Beyond Preferences: Customizing Firefox

Firefox is the great uniter of web browsers. You can be a die hard Apple fan, a Windows user, or a Linux geek (or all three) and use Firefox. Using Firefox works pretty much the same way no matter what kind of workstation you're using. If you're a Windows user, choosing Firefox opens up a whole new world of possibility in your web experience because there are so many additional types of functionality that can be added according to preference. There are several different types of enhancements for Firefox, called addons.

Extensions

Firefox extensions exist for almost every conceivable purpose. I have several personal favorites that have become part of Firefox's standard configuration on any machine that I use regularly that runs Firefox. These are my top choices, all worth checking out if you're looking for new ways to enhance your browser:

Topping my list is AdBlock Plus (http://adblockplus.org). I don't go anywhere online with Firefox without AdBlock Plus installed and its subscriptions up to date. What are subscriptions for AdBlock Plus? Subscriptions are precompiled lists of sites that are responsible for those annoying banner ads and other such nonsense that slow down the loading time for web pages. When you install AdBlock Plus for the first time, you will be prompted to select sites which host these lists to which you want to subscribe. You will not need to subscribe to every list available. When you have AdBlock Plus installed (including your subscriptions), you can go to Tools -> AdBlock Plus to view and further tweak your AdBlock Plus preferences. While you're surfing, if you come across a banner or other image based advertisement that isn't filtered out by AdBlock Plus, you can right click on the on the image and select AdBlock Image.

Want to browse a site without leaving traces behind in your system's cache? Want to visit a questionable site without having cookies deposited on your system and without fiddling with your standard preferences for how cookies are handled? The Anonymization Toolbar might be for you. The Anonymization Toolbar lives in your Firefox window below your Personal Toolbar Folder. It allows you to input a URL directly into the toolbar and browse that site through an anonymous proxy server with no additional configuration required. Just download, install, and surf anonymously. It's that easy.

Download Statusbar (http://www.anonymization.net/) is a great addon for people who don't like fussing with Firefox's download manager window. Download Statusbar displays file download progress in the status bar at the bottom of your Firefox window. You can right click on the Download Statusbar instance in your status bar and access Download Statusbar controls through a context menu. While files are downloading, you can copy the source URL, pause or cancel the download using the context menu. Once a download is complete, you can open the file you've downloaded, move it, delete it, and more, all without having to fiddle with Firefox's download manager and without leaving your Firefox session. Once your download is complete, right click on the item's Download Statusbar progress bar and select Clear From Bar. Viola!

Get current local weather conditions and forecast information right in your Firefox status bar with Forecastfox (http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/). Forecastfox draws its information from AccuWeather.com (a Weather.com version, Forecastfox l10n is available at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2024). You can add profiles for other regions to your Forecastfox configuration. Once you have Forecastfox installed, right click anywhere on the Forecastfox extension in Firefox's status bar and select Options. You can only display current information for one region at a time in your status bar. This is easily toggled using the right click context menu.

NoScript (http://noscript.net/) is a great addon for protecting your computer from malicious Java script code in web pages. You tell Firefox which sites are allowed to execute Java script code on your system. NoScript lives in the lower right corner of your status bar. NoScript can be configured on the fly, and in fact will probably have to be in many cases. I've been using NoScript for several months (I purchased my current machine back in February), and I consistently have to tell it which pages are allowed to execute Java script. Some people might find this annoying, but I find that having that much more control over what happens on my machine is well worth the trade off.

Themes

Themes (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:2) allow users to customize the look and feel of Firefox. Think of them as skins for your browser. If you're into making your applications look pretty, then you'll love playing with the numerous themes available for Firefox.

Dictionaries

Do you write in Arabic, Finnish, Hebrew, Russian or Swedish using Firefox, perhaps when posting to a foreign language forum? Check out Firefox's extensive list of dictionaries (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:3). Firefox Dictionaries work in conjunction with Firefox's spell-checking feature. Dictionaries for Firefox are available in 44 different languages, including dialects of English specifically for Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States.

Search Engines

If you're not using the Search Bar feature in Firefox, you should. The Search Bar is by far one of Firefox's handiest standard features. It's also a great way to cut down on the clutter in your Bookmarks. The list of search engines that you can add to the Search Bar (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:4) is virtually endless, and isn't actually limited to search engines in particular. Almost any site with some kind of search functionality included can be added to your Search Bar. You can add searches for Amazon.com, eBay, the Internet Movie Database, MySpace, USA Today, Yahoo!, Zabasearch and many more. What's more, you can create your own searches for your favorite sites (I did this for the Better Business Bureau site at search.bbb.org) and install them in your Search Bar. You don't have to be a coder to create your own search bar entries. Visit Search Plugins.net (http://www.searchplugins.net/) and see how easy it is.

Plugins

Plugins (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:7) aren't nearly as exciting or far ranging as some of the other kinds of addons available for Firefox. However, they are very useful and quite necessary if you want Firefox to seamlessly support certain types of functionality and certain kinds of online content. Firefox's common plugins are Acrobat Reader (allows you to read PDF files in your browser window), Adobe Flash Player, Java, Quicktime, RealPLayer, Shockwave and Windows Media Player.

A note for fellow Linux users: Quicktime, Shockwave and Windows Media Player (not that you care about this one) are unsupported at this time. Fellow 64-bit Linux users might want to check out http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/linux-amd64.html, although I haven't had to concern myself with this to get my basic plugin needs met. As always, your mileage may vary.

Happy browsing!