Firefox literally has thousands of tools you can add to you 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:

1. Timetracker

This 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.

2. IE Tab

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)

3. Adblock Plus

This nifty add-on cuts out those annoying ads that take forever to load.

(Recommended by Firefox)

4. Little 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.

5. DownThemAll

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)

6. NoScript

A simple security add-on. You can allow JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from sites you trust.

(Recommended by Firefox)

7. FireGesture

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)

8. FireFTP

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)

9. CustomizeGoogle

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)

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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:

1. Monitors your blogs RSS feeds
2. Converts feeds and blog updates into email digests, delivering these daily to you subscribers’ inboxes
3. 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.

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by Lilly Mouse

When it comes to blog traffic, fishing has its purpose. Increasing the number of visitors to your blog is similar to baiting a catch.

This is not my clever blogging analogy. The term, ‘linkbait’, has been used for some time now when talking about links to good articles between websites and blogs.

Attracting traffic to websites and blogs I suppose has obvious connections to the sport…

So, blogging + fishing?

There are 2 analogies:

#1^st Anaolgy

Your blog url = hooks.

The blog content where you leave the hooks = bait.

Leave your links in a way and in places that makes potential visitors think they want to click on your link.

A click = a bite!

So you write a blog about hand-printed t-shirts, for example.

You find forums and social networks dedicated to handcrafts or original fashion. You answer discussion threads related to your field.

However, you provide a small taster of information (your bait) and your blog’s link (your hook).

Your blog posts contain the majority of the information.

#2 Analogy

Your blog content = hook and bait.

You allow others to do the work for you, by providing blog content they can link to.

‘Linkbait’ is the industry term used for this.

‘Linkbait’ is a blog article that provides essential information, such as a ‘How to’ article or a ‘Top 10′ type list with links to useful tools or websites.

Other people then link back to your linkbait.

So now…

These two analogies work best together.

Create a linkbait blog article and then use Analogy #1 on forums and social networks. Attract blog traffic, who then bite on the linkbait and link back to your blog article.

Your ‘linkbait’ must be good, or tasty, enough for other bloggers to link back to you!

There is a difference between blog traffic and fish. A real hook is not beneficial to creature. If you blog is good, your hook will benefit visitors and they’ll return.

Happy blog traffic fishing!

Ciao for now.

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You should have a basic three column layout with a header and footer, as described here.

To include a horizontal navigation bar, you simple need to add one more div.

(To create a vertical navigation bar, you would simply enter the relevant text with links into one of your columns.)

Step 1. Include horizontal navigation

Simply add the following div to you style.css file:

#nav{width: 100%;
height: 20px;
margin: 0px auto 0px;
background-color:green; }

Step 2. Include horizontal navigation

Now you add you navigation div in where you would like it to appear. So the Xhtml should look similar to this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd”>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″>

<title>Untitled Document</title>

<link href=”main.css” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css”>

</head>

<body>

<div id=”mainContainer”>

<div id=”header”>HEADER</div>

<div id=”header”>NAVIGATION</div>

<div id=”rightContainer”>RIGHT Container</div>

<div id=”twoColumns”>

<div id=”leftColumn”>LEFT COLUMN</div>

<div id=”middleColumn”>MIDDLE COLUMN</div>

<div id=”footer”>FOOTER</div>

</div>

</div>

</body>

</html>

You should have something that looks like this…

Have a play around. Have a peak at here for more information on background colors.

Let me know how it goes?

Thanks, Lilly

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You should have a basic three column layout as described here.

To include a header and footer you simply need to create a container.

Imagine your theme like a box. Inside the box you have different elements that you want to keep separate and neat. The wrap is like a box within a box, which allows you to do this.

Step 1. Include a header and footer

You can now simply add the following to you style.css file:

#mainContainer{
width:100%;
}

#header{

width: 100%;
height: 75px;
margin: 0px auto 0px; }

#footer{

width: 100%;
height: 75px;
margin: 0px auto 0px; }

Step 2. Include a header and footer

Now you will need to alter your index.xhtml file to look like this:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd”>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=”Content-Type” content=”text/html; charset=utf-8″>

<title>Untitled Document</title>

<link href=”main.css” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css”>

</head>

<body>

<div id=”mainContainer”>

<div id=”header”></div>

<div id=”rightContainer”>RIGHT Container</div>

<div id=”twoColumns”>

<div id=”leftColumn”>LEFT COLUMN</div>

<div id=”middleColumn”>MIDDLE COLUMN</div>

<div id=”footer”>FOOTER</div>

</div>

</div>

</body>

</html>

You should have something that looks like this…

Have a play around. Have a peak at here for more information on background colors and header images.

Let me know how it goes?

Thanks, Lilly

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