Author Topic: Firefox Extensions: Your favorite or most useful (Read 820939 times)

mwang · « **Reply #250 on:** March 24, 2009, 12:31 PM »

How does NetNotes compare to Evernote or Scrapbook?
-Paul Keith (March 24, 2009, 09:56 AM)

I tried the newest version 5.1 a few days ago. Here's what I noted.

NetNotes stores the captures locally, like Scrapbook, but it also works with IE. The captures are stored as individual pages (with associated elements in a subfoder) in file system directories, and they're named after the title of the page (unlike Scrapbook, with which they are all named index.html). So it's easy to retrieve the captures, even without NetNotes. And you can assign keywords (tags) and ratings to a note, if that's important to you.

It's a bit klunky for my taste, though. Starting up takes longer than most applications on my system. And when you save a page, it pops up. You have to click "Save" to make it go away. Using page titles as file names is good, but it doesn't convert "illegal" characters transparently (as the "File Title" extension does). If the page title contains a colon, e.g., it beeps you when you try to save the page; you have to make the necessary change yourself. I also ran into a minor bug: non-English page titles weren't captured correctly (though the content was).

As to Evernote, well, I don't like to save my notes online. While it can save locally, I hate the new ad "feature" of the newest Windows client. (I don't mind paying for the software, but I don't want to pay monthly fees, especially since I'm not storing any note online.) If that doesn't bother you, Evernote's web capturing facility is more mature and easier to use, IMO. NetNotes is freeware, though, and as said, it keeps web pages as individual html files, which I prefer to Evernote's big database files.

kartal · « **Reply #251 on:** March 24, 2009, 12:46 PM »

Evernote`s html capture is not as good as Scrapbook`s html capture.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #252 on:** March 24, 2009, 06:09 PM »

Hmm...so if I'm not mistaken, Surfulator would have the best html capture and editing options still correct? Or is it Scrapbook? or Scrapbook+? (I actually haven't heard of Scrapbook+ until you posted it mwang but unfortunately it seems like it could be buggy from the notes)

- preview of highlighter in the drop-down choice list does not work in Firefox 3
- shortcut of highlighter and annotation does not wirk in Firefox 3

mwang · « **Reply #253 on:** March 24, 2009, 08:00 PM »

Evernote`s html capture is not as good as Scrapbook`s html capture.
-kartal (March 24, 2009, 12:46 PM)

I agree with you, assuming you mean that in terms of faithfulness to the original page display (instead of functionality, ease of use, etc.). That's not really a fair game, though. Scrapbook is a Firefox extension; it uses Firefox to render captured pages. Evernote and other browser-independent tools have to render their own pages. Unless one uses Gecko (which Evernote doesn't), it can't compete with Scrapbook in display fidelity (using the original display in Firefox as the yardstick).

Moreover, I sometimes feel Scrapbook gives me "too much". Some of the excessive parts can be easily removed with its tools, but some can't. E.g., when I save only part of a page, I usually don't care about the background, but it's hard to get rid of it with Scrapbook. With Evernote or others, the background is usually ignored when saving part of a page.

One more thing: with Evernote and the like, you can easily edit the captured stuff. Scrapbook allows you to remove elements/selections, annotate, and add highlights, but you can't otherwise edit the page (add words, correct typos, etc.) directly.

Hmm...so if I'm not mistaken, Surfulator would have the best html capture and editing options still correct? Or is it Scrapbook? or Scrapbook+? (I actually haven't heard of Scrapbook+ until you posted it mwang but unfortunately it seems like it could be buggy from the notes)

- preview of highlighter in the drop-down choice list does not work in Firefox 3
- shortcut of highlighter and annotation does not wirk in Firefox 3
-Paul Keith (March 24, 2009, 06:09 PM)

I can't comment on whether Surfulator has the best html capture. It can't search CJK text, so its stay on my system was brief.

As to Scrapbook+, I don't think it's buggy. It's as stable as Scrapbook was on my system. I'm not sure about the two "known issues" listed. With the current build, the highlighters are listed as individual tool buttons, so I just click on whichever I want to use. There's nothing to "preview" this way. You click, and it highlights. If you don't like it, just undo it. (That's the main reason I prefer it over the original Scrapbook.)

