I finally have FF - best 'Add-Ons' around?

SideWinder · 16 May 2009 at 20:35

Just changed my theme and so far i have found FireFox to be a bit slower than IE...anything that makes it a shade faster when i browse the same few sites? I've seen a few around but not sure what to go for.

Oh and anything else cool/essential i need. I KNOW there is a thread somewhere but i couldn't find it.

Duke · 16 May 2009 at 20:38

Grab Tweak Network add-on (although you can manually make the tweaks but I find this quicker)

Pho · 16 May 2009 at 20:39

Some I use..
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2888
http://www.mousegestures.org/
http://firefox.exxile.net/aios/index.php
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/207?application=firefox&id=207&vid=459
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6937
http://smoothwheel.mozdev.org/
http://ieview.mozdev.org/

theheyes · 16 May 2009 at 20:39

Adblock Plus? Some people like NoScript but never used it myself.

TheVoice · 16 May 2009 at 20:41

Personally I use:
-Adblock Plus (self-explanatory)
-DownThemAll (nice little download manager/accelerator)
-FEBE (for the occasional back-up, leave it disabled most of the time)
-Glasser (adds a nice Vista Aero effect to Firefox)
-Gmail Notifier
-Stylish (for making the bookmarks toolbar look Vista-ish)

SideWinder · 16 May 2009 at 21:04

Great thanks. One problem...i dislike the downbar that appears when i start to write a website...i prefer the IE appearance. Any ideas?

Pho · 16 May 2009 at 21:07

Oldbar

SideWinder · 16 May 2009 at 21:14

Genius, thankyou! Solved my 'Refresh button in wrong place' thing as well...AND added the shortcut to desktop thing. :cool:

TheSwede · 16 May 2009 at 21:19

Not sure if you already has it or not but if you got lots of bookmarks you have to have Xmarks on your FF.. for me its a god send, you never lose all your bookmarks!

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2410

swanseajack · 16 May 2009 at 22:26

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9148

Speeds up web page loading.

knowlesy · 16 May 2009 at 22:29

xmarks
delicious
noscript
adblock

-=Vect0r=- · 16 May 2009 at 23:08

swanseajack said:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9148
Speeds up web page loading.

Cheers, just tried this and Wow!

Tab Mix Plus
IE Tab Options
DownThemAll!
Xmarks :cool:

tolien · 16 May 2009 at 23:40

swanseajack said:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9148

Speeds up web page loading.

At the expense of breaking your browser and leaving crap all over the place.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Problematic_extensions
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Network.http.pipelining#Caveats

# Although this preference may improve performance, it may cause problems loading pages from some servers

It was set as default once and was found to break a bunch of banking sites (among others). If you really want, there are bugs filed for enabling, dealing with breakage and disabling pipelining.

As for the "leaving crap around", the author says

WARNING: Before uninstalling, make sure configurations have been set back to default

The extension is unapproved - the link besides the checkbox says:

What are experimental add-ons?

Experimental add-ons are newer add-ons which have not yet undergone our public review process. Many of these add-ons may be in prototype form. Since they are untested by our editorial team, they may be alpha, beta or pre-production in quality, performance and features.

Caution should be used when installing experimental add-ons, as they have not been tested by an editor and may harm your computer configuration.

Kobrakai · 16 May 2009 at 23:44

Adblock Plus is a must.

spleenharvester · 17 May 2009 at 01:02

I use "Yet another Smooth Scrolling!" and ForecastFox if it helps. Have the Vista Ultimate theme too.
And slower than IE? You have to be kidding.

Mattus · 17 May 2009 at 01:08

Adblock Plus and Element Hiding Helper: indispensable. Can't browse without them.
All-in-one Gestures: adds mouse gestures, speeds up browsing a lot on my laptop.
DownThemAll and Flashgot: really good combination for batch-downloading practically any files.
Firebug: the web developer's best friend.
Foxytunes: control your media player from Firefox. Maybe a bit gimmicky but saves me switching windows.
IE Tab: for the few sites that still protest at Firefox.
Locationbar2: gives you pretty URLs like IE8 and Chrome.
XMarks: syncs bookmarks, useful if you have multiple machines.

tolien · 17 May 2009 at 01:48

Suppose I should add what extensions I use, beyond what's already been mentioned:
About:Tab - adds a useful page when you open a new tab
FxIF - shows EXIF data in images, where available
Greasemonkey - write all sorts of JS to enhance pages
Nightly Tester Tools - because I, as the name suggests, test nightlies. Can be used to override extension compatibility checking and adds a few other useful bits
Ubiquity - "the command line for the web"

xiphrex · 17 May 2009 at 02:42

Adblock plus is a must it really does cut out all the BS from most websites!

But there are sites that go further and use BS in the form of flash (swf) files!

The plugin you then need is Flashblock. Very cool addon, replaces all flash entities with a placemarker, and you just have to click on it once to then load that flash file. If you use the internet for what some consider its main purpose, this addon is very useful!

Shamikebab · 17 May 2009 at 02:54

Most of the ones I use have been mentioned but I have to second Tab Mix Plus, couldn't browse without it now.

tolien · 17 May 2009 at 02:56

Shamikebab said:
Most of the ones I use have been mentioned but I have to second Tab Mix Plus, couldn't browse without it now.

While I remember, TMP's busted in the 3.5 betas/nightlies (weirdness with session restore, tabs, crashing, etc.), but the builds on the TMP Forum work.

Edit: Trimmed out the crap from this thread.