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youngyew
23-06-2006, 09:50 AM
Hi, this is one of the old threads revived from my Google Desktop Search cache... Enjoy :)

It's exam time tmr and i am still here typing out these? hmm...ok, i need to destress... so here you go...



This thread is for us all to share recomended extentions for Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox) internet browser...



billed as the perfect Internet Explorer alternative, it is currently the second most used browser behind Mircrosoft Internet Explorer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Firefox#Usage_share). It offers better security than IE, since it doesn't use ActiveX extentions commonly used by spammers/virus writers/crackers to infect windows systems...



The best part is it extensibility... Due to it's popularity, there are a lot of extentions written for firefox to extend it for various functions... but only a handful are really useful...



here are the extentions that i had with my Firefox :



1. abblock plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/) - with this particular extention you can block out most of the banner ads, java script ads and other types of advertisements found in webpages and also increase your surfing speed due to the lack of need to download advertisements... be sure to subscribe to any one of the block lists defined within the extention... i am using the one from Easy List (USA). to do this, go to filters menu-adfilter subscription, and choose any one of them... modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif</img>




2 Fasterfox (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1269/) - this particular extentions helps to optimise your network settings and speeds up your overrall surfing speeds... just choose turbo charged from it's settings and surf away... modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif</img>



3. download statusbar (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/26/) - it does what is says, which is to open a bar at the below of the browser showing your downloads' status... good for those who want to minimise the amount of windows sitting there... and also a easy and direct visual link to how your downloads are going... modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif</img>



4. Tabbrowser Preferences (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/158/) - Optimises the tab browsing capability of Firefox... ends the annoying new windows that pops up everytime i click on the link in www.hotmail.com (http://www.hotmail.com) ... it puts new windows that are supposed to pop-up into new tabs...



5. Mouse Gestures (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/39/) - well, i am so used to it that i can let it go anymore... you can use various gestures using your mouse to navigate using Firefox without having to go to the buttons and click on it anymore...



within the site there are also lots of other wonderful extentions, do check it out yourself.



The other extentions which might be useful are



foxytunes - to control various media player programs from your browsr



forecastfox - to check the weather forecast in your area with a click..



i don't use these, so i can't give my comments here...



that's all for this post... do share your tips on how to better utilize Firefox here... so that all can benefit from it...


forecastfox - to check the weather forecast in your area with a click..

Not a click, but icons are shown there for you.

I truly recommend it, it's very accurate. Moreover, it's more area spesific ( meaning every city or town get their own different readings )


vseehua wrote:1. abblock plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/) - with this particular extention you can block out most of the banner ads, java script ads and other types of advertisements found in webpages and also increase your surfing speed due to the lack of need to download advertisements... be sure to subscribe to any one of the block lists defined within the extention... i am using the one from Easy List (USA). to do this, go to filters menu-adfilter subscription, and choose any one of them... modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif</img>


Yup, adblock is one of the biggest invention since firefox, and adblock plus brings it even further! For me I am using G's filterset (http://www.pierceive.com/), have been using it for more than one year. Guess what, I have not seen a single advertisement for months already..



vseehua wrote:4. Tabbrowser Preferences (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/158/) - Optimises the tab browsing capability of Firefox... ends the annoying new windows that pops up everytime i click on the link in www.hotmail.com (http://www.hotmail.com) ... it puts new windows that are supposed to pop-up into new tabs...


For tab-browsing extension, I actually prefer tab mix plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1122/). It's got most of the features of various tab-browsing extensions combined, and together with session saver and mouse gestures! Of course you can choose to disable the session savers and mouse gestures if you don't like them.



vseehua wrote:5. Mouse Gestures (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/39/) - well, i am so used to it that i can let it go anymore... you can use various gestures using your mouse to navigate using Firefox without having to go to the buttons and click on it anymore...




My favourite mouse gesture is the "back" and "forward". Just click right then left button subsequently, you will go back; and click left then right, you will go forward. Btw, this feature is preinstalled in Opera for a long time already.



vseehua wrote:forecastfox - to check the weather forecast in your area with a click..



