Firefox browser load time slow? Maybe you have too many of these?
Posted in Tech by Derek at 1:00 pm
This post was published 3 years 2 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.It’s been quite some time since I’ve peeked under the Firefox Extensions hood to see what I load on a daily basis. I just checked right now, and I have to admit, I am nearing the outer skirts of Firefox Extensions whore land. No wonder my browser takes 3-4 seconds to load. So here we are, the semi-usual Firefox Extensions share list.
- 1Passwd – OS X users looking for a password manager that works with Firefox and Safari across multiple Macs should load this extension straight-away. I believe 1Passwd loads this automatically when the application is installed.
- Adblock – The proverbial favorite for cleansing ridiculously ad-bloated websites.
- Adblock Filterset.G Updater – Keeps adblock updated. Whitelist sites from this update list if you prefer to support certain advertisements.
- ColorZilla – Color picker that launches from the Firefox status bar.
- Configuration Mania – I’m still not sure why some of the features that can be enabled through this plugin are not enabled by default in Firefox.
- Drag de Go – Reminiscent of Opera Gestures. Drag links and highlighted text / images to perform certain functions.
- Firebug – A favorite among web developers.
- Foxmarks Bookmark Syncronizer – Replace Google Browser Sync with this extension. Does not affect the performance of your browser and syncs bookmarks using the Foxmarks server – or your own personal server.
- Greasemonkey – Manipulate the web to work for you.
- It’s All Text! – Open your default text editor for editing textareas rather than using the browser.
- Make Link – Right-click on links and create HTML or forum safe links.
- Resizeable Form Fields – Some web forms are a little too cramped for my tastes. Resize them horizontally or vertically to your hearts content.
- Stop-or-Reload Button – Keep both important buttons in your browser nav bar while saving a few pixels.
- StumbleUpon – Random web browsing.
- Stylish – Similar to Greasmonkey. Many great userstyles to choose from at userstyles.org.
- Tabbrowser Preferences – Control how tabs behave in Firefox with a little more control.
- User Agent Switcher – Fool websites into thinking you’re using *ack* Internet Explorer.
- Web Developer – Classic. If Firebug weren’t't around, I would be using this extension and nothing else.
If you would feel so inclined, feel free to drop your recommendations in the comments for all to see. Try to keep the lists a little lighter – keep them down to the bare minimum, the holy grail of Extensions if you will.
firebug, colorzilla, web developer are what I’ve narrowed my selection down to… thanks to firebug anyway, used to have a few extensions to achieve it’s sole purpose.
I’m thinking you should check out
FasterFox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1269/
I have it installed on my PC but can’t really tell a difference because I hardly use it, however some people live by it ;)
Foxmarks doesn’t do the same thing as Google Browser Sync.
Google Sync doesn’t only synchronize bookmarks, it also synchronizes cookies, passwords, and open tabs, which I find even more important than bookmark syncing (since I usually bookmark items in del.icio.us). That means I can quit a session with open tabs on my iMac and then resume the same session on my MBP with everything just as I left it on the other machine.
I haven’t found any other extension which does the same in any browser and that’s one of the things that always makes me come back to Firefox.
I actually had Fasterfox installed but noticed no difference so out it went.
All-in-one gestures – a must-have, customizable mouse gestures and much more
Download statusbar – very useful, lists your recent downloads on the bottom of the window
FoxyTunes – control your favorite music player from within Firefox
NoScript – disable Javascript on pages by default, very useful for the security-minded
Text Link – open text links just by double-clicking them
Google Notebook
Google Web Comments
Google Toolbar for Firefox
Mouse Gestures
Stumbleupon
Yea, i’m a Google whore, i used to have the Google web accelerator installed, but that regurally took over my computer’s memory, and i never really noticed the “faster loadings” of pages, i just like the “You’ve saved 3.2 days” line at the top of Firefox.
I also have Google Browser Sync on my other computer, it’s saved me a few times when i reformated because now i dont need to backup my bookmarks/passwords, but i haven’t installed it yet on my main computer.
Stumbleupon is by far, my favorite, and i use that on a daily basis, i have found thousands of new and interesting sites through it.
I used to use Web comments to see if anyone was linking to my site: http://steve.dedlycomputer.com/microwave but really, i don’t know why i have it anymore.
Notebook comes in handy for when im too lazy to save the info to a text file on my desktop.
What I use…
Download Embedded – https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1993/
DownThemAll – http://www.downthemall.net/
Web Developer – https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/60/
Firebug – http://www.getfirebug.com/
Google Browser Sync – http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/index.html (helps with multiple computers)
Add N Edit Cookies – https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/573/
I used to be a really big All in one Sidebar fan, but not really anymore. No real use anymore for it.
downthemall – download anything you want off of the webpage you’re currently on
foxytunes – control iTunes from your browser (also have one for Safari)
del.icio.us – if you guys use that alot, this would be useful to add a site to del.icio.us with the click of a button
Downthemall FTW!! I love it, it’s perfect and it’s not annoying like other download managers.
Also Firebug it’s incredible, I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews, but I just can’t install it on my mac, the extension does install but I can’t run it, or maybe I don’t know how to use it, I go to the Tools menu > Firebug > Open Firebug, but nothing happens! Aaargh!
For me, being a web/software/design guy too, the following are a must:
Firebug — of course
Web Developer Toolbar — don’t use it as much as I used to before Firebug came along
ColorZilla — use all the time, that or xScope for OSX
Google Sync/Foxmarks — I was using just Foxmarks but switched to Google’s offering for the password/bookmarks syncing
Greasemonkey/Stylish — cuz its awesome being able to mod other people’s sites to your will.
Adblock — nuff said
Download Sort — Auto sort files that I download (much like Hazel for OSX, but specifically for Firefox, plus I had problems with Hazel sorting faster than Firefox could download and it causes corrupted files)
Download Statusbar — keep up with your current download status
Fasterfox — though i haven’t noticed huge speed increases, but it does give me a handy dandy load counter
Forecastfox — though it’s currently disabled due to its long extension load times (i need a good low cpu/low ram alternative, thinking GeekTool for OSX)
Flashblock — like Adblock but for flash
OpenBook — Bookmark dialog window modifcations, lets me bookmark pages into my bookmark folders without the need of the mouse (what can i say, i’m going for that no mouse, all keyboard navigation technique)
PDF Download — though not necessary for OSX anymore, I use it on my work laptop (Windows).
IETab — a must for windows users for IE in a Firefox tab
User Agent Switcher — more development related tools
View Source Chart — one more development related tool
Tab Mix Plus – lots of extra tab options, though not as necessary since Firefox 2.0 introduced many of the options that Tab Mix Plus provides.
I need to cut all of these extensions down even more, probably cut out a lot of the ones I rarely use, like User Agent Switcher or View Source Chart or Fasterfox (the speed increase is not even noticable for me)
@R0
click the little green check mark in the bottom right of your browser window for a little surprise ;)
Not really, I have only FireFTP and nothing else, it start slow too, both in PC and Mac…
As I download a lot from the web I find Shazou simply awesome to identify where the files are coming from: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2993
Also recommended earlier, Download Statusbar: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/26
Finally, Cooliris for previewing images https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207
So how exactly does this help a user to know what and how to take something out? A list of what MIGHT be loading isnt particularly useful – how about an answer to what is needed and what isnt? These brief descriptions are useless to users who arent familiar with whether its beneficial or not to keep an add-on.