- This one does pretty much what it says on the box: Adblock blocks ads, and does so with grace and aplomb. This is one of the universals that pretty much every Firefox user I know has installed, and is one of the hardest to live without. Also updated for Firefox 3 is the add-on companion for Adblock.
- While the Firefox 3 download manager has been revamped, some folks have slightly more hardcore download requirements, which is where Download Statusbar comes in. Freshly updated for Firefox 3, this is one of the more popular Firefox add-ons out there.
- This is the one add-on I really have a hard time living without, and I’m unbelievably happy it’s finally updated for Firefox 3. I danced a dance of joy when I was finally able to stop overriding my add-ons compatibility check (which is generally a terrible idea) and could actually install Faviconize Tab for real. Such a simple thing, but such an incredibly useful thing. I love this add-on.
- I’m still a little afraid of Ebay (impulse shopping habits + credit card + 24hr access to a world of awesome things to buy = fear), but I do use the Companion to watch some of the more interesting auctions I run across.
- One of the more infuriating things about trying to read on the Web are the flippy flashy animated doodads that hover around the margins making it impossible to focus. This is pretty much what Flashblock is created to fix, blocking the animated fiddlybits until you click a button on each to display it. This is a vital sanity saver for me, and I’m really glad it’s updated now.
- If you do a lot of downloading, FlashGot is a must-have Firefox add-on. This being updated for Firefox 3 is going to save me a ton of time and mouseclicks.
- Being Canadian and currently on the edge of summer, I’m a little obsessed with the weather these days. When it’s not raining, or cold, or too windy to stand up, or dark, it’s actually gorgeous out, and keeping close track of when that sun is going to shine is a vital part of day-to-day life in May. Forecastfox being ready for Firefox 3 means I don’t have to obsessive-compulsively reload the Environment Canada website any more.
- This is actually a “new to me” add-on that I discovered yesterday, but it’s really great. Again, it’s simple and unobtrusive, just quietly enhancing your Web experience without getting in your way. What it does is add a small preview thumbnail to your Google search results. It’s just neat.
- This one’s for the Web Developers in the audience, as it lets you view the running stream of HTTP headers of the pages you browse. Very useful, and ready for Firefox 3.
- This is another “new to me” add-on that I was playing with yesterday that may change how I use the Web. I never really thought much about until I started using them, and it turns out they’re actually pretty awesome. I’ll definitely be messing around with this one for a while to see if the novelty wears off, or whether it’ll be a long-term sort of add-on for me.
- NoScript is a hugely popular security-related add-on that gives Firefox users very fine-grained control over what JavaScript, Java, and executable content is allowed to run in the browser.
- Formerly known as “Performancing”, ScribeFire is a very cool and full-featured blog editor that integrates with Firefox. Now that it’s ready for Firefox 3 I’m going to start using it again — it makes sense to have a blog editor integrated with a browser, in my opinion, because blogging is so absolutely tied to the Web. ScribeFire has come a long way since its original launch, so if you haven’t checked it out lately, you should take it for a spin.
- If you’re like me and spend a whole lot of time looking at things on the Web, you end up finding piles of things that you want to share with other folks. Shareaholic is a fantastic add-on for this, integrating with digg, del.icio.us, facebook, foxiewire, friendfeed, google bookmarks, google reader, magnolia, reddit, stumbleupon, tumbler, twitter, and more. Jay Meattle, the developer who also happened to win the Extend Firefox 2 contest with this add-on, has recently updated it to work with Firefox 3. And there has been much rejoicing.
- The Speed Dial feature was originally debuted by the Opera web browser, but several add-ons mimicking the functionality very quickly came available for Firefox. I like Speed Dial in particular because it’s very straightforward, super easy to customize, and is now completely up to date for Firefox 3.
- I didn’t actually start using this add-on until my Dad told me about it one day, and now I’m a bit of an addict. Be wary, however — is a bit dangerous in that it can eat days of your life if you’re not careful. I’m just glad the toolbar can be toggled on and off, else I’d never get anything done. Fun stuff, extraordinarily popular, very slick.
- ThumbStrips creates a browseable graphical timeline of your surfing history that is displayed along the bottom of the browser. Originally I figured it would be like another, fancier version of tabs but it’s not that at all — it makes flipping back and forth through your recent browser history really easy, which can be great in situations when you’re checking out Google search results and so forth. Neat stuff.
- Being slightly unnerved by social networking in general (FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc.) I generally don’t spend much time on such sites, but I’ve made an exception for . Twitter is simple and fun. It’s also useful, believe it or not, and (if you keep your “Following” list pared down sensibly) it can be super interesting and informative. TwitterFox is a neat little add-on that integrates Twitter right into Firefox that works well and generally does what you expect it to do.
- If you’re interested in saving Web videos to your local machine — for example, to watch while on a plane or otherwise offline — Video DownloadHelper is a great add-on to use. Sites it works with include YouTube, MySpace, Google videos, DailyMotion, iFilm, and others.
- Chris Pederick’s Web Developer Toolbar is one of the absolute must-have Firefox add-ons if you’re a Web Developer. It’s been around for years and puts a world of useful utilities at your fingertips, saving time, effort, and frustration.
- If you’re a bit of a Webfeed junkie and LiveBookmarks aren’t enough, you’ll probably want to check out the add-on. By way of the sidebar, Wizz lets you subscribe to Webfeeds and quickly flip through new posts or updates to those sites. Wizz is, in my opinion, a great middle ground between LiveBookmarks and a full-featured desktop Webfeed client like Vienna.