safari not having that jump to top/bottom is stopping me from migrating.

    Nor have I figured out how to open a sidebar with bookmarks in Safari.
    Posted by: Robotic

    Re: Firefox Extensions - 07/09/2010 18:17

    I found a nifty extension that works well for my tablet- where I don't have a mouse and scroll wheel.
    It's called Grab and Drag
    Quote:
    Enables Adobe Acrobat-style grab and drag scrolling, Flick gestures, and Momentum scrolling in Firefox, Thunderbird, and Flock. Especially useful for Tablet PCs, UMPCs, and other pen or touchscreen devices.

    Nice! Win7 also has 'flicks' to configure for system-wide use.

    Oh- and a biggie I just fixed was blocking http://s7.addthis.com
    with adblock+. That gets rid of the nasty pop-up-and-block-content action of 'share this' links on pages. Freedom!!