25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive

  • Posted by glen on February 10th, 2008

25-firefox-extensinons productivityFirefox is my weapon of choice when it comes to browsing the web. It’s fast, free, and gives the user the best feature ever: Choice.

The beauty of the Firefox extension is that it allows you to add a specific feature or function, fully customizing your browsing experience. For someone wanting to make the most of their online time, this is a huge opportunity. There are limitless ways to tailor your browsing with Firefox extensions. Here are 25 of my favorite extensions that help me save time while online.

  1. Autocopy - The name pretty much says it all. Instead of having to hit cmd+c (or ctrl + C for our Windows readers), every time you highlight text it automatically copies it to the clipboard. If you don’t want it on 100% of the time, you can toggle it on and off in the bottom-right of the browser.
  2. Better Gmail - A must-have for any Gmail user. Maintained by the legendary Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, Better Gmail adds some killer features that would make any developer at Google scratch their head and wonder “Why didn’t I think of that?!”. Keyboard macros, saved searches, right-click preview views and integrate Google Reader to name a few. (The keyboard macros are enough of a reason to install this little filly, in my humble opinion.)
  3. Better GReader - Another gem from Gina for Google Reader. Add feeds to GReader and bypass the default add page from Google, make the most of the reading area and take advantage of some great keyboard shortcuts, to name a few.
  4. No Squint - Finding yourself going cross-eyed form leaning too close to the monitor? No Squint can fix it. Specify a percentage to show all text that’s larger than the default for your screen resolution. You can either make all sites a default size, or only specify a few with different font sizes.
  5. Remember the Milk for Gmail - If you’re a fan of the todo list application Remember the Milk, you’ll love this extension. Fully mange your todo items inside of Gmail, instead of having to trek over to the RTM website every time you want to check off a task. You can also quickly assign emails as tasks. Very slick.
  6. Shareaholic- An indispensable extension for those who do a lot of social bookmarking with digg, del.icio.us, twitter, or maintain a tumblelog. In one click you can share the page you’re on with the previously mentioned services (plus a few more) without spending any more time than you have to away from the article.
  7. LeechBlock - If you’re feeling a little vulnerable to the addictive qualities of certain websites, use LeechBlock to literally force you from visiting them within a certain time period of the day. No joke. Not for the faint of heart, or those with problems with authority.
  8. Read it later - Don’t have time to really focus on an article you’ve found? This extension will enable you to quickly save the page you’re browsing until you’re able to read it. Once you’re ready to read your saved articles, the extension will open the articles in new tabs with the click of a button.
  9. Scrapbook - Much like the Read it Later extension, Scrapbook allows you to quickly save pages for later reading. However, it has a few more great features, like taking whole snippets of pages (like Google Notebook), searching within snippets, saving whole websites, and you can even organize the snippets like bookmarks. Perfect for researching or in-depth bookmarking.
  10. Meetimer- Meetimer is a great way to get a handle on just how much time you’re spending on various sites around the web. You can group sites into categories (ie. facebook.com = “procrastination”), and track just how much
  11. Copy Plain Text- The name pretty much says it all. If you do a lot of writing in WYSIWYG editors (blogging and other word processors), then this extension can come in pretty handy. Copy Plain Text will leave all the bolds, italics and other unwanted formatting when you copy and paste into text fields.
  12. Ad Block Plus- For those obsessed with a zen-like minimalist approach to web browsing, this Ad Block Plus will surely keep you focused. Kill annoying banners and ads by simplying installing the extension and right-clicking the banner on the page. Once you’ve clicked the banner, you’ll never see it again as long as the extension is turned on.
  13. Gmail Conversation Preview - A nifty little Greasemonkey script that allows you right-click and see the body of the email, without opening it. Simple and slick.
  14. Invisibility cloak - Lifehacker’s solution to blank out certain time-wasting sites that kill productivity. This is a much smaller version of LeechBlock.
  15. Add a second inbox to your Gmail account - Quickly and easily toggle between Gmail inboxes. Perfect for those with a business and personal email accounts at Gmail.
  16. FEBE - On the surface, FEBE will quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can also sync multiple computers with the same Firefox extensions, and even set up automatic backups, ensuring that you’ll never lose your Firefox configurations again.
  17. del.icio.us bookmarks - Save, search and share your Del.icio.us bookmarks easily inside of Firefox. Browsing your bookmarks is especially easy with the del.icio.us sidebar.
  18. Googlepedia - I find this extension extremely valuable for getting a more holistic Google search. Googlepedia splits the Google search results in half and shows the relevant Wikipedia page for the search alongside the Google results.
  19. Errorzilla Mod - This extension is pretty nifty for troubleshooting error pages that you might come across, giving you the Google Cache, Wayback Machine, Whois, and tons of other useful information about the site and page in question.
  20. Pageaddict - Pageaddict simply shows your internet usage by website. It’s not as intrusive as Invisibility Cloak or LeechBlock, but it can provide a helpful look at where you really spend your time online.
  21. urlfixer - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve typed in “gmail.cmo” to get a frustrating error page. Instead of having to perfectly type in every url, urlfixer can usually guess where you’re trying to go, and will send you there anyway.
  22. Colorful Tabs - This extension is deceptively useful. Much like office file-folder tabs, colorful tabs gives a color to each tab opened in Firefox. Quickly find which tab you need without having to read it.
  23. Faviconize Tab - Save some serious tab bar real estate with Faviconize tabs. With a simple right-click, you can shrink each tab to only the size of the favicon (16×16px), giving you much more room for open tabs.
  24. Google Notebook- Google notebook is another bookmarking tool, except it can save whole excerpts from pages, images and links. Quickly save all parts of a page into an digital “notebook” for easily collecting. Not quite as nifty as the Scrapbook extension, but definitely a contender.
  25. Dictionary Tooltip - A perfect companion for any writer. Just highlight any word and hit Ctrl + Shift + D to see the word’s definition, without having to open a new window.