This is one of my favourite: I can't live without knowing the temperature next day, especially with the unpredictable weather in Melbourne...



Some other favourite extensions that I am using:

1. Bookmarks Synchronizer 3 (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1989/): If you want to share your bookmarks across multiple computers, this will come in handy. I know there is del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us), but there are some firefox-specific bookmarks I would like to keep, especially the smart-searches (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/smart-keywords.html) I have set up for my browser.



2. Performancing (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1989/): Write your blog straight from within firefox browser, without going to your blog homepage!



3. BBCodeXtra (http://bbcodextra.extenzilla.org/): This is the one extension I would recommend for every ReCommer who use firefox and are frustrated everyday with the incompability of firefox with the codes. This extension is <span>how I survived ReCom with Firefox</span>. modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif</img>




4. ImgLikeOpera (http://imglikeopera.mozdev.org/): Do you llive on broadband line which is paid on a download quota basis - just like me? Ever think where all your download quota has gone? This extension is the solution. You have full control over what image you want to load and what image you don't want to - just like Opera (again). It saved me about 20% bandwidth since I used it.





These, and together with the few extensions see hua mentioned above, are the extensions I find useful. One word of caution though, if you install too many extensions, it's going to hog the system resource and make firefox slow. Therefore, a rule of thumb would be to install only extensions that are important to your browsing experience.





I have many more tips regarding to how to utilize firefox better, especially with regard to the smart-search feature, but it's time for me to go cook my dinner. So I will leave it for another post.

you might want to try adblock plus, it had combined the functionality of adblock and G's filterset, making it one less extention to manage... G's set is only for you to update your adblock's subscription... adblock plus combines it with the original adblock...



Firefox Security

Firefox maybe more secure than IE, but that doesn't mean that you can be less vigilant...



as i surf the net, i had encountered various sites that tried to dupe it's visitors to install various extentions which have dubious objectives, so please, only install extentions from



https://addons.mozilla.org



note the s at the end of the address... this tells you that that site is secure... don't install extentions from any other site, or you might find that you are facing the same virus problem as users of IE...



and also, Firefox does provide updates for itself and it's extentions, so do check back once in a while... firefox does alert you to a new ugrade everytime it releases a new version... and from version 1.5 forwards, updates can be done directly from firefox itself without needing to install everything again, enhancing it's user friendliness... Wink



as with any software, the security can only be as good as the user themselves... never-ever store sensitive log-in names and passwords for important sites that you use, for example, banking or your university account, lest you find that someone had used your log-in information when they use your computer, or snared by viruses that had infected your computer...

Here it is... Will try to revive other threads when I am free.

day_dreamer
23-06-2006, 06:46 PM
Just had a little problems with my Firefox browser. LOL ~~ Had to reinstall and get back all the add-ons.

Geez... Lost all my bookmarks...

vseehua
23-06-2006, 08:27 PM
hmm... how much memory does your firefox takes? currently my firefox derivative flock takes about 64 mb ram.... and the new Opera 9 takes about 120 mb of my system ram... and i uninstalled it immediately... :p

day-dreamer
23-06-2006, 08:42 PM
Thanks to youngyew's recommendation, I gave Firefox a try sometime ago.

And till today, I did not regret my switch from IE (which sucks) to Mozilla Firefox! I introduced it to my friends, many whom found it better than IE too.

FIREFOX ROCKS!!

Iraka
23-06-2006, 09:03 PM
I love all these recommendations you guys made. Thanks a lot.

vseehua
23-06-2006, 09:05 PM
haha...you are welcome...

hmm.. any themes that you guys want to recommend?

