Hot 10 Firefox 3.0 Add-ons
By Lilly Mouse, at July 3rd, 2008Feel free to republish this article with a link back to this page. Thanks!
Firefox literally has thousands of tools you can add to your installation for better performance and improve your productivity.
(If you don’t use Firefox as your internet browser, I would suggest you change. Firefox is less prone to virus and spyware threats than Internet Explorer, it’s faster and it’s more efficient. And free.)
Here are 10 of the current favorites:
This is invaluable for managing my blogging time.
It tracks the time I spend on Firefox, opening tabs before closing them, etc, and gives a clear idea of how to optimize my blogging.
If you’re serious about blogging, you will try your hand at XHTML and CSS at some point. You will find that there are big difference between how Firefox and Internet Explorer display blogs.
IE Tab is your solution.
You can opens blogs with IE in your Firefox browser, so you can see how it displays in both without changing browser.
The only downer is it can take some time to load.
(Recommended by Firefox)
This nifty add-on cuts out those annoying ads that take forever to load.
(Recommended by Firefox)
Do you have more than three toolbars? Then this is for you.
It optimizes the space available on your browser, giving you more viewing room for webpages and blogs.
Speeds up your downloading by 400% and makes the download process very easy.
You can manage multiple downloads, and pause in the middle of downloads before continuing.
(Recommended by Firefox)
A simple security add-on. You can allow JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from sites you trust.
(Recommended by Firefox)
You can program your mouse to do all sorts of things, saving your time from clicking many times to achieve the same task.
For instance on my system:
- if I push CTRL and scroll up my bookmark sidebar pops up.
- if I push CTRL and scroll up I go back one page
(Recommended by Firefox)
If you change blogs template with XHTML and CSS, you will know how annoying it can be to switch between your web browser and FTP.
FireFTP is a simple FTP platform that opens up in your Firefox web browsing window.
It also offers directory comparison, synching directories while navigating, SSL encryption, search and filtering, remote editing, drag and drop, etc.
Goodbye Filezilla!
(Recommended by Firefox)
This is a priceless add-on.
You can:
- remove ads from your Google search results
- and best of all - place a link at the top of the screen to run your exact same search through various other search engines
- create filters, so remove all searches results for www.amazon.com for instance.
I’m not sure how Google feels about this plugin though!
See an instruction video here:
http://www.customizegoogle.com/movies/intro-flash.html
(Recommended by Firefox
10. StumbleUpon and Delicious Toolbars
Okay, so this is really a two in one. But both of these add-ons are essential for social networking and for promoting your blog quickly.
With one click you can stumble or save any page you like.
The Stumble toolbar connects you with friends, helps to manage your channels, and oh so much more.
The Del.icio.us toolbar does the following in a click:
- Search and browse your bookmarks
- Keep up to date on your Network and Links For You
- Access your bookmarks from any computer at any time
- Keep your bookmarks organized with tags
- Share your bookmarks with friends or anyone on the Web
- Import your existing Firefox bookmarks
(Recommended by Firefox)
And one extra, for luck…
ScribeFire
As bloggers, this is priceless, even though it’s free.
ScribeFire is a blog editor that integrates with Firefox and allows you post to your blog easily.
How?
You can drag and drop formatted text from webpages, take notes, upload images, and post to mulitiple blogs.
Yipeee!
(Recommended by Firefox)
(All of these add-ons are suitable for Firefox 3.0)
Ciao for now,
Lilly
5 and a half Blogging Must-Haves
By Dora, at July 2nd, 2008Feel free to republish this article with a link back to this page. Thanks!
To blog all you need is Notepad, a hosted blog and a free FTP program.
However, blogging is highly demanding on our time.
These nifty little gadgets help to create enough time in the day for taking that walk, going for that cup of coffee with friends, or just doing that laundry.
1. Firefox Browser
Firefox is faster, more efficient and better protected against virus and spyware attacks than Internet Explorer.
It’s free, very easy to use and will become indispensable once you see what it can do.
It has thousands of add-ons to make your life easier and your Internet experience more personal.
My favorites add-ons are my Stumble toolbar, my Scrapbook and my web developer toolbar.
See our next list for the best Firefox 3.0 add-ons.
You can download the latest firefox 3.0 here
2. Google Desktop
Google desktop has truly revolutionized my blogging experience.
Currently my Google Gadgets include:
- a RSS feed displays my feeds live and I’ve set my options to include feeds from websites often visited.
- a notepad, for little reminders that I need to see.
- a timer for limiting the time I spend writing individuals posts. I also set it for every 30 minutes, to remind me to get up and stretch my aching back!
- world clocks, it saves me from figuring out which country is ten hours behind, 2 hours ahead, etc.
- Google search comes automatically with every desktop. It indexes your desktop, so you can search both the internet and your harddrive. To open a file, I simply type in some words in the title and select the right one. It saves me about 5 minutes each time I open one up.
3. Google Analytics
This is great for detailed traffic reports for your blog.
It provides info on
- who is visiting your blog (their IPs and locations) including which countries and areas dominate
- your blog’s bounce rate (how many people arrive at your blog and leave right away)
- the pages people visit
- how many pages on average are looked at
- etc
The tracking code for Google Analytics needs to be added to the Xhtml of your blog. The only problem is if you have a free hosted blog.
If you use Blogger.com, you can edit the Xhtml very easily using your dashboard.
If Wordpress.com hosts your blog, you will need to pay to include the tracking code.
4. Ping-o-matic
A free service that automatically pings various search engines for you when your blog is updated or when you write a new post.
If you are interested in seriously marketing your blog, this tool is essential. It saves you countless hours.
5. Feed Blitz
Monetizing and marketing your blog, as an individual without corporate support can be like running through a brick wall. Difficult and painful.
Feed Blitz makes it so much easier.
It:
- Monitors your blogs RSS feeds
- Converts feeds and blog updates into email digests, delivering these daily to you subscribers’ inboxes
- Manages subscriptions, circulation tracking, testing
And a half: StumbleUpon
Technically this is not a blogging tool, but currently I think this is the best way of broadcasting and marketing postings.
This is a basic list and there are many things missing! What are your blogging gadgety essentials?
You can read more of my work at Africa’s Times.
Digg this
Del.icio.us this
Stumble this
