Attention to Extensions

Lifehacker's Top 10 Must-Have Browser Extensions

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:34:00 -0800

Top 10 Must-Have Browser Extensions

Your browser of choice may have changed a lot in the past year, but luckily the best extensions for making your browser better have kept up with all the most popular browsers. Here are our cross-platform, must-have favorites.

Last time we looked at our favorite browser extensions, we only looked at Firefox. A lot has changed in a year, and now our favorite-extension pool has expanded to several other browsers.

10. Web of Trust (WOT)

Web of Trust, or WOT, is a browser extension that's designed to help you browse more safely. When you search online, WOT accesses its database to see approximately how safe your search results really are. Next to each result it places a colored circle. Green indicates a safe site, yellow means you should proceed with caution, and red tells you that you should probably steer clear. When you roll over the colored circle, you'll get more in-depth ratings. If you really want to look into a particular site, WOT can provide you with ratings from other WOT users. This is especially useful for online shopping. WOT has a special rating for vender reliability to help warn you of a potentially fraudulent storefront. WOT is available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. For Opera and other browsers, a bookmarklet is available.

Web of Trust (WOT) | Multi-browser Download Page

9. Google Translate

Web translation services are nothing new, but they're exceptionally helpful when you run into a site written in a language you don't speak. While these services have been around for awhile, they've evolved to make the translation process a lot easier. With the Google Translate extension (gTranslate in Firefox) you can just install it and it'll recognize when a page is not in your primary language. You'll receive a request to translate whenever this happens and the extension will reload the page with the translated text. Like all web translations, it's imperfect, but it's the closest things your browser's going to get to a Babelfish. (Note: Google Chrome has auto-translate built in, so no extension's required for Chrome users.)

Google Translate | Firefox • Safari • Opera

8. AutoCopy

AutoCopy does what the title suggests. Whenever you select some text in your browser, AutoCopy will automatically copy it to the clipboard. While pressing Ctrl C (Cmd C on a Mac) to do this manually isn't that big of a deal, but what makes AutoCopy really worthwhile (for me, anyway) is the option to copy without formatting. There are so many times where I just want to copy text but want it to conform to the style of the document I'm pasting it into, and AutoCopy cuts out that tedious step no problem.

AutoCopy | Chrome • Firefox

7. Better Gmail

Gmail's great, but it's not perfect, which is why Better Gmail was born—here at Lifehacker no less—out of the need for additional features. It compiles a bunch of the best Gmail-related Greasemonkey scripts to add a bunch of highly desired features to gmail. Those features include hierarchical labels, an unread message count in your browser tab, file attachment icons, row highlights, label links, the ability to hide and show all sorts of things, and more. The official version is Firefox-only, but an unofficial Chrome port is also available.

Better Gmail | Chrome • Firefox

6. PriceBlink

When you're shopping online, you're probably accustomed to searching for the lowest price. PriceBlink removes the need to do any actual work and presents you with your options, automatically, while shopping. Just browse to the page of something you want to buy and PriceBlink will show up if it can save you money. In addition to showing you lower prices, if PriceBlink finds a coupon for the retailer you're visiting it'll offer that up as well. When you're not shopping, PriceBlink will stay out of your hair. It's a pretty great tool for keeping your wallet from getting too thin. InvisibleHand extension.)

Priceblink | Chrome • Firefox • Safari

5. BugMeNot

There are times when you just do not want to sign up for an account. Maybe you're lazy, or maybe you don't want to give out your email address to a web site you're only going to use once. BugMeNot is an extension that uses the BugMeNot web site to retrieve login credentials for the site you're visiting. Browse to a site, click the extension icon, and BugMeNot will offer up accounts to try. If the account works (or doesn't), you can quickly send feedback to BugMeNot to let them know if the credentials are good or bad. This success rate is used to rank the options available to you. BugMeNot uses these ratings to suggest credentials for you whenever you visit a new site. If you want to avoid creating an account, BugMeNot will save you a ton of time.

BugMeNot | Chrome • Firefox • Safari • Opera

4. Tab Cloud

Tab Cloud is an excellent extension for managing your browser tabs on a single computer or across multiple machines. You can name browser windows and save sessions, view a graphical representation of all your tabs and windows, and sync tabs from one browser to another. While Firefox 4 has tab sync already, Tab Cloud gives you a little more control over how you sync your tabs. It's an excellent addition for Chrome, which (currently) has no existing tab sync at all. Regardless of sync, it makes for an excellent organizational tool for those of us who can't help but keep at least 30 tabs open at a time.

