Are you a Firefox user? If so, this feature is especially for you. There are plenty who still use IE, but the popularity of Firefox is rising, with more and more users getting hooked to it. I like Firefox mainly for the add-on plugins, which are easily available on the official website. You will find scores of them, but I shall list the five I find most interesting. There are so many options that no two persons will have the same list. So if you have anything to add, or if you disagree with me, do leave a comment. It will provide readers with more options.
Stumble Upon
This is simply the best add-on any Web browser could use. It appeals mainly to those who love to go through anything interesting on the World Wide Web. The way it works is very simple: after installing it you will see an icon on the top left of your browser. Every time you have the time, just click it and it will take you to any of the sites that other stumble users have tagged as "I Like".
That's not all. Interestingly, the site maintains a tab of what you like and what you have shrugged off as boring, and will regularly display content that matches your tastes. In fact, if you discover a website that you like, you can add it to the list for others to see as well.
You can get the plugin here.
Me.dium
Me.dium comes in handy when you make travel/movie plans with friends. How? "Be social when you surf the Web" is what the guys who made Me.dium tell you. Simply put, this plugin allows you to chat and surf the same web page (with your friends) at the same time.
To do this, everybody in your social circle will need to install this plugin, and add each other as friends. You will see your friends on your Me.dium network list (on the left of the browser). Below each name will be a link to what they are surfing presently. This especially comes in useful when everyone is researching the same topic.
Don't worry; it won't take your friends to your Gmail account if that's what's bothering you. One thing to remember is that by installing this plugin you are allowing Me.dium to gain access to your surfing history. It works across Facebook, YouTube, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Flickr, Digg, Yahoo, and Google.
Get the plugin here.
Better Gmail 2
Ever since it launched (and even before it actually did), Gmail's gained prominence. I don't know anyone who isn't on it. So it makes sense to talk about a plugin that improves the way you use Gmail.
Better Gmail 2 does exactly what the name suggests. Apart from being able to change the skin at the click of a button, you get many other options. Firstly, every mail with attachments will have the respective display icons in the inbox, so you'll know whether it's (say) a word file or a PDF.
One important tweak this plugin offers is that every mailto: link you click will in turn be diverted to your Gmail account, rather than the erstwhile .Outlook express You can also learn additional keyboard shortcuts. That's brilliant, I think.
You can get the plugin here.
DownThemAll
I use this so often that I don't know what I'd do without it. On the face of it, DownThemAll is promoted as a download accelerator that's capable of increasing speeds by 400 percent. It gives you 'pause' and 'resume' options, and the best part is it allows you to download all the links or images on a web page by clicking a single button.
After installing, if you right-click on any page (say, Flickr) and click on DownThemAll, it will show a window with all the available pictures and download links. You can select what you like and start downloading. With this plugin you won't need an external download manager.
Get the plugin here.
Fast Video Download
I'm sure many of you techies will have this already installed. For the clueless, it's a useful plugin for YouTube fans. It allows you to download vedios from sites such as hi5.com, metacafe.com, vids.myspace.com, YouTube, and more.
A small icon at the bottom right of the browser page will show up after the plugin is installed. All you need to do is surf to the page where the video is streaming, and click on the icon. It will ask you if you would like to download it. Click on 'yes' and you are done. For downloading from YouTube, you will need an FLV player. Download it from the official website, or just get the VLC media player
Get the plugin here.