8 Extensions That Will Keep You Stuck on Firefox

Post by David Pierce. Find me on Twitter.

I wrote a post a week or so ago over on MakeUseOf about Google Chrome that stirred up some serious controversy. Some people like Chrome, others thought it was totally blasphemous and crazy that I would ever even consider leaving the wonder that is Firefox.

And you know what? You’re all right. I’m using Chrome more and more, but have definitively discovered that I’m not leaving Firefox any time soon. And, as many of the comments said, there’s one reason for that: the extensions.

I use Firefox add-ons for all manner of different things, from development and coding to just making Remember the Milk prettier. These are the eight I can’t bear to leave:

Firebug

Firebug is a Web developer’s dream. It gives you access to all the code on a given page, which you can see, edit, and play around with. I use it for testing changes to see how’d they’d look, before actually pushing anything live. Firebug lets you see a lot of different things, pinpoint a particular item to see how it works, and explore all the code in a site. It’s great for troubleshooting, too, and is the perfect companion to anyone who knows code, or is looking to learn how.

Read it Later

Read it Later is an application I’ve talked about before – it’s a way to save pages and articles to read later, when you have a chance. The Read it Later Firefox extension makes saving pages easy, makes opening and reading them easy, and even integrates with Google Reader. I can always, in one click, save a page to read later, no matter what it is. It stays in sync with the iPhone app, and is the perfect way to keep my reading list large.

SkipScreen

Another application I’ve mentioned here before, SkipScreen removes all the unnecessary ads and steps from the downloading process on sites like Rapidshare, MegaUpload and others. Instead of opening three windows, making you click six links and wait ninety seconds, SkipScreen just presents you with the download screen. I can’t figure out how it does it, but it does it. It’s amazing how much time this one actually saves me, as a fairly frequent downloader from those sites.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon comes with endless hours of surfing across random websites. ‘Nuff said.

Greasemonkey

Greasemonkey the extension isn’t what makes it great – all the scripts it supports make it great. With Greasemonkey, you can change the look and feel of almost any website, just by running a simple script. Almost any site can be Greased, and Gmail and Google Calendar in particular have tons of options for changing how they look. I use one called “A Bit Better RTM” that makes a lot of great changes to Remember the Milk’s interface, and that alone makes Greasemonkey worth it.

FireFTP

I use FTP sites all the time, for everything from blogging to backup. FTP, for anyone who doesn’t know, stands for File Transfer Protocol, and is basically just a simple way to transfer and manipulate files over servers. If you’re an FTP-er, there’s no simpler solution than FireFTP. It opens in a new tab in Firefox, and just works. There are no frills and no fuss – it just does what it’s supposed to do, and always works.

Better Google Extensions

The kind folks over at Lifehacker created a series of Firefox extensions to make various Google apps better – called, believe it or not, Better Gmail, Better GReader, and Better GCal (there are more, but those are the ones I use). They all add small usability and interface enhancements, making each application slightly easier and better to use. The keyboard shortcuts, the Reader skins, and more – they really do make Google Better.

Fast Dial

Fast Dial is like Opera’s Speed Dial (which, I know, is awesome) – it gives you a visual look at a number of websites you choose. You set a grid, of any size you choose, and every time a new tab or window opens, it displays the Fast Dial for you. One click, and you’re at the website of your choice. Fast Dial’s not especially feature-rich, but it saves tons of time that would be spent digging through bookmarks or typing in the address bar. If you’re like me, and spend the vast majority of your time on a fairly small number of websites, Fast Dial’s definitely for you.

These are really the eight biggest reasons I’m not leaving Firefox any time soon. In trying to use Chrome for all my browsing, I kept having to open Firefox to use one of these extensions. Some are simple, some are applications of themselves, but they’re all compelling reasons for me to stay with Firefox.

What MUST you have in your browser?