Tab Cloud | Chrome • Firefox

3. FlashBlock

With recent reports that the lack of Flash on the MacBook Air nets it two extra hours of battery life, you have to wonder if Apple's choice to leave Flash off its new highly portable laptops was really the right choice after all. Even if you don't use Flash much, there definitely are those few occasions where it's a necessity. That's where FlashBlock comes in. It lets you keep Flash installed on your computer but prevents Flash content from loading without your expressed permission. The upside is that Flash will never run without your intervention, though you can whitelist specific sites that you'd prefer Flash always works on. It's a great compromise for gaining better battery life (and better overall performance) without needing to remove Flash entirely.

Note: FlashBlock functionality is already built-in to Chrome for Windows and is in the Mac developer builds.

FlashBlock | Chrome • Firefox • Safari • Opera

2. Greasemonkey / Greasemetal / Etc.

GreaseMonkey is pretty incredible, in that it lets you do virtually anything you want with your web browser with the help of simple JavaScripts. By itself it doesn't do much at all, but when you consider all the available userscripts it's suddenly the most powerful extension you can have. It's basic purpose is to serve as a JavaScript injector. Userscripts that you install will inject JavaScript into a particular page to make it perform differently than it normally would. Although there are tons available, if you know JavaScript you can write your own and get exactly the functionality you're looking for. While Greasemonkey was original written for Firefox, it's possible to run Greasemonkey userscripts in Chrome (Chrome supports installing userscripts by default) and Safari (thanks to a port of the platform).

Greasemonkey | Firefox • Safari

1. LastPass

LastPass is an amazing password manager. Actually, it may be better described as a personal data manager. It can remember login credentials (and automatically log you into web sites), credit card numbers, your address and phone number, and other personal information you often need to enter on a web site or storefront checkout. It stores everything securely and syncs with any machine that has a LastPass extension installed, and it's one of the best timesavers you can install on your browser.

LastPass | Multi-browser Download Page

These days there are far more than ten great, must-have browser extensions. We can't include them all. What are your favorites? Share 'em in the comments.

Send an email to Adam Dachis, the author of this post, at adachis@lifehacker.com.

');

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

dorkomatic 04:05 AM

Invite a friend to comment

My essentials list (for FF):
Session Manager - better than the standard session saving.
Context Search - aids in right-click searching goodness from selected text.
I also use Delicious for my bookmarks, Sage for RSS feeds and Readability for ugly sites. Reply

shido641 03:47 AM

Invite a friend to comment

Febe
Cooliris
FirFTP Reply

JerryA 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

Adblock Plus. Reply

yagameister 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

Wow, all of these look completely unneeded -- for me, anyway. PriceBlink smells like malware. And LastPass? Why would I ever give all my passwords to some other entity? Reply

mdbuangmys 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

Something wrong with the tab cloud extension for firefox. It is not the same with the chrome extension. Reply

ModemGod 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

The only Firefox 3 extension that I bother using is Tab Mix Plus:
[addons.mozilla.org] Reply

Alluvian 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

No noscript? I will not browse without it. The sites are not the biggest thing to fear, it is the adservers, and they can infect you from legit sites. Reply

pseudoSequential 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

No ad-block plus!? I thought that would be number one. It is the only thing that I ever use! Reply

videobeagle 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

These sentences don't make sense:
In addition to showing you lower prices, if PriceBlink finds a coupon for the retailer you're visiting it'll offer that up as well. When you're not shopping, PriceBlink will stay out of your hair. It's a pretty great tool for keeping your wallet from getting too thin. InvisibleHand extension.)
So is PriceBlink an extension to Invisible Hand? Or is IH a competitor program?
With recent reports that the lack of Flash on the MacBook Air nets it two extra hours of battery life, you have to wonder if Apple's choice to leave Flash off its new highly portable laptops was really the right choice after all.
Well it's 2 hours of extra battery life..so that's like a 20-35% improvement...so I'd say yes it was the right choice...and as you go on to promote an extension that turns off Flash...and mention the battery extension effects, you'd agree.
#clarrification_needed Reply

Nicamenian 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

Is there any advantage of FlashBlock over Click to Flash? Also, which is better the Click to Flash plugin for Safari (on Mac) or the extension? Reply

