My Favorite Firefox Extensions for Simplicity
Posted on June 16, 2010 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Simplification,Software
Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.
I like things simple and easy to use. I love Firefox because it comes with basic functionality, and I can add things in to make it better. Here are the extensions I use to make Firefox (and the internet) easier. (These are in alphabetical order.)
Aardvark
Aardvark is a great little tool to help isolate parts of the page. I will sometimes print out a blog article or craft pattern, and Aardvark allows me to isolate just the part I want to print. No more pages of graphics, ads and sidebars!
Adblock Plus
I know the internet runs on ads. I use them myself. But I like Adblock Plus because it keeps ads from getting in the way. I’m talking about the pesky pop-up ones.
CoLT
CoLT (Copy Link Text) allows me to copy links in many different formats. I can copy the link as a full HTML link, or just the text or the location. I can also customize it to copy the link in any layout I wish. Very useful for moving links into the blog.
Delicious Bookmarks
The add on that allows me to quickly add things to Del.Icio.Us is wonderful. I press a key combination, type in my tags, and it gets added to my list.
InfoLister
This addon tells me exactly what I have installed on Firefox. This simplifies moving from one PC to another greatly.
Minimalist GMail
I love GMail. But I don’t need to see all the options all the time. Minimalist GMail hides parts of the screen that I don’t use.
Minimize to Tray
When I have programs that stay open all the time, I don’t want to see them in the taskbar. Minimize To Tray puts Firefox in the notification area, rather than the main taskbar.
Morning Coffee
I have many sites I check every day, but the sites vary depending on what day it is. For instance, I want to read the comics on Monday through Saturday, and the hometown news on the weekends. Morning Coffee allows me to set up the pages I want to see based on the day of the week.
Read It Later
Read It Later is how I process my blog reading (see How I Keep On Top of 100+ Blogs). With a single click (or keypress inside of Google Reader) I can add web pages to my list of things to read later. Since this integrates with my iPod Touch, I can read these pages without an internet connection at my own pace.
ScreenGrab
Doing screen captures is built into Windows. Doing intelligent screen captures is not. ScreenGrab allows me to capture portions of a web browser screen without having to do a lot of further manipulations.
Firefox extensions really do make my web browsing easier. Do you have a favorite extension? Let me know below. I’m always on the lookout for new ones.
Photo by fczuardi
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