There's an option to display the highlighters as a drop-down list, as in Scrapbook, and indeed you can't preview the result when going through the list of highlighters. But you can't do that either in Scrapbook, so it's moot. Same with the highlighter shortcuts. I didn't know they have shortcuts, but Scrapbook doesn't have highlighter shortcuts, either. It would be nice to have them, but not very useful, since you can't "edit" the page as in a editor. There's no cursor point in Scrapbook(+), so you can't mark a selection with the keyboard. Using highlighter shortcuts thus entails going back and forth between the mouse and the keyboard.

Scrapbook+ is based on Scrapbook 1.3.3.7, which was the latest build for a long time, and it appeared to be abandonware. Scrapbook+ came in and claim some performance improvements (with large collections), so I tried it. There's no discernible performance difference on my system, to be honest. I keep it only because I like those highlighter buttons.

Now Scrapbook has a newer build (1.3.3.9), which fixes some bugs. They might eventually diverge and have different capabilities (and bugs). I don't know. As said, I keep Scrapbook+ for now only because I like the highlighter buttons.

Contrary to what's said on the Scrapbook+ page, you don't really have to uninstall Scrapbook to install Scrapbook+. Just remember not to have them both enabled at the same time. So you can switch back and forth to compare if you like. They use the same data folder and preference settings. Before that changes, it's safe to use either one.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #254 on:** March 25, 2009, 05:41 AM »

Contrary to what's said on the Scrapbook+ page, you don't really have to uninstall Scrapbook to install Scrapbook+. Just remember not to have them both enabled at the same time. So you can switch back and forth to compare if you like. They use the same data folder and preference settings. Before that changes, it's safe to use either one.

Thanks. This makes me feel much better in installing it. By chance, do you have an idea what would happen if both were installed at the same time? (Assuming you don't activate either one.)

I've also been growing more and more curious in using Wired-Marker since I've been highlighting alot of stuff in Scrapbook. By chance is there a tweak that allows it to be only used for Scrapbook captured pages?

mwang · « **Reply #255 on:** March 25, 2009, 03:40 PM »

By chance, do you have an idea what would happen if both were installed at the same time? (Assuming you don't activate either one.)
-Paul Keith (March 25, 2009, 05:41 AM)

Not sure I understand you here. Didn't I say you can have them both installed? I do, as a matter of fact. While I use only Scrapbook+ now, I keep Scrapbook on board so it'll be auto-updated, prompting me to check out what's happening to Scrapbook. So far there have been only fixes to bugs I haven't seen in SB+ (lucky or SB+ fixed them already). But if they diverge someday, I'll reevaluate.

By chance is there a tweak that allows it to be only used for Scrapbook captured pages?
-Paul Keith (March 25, 2009, 05:41 AM)

Again I'm not sure I understand. If you don't want to use Wired-Marker for "live" pages, then don't. You don't need a tweak to achieve that. And yet I don't see the point of using Wired-Marker to highlight things in pages captured by Scrapbook, which has its own handy highlight tools. But, if you insist, then of course you can do that. Wired-Marker can be used on anything you load into Firefox (e.g., your own html pages), as long as the URL (path for local file) stays the same.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #256 on:** March 25, 2009, 04:56 PM »

The reason I don't update to FF 3.x is Boommark Sync n Sort

It doesn't work with 3 because of the changed bookmark format.
If you have your own ftp storage this AddOn is great!! When you
upload, then download to Firefox on another machine, all the formatting,
personal toolbar, folder layout, sort by name etc. is maintained.
The only downer, other than not being updated for FF 3, is if you export
to a local folder, the xml file doesn't import properly. Over ftp it works
perfectly though.

Another plus for the old html bookmark format is I can export my Firefox 2.x
bookmarks, import them in Opera, then manually edit the Opera6.adr file to
remove that "imported from Netscape" folder. All that remains to duplicate
the Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar Folder is to drag & drop the entries onto the
Opera personal toolbar. The manual editing is faster and works better
than any format converter I've tried(of course I've only tried the free ones,
perhaps that's why.)

The other 2 most important AddOns are AutoCopy and Secure Login.
Secure Login is a clone of the Opera Wand password doodad. If a
password is available for the current page, the input box is highlighted
and you just click the Key on the toolbar. Can handle multiple IDs for
the same page like Wand does.

Other than that I guess the next most important is Mr Tech Toolkit so
that I can use AddOns that work even though the FF is question is
the "wrong" version.