Iraka
23-06-2006, 09:13 PM
I found this a long time ago and have been using it ever since: Black Japan (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1390/)

I like it, so I never bothered to change to a new one lol.

vseehua
23-06-2006, 09:46 PM
i am using the Qute (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/7/) theme in my firefox... suits my xp perfectly... :p

Aneesah
23-06-2006, 11:16 PM
Cool extensions! The ones I can't live without now are All-in-one Gestures, SessionSaver, Adblock, and Tabbrowser Preferences.

Another one of my favourites is Define Word (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/396/). Super, super handy, I tell ya. I bet my vocabulary has increased just from having it around. :D And BugMeNot (http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/) is good for commonly-visited sites like IMDB or online newspapers which requires registration for full access.

The other ones I use; probably only geeky webdesigners will be interested in. :lol:

vseehua
24-06-2006, 01:51 AM
helo Aneesah... welcome to ReCom...

just s short question here... does sessionsaver still slows firefox when you use it? because the last time i used it, it tend to make my firefox lag once every few seconds, which i find very annoying...

qedx
24-06-2006, 07:58 AM
hmm... how much memory does your firefox takes? currently my firefox derivative flock takes about 64 mb ram.... and the new Opera 9 takes about 120 mb of my system ram... and i uninstalled it immediately... :p

strange, with about 15 tabs open opera uses up about 40MB, atm firefox is using 130MB:(. I still use firefox as my main browser though.

anyone else using google browser sync (http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/browsersync/)?

vseehua
24-06-2006, 08:01 AM
haha... i use that opera with several widgets... might be the cause of it... :P

qedx
24-06-2006, 08:08 AM
That might be it. I havent really played a lot with O9 - all I can say is that it is... different. it is fast though at rendering pages. maybe I'll have to take a break from firefox and use opera exclusively for a week

Aneesah
24-06-2006, 09:38 AM
helo Aneesah... welcome to ReCom...

just s short question here... does sessionsaver still slows firefox when you use it? because the last time i used it, it tend to make my firefox lag once every few seconds, which i find very annoying...

Haha, thank you. I was here before, but I registered after April, so ... had to register again.

I don't think SessionSaver slows things down for me, at least not that noticeably. And even if it does, I'll still use it 'cause it's such a lifesaver. :D

youngyew
24-06-2006, 09:56 AM
I used to use session saver, and ya, I agree with Aneesah that it doesn't slow down firefox very much (but admittedly it does take up a lot of memory, slow down firefox a little, and I have a 768MB RAM).

I am not using session saver anymore, instead I am using tab mix plus now. This is because it has basically all the features of tabbrowser preferences and session saver. Everything packed nicely into one single extension.

weich
24-06-2006, 05:10 PM
if you love session saver i guess you just have to use opera then, the guys who invented it. most of firefox's lovable extensions are all based on opera anyway.

Get the 9.01 version which is much more stable.

youngyew
24-06-2006, 05:35 PM
Yeah I agree most firefox extensions are opera's invention... But I guess many people have had this kind of special connection that they can't leave firefox anymore, despite some of its shortcoming like memory leak. I am in this category.

Besides, I feel like opera's shortcut keys are kinda unintuitive, and I always get stuck whenever I am browsing with it. But that's due to unfamiliarity, I suppose.

weich
24-06-2006, 06:41 PM
most shortcuts are the same i think, you can just change everything to firefox default pretty easily

vseehua
24-06-2006, 07:12 PM
haha... me too..i am so dependant on the extentions... and the themes...

and opera did make some sites look strange to me... :S

weich
24-06-2006, 11:16 PM
if you're really keen on switching, then you can probably check out this list of ff extensions and opera equivalents.

i think if you are a regular email user, you would appreciate opera's email reader, very fast and i love the searching most, also gives you threaded conversation like gmail!

i think this article showcases some of the best features from opera:

http://techgurls.blorc.com/2006/04/29/why-i-prefer-opera/

Shoblast
25-06-2006, 12:17 AM
My favourite is the Dictionary Tool Tip (http://www.rjonna.com/ext/dictionarytip/index.php).

