Since the release of Firefox v3, it seems like the web has been saturated with Firefox “Top 10 Extensions!” lists. Amazingly, every list is different; which leads me to wonder if there are any two Firefox installations that are exactly alike.

So, who am I to buck the trend? I’ll buck it by listing just my essential extensions – just the ones that, without them, would make my Firefox experience much less enjoyable and productive:

Tab Mix Plus
This extension has yet to be officially released for v3, but test builds can be found here. If there is one extension that has functions which should be built into Firefox, it would be this one. Had there been no way to get this extension to work with v3, I would not have upgraded from v2. The most important options for me are automatically opening new tabs from events such as bookmarks/history, typed URLS, groups of bookmarks and the search bar.

Delicious Bookmarks
Yeah, I know – the Firefox bookmarking system has evolved into a database-driven, tag-enabled wonder. And, yes, tag searching the local bookmarks is a great improvement. I use it everyday. However, I’ve yet to break my remote bookmarking habit. I prefer to keep my most-used links local and use Delicious to tag, bookmark and forget the rest. This extension makes doing that a simple three click operation. The addition of the Delicious sidebar is almost the same having these bookmarks local.

Download Statusbar

Eliminates the Downloads window by placing recent downloads in a neat toolbar just above the status bar.

Forecastbar Enhanced
Get your current and forecast weather at a glance. Includes many options, such as location on the browser (I placed mine on the menu bar to take up all that unused real estate), customizable tooltips and -my favorite- animated radar.

Tooltip - showing Heat Index, Sunrise and Sunset

I can also get to tropical weather in two clicks. Very handy for someone living on the Gulf Coast like me.

Gmail Manager
See your Gmail unread count at a glance and login with a single click (new tab of course.) Also see snipets of the latest ten email in a tooltip. If you’re like me and have more than one Gmail account, you can quickly switch to another.

Google Reader Watcher
Google Reader is probably where I waste the most time online. I take that back – it’s where I waste the most time online. This extension lets me see, at a glance, how many unread feed items I have waiting and logs me in with a single click (new tab of course.)

GUtil
Gives you a customizable drop-down list of all your Google apps and products.

IE Tab
If Firefox doesn’t render a page correctly, just click the icon on the status bar to switch the page on the current tab to the IE engine.

That’s it. Without these, Firefox just wouldn’t be the same for me. The rest of my extensions are icing on the cake.

It has been said that to attract visitors to your blog/web site/etc., you have to be controversial. But how the hell can you give a site any speck of credibility if it is still promoting Firefox 1.5!

I didn’t know that t-storms could prowl. I’ll need to be careful walking around the corners of buildings when I go outside.

And I’m glad that Accuweather is wrong now and then. I doubt the high for the day was a degree or two over 90°

“We do not want to ship crap on time. We want to ship good software when it is ready to be shipped.” –Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe.

(on why Mozilla refuses to set a fixed date on the release of Firefox v3)

Did Mozilla know it was my birthday today? They released Firefox 1.5 just for me? Actually, I think I’ll hold off upgrading for a few days to give the extension updates a chance to get caught up.

Another important event happened today. This is the last day of hurricane season. After the season we’ve been through, I think this day should be made a new holiday – National Snoopy Dance Day.

Akin to installing new themes for Firefox, you can also select your own background for the toolbars.

The article doesn’t mention which folder to place the background file. The chrome folder (in the profile directory) worked for me.

Updated:

I recently installed the bstat plugin to my WordPress and have discovered that it doubles as a handy-dandy (after the fact) spellchecker. For instance, I was wondering how could it be that this lowly site is getting so many hits for such a popular term as Firefox? Upon opening my eyes a little wider, I discovered that the post getting all the hits had Fixefox in the title. Actually, I don’t feel so bad for my blunder, knowing that so many people were making the same mis-spelling and going as far as to click the link to my page – ignoring the red text at the top of the Google search result page that states: Did you mean: firefox. If not for their blunder, I would have never noticed mine.

Another discovered goof-up:
billlboard = billboard

I’d rather save that real estate for my browser window. Besides, Fx has an extension for most of the toolbar features. Let’s take a look:

• Google Search

Fx already has a search box. Why add another? Plus, the standard search box can be configured to operate with an armload of search engines other than Google.

• Autolink

Most features already present on a current Google search.

• WordTranslator

That may be useful for some people, but not enough for me to take up space on my browser window. Besides, I have enough trouble with the English language as it is.

• AutoFill

Do you really want an extension that saves your credit card info, while transmitting other info back to Google?

• SpellCheck

This is the only feature worth having the extension on my browser. OTOH, its good brain exercise to actually crack open a dictionary once in a while.

• PageRank Display

I already have an extension that puts PR and Alexa in my status bar, again, saving browser real estate.

• Highlight Search Terms and Word Find Buttons

Hint: just press Alt/F.

Just another tool for the Google assimilation of the world, but what do I know?