CyberNirvana

I woke up one morning and realised that I have 'bloated' my version of Firefox with far too many add-ons. The browser has been suffering slow start-up and web surfing has been affected to a certain extent. On closer inspection, I found that I have loaded over 100 add-ons since I discovered Firefox (and with over 30 extensions still to be processed and tried!) last November.

So, I decided to take some drastic measures...I downloaded a fresh version of Firefox (I always use the portable version) and loaded it up with the MOST critical add-ons, in effect creating my 'Desert Island' version. I initially started with 5 add-ons, went up to the iconic 7, pushed it to 10 for a couple of days and finally ended up with 15...Yes 15 Firefox add-ons I cannot live without.

Here is my list:

1. Foxmarks Bookmark Synchroniser: If there was one extension which is a must and I HAVE TO HAVE IT, it's this excellent bookmark synchronisation tool. There are numerous good sync tools out there but I like this one, it is simple and effective. Why this extension? I am running Firefox (portable) on 3 platforms: home PC, home laptop and my USB flash drive: all bookmarks are seamlessly in sync.

2. Del.icio.us: how can I exclude this delightful extension? As a Del.icio.us fan, this is excellent: all my online bookmarks can be easily accessed and I can also tag sites with ease.

3. Clipmarks: I love it, I can clip stories/videos/pictures with very few clicks. In addition it is so much easier to clip my blog entries to Clipmarks.

4. Smart Digg Button: another social bookmarking tool favourite. Very useful for 2 reasons: I can check the Digg popularity of a site/web page and I can easily digg stories from the status bar.

5. BBC Bar Toolbar: a must-have add-on helpful for several reasons: 1. The BBC news ticker keeps me up to date. 2. An easy access to my webmail access with new message notifier. 3. Fast access to Firefox privacy settings (Clear cache, clear history). 4. Weather update (icon + temperature)

6. RSS Ticker: I have already reviewed this tool on my blog. A wonderful way to access my RSS feeds. I am so busy that I do not always have the time to trawl through my favourite RSS reader (Netvibes). This great add-on allows me to see the top 3 headlines from each feed scrolling accross the status bar...How more slick can you get!!

7. Super DragAndGo: Why bother saving a picture by going 1/ right click 2/ find the save image line 3/click 4/ find the folder where you want to save the image 5/click save when you can doing it with simply ONE mouse movement? What a time-saver! Works with URL links too.

8. MinimizeToTray: surprisingly, this feature does not comes a standard in the current version of Firefox. Anyway, a neat little tool to clean up my taskbar and avoid annoying looks on my browsing habits :)

9. IE Tab: what a shame, there are still sites out there where the Empire of Bill Gates has the upper hand. Very handy for heavy javascript-loaded pages, security related domains and embedded multimedia goodies.

10. Paste Email: I have been fed up of constantly typing my email address and other details on web forms. This great tool allows me to paste all kind of stored information.

11. Google Calendar Notifier: As covered in the post about my personal calendar obsession, this tools allows me to notify me well in advance of upcoming agenda items from my Google Calendar (in sync with my home MS Outlook calendar).

12. Add Bookmark Here 2: with the tons of bookmarks I have, I ain't got the time to trawl through my favorites via the standard Firefox 'Add Bookmarks' to find the right directory to store a link. I simply go through my bookmarks from the main window and decide where I want to store it...simple.

13. Foxclocks: With family members around the world and dealing with different countries in my current job, the need for getting the right local time around the world is essential. This tool puts small clocks in your statusbar. Choose from a set of useful time formats or create your own - custom formats are easy to create and very flexible.

14. Screengrab!: I found this one recently. This extension will save what you can see in the window, the entire page, just a selection, a particular frame...Very handy for my blog postings.

15. Bookmark Duplicate Detector: Frankly, it would be difficult to ignore this one, especially when my current bookmarks are over 2000 (and rising). As mentioned in a previous post, in addition to a built-in duplicate finder tool, this add-on warns you when you are about to bookmark a duplicate entries: the user is then given the choice to either ignore the issue or move the items to another folder - superb!

Of course, the above list is a matter of personal opinion. Any media-savvy user would have gone for tools like video downloader and other media downloading gizmos. I have also left out those wonderful Google tools (Gmail notifier, Gdrive, Google Notebook) which unfortunately did not fall in the category 'Cannot live without', i.e. used on a daily basis.

There is no shortage of exciting add-ons out there. To ensure I do try them out without disrupting my 'ideal' set-up, I am using a basic version of Firefox (portable version as always) to test and try these extensions.

Who knows what the list will look like in 6 months time? Currently, I have managed to live with the above 15 for the last 15 days without the urge to install anymore...

I would love to hear what my readers have as their most treasured Firefox add-ons...

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