Paul Keith · « **Reply #257 on:** March 25, 2009, 05:32 PM »

Not sure I understand you here. Didn't I say you can have them both installed? I do, as a matter of fact. While I use only Scrapbook+ now, I keep Scrapbook on board so it'll be auto-updated, prompting me to check out what's happening to Scrapbook. So far there have been only fixes to bugs I haven't seen in SB+ (lucky or SB+ fixed them already). But if they diverge someday, I'll reevaluate.
-mwang (March 25, 2009, 03:40 PM)

Oh, I meant when they are both activated. I was assuming you had one clicked as disabled in the Firefox Add-ons menu.

Again I'm not sure I understand. If you don't want to use Wired-Marker for "live" pages, then don't. You don't need a tweak to achieve that. And yet I don't see the point of using Wired-Marker to highlight things in pages captured by Scrapbook, which has its own handy highlight tools. But, if you insist, then of course you can do that. Wired-Marker can be used on anything you load into Firefox (e.g., your own html pages), as long as the URL (path for local file) stays the same.

Well I haven't installed it so I wouldn't know. I just thought it seems to have a handy searchable highlight function that Scrapbook's highlight doesn't have.

mwang · « **Reply #258 on:** March 26, 2009, 11:04 AM »

I was assuming you had one clicked as disabled in the Firefox Add-ons menu.
-Paul Keith (March 25, 2009, 05:32 PM)

Yes, that's exactly what I do.

Well I haven't installed it so I wouldn't know. I just thought it seems to have a handy searchable highlight function that Scrapbook's highlight doesn't have.
-Paul Keith (March 25, 2009, 05:32 PM)

Then yes, Wired-Marker can do that, though I've never used it that way.

cmpm · « **Reply #259 on:** March 26, 2009, 12:00 PM »

@MilesAhead

In the bookmark dropdown menu you can select 'organize bookmarks'.
And export them to a location of your choice
you probably knew that

But the reason for this post is this knowledge of auto export on exit.

http://kb.mozillazin...marks.autoExportHTML

You may have known that as well though.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #260 on:** March 26, 2009, 12:46 PM »

@MilesAhead

In the bookmark dropdown menu you can select 'organize bookmarks'.
And export them to a location of your choice
you probably knew that

But the reason for this post is this knowledge of auto export on exit.

http://kb.mozillazin...marks.autoExportHTML

You may have known that as well though.
-cmpm (March 26, 2009, 12:00 PM)

I understand. What makes Bookmark Sync n Sort unique is the formatting, as I mentioned. Also it has an option to Merge the bookmarks, say if you're not sure which Firefox you synced from last(which has the newest.) By default it overwrites, but you can also Merge for a safer download. Don't know what happened to the developer but I wish it would be updated for 3.x Maybe the person just got sick of messing with it.

btw I mentioned the part about using Bookmark Sync n Sort to save the xml locally and load it from a folder because the tendency would be, if you tried that first and got garbled results, you'd give up on it.
I think I did myself when I first tried it. But the action via ftp transfer works perfectly.

mwang · « **Reply #261 on:** March 26, 2009, 08:55 PM »

MilesAhead, have you tried Foxmarks? It also sync your bookmarks, and does it reliably. If you don't like to sync to their server, you can use your own server. And the "merge" function is its default, though you can also overwrite one with the other.

siouxdax · « **Reply #262 on:** March 26, 2009, 09:37 PM »

I simply can't live without All-In-One Gestures, Foxmarks, Menu Editor, Organize Status Bar, StumbleUpon and Toolbar Buttons. But really I'm in love with all of my add-ons. Apparently I have scads of add-ons compared to my friends who only have a few installed.

BTW: Foxmarks is now becoming Xmarks. I'm frightened. We don't need to change a thing. They are supposedly going to add social bookmarking features. We already have enough of those.

cmpm · « **Reply #263 on:** March 27, 2009, 12:08 AM »

MilesAhead

-Bookmark Sync n Sort-

I bumped up the version compatibility to 4.0.
It works with FireFox 3 on my machine.
All the options and menus are there.
But I didn't set it up.

It's really a big improvement-FF 3, plus more security.
Give it whirl if you want to.
You can always switch back.

Change the .zip at the end of the file name to .xpi.
The forum will not accept .xpi files.
But it will for zip files.