See 1 reply Hide 1 reply

Beldar 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

I installed LastPass yesterday after seeing this. It was an overly complicated process and probably I did something wrong. But I'd be wary of it. In any case, now uninstalled. Why? It could be just coincidence, but at 9:15 last night I POPped 40 Gmail messages that were obvious hijacks:
"hello, I understand that a good business site, clearance sale, I
tried to buy some favorite items. The commitment time, I received my
goods. You can go to visit and have a look:difsiz.com, value beyond
what it is worth."
Over several years of using GMail nothing like this has ever happened. I visited Gmail to change my password, and got an alert that even though my IP indicated Massachusetts, a whole bunch of messages were sent from China using my address. It gave me a chance to confirm I didn't send them and suggested I change my password immediately. Since then, no more. Reply

shazaam42 promoted this comment

See 3 replies Hide 3 replies

TheLouis 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

How is ad-block not on this list? Reply

OrbitalGun promoted this comment

See 1 reply Hide 1 reply

kellanpan 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

You forgot to close the italics tag after this note:
"Note: FlashBlock functionality is already built-in to Chrome for Windows and is in the Mac developer builds."
#corrections Reply

AndiC 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

Chrome:-
Adthwart
WOT
Lastpass
Enable Chrome PDF support
YAGBE
I also like skype as it adds one click dialling, however, looking for a better solution. Reply

mgoldfeld 11/08/10

Invite a friend to comment

LastPass is a must! Is the first extension I isntall whenever I get a new computer or I'm rebulding an old one. Reply

likewisedesign 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

AutoCopy Reply

chriskennard 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

Last Pass would be cool to use if Opera (my main browser) didn't have something exactly like that, without an addon. Opera's Info Manager works exactly like Last Pass, filling out almost everything on registration pages, except password of course, really efficiently. Reply

See 2 replies Hide 2 replies

averagej03 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

For Last Pass would you really trust your credit card and all your passwords with a company that gives away its product for free. I know it's convenient but just sayin..... Reply

shazaam42 approved this comment

See 4 replies Hide 4 replies

oinari 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

I used to use WOT and I'm dying to try out BugMeNot. But Firefox has gotten so slow for me lately. I don't want to make it worse with more extensions. Reply

daniel.austin 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

As for copying without formatting, on OS X you can paste and match style, which effectively overrides the copied style with the style of wherever you're typing. cmd-opt-shift-v Reply

Gerardo Zamudio 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

Regarding Google Translate: I think they're slowly rolling that out to all users who have a Google cookie. I was using Firefox (without having opened Chrome during this session) and after loading the my Google.com homepage, I went to another site. The same Google Translate bar that comes up in Chrome came up for that site. Keep in mind, I'm using Firefox on a cold start with only Adblock Plus installed and having only visited Google.com before the current site. I haven't seen it again, though. Reply

See 3 replies Hide 3 replies

sailerboy 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

Where's xmarks? Reply

See 1 reply Hide 1 reply

danielblakes 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

the reason adblock wasn't included is the same reason 10,000 of you have commented on it.
EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT IT!
so stop saying that it's Lifehacker trying to get you to look at their ads or whatever and that it's all a conspiracy theory.
oh, and check out 69 Articles that mention adblock while you're at it. Reply

robertwan 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

"It's a pretty great tool for keeping your wallet from getting too thin. InvisibleHand extension.)"
I'm... not sure what that last sentence is actually supposed to say, but I'm pretty sure "InvisibleHand extension.)" is not it.
#corrections Reply

Connor Peet 11/07/10

Invite a friend to comment

Me thinks you have an unclosed italics tag at the end of #3 Reply

danielblakes promoted this comment

See 1 reply Hide 1 reply

Earlier discussions | Other discussions | Show all discussions | Show featured discussions only | Expand all replies Collapse all replies
Start a new discussion

In order to view comments on lifehacker.com you need to enable JavaScript.
If you are using Firefox and NoScript addon, please mark lifehacker.com as trusted.

via lifehacker.com

A great list regardless of what browser you use. As an alternative to LastPass, I use and recommend 1Password.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Useful Dropbox Extension for Google Chrome

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:28:23 -0700

Would you like to quickly access your Dropbox files while you’re browsing or using web apps in Chrome? Here’s a neat extension that can help you access your Dropbox quickly while in the browser.

