Teach Firefox to do your job

There are hundreds of things that Firefox can do. Extensions can enhance your Firefox, but browsing through hundreds of extensions can be time consuming and some of them are useless.

What are the most popular and most functional Firefox extenstions ?

1. Block ads on webpages : Adblock Plus
2. Use mouse gestures (powersurfing) : All-in-One Gestures
3. Download manager in a statusbar : Download Statusbar
4. Customize Google pages; remove ads : CustomizeGoogle
5. Discover interesting sites being recommended by others : StumbleUpon
6. Manage tabs (multiple links/duplicate/close etc ) : Tab Mix Plus
7. Look up any word in dictionary : Answers
8. Translate pages : Translator
9. Download videos : Video DownloadHelper
10. Block Flash ads or content : Flashblock
11. Blog about the current page : Performancing for Firefox
12. Clear the cache with one click on the toolbar : Clear Cache Button
13. Surf the web without leaving a trace in my computer : Stealther
14. View an Internet-Explorer-only webpage in Firefox : IE Tab
15. See weather information : ForecastFox
16. Download/upload files using ftp : FireFTP
17. Speed up Firefox : Fasterfox
18. Blog to Blogger service : BlogThis
19. Synchronize Firefox bookmarks on different computers : Bookmarks Synchronizer
20. Bypass mandatory registration of username and password for sites : BugMeNot
21. Be notified when new mail arrives at Gmail account : Gmail Notifier
22. See thumbnails of pages in session history : Reveal
23. Store and sync bookmarks online : Chipmark
24. Chat on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) : ChatZilla
25. Minimize Firefox to system tray : MinimizeToTray
26. Use Gmail for space : Gmail Space
27. Add/remove/change some features for sites : GreaseMonkey
28. Block phishing sites : NetcraftToolbar
29. Control iTunes using Firefox : FoxyTunes
30. Use a sidebar to control multiple functions : All-in-One Sidebar
31. Open PDF files in a new tab : PDF Download
32. Save all the images/media on a page : Magpie
33. Zoom in/out on an image : Image Zoom
34. Search the bookmarks : Locate in Bookmark Folders
35. Manage user styles for sites : Stylish
36. Edit bookmarks easily : Flat Bookmark Editing
37. Download/open all/selected links on a page : Linky
38. Add a powerful multi-functional preference bar : PrefBar
39. Add more search engines to Firefox search box : Mycroft
40. Create a tiny url : TinyUrl Creator
41. Track time spent browsing / on a project : TimeTracker
42. Add RSS feeds to web-based/desktop readers or reader extensions : LiveLines
43. Search up to 25 custom chosen sites : Roll your Own Search for Firefox
44. See Alexa information, search engine backlinks for a page : SearchStatus
45. Fill web forms with name/address/email etc : Autofill
46. See all tabs in one window : Viamatic foXpose
47. Automatically copy the selected text to clipboard : AutoCopy
48. Change user agent for certain sites : User Agent Switcher
49. Find the meaning of selected word in a dictionary : DictionarySearch
50. Create new different passwords for different sites : PasswordMaker

Best developer addons for IE and Firefox

There are many useful Web development tools that integrate in your browser. These in-browser tools are commonly known as add-ons or extensions. Though add-ons and extensions aren’t just for Web development, many of them out there are designed specifically for Web developers. In-browser tools vary greatly in the jobs they perform; for example, some of them help you diagnose issues with CSS, HTML and JavaScript, while others evaluate the accessibility of your website.

In this article, we explore some of the most popular and useful in-browser Web development tools. You’ll find tools for popular Web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer. Whether you need to debug and inspect your HTML, inspect HTTP headers, access FTP source files, evaluate accessibility or just figure out what color a Web page element is, you may find a variety of tools discussed here useful.

Firebug

Firebug is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox browser that allows you to debug and inspect HTML, CSS, the Document Object Model (DOM) and JavaScript. Though it has many strong features, it’s most known for revolutionizing the way developers debug and profile JavaScript code.

For example, before Firebug, many developers would use the alert() function to see what a variable contains or to find what line the code breaks. With Firebug enabled, you’re told specifically what the error is and which line it comes from. Firebug is an excellent tool for AJAX application developers because it lets you explore and perform on-the-fly edits on the DOM to see what happens when you manipulate Web page elements after a user action.

Aside from its popular JavaScript and DOM functionalities, Firebug can also log network activity to allow you to see detailed results of HTTP connections, inspect and edit HTML on the fly and debug and visualize your CSS.

Further Reading

• Debug and tune applications on the fly with Firebug
• An In-Depth Look At The Future of JavaScript Debugging With Firebug
• Build Better Pages with Firebug

Web Developer

The Web Developer extension (for the Firefox, Flock and SeaMonkey Web browsers) is an add-on that adds a tool bar with a menu of options for debugging and inspecting Web pages. It has a ton of features, my favorite being the View CSS Information option (CSS >> View Style Information, or Control + Shift + Y on Windows) which makes a page element clickable and shows you CSS selectors that affect that particular page element. It’s helpful for exploring and understanding large CSS files and projects that you’re unfamiliar with (such as a new open-source content management system).

It has built-in options for syntax validation for popular Web services, such as W3C’s CSS Validator and HiSoftware’s Web Content Accessibility Report, for your convenience. It has many other useful features, such as disable options for CSS, JavaScript and images, to test for degradation and progressive enhancement; a Forms menu with options for working with Web forms; Display Div Order and Display Block Size options to help you visualize the layout; and so much more.

YSlow

YSlow is a Firefox extension created by Yahoo! developers that integrates with Firebug (therefore you need to have Firebug enabled for it to work). YSlow analyzes a Web page for front-end performance and, in its simplest usage, gives you a letter grade (A being the best and F being the poorest) for each of the best practices for speeding up your website.

YSlow also allows you to inspect in detail things that are essential for a high-performance website. For example, the Stats view gives you the total size of a Web page and a summary of items that are loaded when the Web page is requested (i.e. style sheets, JavaScript files, Flash objects and images), so that you can hunt down the bottlenecks that cause a Web page to load slowly.

The Components view outlines every single component of a Web page in tabular format and allows you to inspect it to see attributes such as size, expiration date (for cached files), whether it uses server-side compression (Gzip) and response time (how long the component took to load).

Further Reading

• What the 80/20 Rule Tells Us about Reducing HTTP Requests
• Maximizing Parallel Downloads in the Carpool Lane
• AJAX performance analysis
• Yahoo’s Problems Are Not Your Problems: counter-arguments for some of the rules developed by Yahoo!, such as penalizing you for not having a Content Delivery Network.

Internet Explorer Web Developer Toolbar

If you need similar functionality to that of Firebug and Web Developer for Firefox, but want to debug, inspect and tune your Web pages and applications on the Internet Explorer browser, check out the Internet Explorer Web Developer Toolbar. The IE Web Developer Toolbar, when enabled, opens a toggle-able pane located at the bottom of the Web browser, giving you access to many helpful options for exploring Web page components.

For example, you can experiment to see how page elements work by editing the Web page’s DOM and HTML directly in the browser, allowing you to quickly change and edit DOM elements to see what happens when you perform certain actions or modify certain parts of the code. You can also debug, test and inspect JavaScript with the IE Web Developer Toolbar, giving you options for setting breakpoints, seeing the call stack and exploring variable attributes.

It has a ton of other helpful features, such as selectively disabling IE settings (to see how your Web pages degrade in IE); the ability to view the HTML and CSS source of any Web page with syntax-highlighting; and an in-browser ruler to help you measure things on a Web page.

Further Reading

• 15 Seconds: An Introduction to the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar

Fiddler Web Debugger

Fiddler is an Internet Explorer extension that analyzes and profiles a Web page’s HTTP traffic. If you’ve ever wanted to know exactly what happens when a client requests a Web page, Fiddler is the tool that’ll help you do the job. The HTTP Statistics view exposes all components and files required to generate a particular page, giving you details such as the total number of HTTP requests, total page weight, HTTP response headers and cache expiration.

Fiddler permits you to set up breakpoints, allowing you to step through and edit HTTP traffic (to see how it would affect your Web page), a useful feature for analyzing AJAX-based interaction and potential security flaws in a Web application. Perhaps what makes Fiddler so powerful is its extensibility, allowing you to create your own scripts (or import other developers’ scripts) to perform certain tasks or make interface modifications to the extension itself.

Further Reading

• Fiddler PowerToy - Part 1: HTTP Debugging
• The Fiddler User Interface
• Fiddler Demonstration Videos
• Using Fiddler with non-Internet Explorer Browsers

DebugBar

DebugBar is a debugging in-browser extension for the Internet Explorer browser. It has many helpful features, such as the ability to send a Web page screenshot via email, a color picker, the ability to view both the original and interpreted code (i.e. if you use JavaScript to manipulate the styles of a DOM object, then you can see the interpreted HTML source code of that manipulation) and a Console API (after installing Companion.JS) to help you gain information through a command-line interface about particular components of a Web page.

DebugBar is free for personal and educational use, but you are required to buy a license if you use it for commercial purposes.

HttpWatch

HttpWatch is another HTTP traffic viewer and debugger for Firefox and Internet Explorer that is similar to Fiddler. It has many unique features and a more intuitive, less intimidating interface than Fiddler. Some notable features are the ability to generate request-level time charts (useful for documentation and presentation purposes); decryption of HTTPS traffic to help you debug, inspect and tweak your secure SSL-based connections; and the ability to export captured data to XML and CSV formats for importing into spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets.

HTTPWatch has a Basic edition, which is free, and a Professional edition, which has more options. Check out the comparison table between the two editions to see the exact differences.

Live HTTP Headers

Live HTTP Headers is a Firefox extension that allows you to inspect HTTP request and response headers. Exploring HTTP headers allows you to debug Web applications, glean some information about the website’s server and inspect cookies sent to the client requesting the page.

For example, the Server response header gives you a website’s HTTP server type (Apache, IIS, nginx, etc.), the HTTP server version and the operating system (though server administrators can remove or limit the information you see for security purposes).

Web Accessibility Toolbar

The Web Accessibility Toolbar is a freeware extension for Internet Explorer and Opera that gives you a slew of options for quickly evaluating and analyzing your Web content’s accessibility. It has validation options for submitting your URL to content accessibility web services such as Juicy Studio tools, a grayscale converter to simulate the user experience of individuals with color-blindness and poor eyesight, and a search function for particular page structures (e.g. finding list objects and unordered lists).

Other useful tools released by Vision Australia are the Colour Contrast Analyser, which analyzes the contrast of foreground and background colors for readability, and the Complex Table Mark-Up (or Com Tab) Toolbar, which can help you understand (and construct) complex tables that are usable by non-traditional Web browsers (such as screen readers).

Further Reading

• WebAIM: Using the AIS Web Accessibility Toolbar
• The Web Accessibility Toolbar and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Fangs

Fangs is an in-browser tool for Firefox that emulates what a screen reader “sees” when visiting a Web page. Its function is simple: to output a transcript of what a screen reader will read out to a user when a Web page is visited. It’s a helpful tool for quickly analyzing if you’ve structured your content effectively so that it’s understandable and usable by vision-impaired individuals, without forcing you to learn to use (and purchase) a screen-reader application such as JAWS or Windows Eyes.

Further Reading

• Bringing Accessibility into the Development Process
• Search Accessibility Guidelines for Websites

Venkman JavaScript Debugger

Venkman is the codename for Mozilla’s very own JavaScript debugging environment. It is available as an add-on that can be used to extend browsers such as Firefox, Netscape, and SeaMonkey. It is a robust environment for doing complex JavaScript debugging and troubleshooting. The Console view gives you a command-line interface for interacting with the debugger. It has an excellent Stack view feature that allows you to step through active functions when it reaches breakpoints.

Further Reading

• Venkman Walkthrough
• Debugging JavaScript Using Venkman, Part 1
• Venkman 0.9.x Frequently Asked Questions

ColorZilla

ColorZilla is an incredibly simple — but very useful — extension for Firefox. If you’ve ever wanted to determine what colors are used on a Web page, ColorZilla is the tool for the job. It adds an eyedropper icon to the bottom-left corner of Firefox.

Clicking on the eyedropper icon makes objects on the Web page clickable, and upon clicking a particular section of a Web page, it outputs the hexadecimal, RGB and hue/saturation values of that area . Before ColorZilla, you might have pasted a screen capture of a Web page into a graphics editor like Photoshop and then used the eyedropper tool in the editor to sample colors. ColorZilla saves you time and streamlines color-sampling processes.

FireShot

FireShot is an in-browser tool for Firefox and Internet Explorer that allows you to take screenshots and then annotate, edit, organize and export them. Screen-grabbing is a common activity for Web developers to document previews of Web application prototypes and share them with clients, and FireShot gives you a feature-packed in-browser option to manage and streamline your screenshot needs.

Web Inspector

Web Inspector is part of the Webkit open-source browser engine project. It’s an ultra-sleek tool for inspecting the DOM hierarchy in a separate, compact HUD-style window. You can easily search the DOM, explore the DOM tree (hierarchy) and have a useful interface for isolating DOM sub-trees and nodes so that you can focus on particular sections of a Web page. The Web Inspector also provides you with a Style pane to explore CSS rules applied to particular page elements.

FireFTP

FireFTP is a free, cross-platform Firefox extension for FTP’ing files. It offers several advantages to stand-alone FTP applications, such as its operating system-independent requirements. What’s exceptional about FireFTP is that even though it is an in-browser (and free!) application, it has all the features you would expect from a standalone FTP application, such as support for secure (SSL, TLS, SFTP) protocols, a synchronization feature to sync up local and remote files, and directory comparison to help you see what files are missing or different between two directories and much more.

How to Discovery and Install the Firefox Add-ons that are good for you!

Today Mozilla released Fashion Your Firefox, a new Web application that enables Firefox users to customize their browser based on their interests and online activities. With Fashion Your Firefox, add-ons that fit people’s online lifestyles are organized in easy to discover ways and are available for installation in just a few easy clicks.

Fashion Your Firefox presents add-ons in activity-based categories that make them easy to find and install. Categories in Fashion Your Firefox include:
• Shutterbug: View and share pictures and videos online
• Rock Star: Listen to music while surfing, working, emailing or researching online
• News Junkie: Get the most up-to-date news and weather
• Shopaholic: Shop and take advantage of online deals
• Digital Pack Rat: Keep track of favorite sites, bookmarks and blogs
• Social Butterfly: Share, bookmark, and e-mail web pages via an array of social networking & bookmarking sites
• Finder and Seeker: Find and make information on the Web more relevant
• Decorator: Apply browser themes
• Executive Assistant: Organize online activities

Edit CSS Code Live In Internet Explorer And Firefox Simultaneously

CSSVista is a free Windows application for web developers which lets you edit your CSS code live in both Internet Explorer and Firefox simultaneously. A very useful application for all developers out there who encounter so many browser compatibility errors.

Download CSSVista (v0.15, Windows XP/Vista only, 8.9mb. Uninstaller included.)

14 Extremely Useful Firefox Addons

My affinity for Firefox comes as much from the fantastic community of addon developers as it does from the program itself. Now, I'm sure you will have heard of some of these before: good Firefox addons tend to spread like wildfire. I hope I've managed to include some that you might have missed.

I've ranked just over a dozen addons that I find to be particularly useful - even to more casual Firefox users.

1. Cybersearch - Customizable Google searches in my Awesome Bar? Yes, please! It also supports keywords so you can enter things like "ds firefox addons" and limit your search to a specific web site (like Downloadsquad, for example). Enter a comma separated list of URLs to search a group of sites.

2. LastPass - I used to use KeePass, but I just like LastPass better. It did a great job of importing (and then removing) my Firefox stored passwords, and its secure password creation tool makes using different passwords on new sites a snap. The web interface is a great way to manage my logins and groups.

3. FEBE - As with anything else on your computer, it's never a bad idea to back up your Firefox install. FEBE will back up everything - extensions, themes, bookmarks - or just what you choose, and you can set up an automated schedule. It's also got integrated Box.net support, which is actually a fairly nice way to roll-you-rown manual Firefox syncing.
4. AdBlock Plus. I don't really use AdBlock because I hate advertisements, but because I don't like waiting for web pages to load. Flash ads and multiple banners really gum up the works, so I depend on AdBlock to keep things running smoothly. It's also a decent way to cut back on your bandwidth usage.

5. DownThemAll - When a friend first showed me DTA a few years ago, I couldn't believe I was still just using FF2's built-in manager. DTA rocks, and would definitely make my Top 5. It's simply one of the best download managers out there.

6. OpenItOnline - I don't do enough work with Office-type documents anymore to warrant installing a suite on my laptop. OpenItOnline lets me send DOC, XLS, and all the other supported file types to ZohoViewer for perusal instead of downloading them. It supports all Zoho and Google Docs apps to open files.

7. Deng Google Bookmarks - I'm not sold on Weave yet, so for now I let Google store my bookmarks. I switched to the Deng addon after using GMarks for the longest time - because I got tired of the giant "bookmark" button on my toolbar. Deng displays only a small star icon, and its management interface is superior.

8. Screengrab! - To quickly capture an entire web page, Screengrab is a great tool. It can save or copy an entire page, the visible portion, or a rectangular selection. If I don't actually need to print a page, Screengrab is an easy, environmentally friendly way for me to keep a copy of it.

9. HP Smart Web Printing - When I do need to print, HP's addon gives me the option to combine multiple web pages on one sheet of paper, eliminate elements I don't need to print, and it even allows saving to PDF. Always nice to see the big boys release something great for free.

10. Web Of Trust - WOT is a great way to keep yourself out of malware trouble. I think I'm a pretty responsible surfer, but I don't know the reputation of every site on the Internet. WOT gives you a heads up about the trustworthiness of a link (based on community input) before you visit it.

11. Shareaholic - Anyone that enjoys sharing links would do well to install this one: it supports a ton of services, including Digg, Delicious, Twitter, Pownce, Reddit, Facebook, MySpace, and Google. It's also a quick way to see how many Diggs or Delicious bookmarks a page has received. Bzzster support gives quick access to sharing items via email.

12. Pingfire - Another must for the social surfer. Ping.fm's multiple-site update service is rad, and Pingfire kicks it up a notch. No need to even visit Ping, just add the Pingfire icon to your toolbar and update your microblog and status sites with ultimate ease.

13. Tab Kit - It's got a whole slew of options for tab management: grouping, coloring, sorting, protection, mouse rocker and scroll wheel support, and many, many others. Visit the devloper's page for a full list of features.

14. Yet Another Smooth Scrolling - Firefox's default scrolling isn't quite as refined as I like it, so I use YASS to tweak things until they're just right. It supports up to three presets, which is nice for laptops. Keep one set for your touchpad and one for your mouse.

Firefox hits record market share

Firefox has been playing with the 20% market share mark for some time now. Back in July we reported that the browser has begun jumping over 20% on several days and this trend has solidified since then. In October, Firefox’ average market share as measured by Net Applications was 19.97%, up 0.51 points from 19.46% in September.

Internet Explorer (IE) dropped from 71.52% to 71.27%, according to Net Applications, and remains the software with the fastest declining market share among a group of the six most used browsers. Since the beginning of this year, IE lost 4.2 points, while Firefox gained 2.99 points, Apple Safari 0.75 points, Opera 0.13 points and Google’s Chrome 0.74 points.

The only other browsers that gained market share between September and October was Opera, which jumped from 0.69% to 0.75%. Apple’s Safari dropped slightly from 6.65 to 6.57%, Chrome from 0.78% to 0.74% and Netscape from 0.63% to 0.45%, according to Net Applications.

In terms of operating systems, Net Applications found that Windows usage increased from 90.29% to 90.46% in October, while the presence of Macs declined from8.23% to 8.21%, Linux dropped from 0.91% to 0.71% and Apple’s iPhone showed an increase from 0.32% to 0.33%.

Firefox 2.0 last days. Final security updates from Mozilla

Mozilla is considering just two more security updates for Firefox 2.0 before it retires the browser at the end of this year.

"We're starting to consult the [development] community for feedback," said Mike Beltzner, the director of Firefox, prior to setting a final 'end-of-life' date. If all goes according to plan, the last update for the older browser will be Firefox 2.0.0.19. The current build of Firefox 2.0 is 2.0.0.17, which was released last month to patch 14 vulnerabilities.

Mozilla's policy is to support a browser for six months after it's been superseded by a new version. The company unveiled Firefox 3.0 in mid-June; shortly after that, Mozilla announced that it would stop patching Firefox 2.0 later in the year.

Beltzner confirmed Wednesday that Firefox 2.0 remains on track for retirement by the end of December.

He also noted that a majority of Firefox 2.0 users have taken advantage of an upgrade offer to Firefox 3.0 that Mozilla triggered two months ago. "Presently two-thirds of our users are using Firefox 3, with more than 50% accepting the first major upgrade offer back in late August," said Beltzner in message posted early Wednesday to the Mozilla site.

One user on the mozilla.dev.planning message forum asked Beltzner how the end-of-life for Firefox would affect Thunderbird 2.0, the e-mail client that's built on the same Gecko foundation as Firefox 2.0, or other applications, such as SeaMonkey or Camino, also based on Gecko 1.8.1. "Based on the current [Thunderbird 3] release planning, [Thunderbird 3] will be released 3-4 months after the Gecko 1.8 [end-of-life], when [Thunderbird 2] is still the stable release," said Simon Paquet.

Thunderbird, which is developed and maintained by Mozilla Messaging Inc., a Mozilla Corp. spin-off, is considerably behind Firefox in its shift toward version 3.0, which is based on the Gecko 1.9 tree. Earlier this month, for example, Mozilla Messaging renamed what had originally been Beta 1 of Thunderbird 3.0 as, in fact, a third alpha. Previously, Mozilla Messaging had said the first release candidate for Thunderbird 3.0 would likely ship in late January, with a final some time after that.

Currently, the Thunderbird timetable omits any dates after Nov. 18, when Beta 1 is to enter "code freeze" status.

But the demise of Firefox 2.0 support doesn't mean that Thunderbird 2.0 users will be left out to dry, Beltzner said today, making an effort to differentiate work on Firefox from the underlying Gecko engine. "The end of support for Firefox 2.0 doesn't mean that [developers] won't be able to work on the Gecko code," he said. "It just means that our focus won't be on actively maintaining that [1.8] branch [of Gecko]."

Other Mozilla developers had responded previously to Paquet's concern about a lack of patches for Thunderbird, noting that during earlier end-of-life moves, programmers continued to support the e-mail client.

"Mozilla, in some form, will provide support for Thunderbird based on the official lifecycle policy, like we did for 1.0 and 1.5," said Michael Conner, of Mozilla, in a message posted in late September.

"Even after we did the end-of-life for Firefox 1.5 [in May], developers who were employed by Mozilla Corp., and members of the Gecko community would respond to patch request from the Thunderbird team," added Beltzner.

New Beta version of Chrome available

Google just released a new beta version of Chrome, Google's first web browser, which addresses a number of issues we had noticed in earlier releases. Besides improving the performance and stability of a number of plugins, including Flash, Sliverlight, and Quicktime, as well as fixing some security issues, Google also finally added the ability to add words to the built-in spell checker.

Other updates include fixes to scrolling with laptop touchpads and better reliability for those users who access the web through a proxy server.

If you are using Chrome, your browser will update itself in the next few days, or, if you are impatient, you can also just download the new version directly or go to "About Google Chrome" and see if the update is already available for you.

Trojan Horse?

Earlier this month, we also wondered if Google was positioning Chrome as a Trojan horse for indexing password protected sites. Earlier versions of Chrome would take a snapshot of every site you visited, whether it was password protected or not, which gave rise to some speculations about Google's motivations beyond creating a searchable index of those sites on a user's desktop. Now, Google explicitly states that Chrome no longer stores data from secure sites that use https: and show a lock in the address bar.

Security Updates

Google also addressed a serious security flaw that was discovered just after the first release of Chrome in September. This flaw had the potential to trick users into opening potentially malevolent files, but now, Google will ask users for permission to open these files. Chrome now also saves every executable file with a .download extension and only converts them to their real file names after you confirm that you want to save them.

Speed

We also tested this new version of Chrome with the SunSpider and Dromaeo benchmarks. In both cases, Chrome showed a clear improvement in performance over the first beta version, even though Google did not mention any performance improvements in the release notes.

Mozilla launches mobile Firefox working on PCs too

A short time after we knew that Mozilla is willing to launch a mobile phone version, The version has been released and named “Fennec” additionally runs on PCs too !

For testing mobile Firefox you can use Nokia’s N810 which is an MID tablet, Don’t have a N810 ? take it easy, Mozilla is going to release other versions for Mac, Windows, Linux to get the max users test .

Code Base
The surprise is that Fennec uses the same code base just like Firefox 3.1 beta full-fledged computers.

Fennec Features .
here is some features which are support in this alpha version .

• touch-screen support
• password manager
• pop-up blocker
• Firefox-style tab-browsing interface

IE Web Developer toolbar

Firefox has Firebug, Chrome has Chrome Inspector - everybody knows this. But do you know that there is also a similar tool for Internet Explorer? Even if Internet Explorer Developer toolbar is not as strong as its counterpart from Firefox still this addon is the one to use when you want to solve the most buggy browser. Among its main features:

• Explore and modify the document object model (DOM) of a Web page.
• Locate and select specific elements on a Web page through a variety of techniques.
• Selectively disable Internet Explorer settings.
• View HTML object class names, ID's, and details such as link paths, tab index values, and access keys.
• Outline tables, table cells, images, or selected tags.
• Validate HTML, CSS, WAI, and RSS web feed links.
• Display image dimensions, file sizes, path information, and alternate (ALT) text.
• Immediately resize the browser window to a new resolution.
• Selectively clear the browser cache and saved cookies. Choose from all objects or those associated with a given domain.
• Display a fully featured design ruler to help accurately align and measure objects on your pages.
• Find the style rules used to set specific style values on an element.
• View the formatted and syntax colored source of HTML and CSS.

The Developer Toolbar can be pinned to the Internet Explorer browser window or floated separately.

AdBlock for Chrome (and other browsers)

One of the bad sides of Chorme is that you can't block the ads. Flash advertisments that cover the whole page are a big pain for anyone. However there is a solution for this. It's called BFilter (click on the link for download) and it acts as a local proxy. Very configurable it can work for any brwser installed on your system. It can even import the AdBlock filter lists database.

BFilter is a filtering web proxy. It was originally intended for removing banner ads only, but since then its capabilities have been greatly extended. Unlike most of the similar tools, it doesn't rely on blacklists (although it does support them). The problem with blacklists is that advertisers are always one step ahead. You see an ad slip through, you update your blacklist, and in case it didn't help, you add a new entry yourself.

The result? A much nicer browsing.

Have fun !

P.S. It filters the Yahoo Mess adverts (no matter the version)

Enhance and improve Firefox’s usability with these essential addons.

Firefox is impressive but how can you make it more useable? Try some of these addons that help improve the browsers ability to handle the most demanding users.

1. Text Link

This addon does a real simple job. It makes any non-HTML formatted URI like say “oxyweb.co.uk” into a clickable link so that anything that looks like a link can be double-clicked to open it up on the same page, new tab or new window. It’s clever, it does it across many lines and when an accidental space has been put into the link. I used to use Linkification but this alternative covers more bases.

2. ScreenGrab! (& ScreenGrab! with Online Upload)

A saviour for bloggers, web designers and anyone who needs to prove a point. ScreenGrab! screenshots whole pages aswell as selections and the visible portion. It also has a “Copy” only option so rather than save a screenshot, it copies to the clipboard which makes it great for pasting into other apps like Photoshop (for doing mock ups).

The even more useful ScreenGrab! with Online Upload, an experimental addon created by imagebam.com which will take your screenshot and upload it to it’s free image hosting website. Cool enhancement.

3. Add Bookmark Here ²

Although I love the idea of pressing a little star on the Awesome bar to bookmark a URL, but i’m not a huge fan of Firefoxs bookmarks implementation. I tend to stay more organised with the use of this addon which puts a “Add Bookmark Here” option in every folder so you can bookmark quickly and stay organised.

4. Stealther

We won’t go into reasons but sometimes you do wish that there was no history of you visiting to certain websites. We’ll just say you have to. Press the Stealthier button and from then on anything you do will not be logged so no URLs in the address bar, no cache, no cookies, nothing. I

This is the best implementation of a privacy browsing mode - better than Google Chromes implementation because it’s just a button click away as opposed to a new window appearing. Alternatively try Distrust.

5. Foxmarks Bookmark and Password Synchronize

If you use more than one computer with Firefox you’ll love this tool, heck if you use Firefox you’ll love this addon. It makes a secure online backup of your bookmarks and synchronizes them across many computers. Since version 2.5 it can optionally synchronise your Firefox passwords too. - securely of course (You’ve probably heard of this addon).

6. Shareoholic

If you’re a fan of user submitted content sites like Digg and Reddit or some of the lesser known ones like Ma.gnolia or Simpy then you’ll love Shareholic. It’s a button and context menu submission tool that can submit to a plethora of different sites with just a couple of clicks.

7. Video DownloadHelper

This really is the best addon for downloading videos it works with dozens and dozens of video websites and most importantly it does it seamlessly.

8. Morning Coffee

Perhaps everyday, like m,e you visit digg.com and every Monday and Friday you have a look at your Google Analytics account oh and every Wednesday you need a failblog pickup then this addon takes the incessant clicking out of the equation. Just select the day and it opens up the URLS for that day. I’m sure you can use this for much more productive uses but it suits me fine.

Alternatively Speed Dial and Fast Dial are both popular but no where near as good as Google Chrome’s implementaion which picks the websites automatically. Firefox camp is sussing things out.

9. PermaTab Mod (& PermaTab Beta)

This little addon makes a tab sticky so you can’t accidentally close it. I find this invaluable when watching videos online at BBC iPlayer or having music playing via last.fm. It’s an experimental addon so you have to log in or visit the Permatabs support page for the latest beta

I hope you like the list of firefox addons that I can’t do without. If there’s another addon which you can’t do with or have something to say, leave a comment below.

Chrome Under Linux Part 2

Not yet; at least not any official native release by Google that we know about. But if you would really like to try out chrome without the hassle of having to install MS windows in a virtual machine, try out Crossover Chromium. This is not a native port of chrome for linux, but a package installer with wine embedded. Also, this is nowhere close to being as stable as it is under windows and as rightfully pointed out by the developers; this is essentially a proof of concept to show Wine’s capabilities of running native windows application. Packages are available for debian and RPM based linux systems; Mac OS build is also available. Have Fun.

Firefox Minefield: Fastest browser

If you are not happy that you can’t get to try a native chrome, arguably the fastest browser out there (chromium is not so stable); give Firefox Minefield a shot. Even though it’s an early Alpha build, under the hood, it has the fastest javascript engine out there. There are faster javascript engines, but none of them are released bundled with any browsers yet. (not that I know of).

- Download and install the latest nightly build.

- Start tracemonkey javascript engine by going to about:config and enabling the option javascript.options.jit.content.

- Browse websites blazingly fast!

According to some tests it is 10% faster than Google Chrome.

Firefox Minefield - A glitch in the future

A colleague today showed me a cool, new browser that he's been using to browse the web at blisteringly fast speeds. The browser? Minefield. The author of the code?
Mozilla.
Yes, that same Mozilla that makes the Firefox browser. Minefield is, in fact, a way to glimpse into the future of Firefox, as it's a pre-release/alpha version of the Firefox browser.
After spending some time with Minefield, one thing is clear: the future of Firefox is fast. Lightning fast.
How fast? Some claim that it has the fastest javascript engine on the planet, which means it leaves Google's Chrome browser in the dust. In my own unscientific tests, I'd say that this assertion is correct. Ars Technica pegs Minefield as 10 percent faster than Chrome.
You can download the latest nightly build for Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows, but be warned: it's alpha code. While a quick scan of the Web shows few complaints as to stability, Minefield may not be for you. It doesn't support some of my favorite Firefox extensions (like Adblock Plus), but it actually has surprisingly good support for extensions, given that it's a fast-moving project.
Feeling brave? Or simply feeling like your browser is too slow? Give Minefield a try. It's a separate install so it won't affect an existing Firefox install. You have nothing to lose but your chains.

Opera 10 - the next step for Opera

Opera, a Norwegian firm, makes browsers for devices ranging from the PC to mobile phones and games consoles. It released an incremental version, 9.6, for the desktop last Wednesday, prompting a million downloads in a day. Version 10 will be more significant, according to the company's web evangelist, Bruce Lawson.

Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk on Monday, Lawson said Opera 9.6 had performance improvements, but conceded that many users, especially of Apple, found the browser unpleasant on the eye.

"There's been a lot of criticism from some quarters that Opera on the desktop looks a bit shite, especially on the Mac," Lawson said. "I personally feel it feels busier than it is. [In Opera 10] the whole look and feel are being seen to — it's what our customers are looking for. If we want it to be a tool, it's got to be pleasing to work with."

Lawson said the firm had hired the British designer Jon Hicks to rework Opera's user interface and "make it look prettier". Hicks is best known for having created the Firefox logo.

Read this

Ten reasons to switch to Opera

Read more

Lawson and his colleague, product manager Roberto Mateu, declined to list possible features that may appear in Opera 10, saying that such features are subject to change ahead of launch. They did, however, say the version would go into its alpha release by the end of 2008, around the same time as the low-end mobile-phone version, Opera Mini 4.2, goes into beta.

As for Opera 9.6, the browser can now synchronise the user's typed browsing history across any devices using the Opera Link synchronisation feature. The built-in email client, Opera Mail, also now supports a "low-bandwidth mode" for those users with slow connections, and offers the option of ignoring "less important [conversation] threads and contacts with a single click".

A multi-column feed preview has also been integrated into Opera 9.6's RSS reader, allowing users to view a feed's contents before subscribing to that feed. New languages are also supported in the updated browser: Indonesian, Ukrainian, Estonian, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.

Asked whether the release of Google Chrome had had any effect on the Opera team, Lawson said the team had been "mostly pleased", due to the coverage afforded by Chrome to browsers that are not Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).

"People saw [Chrome] on the news and realised there is an alternative to IE," Lawson said. "People are now aware there is a market."

Lawson also claimed Chrome was "not a competitor" to Opera, as it was not pursuing Opera's "main constituency". "Most people who use Opera are comparatively tech-literate," he said, adding that Opera was nonetheless trying to widen its appeal beyond this set.

How to use Firefox 3.1 without removing your stable version

Recently Mozilla announced about the release of Firefox 3.1 beta 1 which has claimed to be the fastest browser ever.  But this is still a beta version and a final stable version is still awaited.

However if you are a Firefox addict like me, you might want to test the Firefox 3.1 without messing up your current installation of Firefox.

Then here is the solution. An USB Portable Version of Firefox 3.1b1 has been released.

This allows you to check out all the latest features in Firefox 3.1 without hampering your current Firefox installation. This is also a ready to use package i.e. you just need to double click it and you can start using it right away without any installation.

You can also carry it in any USB, Memory Sticks or Flash Drives and start using it on any computer without installing Firefox at all.

Download Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 Version

Firefox 3.1 beta first look impressions

At first sight

The first public beta of Firefox 3.1 offers a handful of new features such as a 3D preview during tab switching, location awareness, better compliance with web standards and much improved JavaScript performance. Additional features planned for the beta 2 include a new privacy browsing mode, an Opera-like Speed Dial feature, improved private data deletion and URL bar tweaks. But clearly, if we trim the features down to what matters most, speed is the primary battle that is fought in the browser arena these days - and Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 sports dramatic speed gains. Chrome, Safari and Firefox are in a neck and neck race, while IE8 is left in the dust. In fact, the recent improvements leave us scratching our heads what Microsoft is doing right now. As it looks right now, IE8 could end up as the Windows Vista of the browser market – a software that holds the majority of the market, but has to give up market share with very little opportunity for defense.

In reaction to Chrome and the recent JavaScript (JS) engine optimization in Safari 4 beta, Mozilla decided to add a few more weeks to the Firefox 3.1 development schedule. "We're watching other browsers as much as they're watching us," said Mike Shaver, Mozilla's interim vice president of engineering. The extra time will come in handy to tweak the JS and rendering engine and iron out new features. The first results of this effort are now visible in Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 (FF31) that delivers some of the planned new features, with more features being expected to arrive with the beta 2 (code freeze on November 4) and the final version that is planned to be released before the end of the year.


A closer look: New Firefox 3.1 beta 1 features

- JS speed gains: Mozilla claims JS speed gains of up to 40x thanks to an optimized engine called TraceMonkey. There is virtually no way to verify this claim in a real world browsing experience, but at least subjectively, sites like Facebook and Google Docs feel much snappier. Complex layouts render noticeably faster, courtesy of the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering engine. In a side-by-side comparison, Firefox 3.1 beta 1 eliminates many delays we are used to today when a layout is built in the browser window. Even complex pages are built almost instantly. 

Earlier today, our managing editor wrote that "the new Firefox plays in the same league as Google Chrome." And subjectively, I believe that this is a fair statement. In direct comparison, Chrome still seemed to have a slight edge on our system, but the difference was negligible. We here at TG Daily believe that there is true value in those speed gains as it makes your browsing much more efficient, reduces wait times and prepares the browser for future applications. This is by far the most noteworthy browser enhancement since the introduction of phishing filters.

- HTML

Fennec browser ported to Windows Mobile

Mozilla has been making significant headway with its mobile browsing efforts. Building on the extensive work that was done to reduce Firefox's memory consumption leading up to the 3.0 release, Mozilla aims to bring a desktop-like browsing experience to handheld devices. The organization launched the Fennec project to begin experimenting with mobile platform portability and with mobile user interface concepts.

When we took our first look at Fennec earlier this year, we pointed to work done by developer Brad Lassey to port XULRunner and Gecko to Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform. These efforts have accelerated and the results are extremely impressive. Screenshots posted this weekend by Lassey and other developers demonstrate the Fennec browser, including both the renderer and the user interface, running on Windows Mobile devices.

In a recent screenshot, he shows the browser's current status on Acid 3, a test devised by the Web Standards Project to help browser implementors evaluate the extent of their compliance with certain web standards. Fennec on Windows Mobile scores 88 out of 100 on the test. This puts it ahead off Opera Mobile 9.51, which scores 71 out of 100.

Mozilla is also working on an ARM port of Tracemonkey, Firefox's new high-performance JavaScript engine. Some early benchmarks that were published last month are extremely impressive. The developers say that there is still plenty of room for further optimization.

Mozilla is clearly serious about bringing the full power of Firefox to multiple mobile platforms. The open source web browser is evolving quickly and could soon be a serious competitor to Opera Mobile on Windows Mobile devices.

New Google Chrome Show Greasemonkey Support

Recently the latest beta builds from Google Chrome are said to have basic Greasemonkey support. With emphasis on basic.

According to Martin at gHacks, the fact that Google doesn’t yet support an extension system within Chrome means that there are some pretty significant ifs and buts about what’s possible and what’s not with the addition of Greasemonkey. Script loading and a metadata issues are purported to be conflict prone.

As Martin writes, “Only scripts in c:\scripts are loaded and only if the user adds the parameter ‘–enable-greasemonkey’ by appending it to the program’s shortcut.” He goes on to explain that, “The scripts are not limited to a domain but will work on all domains which is usually handled by the @include metadata. The metadata part is ignored which could be problematic….”

The reason for Greasemonkey’s emergence in Chrome, however stifled, is because the software’s creator, Aaron Boodman, is a Google employee, as Google Operating System’s Alex Chitu describes.

If you’re looking to give the latest Greasemonkey-enhanced Chrome build, you can venture over to the Chromium BuildBot website. You’re able to download the most recent development, but keep in mind that stability is not guaranteed.

Fennec: Mozilla browser for Mobile devices

Mozilla Has Officially launched its Mobile version of Browser Under The codename “Fennec”


The first release is for OS2008 ("Maemo") Platform which is there in Nokia N810 Internet tablet.

The reviewer are quite amazed with The interface of this new browser and are saying that its going 

to be hit soon.


Few amazing Feature of This Browser ( Fennec):

• Bookmarking and that too with Tags
• Tabbed Browsing Support
• Easy Access To major Search Engines
• Inbuilt Pop-Up Blocker
• Password Manager( I love this Feature)
• Download Manager
• Customization and Preference Tab

Another top with 25 best and most useful addons for Firefox

Mozilla Firefox, undoubtedly the best browser is so famous for its Add-ons. Here is a list of 25 Best and Most useful Add-ons for Firefox 3. The add-ons are small applications for the browser that will enhance the browsing experience and will also perform many useful operations. There are many add-ons available for Firefox but I have handpicked best of the best and most Popular and Useful add-ons that you should have installed.

You can check the Tips and Tricks of Firefox to Make Firefox Faster. You can even Optimize Firefox for Best Performance. You can go to the particular add-ons page by clicking on the name of the add-on. The list of the 25 best add-ons will be as follows..

COMFORT

All-in-One Sidebar :

All-in-One Sidebar (AiOS) is an award-winning sidebar control, inspired by Opera’s. It lets you quickly switch between sidebar panels, view dialog windows such as downloads, extensions, and more in the sidebar, or view source or websites in the sidebar.

Down Them All :

The first and only download manager/accelerator built inside Firefox. It is all you can desire from a download manager: it features an advanced accelerator that increases speed up to 400% and it allows you to pause and resume downloads at any time.

Interclue :

Ever wanted to know what was behind the link before you clicked? Interclue tells you everything you need to know before you open yet another tab. Small icons appear on mouseover to warn you about dead links, Malware or Phishing Sites, etc, and for any valid links Interclue provides compact link previews, relevant extra information and useful next action buttons.

Cool Previews :

CoolPreviews (formerly known as Cooliris Previews) gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. Just mouse over any link, and the preview window immediately appears to show you the content. To email it, just click.

IE Tab :

It is used for Embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. This is a great tool for web developers, since you can easily see how your web page displayed in IE with just one click and then switch back to Firefox.

SECURITY

AdBlock Plus :

Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock Plus now and get rid of them. It will block most advertisements fully automatically.

FoxyProxy :

FoxyProxy is an advanced proxy management tool that completely replaces Firefox’s limited proxying capabilities. It offers more features than SwitchProxy, ProxyButton, QuickProxy, xyzproxy, ProxyTex, TorButton, etc.

No Script :

The best security you can get in a web browser! Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS attacks. It allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from trusted domains of your choice.

Secure Login :

Secure Login is a login extension for Mozilla Firefox integrated password manager. Its main feature is similar to Opera’s (the browser) Wand login.

MULTIMEDIA

Fireshot :

FireShot is a Firefox extension that creates screenshots of web pages. Unlike other extensions, this plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify captures and insert text and graphical annotations. Such functionality will be especially useful for web designers, testers and content reviewers.

FoxyTunes :

FoxyTunes lets you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers, videos, bios and much more with a click right from your browser. It supports almost every music player like Winamp,itunes etc.

G Space :

This extension allows you to use your Gmail Space (4.1 GB and growing) for file storage. It acts as an online drive, so you can upload files from your hard drive and access them from every Internet capable system.

Cooliris :

Full-Screen, 3D — Cooliris (formerly known as PicLens) transforms your browser into a visually stunning experience for searching, viewing, and sharing online photos and videos. Its “3D Wall” lets you effortlessly search and zoom your way around thousands of images, videos, news feeds, sports feeds, and more.

Video Download Helper :

The easy way to download and convert Web videos from hundreds of YouTube-like sites. It is a tool for web content extraction. Its purpose is to capture video, audio and image files from many sites.

COMMUNITY

Blog RovR :

If you don’t have time to read ALL those Blogs! RovR does it for you. It fetches posts from your favorite blogs about anything you’re browsing, and shows you summaries you can open read posts without leaving the web page you were on. It also suggests popular items AND lets you Twitter about any site you’re on too.

Chat Zilla :

A clean, easy to use and highly extensible Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client. It provides all the usual IRC client features: multiple servers, a built-in list of standard networks, easy searching and sorting of available channels, logging, and DCC chat and file transfers, plus easy customization with JavaScript plug-ins and CSS styling.

Locator :

It is used to Locate highlighted address on Google map: simply highlight the address, right click with mouse, select ‘Locate on Google Map’ in popup menu and your place will be shown on Google map.

Reminder Fox :

ReminderFox displays and manages lists of date-based reminders and ToDo’s. It does not seek to be a full-fledged calendar. It makes sure you remember all of your important dates via easy-to-use lists, alerts, and alarm notifications.

SamePlace :

Extensible instant messaging client based on the XMPP (Jabber) protocol. Accesses Jabber, GTalk, Twitter, MSN, AIM (and more, via gateways). It REQUIRES the xmpp4moz extension (download it from http://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3632/ )

PROFESSIONAL

FireBug :

Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

FireFTP :

FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.It includes more advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SFTP, SSL encryption, search/filtering, integrity checks, remote editing, drag & drop, file hashing, and much more!

Stylish :

Customize the look of the application and of websites with Stylish, a user styles manager. User styles empower your browsing experience by letting you fix ugly sites, customize the look of your browser or mail client, or just have fun.

SQLite Manager :

Manage any SQLite database on your computer. An intuitive hierarchical tree showing database objects. Helpful dialogs to manage tables, indexes, views and triggers. You can browse and search the tables, as well as add, edit and delete the records. Facility to execute any sql query.

Web Developer :

Adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools. It is very much useful for the developers to access different tools they need.

Greasemonkey :

Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript. You can get hundreds of scripts, for a wide variety of popular sites, are already available at http://userscripts.org.

Along with these there are many such add-ons which will provide you with various functions to make your browsing experience interesting. Share your favourite Firefox add-ons here. Bookmark and share this post, if you like and Happy Browsing..!!