Earlier this week I mentioned how my favorite browser is Firefox. I also mentioned how I would share with you some of my favorite add-ons. Three of them are mandatory for me, one of them I developed, and the rest are just nice to have.
Note to Internet Explorer Users: these add-ons may or may not work for your browser. I’m not really sure. I primarily use Firefox, and the links I give are for Firefox versions.
Keeping It Quick
My favorite PC to use (I use four on a regular basis), is getting on in its years, so I try to keep the add-ons to a low roar. I don’t want to be lagging like this guy in the picture below. He obviously went a little crazy with the add-ons. Don’t do this to your browser. It will not like you.
BWI - A crazy car with too many add-ons at the 2009 Newman, CA parade.
Mandatory Add-ons
Web Developer Toolbar
The first add-on I install is Chris Pedrick’s Web Developer Toolbar. To say I use this tool would be a wild understatement. I use it countless times in a day. Some of my favorite features include: the ability to quickly validate my HTML, resizing my browser to see what my site looks like in different monitor settings, outlining and identifying page elements, page ruler (very cool tool), and view CSS.
If you build or work on websites for a living and use Firefox. Install it today. It simply has too many features to list while mentioning other add-ons in the same post.
The SEO Toolbar
The SEO Toolbar does help you with your SEO work, and is a good tool that way. The reason I have it though, and think it makes a mandatory add-on is because what it reveals instantly about a website. When I look at YOUR website, I know instantly about how many links it has, if it’s listed in DMOZ, when it was registered, about how much traffic you get using Compete.com data, and your SEMRush value. That’s valuable stuff if I was considering advertising on your site. It’s also a big hand in evaluating the competition. I almost hate telling you about this one. It’s already popular, but I feel like I’m giving away a secret weapon here.
Xmarks
If you use more than one computer, and don’t have Xmarks yet, stop reading this post. Now go to their site, create an account, and start using it. This works for IE, Safari, and Chrome as well. I use four computers on a regular basis, and on each one of them they have the exact same bookmarks. Xmarks synchronizes your bookmarks, and it can do it between different types of browsers as well. Insanely valuable tool.
I Developed
The next add-on I use is another toolbar, and it is one I developed. It’s the Twitter Toolbar. Hardly a mandatory add-on, but if you Tweet, it sure makes it easy to do right from your browser. Almost a year old now, it’s averaging over 1,000 downloads a month.
Nice To Have
Fireshot
Fireshot is what I use to take screenshots of web pages. Easy to add text, draw shapes, use arrows, basically perfect for blogging or doing the analysis that I do.
Even the free version is packed with features.
Google Toolbar
Yeah, I guess it’s nice to have. I use it. One of my favorite features is the little up arrow it has to easily up threw an archive of folders. Ever since Firefox came out with version 3.5 though, the toolbar keeps resetting, and I lose the button. The toolbar is becoming less and less of an important factor for me. Firefox comes with a default search box. Dear Google, this may be a good time for me to try Bing.
AddThis
If everyone had this add-on, all those stupid bookmarking buttons on websites could be removed. Man, would I love that. The AddThis add-on simply creates one button.
I personally keep that button next to my home page button. When I see a page that I want to Digg or bookmark somehow, I just click the button. It’s that easy. You could even give it a try by submitting this page to a few spots:)
United States English Dictionary
Simply put, you would hate this blog if I didn’t have this one. The dictionary works great on forms, blogs, and where you type online. Maybe it should be listed as a mandatory.
A Few More
I do have a few more, but the ones listed above are the big ones in my book. Got a must have? There is a comment box below…Let us know.
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I love firefox for the addons as well Robert. I wonder, is the SEO Toolbar almost the same as SEO Quake toolbar? I enjoy having it to help me with SEO but man does it slow my computer down. Still, it’s one of my “Must Have” addons. Thanks for your recommendations too.
The SEO Toolbar works a lot like Quake. I tried both, quake is system overload in my book. SEO Toolbar is light, fast, and just seems more professional.
How about firebug? As a developer I consider it as my top priority. I like your point of view. Using too many add ons in my browser makes my browser too slow.
Firebug is a good one. My main PC is Windows so I actually prefer to use WINSCP for working on sites. I do use it though on another PC I have. That one is a Linux FF combo. For some strange reason WINSCP has not made a Linux version:)
As I search through Google I got this url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinSCP which says WinSCP is something related to file transfer or something related to it. Can I know you compared firebug with WINSCP or what am I missing?
It is ftp software, but not your average. Here is a link to their site. Under their about page you can see everything it does. http://winscp.net/eng/download.php
A few major things I like about it is I can can be connected to more than one site at a time, has an easy to use editor, and creating new files is a simple right click.
yes,I love firefox extensions,specially seo tool bar and rapidshare extensions but I think, with seo toolbar,firefox is a little bit slow.
That could be your rapid share slowing things down. I used to have a plugin similar to it, where it constantly wanted to access my hard drive. Every time I started FF it would have to wait until the folder was accessed before it could load all the way. Very annoying.
Firebug – for pagespeed .. Awesome addon for firefox.. in fact so awesome google are always asking everyone to install it.