via howtogeek.com

This is a great little extension for Google Chrome. Dropbox is a must-have utility for anyone who regularly works on more than one computer. It's rendered my flash drive all but obsolete. Having quick access to those files while browsing is a handy feature. Be sure to check out the original article on How-To Geek for installation help and a short user guide.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Chrome Sniffer Tells You What's Under the Hood

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:13:00 -0700

Check out Chrome Sniffer – it’s an extension that identifies on what platform the current page is given by displaying an icon up in the omnibar.
via churchcrunch.com

Chrome Sniffer is going to be such a great utility for me. So often when I'm surfing new sites I find myself asking, "I wonder if this is a WordPress-powered site?" I have to check the source code to find out. This extension will automatically tell me as soon as I arrive to the site. Awesome!

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Chrome Extension to Hide Comments on Specific Sites

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:02:50 -0700

No Comments elegantly removes the comments section from many sites, but lets you turn the worthy comments back on.

No Comments [Google Chrome extension gallery via The Awl]

via lifehacker.com -- Click here to view original post

There are some sites on which I value the comments as much, if not more so, than the original content posted by the author. However, in other cases I'd rather not have to see the childish bickering going on. Here's an extension for Google Chrome that will remove those distractions from your view.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Google Voice Chrome Extension

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:41:11 -0800

via lifehacker.com

This extension is truly for early adopters, since both Google Voice and Google Chrome extensions are in their infancy. Google has brought the two together in very intuitive ways. Check out the specifics on the original Lifehacker post.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

IE Tab Integration to Google Chrome

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:54:19 -0800

via howtogeek.com

There are some sites that can only be viewed using Internet Explorer (Microsoft Update comes to mind). Use this Google Chrome extension to allow you to open an IE tab within Chrome. Download the IE Tab Classic extension now or view detailed instructions on the original How-to Geek post.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Long URL Please - See Where Short URLs are Forwarding

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:19:20 -0800

Do you want an easy way to see where shortened URLs really lead to in your favorite browser? Then you will want to take a look at the Long URL Please Bookmarklet.

A few days ago we looked at some different URL shortening services and Extensions. But sometimes you need to know where the links are actually pointing to, as some can lead you to unsafe sites.

Note: There is a Firefox extension available for those who would prefer to use it in place of the bookmarklet.

Get the Bookmarklet

Here is a list of the “URL Shortening Services” that the bookmarklet will work for.

All that you need to do is drag the bookmarklet to your browser’s “Bookmarks Toolbar” and you are ready to reveal the real addresses behind those shortened URLs.

Before & After

For our example we visited the How-To Geek Twitter page. As you can see there are at least three different “URL Shortening Services” represented in this particular group of tweets…

You do not need to select/highlight any of the links…just one click on the bookmarklet and all of the shortened URLs in our group have been “converted back”. Now you can easily see the real addresses behind each shortened URL.

Conclusion

If you have been looking for an easy way to see the real addresses behind shortened URLs, then the Long URL Please Bookmarklet will certainly make a nice addition to your favorite browser. Also check out our previous post where we take a look at URL shortening services and extensions.

Get the Long URL Please Bookmarklet

Long URL Please Firefox Add-on

via howtogeek.com

There have been a lot of extensions and scripts that accomplish something similar to this but I like the way this one is implemented the best.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Filter YouTube Comments with YouTube Comment Snob

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:14:59 -0800

YouTube Comment Snob is a Firefox extension that filters out undesirable comments from YouTube comment threads. You can choose to have any of the following rules mark a comment for removal:

More than # spelling mistakes: The number of mistakes is customizable, and the extension uses Firefox's built-in spell checker.

All capital letters

No capital letters

Doesn't start with a capital letter

Excessive punctuation (!!!! ????)

Excessive capitalization

Profanity

Install YouTube Comment Snob at Mozilla Add-ons

via chrisfinke.com

Whether you're trying to block out comments that are NSFW or you're just pretentious by nature, the YouTube Comment Snob extension for Firefox should filter out the garbage for you.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Previewing Google Chrome's Extensions System

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:22:23 -0800

It's not officially released, but a gallery-like site for extensions has made itself known into the latest development builds of Google Chrome for Windows and Linux. Take a peek at what's coming, presumably very soon, in these development screenshots.

