My Top 5 FireFox add-On's no JU Blogger should be without

Published on August 24, 2009 By CharlesCS In Personal Computing

After using IE for many years, one day about 5 years ago I decided to give this infamous FireFox web browser a try. The first time I installed it I immediately uninstalled it. I found it a bit too different from IE and felt lost. I guess change "isn't" always easy. I eventually got around to installing it again and once I gave it a try I got hooked. 5 years later IE is but only an option for sites I have problems with and even the FireFox has a solution to this.

As some may know my main browser is my portable FireFox that I use in conjunction with PortableApps.com software, a great program for people who love using their portable drives. The great thing about FireFox is it's incredible library of add-on scripts that allow FireFox to be more than just browser. Here are my Top 5 FireFox Add-On (in no particular order) which make browsing the Joeuser.com forums so much fun and which some of you will find very handy:

1) Auto Copy - This cool Add-On allows you to copy text from just about any web page simply by highlighting it. No need to hit ctl-c or have that "unable to copy" issue FireFox tends to have. Perfect for quoting when JU is on the fritz and won't quote properly.

2) IE Tab - Something on JU doesn't look right due to incompatibility with FireFox? Not a problem, just switch to the IE tab which will open Internet Explorer right inside FireFox. Comes in handy when clicking on links to sites that don't work well with FireFox.

3) Lazarus: Form Recovery - This is by far the greatest Add-On I could find for FireFox when it comes to blogging on JU or any other site for that matter (wrote an article about it right here). Ever tried posting a comments, sometimes a lengthy one only to have the browser, JU, your Internet or your computer go crazy and lose all that precious time and words you worked so hard to write? With Lazarus this problems becomes a thing of the past. It keeps a copy of any text you write on a site and allows you to bring the whole thing back in case you lose it and never get to post it. It's got some pretty good security features to keep this data private so check it out.

4) CoolPreviews - How often to you end up clicking on a link on an article only to have the screen go to the site directly rather than having a new window open, especially when you had written something to post and ended up losing it (if you didn't have the Lazarus add-on)? CoolPreview allows you to see whats on the other end of the link by opening a small windows without taking you directly to the site itself from the main browser. This is great for previewing a site before going to it, never know what you gonna find.

5) Text Link - A very useful Add-On, Text Link is perfect when reading an article where either the composer of an article or someone replying is too lazy to link a website they posted on the article forcing you to copy paste it (this is when Auto copy would be handy as well). Just double click on the URI and the add-on will automatically open a new tab to the site. Pretty cool; it basically turns regular URI text into a link when it's not.

Some may find these Add-Ons unnecessary (which is OK, to each his/her own) when one can go back to the basics of keyboard key combinations such as ctrl-a and ctrl-c, but sometimes we like easy and sometimes we just lazy and like me some like the latest gadgets, in this case, Add-Ons. While I'm at it let me also throw in my Top 5 FireFox Add-on's no Firefox user should be without.

1) All-in-One Sidebar - Keeps all your add-on's, downloads, history and favorites handy on any side of the FireFox browser.

2) FEBE - If you don't have FEBE, you like working twice as hard when installing FireFox on any computer of yours. FEBE backs up you FireFox browser including bookmarks, passwords, themes, preferences, add-ons and more. This is a must as far as I'm concerned. Also check out FEBE's side kicks CLEO and OPIE

3) PDF Download - Need to convert a web page into a PDF file or open a PDF online? No problem, PDF Download is all you need.

4) Tab Mix Plus - While FireFox has some pretty good options and preferences built in, it still lacks some things. Tab Mix Plus helps enhance FireFox tab features.

5) Xmarks - Backup your bookmarks and synchronize them to any FireFox on any computer.

Enjoy.

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