Just double click on a word you don't understand and a small pop-up will open and give you the definition on the spot. I love it mainly because of the pop-up style. i tried using others but they all cause me to load to another page.

vseehua
25-06-2006, 09:29 AM
testing out tab mix plus... it's really nice..
thanks for the tip youngyew... =)
but the show progress at the tab feature isn't so friendly with my windows media centre edition theme in my windows xp machine... it mixes well with my linux though...

DecentMerson
25-06-2006, 04:10 PM
the videodownloader is pretty neat too... u can save those flash videos...(from youtube and google video...)

another one i particularly like is Stumble Upon... where they will randomly bring you to webpage of certain criteria (u get to set these criteria), and you are able to rate it, they will make a page of those sites u like, and then, your friends are able to visit those sites easily too... (best, 2nd best actually, 2nd to Recom.... when you have some time to kill... or just to procrastinate before doing your homework...)

and also ifox... a music player, where you get to change the songs and all conveniently... without having to minimize ur browser...

vseehua
25-06-2006, 04:17 PM
i thought ifox is a theme?

do you mean foxytunes instead?

*edit*

just do a no-directional-search 2day... and guess what, i had found a minimalist theme that suits me...

Fusion Alternative (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1973/)

DecentMerson
25-06-2006, 08:13 PM
i thought ifox is a theme?

do you mean foxytunes instead?

*edit*

just do a no-directional-search 2day... and guess what, i had found a minimalist theme that suits me...

Fusion Alternative (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1973/)

right on... coz i'm using ifox as my theme, and foxytunes for the music player... mixed them up... sorry

vseehua
16-11-2006, 08:56 AM
browsing Ubuntu Forums and stumbled upon this thread...

maybe you guys can get get some ideas from them as well... =)

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=300331

Seiryu
05-12-2006, 09:19 PM
I tell you, i just installed the extension Cooliris and I LURVE IT!!!

U noe all the fraustrating times when you go on googling smting and u have to open the links one by one just to confirm the content? Or when you come to recom u click into one thread, and when u wan to watch another thread u take all the fuss to click "back" and then go into another thread. Things like that? Well, all these clicking and backing can sometimes be troublesome but guess what, Cooliris solves them all! I'm not going to tell you how so go check out yourself. IT's KEWL.

Cooliris (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207/)

jayden
05-12-2006, 09:33 PM
Interesting and pretty useful add-on, Seiryu. Thanx

youngyew
05-12-2006, 10:03 PM
I tell you, i just installed the extension Cooliris and I LURVE IT!!!

U noe all the fraustrating times when you go on googling smting and u have to open the links one by one just to confirm the content? Or when you come to recom u click into one thread, and when u wan to watch another thread u take all the fuss to click "back" and then go into another thread. Things like that? Well, all these clicking and backing can sometimes be troublesome but guess what, Cooliris solves them all! I'm not going to tell you how so go check out yourself. IT's KEWL.

Cooliris (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207/)
Another easy way to browse ReCom threads is to open all the different links in different tabs. Just middle-click on all the links, and visit the tabs one by one... :) If you can't middle click (for example, using a laptop without a mouse), you can achieve the same effect by Ctrl-Leftclick.

vseehua
05-12-2006, 10:22 PM
or click both the mouse buttons at the same time...

works under linux, but not sure whether it works under windows as well...

youngyew
05-12-2006, 10:26 PM
or click both the mouse buttons at the same time...

works under linux, but not sure whether it works under windows as well...
It depends on the touchpad driver... It works on my Acer but my friend's IBM doesn't support this function.

vseehua
05-12-2006, 10:48 PM
The touchpad is just a variant of the normal PS-2 mouse... So yes, it depends on the custom driver that you are using...

but anyway, i managed to install dell's driver for my Acer touchpad when i was in INTEC... hehe..

Touchpads essentially comes from two companies, either it's Alpine or Synaptic... go figure...