The Download Squad blog was the first to notice the new new thing in Chrome—namely, a jigsaw-like page corner in Chrome's new tab page, next to a message at the bottom that reads "New! Chrome now has bookmark sync and extensions!", with both the message and the corner piece linking to http://chrome.google.com/extensions

I saw the same link appear in the chrome://extensions page on my copy of Chromium, from a nightly build Ubuntu repository. Clicking that link, however, re-directs you to Google's home page. But as many are guessing, Chrome/Chromium wouldn't push out a new link to leave sitting dead for too long, so we'll keep watching that page to see when a full-fledged gallery pops up.

TechCrunch's MG Siegler dove into Chromium's Code Reviews section, and finds screenshots and discussions indicating that Chrome's extensions will be able to add icons to Chrome's top toolbar, inside the address bar, and in the bottom-right status bar, and that developers will also be allowed to customize items such as Chrome's new tab page. Right out of the gate, developers are also indicating extensions from Google itself tied to its Maps, News, and a Gmail checker.

Exciting stuff, and even more so if many of Firefox's developers take notice and bring over some of the same functionality that hardcore Mozilla users could never imagine leaving behind. Top and bottom photos from TechCrunch; new tab page image from Download Squad.

Google preparing to launch Chrome Extensions gallery? [Download Squad]
A Big Google Chrome Extensions Push Is Imminent (Pictures) [TechCrunch]

Send an email to Kevin Purdy, the author of this post, at kevin@lifehacker.com.

via lifehacker.com

Google is attempting to make adding extensions an activity that doesn't intimidate the user who is less tech savvy. The gallery view of its extensions is a great idea.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Extension Manager in Google Chrome

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:36:36 -0700

Type chrome://extensions into a new tab, and you'll see something similar to the screen above. Reloading and uninstalling extensions that aren't quite helpful is certainly useful, but the buttons on the right-hand side could be a bit better explained. This is, of course, an early version of a tool stuffed into a development channel release, so we'll expect the look and feel to get a bit more polished in the "stable" channel.

[via Download Squad]

via lifehacker.com

I've had awesome things to say about Google Chrome, but it has been a pain to use extensions in that browser. This little nugget of knowledge should make some of my earlier headaches go away.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Customize Your Web: Easily Tweak Any Website

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:01:05 -0700

I think everybody, at times, would like to be able to customize certain web sites to better meet their goals. Now, I am not talking about simple visual edits – like making the background black and the text white. How about adding keyboard shortcuts for certain web site links and navigation elements? You an do that and more with the Customize Your Web add-on for Firefox.

So do you want to customize web sites without writing one single line of code? Check out this video tutorial for a little more information about the Customize Your Web add-on for Firefox.

via firefoxfacts.com

This extension looks incredible. Many of you probably love being able to extend or alter websites with Stylish or Greasemonkey. Now, with Customize Your Web, you can do that on the fly! The video above gives a great overview of the extension's features.

The only downside to Customize Your Web is it's only available for Windows. As a Mac user I'm seriously jealous. The extension is free and requires Firefox 3.0 or higher. You can download it here: http://bit.ly/1CZHYW

Do you have an awesome use for this extension? Post it in the comments!

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Add-ons Sidebar Keeps Firefox and Add-ons Menu in One Window

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:35:25 -0700

via mac.softpedia.com

I'm always hopping in and out of the Add-ons menu in Firefox. I'm betting you do too if you've made your way to this post. I've never liked the fact that the Add-on menu opens in a new window. I wanted something that would keep me from the endless back and forth with Alt-Tab / Exposé.

I'm usually not too fond of sidebars, but I think this will be the first one I use consistently. The Add-ons Sidebar extension functions much like sidebars you're familiar with, and mirrors all the functions of the traditional Add-ons menu. When in the extensions tab of the sidebar a right-click of an extension will give you the standard options such as enabling/disabling, uninstalling and finding updates. The sidebar can be opened with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+A.

Like all Firefox extensions, Add-ons Sidebar is free. Requires Firefox 3.5 or higher.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Adblock Plus: The Must-Have Firefox Extension

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:08:39 -0700

via youtube.com

Let me give one additional tip that is not mentioned in the above video. By default, this extension will leave a little watermark where it has blocked a Java and Flash ad. To turn that watermark off, go to Add-ons under the Tools menu in Firefox. Find Adblock Plus and click Options button. Once the preferences menu appears, click the Options menu. You'll want to uncheck the second item: "Show tabs on Flash and Java."

