I am constantly touting the power of Firefox. In my opinion is makes Internet Explorer look like a sick puppy on the side of the road. Not only is Firefox faster and safer, it is infinitely customizable through add-ons. (So is IE, but not nearly as many.) There are thousands of add-ons that can make your browsing experience much more enjoyable and all are easy to install and use. Installation consists of finding the add-on or toolbar you want, clicking install, then restarting the browser.

Here are my favorites:

Greasemonkey - This add-on allows you to run scripts, little snipets of code, on webpages that in turn make them bend to your will. I use Greasemonkey with my Gmail account to add keyboard shortcuts and use macros. There a scripts for almost anything imaginable.

StumbleUpon - This toolbar makes it easy to find sites that are related to your interest. After installing the toolbar you simply select a few of your interests, go to any site you enjoy, then click the Stumble button. Viola! A new site comes up that might interest you. You can rate the site with the click of a button.

FireFTP - This add-on lets you use Firefox as an FTP client. I use FTP often to move files to and from my website and having and FTP client as one of my browsing tabs makes transfers quick, easy, and convenient.

Google Toolbar - I use tons of Google services so having them all one click away is a godsend. Gmail, Google Reader, Google Groups, and Search are all one click away.

del.icio.us Bookmarks - I bookmark A LOT of sites and del.icio.us lets me keep track of them all. I can bookmark with one click, add tags the bookmarks so they can be filed under multiple subjects, then search my bookmarks by subject or exact match.

Gnosis - This add-on turns key words on any page into click-able links. It makes research faster and finding topics related to your current page a snap.

These programs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Firefox. You can browse through thousands of others at the Firefox Add-On page.

Once you begin using add-ons, you won’t be able to stop. They make the web do what YOU want.

Filed under: F.Y.I., Tech, Tips