Anyway, it's universally known that clicking both the left and right buttons at the same time means middle click under Linux

youngyew
05-12-2006, 10:56 PM
The touchpad is just a variant of the normal PS-2 mouse... So yes, it depends on the custom driver that you are using...

but anyway, i managed to install dell's driver for my Acer touchpad when i was in INTEC... hehe..

Touchpads essentially comes from two companies, either it's Alpine or Synaptic... go figure...

Anyway, it's universally known that clicking both the left and right buttons at the same time means middle click under Linux
I think both our touchpads are Synaptic's... THe problem with my fren's IBM is that the software configuration (the IBM page to configure the touchpad) doesn't allow the setting of left+right click. Anyway they do have the setting to specify one particular spot on the touchpad to act as middle click though.

I think we are digressing very far already.. :P

vseehua
05-12-2006, 10:59 PM
get him to try ur synaptic driver :p

anyway, for those who are wondering what happened to Filterset-G, it's back online again...

Seiryu
06-12-2006, 03:28 PM
Hey guyz i need some help here. I've recently installed the adblock extension but it doesn't seem to be functioning at the way i want it. The advertisements are still there, only with an "Adblock" tag on the top right corners of them.

Then, after i downloaded mouse gesture, nothing seemed to be happening after i restarted my browser too!

How do i rectify these problems?

Thanks.

youngyew
06-12-2006, 03:59 PM
Hey guyz i need some help here. I've recently installed the adblock extension but it doesn't seem to be functioning at the way i want it. The advertisements are still there, only with an "Adblock" tag on the top right corners of them.

Then, after i downloaded mouse gesture, nothing seemed to be happening after i restarted my browser too!

How do i rectify these problems?

Thanks.
Hi, those extensions / add-ons don't just pop up when you restart your window, and they have to be set up in order to get the functionality.

The first thing to do is to check whether they are already fully installed. Goto Tools -> Add-on (extensions if you are using version earlier than 2.0) then check it under the add-on list. Your newly installed extensions should be there.

For adblock:
Adblock doesn't just block advertisement out of the box, it relies on a filter instruction (called a filterset) in order to filter advertisements. That means, you have to tell adblock what are the advertisements like so that it will block the advertisements when it sees them.

Luckily you don't have to do all the instructions yourself, as there are already ready-made filterset out there. One of the most famous ones is Filterset.G. The easiest way to install the filterset.G is by installing another extension, Filterset.G Updater (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1136/). It will help you update your filterset regularly, and hence you will always have the most up-to-date advertisement filterset.

Note: Actually, if you don't want to go through all the hassles of installing Adblock and Filterset.G separately, there's a better alternative: Use Adblock Plus instead. When you use adblock plus, you will have the option of subscribing to filterset(s), and adblock plus will automatically help you subscribe and update the filtersets. Get adblock plus here (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/).


For Mouse Gesture:
Just goto the add-on menu (the one I described earlier), right click on the mouse gesture extension and selection options. In the options, you will be able to see how all the gestures work.

By default, most mouse gesture works by dragging your right mouse button. For example, if you want to open a new tab, just drag a straight line upwards. If you want to close the current tab, just drag a line downwards followed by a line to the right (i.e. drawing an "L"). There are many more gestures, and you will even be able to set your own.


Whenever you have problems with extensions, goto the option of that particular extension and you will most likely get an idea of how it works.

Seiryu
06-12-2006, 04:52 PM
Presto! No more ad! And mouse gesture is totally rad!

Thanks youngyew. :lol:

vseehua
03-02-2007, 12:19 PM
For those who wants to control how they view their PDF files from the internet.

PDF Download (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/636/)

This extension managed to save me quite some time caused by browser lags due to Acrobat Plugin opening...

youngyew
03-05-2009, 11:10 PM
It's been a while since I went on extension craze, but I came across this little add-on which was absolutely fabulous:

AutoPager :: Firefox Add-ons (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4925)

It does what it says - whenever you visit any page with "next" in it, your Firefox will automagically loads the next page for you when you reach the bottom. It works on most major sites like Google, Yahoo, lifehacker etc, and yes, even ReCom!