addons

Being safe while you surf the Web is extremely important, yet safe surfing sometimes seems like an oxymoron. For users of the Firefox browser, downloading security extensions can help increase your level of protection from worms, hackers, phishers, and the like.

I should note that even with these extensions installed, you won't be perfectly safe. Visit sites only of trusted sources, and don't download unknown files.

BetterPrivacy BetterPrivacy protects against long-term tracking cookies that can't be deleted. The extension makes you aware of those objects and deletes them for you. You can then sift through those cookies and selectively decide which you want to delete. It's a simple but effective tool.

BlockSite BlockSite gives you the option of blocking a Web site that you deem unsafe or unsuitable for the family. The extension even disables all links to the sites you might find in search results. When you access the extension's menu, you need only to add the site's URL to the blacklist. You won't be able to access the site, unless you remove it from that list.

Dr. Web Anti-virus Dr. Web Anti-virus enables you to verify that any file you're downloading, or any page you're browsing, isn't installing malware onto your computer. Once you right click on a link or file path, you'll find the Dr. Web Anti-virus option in the menu. Click it, and the path will be scanned to determine if there is any malware being added to your computer.

FormFox You think you're on a familiar site while filling out an online form, but you're nervous about whether the trusted source will actually receive it. That's where FormFox comes in. The add-on gives you the exact URL destination of information you're submitting to a site. So when you input your name, address, and other information, you can mouse over the Submit button and search boxes to find out exactly to where you're directing the information. You might be surprised to see where your data is going.

Ghostery Ghostery gives you alerts whenever a Web site is "watching" you. When you have the extension on, it constantly analyzes the site to determine if it's running hidden scripts that track your behavior. If it does, it will alert you to it. You can then decide to leave the site or stay.… Read more

Mozilla Labs has launched a new project called Jetpack that could drastically change how users interact with Web sites and manage third party add-ons.

In a nutshell, it enables developers to create code packages that can be toggled on and off without the end user having to restart their browser. This is something that cannot be done with Firefox's current add-ons system, but has been possible in third-party tools such as Greasemonkey, which allow users to pick and choose which scripts are active.

It solves another annoyance by letting developers create code that isn't outdated or broken every … Read more

As a Firefox user and blogger, I realized not too long ago that the best way to be more efficient was to find useful add-ons for the Mozilla Web browser.

After trying a variety of Firefox extensions, I've found 15 that do a fine job of making my blogging more productive.

Apture Editor: Apture Editor enables you to easily add contextual images, videos, reference guides, links, and more to a blog post. Whenever a reader moves her mouse over an Apture-linked term, a box is displayed, showing the related media you chose. Whenever a reader clicks on an item, a new window opens, displaying the source of that media. It's a great way to add more value to your blog posts.

Clipmarks: Clipmarks lets you "clip" (copy) sections of a Web page, including text, images, or video, and add them to your Clipmarks profile. You can then send all your saved clips to your blog. You can also send them to Friendfeed, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. It's a useful tool. Check it out.

Fire Analytics: If you want to track how well your blog is doing, the Fire Analytics Firefox extension will help. To use it, you'll need to link your Google Analytics account to Fire Analytics. Once complete, you can see all your Google Analytics reports in Fire Analytics without ever going to Google's page. It's not as pretty as Google's reports, but you'll get the same information in a much shorter amount of time. It's worth trying out.

FireFlix: Finding images for your blog post is made simpler with FireFlix. The sidebar extension lets you quickly search and upload photos from Flickr without leaving the page you're on. If you use Flickr to find photos for your blog, this extension is for you.… Read more

I am a regular user of Amazon.com, and one thing that's always irked me is the company's use of excessively-long URLs. In fact, they are so long that back in 2002 Google increased the number of URL characters it was indexing just to accommodate them.

Now there's a rhyme and reason to this system, but try to explain that to the person who you just dumped a 150-character URL on in your IM conversation.

Instead of using a third-party link shortening service that might not work if it goes down, you should check out AmazonLinks. This … Read more

YouTube is arguably one of the most popular Web sites on Earth. Millions of people have downloaded videos ranging from personal diary entries to blockbuster movie previews. Download Youtube Free promises to be a plug-in that helps users view these popular films, but it's incredibly flawed.

This freeware program is embedded in your Internet Explorer browser as a small, green icon shaped like an arrow. The program's interface features a large open screen, presumably for watching videos. Below are buttons to Copy URL, Save As, and Donate Now. The top of the box features only a File tab … Read more

There are more than 7,000 Firefox extensions in Mozilla's official catalog, and a good portion of them can drastically improve how you browse the Web. Then there are the stinkers. These add-ons that actually make the browser slower, or harder to use. We've compiled a list of 20 that you should steer clear from, if only for their lack of basic utility.

It's worth noting I went through more than 7,000 extensions to come up with this list and it was incredibly tough to even come up with 20. It can also be argued that some of the ones on this list are, in fact, useful to a select few.

Nearly all of the ones on this list are up to date, but there are a few that won't work with the latest version of Firefox. We've noted that in the description. Also, for the respect of your mouse clicks I've pasted in the full list, with links to each one on Mozilla's add-ons site after the page break.… Read more

Don't want to deal with the DiggBar? Or what if you want other tools to help improve your Digg experience? We have you covered with these Firefox add-ons.

DiggBar Remover Start with the DiggBar Remover. It removes the DiggBar when you're browsing. Done? OK, move on to these other add-ons...

Digg Comment Spotlight Sifting through Digg comments can be a pain. But the Digg Comment Spotlight highlights comments on a Digg story that were dugg by other users. So, if you don't want to read comments that were buried or never dugg, the Digg Comment Spotlight will help you quickly find all those comments that others liked. It makes reading comments much easier.

Digg Firefox Extension The Digg Firefox Extension lets you know if the page you're on has been submitted to Digg. If not, you can submit it in just a few clicks. If it has, the extension displays the number of Diggs the story has, how many people have commented on it, and the story's description. My favorite feature is the popular story notification, which pops up whenever a new story hits the front page. Overall, the Digg Firefox Extension is designed well. It's a must-have for any Digg fanatic.

Digg Sidebar The Digg Sidebar gives you real-time updates of all Digg activity. It runs in the sidebar and updates automatically without requiring a refresh. It's useful for some who want constant updates about Digg, but I didn't like how much screen real estate it took up. And resizing it, while possible, reduces its usefulness, since it's harder to read stories. It's best suited to the Digg addict.… Read more

This one-hit wonder of a Firefox extensions nevertheless provides a useful feature for those who do a lot of cutting and pasting from Web pages into text fields or documents. AutoCopy copies any text you highlight to the clipboard--it's that simple.

It does do a bit more than that, though. The extension's Options menu lets users configure highlight behavior, post-copy pasting behavior, keyboard shortcuts, toggling a Status Bar button, and a menu that pops up after copying. From that pop-up menu, you can automatically paste the selected text into the location bar, the search bar, a new tab, … Read more

The first program I open every day is Firefox, and most days the first Web site I visit is Google. That's why I'm glad so many Firefox add-on developers have created tools that give me a new perspective on my Google search results. Here are three of my favorites.

Sharpen your searches with GoogleEnhancer The primary reason I click Google's Advanced Search option is to limit the results to a specific date range. With NettiCat's GoogleEnhancer add-on I can narrow my searches by date as well as by file type and a handful of languages via drop-down menus that are placed to the right of the search box.

As nice as the search enhancements are, one of my favorite GoogleEnhancer features is the addition of icons to the left of the results for each link's site. The add-on also numbers the results, though these don't really add much to the results, in my opinion.

… Read more