Digg!

Photo by *keng

Related Posts

  • → How To Update (Some) Firefox Extensions For Firefox 2.0

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  • → links for 2006-10-12

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  • → GTDInbox- GTDGmail Resurrected With Features


    • 60 Responses to “25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive”

    1. Sonny Gill Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

      Awesome list - didn’t know about many of them. Dugg!

    2. Jay Meattle Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 8:59 pm

      I’m glad Shareaholic is one of your favorite extensions!

    3. Jeff F. Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 9:02 pm

      Great list… never heard of PageAddict Extension. Sounds interesting. Just downloaded it to give it a test run!

      Thanks!

    4. Leo Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

      Man, I thought I had my Firefox tricked out, but this list puts me to shame. :)

      Great resource, Glen. I won’t be adding all of these, but I’m going to bookmark it as I’m sure I’ll want to try almost all of them out at some point.

    5. Andy MacDonald - SEO & Marketing Blog Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

      Nice post. i have downloaded a few of those extensions, lets hope they help to my productivity, or just give me more tools to play with. lol.

    6. Robin Says:
      February 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

      Great post. Thanks!

    7. Al Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 12:52 am

      Hi,

      Nice list.

      An all-in-one add-on I find useful is Hyperwords
      http://www.hyperwords.net/index.html

      You will be surprised at the functionality.

      Al

    8. Лична продуктивност с 25 добавки за Firefox Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 1:55 am

      [...] Чудесна колекция от 25 добавки за Firefox, които допринасят за личната продуктивност на хората, които работят с компютър публикува LifeDev.net. [...]

    9. Jim Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 2:48 am

      One frustration I always had with websites was the inability to have a shortcut to select the ‘Search’ box on a webpage, as often these are hidden away and can be hard to find. So I wrote one, and do find it incredibly useful on a day-to-day basis.

      It’s at http://blog.devzero.net/2007/10/announcing-insearch-11.html

    10. Logan Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 3:00 am

      Re: #25:
      I use the Greasemonkey script LookItUp for the same thing, with MUCH more power. By selecting text and hitting a key, I can bring up dictionaries, Wikipedia, torrents, Froogle searches of that word in a side-window. Very powerful and completely customizable. I use it many times a day.

    11. kaly Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 6:01 am

      Great article, keep up good work.

    12. debu Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 6:03 am

      I’ve tried lookitup, but like drag and drop zones better http://tinyurl.com/2kfdtc sexy, powerful, and doesn’t bog my system down.

    13. Jason Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 7:39 am

      Excellent List!

    14. marc Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 8:07 am

      i just start installing!

