Firefox Extensions that Everyone Needs

There are a lot of useful extensions for Firefox out there, but I have selected a few that no Firefox user should live without.

Adblock Plus - This extension blocks a huge majority of the advertisements displayed. If you ever run across a advertisement (rare) you can right click on it, and select "Adblock Image" to never see it again. This version of Adblock also includes a filter subscription, so when new advertisements come out, it will update your filters to block them.

DisableBackspaceNavigation - Backspace navigation can be extremely aggravating. You can be filling in a text box, switch to a different window and when you come back to delete something, you find yourself loading the previous page. Not anymore!

PDF Download - This extension does exactly what its name says. It displays a popup window when you click on a PDF file to allow you to download it, display it, or view as HTML.

Fasterfox - With this extension, you are able to tweak a lot of network and rendering settings to make pages load faster. It comes with several easy choices between "Default" to "Turbo Charged". By default, it is set to turbo charged. It also adds the page load time to the bottom of Firefox. It also includes an option to cache links on the website, so pages will load faster.

GooglePreview - This extension adds a small image, from Google's website preview cache, of what the website looks like. This is useful to see what type of site it is. (And it just looks nice too!)

Gspace - Gspace allows you to use any Gmail account for personal file storage. You simply click on the icon in the bar on the bottom, login, and you can click and drag files into it to upload. Then to download you just right click and select "Download To".

FoxyTunes - Not everyone has a keyboard with media controls on it, but with this extension, you can control most music players right in Firefox. It also shows the current song.

Bookmark Duplicate Detector - After a while, the bookmarks tend to build up. This extension checks to see if you have already bookmarked a page before.

ForecastFox Enhanced - Although this isn't really a needed extension, I felt it was useful enough to put on this list. It shows the current temperature, the forecast for several days and has a nice map that when you mouse-over, shows the map of your state.

Dragdropupload - This extension allows you to drag files to the attachment box. You no longer have to browse for the files; you can simply drag and drop. Gmail allows you to drag it right onto the attach link.

Clippings - If you find yourself typing the same things over and over, you will find this especially useful. This extension allows you to save frequently entered text so you can paste it whenever you want.

Tab Scope - This extension allows you to preview the tab when you mouse-over it. You no longer have to switch between every tab to find the right one.

VeriSign EV Green Bar - This extension shows a small VeriSign icon to the right of the address bar when a website is secured with VeriSign.

BlockSite - This extension allows you to block specific websites. This a useful extension, but should not be used for parental purposes as it can easily be disabled or removed.

Dr.Web Anti-Virus Link Checker - This extension allows you to scan any file before you download it. It also allows you to scan web pages.

There are obviously many more very useful extensions that you may be interested in, but this list was primarily derived for the average Firefox user.