Firefox has been out since November of 2004. I jumped on the bandwagon soon after its release and have never regretted it. I have gone through hundreds of extensions over this time, discarding most after awhile, and keeping the good ones that I use the most. This, my friends, is my list of the best-of-the-best, after over two years of tweaking.
- All-in-One Sidebar - This simplifies my life. Bookmarks, history, extensions/themes, etc., all in one handy place. Plus, you can customize it like any other toolbar to tweak things just the way you like.
- BugMeNot - I’d have to admit, I’m a lazy web surfer. I’m sick of so many login names and passwords. Luckily, BugMeNot has given me the ability to login to sites that have content that I really only want to access once. Just right-click on the username input field, select ‘Login with Bugmenot’, and voila: you’re in! That is, providing someone has previously setup an account that was submitted to Bugmenot.
- Download Statusbar - Do away with the annoying Firefox download window. This extension adds a base bar that displays all of your downloads along with their current progress.
- ErrorZilla Mod - When you can’t reach a site, this plugin will provide you with a nice-looking error page that provides links to Google cache, Wayback machine, Whois, and tools like ping and trace.
- Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE) - With so many extensions, themes, settings, passwords, etc., it can be a pain to try to replace everything if you upgrade your computer or want to transfer everything to another. This extension will take care of all backup and restore operations to make your life easier.
- FireFTP - Wonderful FTP client, accessed in a tab right inside your browser. Very intuitive interface and features. Aside from some speed issues, very nice to have.
- FlashGot - Awesome extension for downloading all the links on a page. You can filter by file type or even create an image gallery if you wish. Perfect when used in conjunction with Free Download Manager.
- Forecastfox - Who wouldn’t want a visually-pleasing, 5-day forecast and radar map right in their own browser?
- Google Images Re-Linker - When you search for images on Google, this extension will provide a direct link to the image as opposed to having to visit the site and click on the ‘original image’ link in the top frame. Also available as a GreaseMonkey script.
- Google Notebook - Awesome way to store text snippets and links perpetually across multiple computers. I usually use it for all the temporary stuff that I wouldn’t want cluttering my bookmarks.
- Google Preview - Add thumbnail previews to Google and Yahoo search results. It only will show a thumbnail of the front page of each site (not necessarily the specific page that’s listed), but very useful nonetheless.
- MyPortal - dynamically create a start page that reflects your quick searches, live feeds, and bookmarks.
- RSS Ticker - The ultimate tool for lost productivity. The latest contents of your RSS feeds scroll across the screen at the speed and order that you choose, constantly distracting you from your work.
- StumbleUpon - This plugin mimicks the addictive qualities of channel surfing. With a seemingly unending stream of user-supplied links, you can entertain yourself for hours when you’re bored.
- Tab Mix Plus - This extension was a hit for Firefox 1.0-1.5, so much so that Mozilla incorporated many of its features for the Firefox 2.0 release. However, I still find it indispensable. It performs tasks such as managing sessions and tab tweaking much better than the default Firefox configuration.
Runner up: GreaseMonkey. This is a great extension, but does not belong in the list with the others, simply because “out of the box” it does nothing noticeable. However, it opens up a whole new universe of functionality through the use of user scripts, which could very easily be addressed in lists of their own.