    15. anglictina Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 8:32 am

      Very good article, thank you very much

    16. Dan Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 8:37 am

      Nothing new to me here. You might rename the article to “Best gmail related firefox addons”.
      #8 and #9 are totaly useless because bookmarks are much more handy.
      #17 and #6 are in conflict, roughly said but as same as #1 is whit #11.
      Hmm… 25 extensions for what ? slowing down your browser and eating your time ?
      You might wanna check this tutorial that will explain how to have multiple profiles syncronized and your increase your productivity.

    17. iLibrarian » 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 10:45 am

      [...] LifeDev blog has compiled an annotated guide of 25 Firefox extensions for productivity. Here are their top five [...]

    18. CFA Level 1 Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 10:50 am

      Good list of plugins but i’m sure quite a few useful ones are missing as well.

    19. FirefoxHints.com » LifeDev lists 25 Firefox Extensions Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 10:55 am

      [...] Visit List Permalink   [...]

    20. links for 2008-02-11 - KusMijnKloten.ch Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive (tags: firefox extensions software productivity tools) [...]

    21. links for 2008-02-11 « 個人的な雑記 Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive (tags: extension Firefox list productivity) [...]

    22. links for 2008-02-11 « lieblinks Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 5:28 pm

      [...] 25 Top Firefox Extensions The beauty of the Firefox extension is that it allows you to add a specific function, fully customizing your browsing experience. (tags: extensions firefox tools) [...]

    23. Earle Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

      my list:
      blocksite
      colt 2.3.0
      cooliris
      copy plain text
      deskcut
      fasterfox
      gbutts
      image zoom
      link checker
      mr tech
      nightly tester
      no squint paste email
      reel new media bar
      remove it permanently
      status bar clock
      unplug

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      February 11th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

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      February 11th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

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    26. links for 2008-02-12 | JJjunk Says:
      February 11th, 2008 at 10:32 pm

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive Great list of Firefox addons that will help to keep you productive. I think I’m going to use the Pageaddict addon to see where I really spend my time. (tags: firefox extensions productivity tools software gtd gmail list) [...]

    27. The Best Extensions to Enhance Firefox - Technology Questions Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 12:45 am

      [...] The Best Extensions to Enhance Firefox The list of 25 Firefox Extensions on the LifeDev blog is also a good read. __________________ Layne P. Heiny / Administrator for Tux [...]

    28. Michael Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 2:42 am

      How about the extension “reload every,” it allows you to tell firefox how often you want to refresh certain webpages, this way if you’re watching a live blog or something you don’t have to manually refresh the page.

      Or maybe Google browser sync, I use it to keep bookmarks in sync between multiple computers, this way I’m never wondering where the heck it was that I found a link, as long as I bookmark it, it shows up in every firefox browser I use.

    29. Love Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 4:51 am

      This is really good and ifactive news….

    30. Miniposts: 25 extensiones productivas para Firefox - ALT1040 Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 6:03 am

      [...] LifeDev hacen un listado de 25 extensiones para Firefox que pueden resultar productivas a la hora de trabajar. Hay de todo para organizarse, recordar las cosas y evitar la [...]

    31. links for 2008-02-12 at YakShaving Says:
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    32. Lunch Time Links for 2-12-08 | Smart Pastor Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 10:01 am

      [...] up on Firefox Evangelism, here are 25 Firefox extensions to make you more productive. There looks to be a couple of good ones [...]

    33. purple_frogs Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

      My favorite extension is NextPlease! - http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/390 .

      A very simple extension, it finds the “Next” and “Previous” buttons on a page, and clicks them for you when you hit Ctrl+Shift+Arrow (or your configured choice). Using it I can read a whole article, or browse through comments, or loop through search results, without taking my hands off the keyboard! If I don’t have this extension installed, I feel truly lost.

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      February 12th, 2008 at 4:02 pm

      [...] Note: ZZZPhone 10 Great Free Downloads for Your Network Smallest TV Freeware DVD Burn 25 Firefox Extensions    Episode 20 2-13-08 [50:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download [...]

    35. K1 | Web · Resources · Networks » Blog Archive » My del.icio.us bookmarks February 12th Says:
      February 12th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive - [...]

    36. Dagelijkse dosis links 12-02-2008 | Weblog Syntra AB Says:
      February 13th, 2008 at 3:37 am

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive Maak uw surfsessies productiever door het installeren van Firefox plugins. Dat zijn kleine stukjes software die uw browser uitbreiden met extra mogelijkheden. (tags: plugins browser firefox) Tags: [...]

