Since upgrading to Firefox 3 some 10 days ago I’ve been trying to optimize its performance, both in UI (themes and extensions) and extensibility (plugins and extensions).
The installation went very smooth, the software remembered all my preferences, but I had some issues with daily usage: my ‘back’ button didn’t display the name of the site, some plugins were not suitable for FF3 and other extensions I wasn’t using that much. Some issues were answered by @firefox_help – excellent example of using micro-blogging to reach your audience. There are other examples here (Mashable) and here (Hebrew).
Niv Calderon asked me to share my extensions, as he did a while back. For the sake of saving real-estate space I decided to start with a blank page, un-install all my extensions and install only what I use on a daily basis.
There’s also a screenshot of my Search engines, what I’m using more frequently is at the top of course – web 2.0 related, either IBM internal or public – results are better coming from those sources.
So, this is how my Extensions window in Firefox looks like:
bluetwitsidebar – an IBM extension that adds twitter to FF sidebar, and integrates with internal IBM micro-blogging tools, such as BeeHive.
Colorful Tabs – cute, adds some color to your browser
Ctrl-Tab – super extension with cool UI, F4 opens up a tab mosaic for easy access to open tabs
Delicious Bookmarks – add bookmarks and search your existing ones
Facebook toolbar – Share button is most important, as I share quite often. The rest are nice, but can live without them
Forecastfox – what should I wear tomorrow? short sleeves or short sleeves…
FoxClocks – when working with Europe and the US a lot, it’s a priceless extension
Foxear – another IBM extension, that adds Lotus Connections’ social bookmarking buttons (similar to del.icio.us, only internal)
Gmail Manager – easy way to see what’s up in my Gmail inbox, without keeping the tab open
Google Gears
Google Preview – adds a tiny preview to Google Search results
IBM Bluepages Plugin – another IBM internal extension, for our employee directory. Allows me to add people to my Lotus Notes 8 address book, IM list or personal group
IE Tab – for those ‘great’ websites that support standards
Minimap Addon – just installed it, haven’t use it much yet to form an opinion
PDF download – open or save a file, without freezing your tab/browser
Screen grab – copy or save full screen, visible portion or selection – brilliant
Tab Mix Plus – probably one of the best FF extensions ever. The FF3 extension is still in beta
Tommy! – another internal IBM extension, that aggregates employee directory, IM, blogs, bookmarks and communities – in one mini-view
Undo Closed Tabs Button – ever closed a tab by mistake? here’s the solution for restoring it
Web 2.0 Unified Search – not an actual extension, but more a search engine plugin, IBM internal, that looks up in every web 2.0 repository (blogs, communities, bookmarks, social networks, etc)
Who is This Person – highlight a name and search various people finder search engines
If you have any extension I’m not using, that you feel I should – leave a comment.
Most users are probably working like me, meaning the embed IM within my Notes client (see screenshot below). So, head over to C:notesdataworkspace.metadata.pluginscom.ibm.collaboration.realtime.palettespalettesSmileys and you’ll find them! It’s also convenient for copy-paste actions, as well as import/export.
I think this post worthies an article at developerWorks.. 😉