Install this extension, use the EasyList USA just like the video suggests, and you'll almost never encounter another ad on the web. (And if you do, you can right-click the ad and block it manually.) Your eyes will thank you and your sites will load faster. I give this extension my highest possible recommendation.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Evernote Web Clipper for Firefox

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:31:49 -0700

via evernote.com

Use Evernote to take notes and save them on the web.

Let's say you're reading an article online and come across one specific part you'd like to save for later. You could bookmark the page, but upon your next visit you'd still have to find the exact place on the page that struck your fancy. And even when you found it, you might not remember why it was such a big deal. Without specific context, you may have forgotten the brilliant application you had for that information.

With Evernote you can highlight an area of a page and save just that page into a digital notebook that's saved online. That entry will include a link back to the original page. Along with the area you save, you can add a brief description so you know what to do with that information in the future. You can also add tags to make it easier to search for the information that you have saved in your notebooks. Add tags for each class you're in, each project you're working on, each person you're shopping for.

The Evernote Web Clipper extension for Firefox makes it really easy to add new content to your digital notebooks. Watch the video above. Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Wisestamp: Firefox Extension to Improve Your Email Signature

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:24:00 -0700

Wisestamp

Wisestamp is a Firefox extension we covered late last year that can enhance your email signature not just in Gmail but also in Hotmail, Yahoo! mail and AOL mail.

Simply install the add-on to gain the functionality of a rich text editor for composing your email signature. Change font styles and colors, add and resize images, and add a row of icons with links to your social networking services of choice.

You can also pull in items from an RSS feed right into your signature, making it a great way to promote your latest blog post, Flickr photos, status updates, random quote, or pretty much anything you can stick into an RSS file. For a walkthrough of the Wisestamp featureset, check out the tour video below.

via mashable.com

I've never liked the fact that Gmail won't let me add HTML to my email signature. That's where these two extensions Wisestamp comes in.

I've been using Wisestamp since then end of last year and have been very happy with it. One tip: if you're going to add links to your social profile, change your preferences so the links show up as text only. The icons might look cool, but Gmail and other email programs block images at first until the user allows them. I'd rather my links be seen, even if they're not quite as pretty.

I've never used Black Canvas Gmail Signatures but it looks promising. I like that you can set up four difference signatures, and each can be set for a certain address. (WiseStamp only has options for two, and switching between them is done manually.) UPDATE (10/28/09): This post originally included two Firefox extensions to spruce up your email signature. It would appear as if Black Canvas is no longer being supported. I have removed the link to their website to avoid confusion.

Try out Wisestamp and let me know what you think.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Firefox Extensions for Web Development

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:39:00 -0700

ColorZilla

An advanced eyedropper, ColorPicker, Page Zoomer, and colorful goodies – download ColorZilla here.

I use ColorZilla to find the hexcode of a color. Let’s say you are in the middle of CSS script writing and stuck because you don’t know the hexcode of a color you’d like to use? Find a similar color on the web, then use ColorZilla to get the code. No need to boot up Photoshop.

IE Tab

Embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox – download IE Tab here.

IE can be a nightmare to work with (especially IE6). It has a different method of rendering CSS soour beautiful design on Firefox could be your worst nightmare in IE.

Using IE Tab, you could check your design’s appearance on IE in Firefox window so you don’t need to open IE. This saves you time from loading up the browser.

Screengrab

Screengrab! saves webpage as images – download Screengrab here.

Screengrab helps you to store webpages as a PNG image. Use Screengrab whenever you need a screenshot of a site. You can capture a full site’s appearance, visible portion, or even just a selection of it.

Firebug

Put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse – download Firebug here.

Using Firebug, you can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in Firefox.

via feedproxy.google.com

I personally use ColorZilla and IE Tab. ColorZilla is fantastic. I no longer have to hunt through stylesheets trying to figure out what hex code someone used to generate a certain color on a site. IE Tab gives me one less thing to think about. I can plug in all the sites I know need Internet Explorer in the extension's options menu. Whenever I browse to them an IE tab will automatically generate, even if I'm surfing in from somewhere else and I had been using a standard Firefox tab.

I'm giving Firebug and Screengrab a try thanks to this post. Go check out the original article on Pro Blog Design. He profiled a total of 11 extensions in that post.

Do you use extensions to aid in your web development? Talk about your favorites in the comments.

Permalink | Leave a comment »