    37. imgriff.com » Blog Archiv » Noch produktiver mit Firefox Says:
      February 13th, 2008 at 7:40 am

      [...] Meinung nach 10 wichtigsten Erweiterungen für Firefox aufgezählt. Eine sehr schöne Liste von 25 Firefox-Add-Ons, mit denen sich der beliebte Opensource-Browser effizienter nutzen lässt, hat nun Glen auf [...]

    38. Become More Productive with Firefox « Medliorate Says:
      February 14th, 2008 at 2:03 am

      [...] 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive [LifeDev] [...]

    39. mewt Says:
      February 17th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

      Great list. Might try some of those.Thanks!

    40. Moocolorfinder, Fotoflexer y algunos recursos más… | Formación en Saregune Says:
      February 18th, 2008 at 4:32 am

      [...] 25 extensiones de Firefox para hacerte más productiv@. [...]

    41. Le migliori 25 estensioni per Firefox per aumentare la propria produttività - Geekissimo Says:
      February 18th, 2008 at 5:00 am

      [...] Fonte Parziale: LifeDev [...]

    42. Le 25 migliori estensioni per Firefox « The house of software freeware Says:
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    43. re-link: 25 firefox extensions « It’s Alright!! Says:
      February 19th, 2008 at 9:57 am

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    44. Getting The Most From Firefox For Writers Says:
      February 19th, 2008 at 10:04 am

      [...] done a lot of the work for me. LifeDev, a personal productivity blog, created a post called: 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive Although several of the extensions are aimed at gmail, which I don’t use, there are several [...]

    45. Joakim Says:
      February 20th, 2008 at 12:29 am

      Extremely helpful extension list … thanks a lot as I am applying at least three of them now permanently .. Cheers Joakim

    46. Joakim Says:
      February 20th, 2008 at 12:36 am

      Thanks for the great list .. I found using three very helpful new extensions .. favorite is defintely tabmix .. Cheers Joakim

    47. sorin frumuseanu Says:
      February 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pm

      Thank you for FEBE (FEBEwill quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions). I’ll try right now. I really need something to save my multiple firefox accounts, inlcluding extensions.

    48. KOCHWERKSTATT » links for 2008-02-23 Says:
      February 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 am

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    49. Firefox Erweiterungen: IE Tab Says:
      February 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 am

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    50. 25 extensões do Firefox que ajudam a aumentar a sua produtividade « Favoritos Says:
      March 2nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm

      [...] Link: 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive [...]

    51. 3S2 Says:
      March 8th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

      Realmente é uma lista surpreendente, gostei muito, só faltou um dos meus favoritos o easyGestures.

    52. 25 extensões para o Firefox para aumentar a produtividade no dia-a-dia na web | desenvolvimento para web Says:
      March 12th, 2008 at 6:25 am

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    53. Raven Says:
      March 14th, 2008 at 8:06 am

      Thank You for the Great list. I found it to be very useful.

    54. imgriff.com » Blog Archiv » Der Link am Morgen: Firefox-Erweiterungen Says:
      March 24th, 2008 at 1:30 am

      [...] 10 besten Erweiterungen für Firefox hatte ich hier bereits aufgelistet. Und auf eine weitere hervorragende Liste von 25 nützlichen Erweiterungen hatten wir auch schon [...]

    55. Cant Live without FireFox Says:
      March 29th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

      i dont have any idea that there is googlepedia till i stumble here. thanks for the list

    56. Samantha Says:
      April 10th, 2008 at 1:08 am

      I’m ashamed to say I will be investigating and downloading nearly half your fabulous suggestions. Some I’ve already tried — didn’t care for the colored tabs but that’s just me. Google is such an enormous powerhouse I’ve wondered — while I love Gmail — why I couldn’t add a second inbox! DUH! On the other hand I ADORE Adblock Plus. Many thanks to you for going to so much trouble for us.

      :hugs:
      PalominoGirl

    57. The best free software, online apps and lists on the Web 2.0. « the engine house Says:
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      May 6th, 2008 at 6:45 am

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    59. 25 Firefox Extensions to Make You More Productive « Green Hills of Earth Says:
      May 6th, 2008 at 10:35 am

      [...] read more | digg story [...]

    60. ??? ??????? » ????? » 25 ???? ?? ???????? ?????? ????????? Says:
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