Pimp my Firefox

Well, my week in Chrome was nice, but as I posted on Friday, it just didn't quite live up to what I wanted from a web browser. Yes, the statistics certainly seem to show Chrome as the winner in the performance stakes at least, but if you take into account other factors like the level of extension support, customisability, memory usage, etc. the results could look pretty different and, as I concluded in my previous post, it's these very things that have led me to revert back to using Firefox, at least for now.

So, being the inveterate extension-junkie that I am, here's an update on my latest browser configuration.

(I should point out that even though I have a lot of extensions installed, I'm quite particular about them. For a start, they must be stable, have good reviews and ratings and a good track record of usage. Secondly, I only install extensions that provide some specific functionality that I particularly need or want.I'm not into just downloading things for fun; I'm looking to make my web browser look and work the way I want it to. And finally, I'm always mindful of the need to constantly keep an eye on what I have installed, get rid of it if I don't make much use of it or it doesn't work properly, switch to something else if another extension does it better, and regularly update everything. I realise there's a performance hit with having a lot of extra stuff installed, so I'm always trying to keep a balance between browser enhancement and speed.)

Currently installed extensions:

Adblock Plus
Speeds up browsing and makes pages cleaner by blocking ads from loading and displaying.

AFOM
Automatically recovers memory leakage to make Firefox run faster

AVG Safe Search
This gets installed automatically with AVG antivirus. Some people find it annoying, and while it can be removed (using a hack, admittedly) I find it reassuring to have that extra level of security.

ColorZilla
As a web developer I find this one of the most useful extensions. An unobtrusive statusbar icon gives you an eyedropper to select (and copy) any colour off web pages, along with the option (highly configurable) of displaying various bits of info such as element name, size, DOM path etc to the element you're hovering over in the statusbar.

CookieSafe
Lots of options to configure how Firefox handles cookies. Personally I disable all cookies by default, then only allow the sites I trust and visit regularly. If I make a one-off visit to a site and need cookies, I can enable them temporarily just for that visit or session.

Download Statusbar
Replaces the downloads window with a neat, configurable statusbar.

Firebug
Loads of web developer tools. I've added the 'Inspect element' icon (spectacles) to my toolbar for quick checking of information relating to page elements.

Gmail Manager
Until recently I was using GMail Notifier, but this one just seems a little nicer with a few more features.

goo.gl lite
Adds a toolbar button that, when clicked, automatically copies a shortened version of the URL (using Google's new URL shortening service) to the clipboard. Essential if you're using a Twitter client that doesn't have URL shortening built in (which would obviously be ideal, but you can't win them all!)

Google Gears
Required in Firefox for various Google applications/features.

Greasemonkey
I don't make a huge amount of use of this at the moment except for Flickr - there are a bunch of really nice userscripts that make browsing and using Flickr so much better (Flickr Multi Group Sender, Flickr Auto Page, Flcirk Group Pool Admin - Warn + Delete, Flickr Tag Autocomplete, Flcirk Filter Hearts, FlickrZoom2)

Hide Menubar
Until recently I was using Personal Menu, but that just has far too many options and is unnecessarily complex. This extension achieves exactly what I need so much more simply - auto-hides the menu bar and lets you temporarily display it by pressing Alt. I've also customised Friefox's toolbars so everything else is displayed on a single toolbar - nav buttons, followed by location bar (which doubles as a search bar with the aid of keyword searches and a config tweak - see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Location_Bar_search), followed by a few extra icons (goo.gl lite, Web Developer and Firebug inspect element buttons), followed by the bookmarks toolbar (which I limit to one or two items I need quick and frequent access to (To save space I've deleted the title if they've got a decent favicon. If I need more than one or two items here I'll put them inside a folder so there's just a single folder icon on the toolbar itself)).


Html Validator
Essential for web developers - a statusbar icon shows the validation status of every web page, including local ones, and clicking it opens the source code with the validation report.

JSView
Provides quick access to javascript files used by the current page.

KeyScrambler
See my last post - its a nice extra layer of security but I'm in two minds about it, as it is a bit laggy.

Locationbar Limit
Lets you show more items in the location bar dropdown, so saving scrolling if you're searching through a lot of results.

Locationbar2
Emulates a feature built in to Chrome, where the domain of the current page is highligheted, and URL segments are selectable.

MeasureIt
Statusbar icon which, when clicked, allows you to drag out a rectangular box/ruler over any area of the current page, showing the dimensions.

NoScript
I use this in a similar way to CookieSafe - set all scripts as blocked by default, then only allow scripts on sites I trust and visit regularly, then just temporarily for other sites. You have fine-grained script control so if you don't want to allow scripts for a particular advertising service included in a page you don't need to.

OpenBook
Enhances Firefox's built-in bookmark management by allowing customization of the 'Add bookmark' dialogue, such as automatically opening the bookmark tree, etc.

Organize Status Bar
Essential if you have as many extensions as me!!! Lets you organize what icons are displayed and where.

Resizeable Textarea
Forces all textareas to be resizeable.

Speed Dial
Create a new tab/start page showing thumbnail links to all your favourite sites. You can have multiple tabs as well if you like (I have one for 'Work' and one for 'Personal'). Loads of customisation options.

Unsorted Bookmarks Folder Menu
Adds a link to Firefox's 'Unsorted Bookmarks' folder in the  bookmarks menu. Simples!

Vacuum Places Improved
Optimizes Firefox's places.sqlite database - really makes a big difference to browser speed if your history file is quite large.

Web Developer
Absolutely essential for web developers. End of.

Xmarks
Bookmark backup/sync. A million times better than Google Bookamarks.

Yoono
I've only just discovered this so it's still 'on trial' but it's an integrated social networking sidebar for Firefox. Seems pretty good at the moment and I think I prefer this to loading a separate app like Digsby when I've got the browser opan all day anyway.

Finally, here's a screenshot of how my browser looks: