Essential Firefox Extensions

Firefox is a great browser. It starts out minimalistic, but you can add all kinds of extensions to make it very powerful. Functions can range from removing web annoyances to enhancing tabbed browsing to integration of software, among other things. This trail will show you some of the must-have extensions that will help you make the most out of your browser.

Adblock is a helpful extension that allows you to hide annoying images, iFrames, or Embeds. Most commonly this is used to block ads. However, you can also use it to get rid of other things - for example, if someone has a forum avatar you don't like, you can get rid of it on your machine so you don't have to look at it again. The Plus version is superior to the original because it also includes a function that lets you subscribe to a list of blocked ad servers, so that you will always stay ad-free.

Before Firefox's release, most internet users used Internet Explorer. This has caused many web site developers to tailor their sites exclusively to Microsoft's browser. Today, with Firefox's popularity, these sites block 20% of internet users, which is not a good thing. While efforts have been made by some webmasters to correct this, there are still many sites that you simply can't access with other browsers. Firefox users could go back and use IE, but they don't want to. IETab is an alternate solution to this problem. What this extension does is it switches the page rendering engine to IE's at the click of a button, so that you can bypass annoying things like browser checks, and do certain online transactions.

This is a handy extension for those of you who don't have expensive mice or other pointing devices. What this does is it lets you perform certain commands by making gestures with your mouse. You hold down the right-mouse button and drag in different directions to create a gesture. While making a gesture, the directions you have used will appear in the status bar, along with the command that will be executed if you let go of the mouse button. The extension is very versatile. You can make your own commands and gestures through its settings. For example, you can make a gesture in the shape of an E and have it take you to the Firefox Extensions website. Also included is rocker gesture functionality. These kind of gestures work by "rocking" between different mouse buttons on your pointing device. For example, you can press and hold the right-mouse button, then the left-mouse button, then release the right-mouse button and it will take you back a page.

If you're someone who likes to use your own download manager software, this extension is for you. This extension allows you to click on links and have them download using FlashGet and other various download managers. You can also do mass downloading of all links on a page.