After changing the extension -a must-, just drag and drop onto your open Firefox 3.0.7, and the install window will pop up just like any normal addon for Firefox.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #264 on:** March 27, 2009, 01:32 PM »

MilesAhead, have you tried Foxmarks? It also sync your bookmarks, and does it reliably. If you don't like to sync to their server, you can use your own server. And the "merge" function is its default, though you can also overwrite one with the other.
-mwang (March 26, 2009, 08:55 PM)

There's nothing unreliable about Bookmark sync & sort. I've been using it for years.
Tried Foxmarks for about 5 minutes I think.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #265 on:** March 27, 2009, 01:35 PM »

MilesAhead

-Bookmark Sync n Sort-
-cmpm (March 27, 2009, 12:08 AM)

Thanks very much. I'll definitely try it out today and let you know anything interesting I happen to notice.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #266 on:** March 27, 2009, 02:14 PM »

Well, it's a no go with 3.07 on my Vista64 machine. It won't take the server/user/password info. Click Apply and OK and it just sits.

cmpm · « **Reply #267 on:** March 27, 2009, 07:33 PM »

hm, bummer

Yeah 3 is very different then 2 I believe.
Don't what exactly would stop that though.
Maybe someone will pick up on it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #268 on:** March 27, 2009, 08:12 PM »

I haven't tried it on my 32 bit Vista machine. I just hosed that last night playing around with msstyles and laid the backup image back on. So I want to take a break from breaking my PCs for awhile. I think FF 3 still has a lot of AddOns I use that aren't updated. As it is I use Mr Tech to use some of them on FF 2.x as it is. FF 2 runs fine afaic anyway. FF 3 still seems to have some problems like if you use themes your vertical scrollbar is gonzo so you're stuck with default. I'll wait for awhile and see what's what.

cmpm · « **Reply #269 on:** March 27, 2009, 09:36 PM »

I use Classic Compact theme,
https://addons.mozil...S/firefox/addon/3699
with the Classic Compact Options add on.
https://addons.mozil...S/firefox/addon/6969

In the options the scroll bar can be changed to Windows default.
Which is very good since the bar was so narrow with just the theme without the options add on.

I use Foxmarks which is going to be Xmarks, but I'm not too sure about it yet. I received an email today informing me of the changes now and to come. Seems to have some social aspect.

the email-

Dear Foxmarks User,

Foxmarks is becoming Xmarks. We're not just changing our name, we're also enhancing our browser add-on and web site with new capabilities.

This email will provide you with some details about what has changed in our new version along with instructions on how to upgrade to Xmarks today.

Since starting Foxmarks, our goal has been to aggregate and analyze the bookmarks we manage to create something never done before: a bookmark-powered web discovery service. Last month you saw our first hint at this new service with the launch of "Suggested Tags". Today, we're proud to tell you about the launch of Xmarks, designed to help you search smarter and uncover the best sites on the web.

Upgrade to Xmarks now, or read on to learn more.

Upgrade to Xmarks Now

Uncover Great Websites
With the upgrade from Foxmarks to Xmarks, you'll still enjoy bookmark sync, backup and all the features you love about Foxmarks. In addition, Xmarks adds new discovery features:

1. Smarter Search
Xmarks will highlight the three sites in your Google results that have been bookmarked by the most people; this is a quick and easy way to tell which sites are most valued by real people like you.

2. Site Info
Xmarks adds a small blue information icon in your browser location bar. Click it to learn more about the site you are on and see recommendations for the top five similar sites. This is a great way to uncover the best of the web.

3. Xmarks.com
Visit Xmarks.com from any browser to write your own site reviews and to see even more similar site recommendations.

Learn more about these new features.

Powered by Bookmarks
Xmarks is powered by over half a billion bookmarks created by millions of people like you. Our discovery engine aggregates and analyzes all bookmarks in order to compute things like "people who bookmarked this site, also bookmarked these similar sites". This process removes all personally-identifiable information from bookmarks and ignores sites that very few people have bookmarked. Rest assured, we take privacy very seriously and you can read our privacy policy here.

What's Next?
Xmarks is currently Firefox only, but it syncs perfectly with your existing Foxmarks Web account and the Foxmarks add-ons for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. You'll also notice that Foxmarks.com is still a separate site. In the coming weeks we'll be fully rebranding the Foxmarks site and releasing an Xmarks upgrade for our Internet Explorer and Safari add-ons.

We strongly encourage you to upgrade now to take advantage of these new features. If you do nothing, you'll receive notification of an available upgrade through Firefox in the coming weeks.

We're still hard at work on sync and are committed to extending our leadership position in browser synchronization. To that end, we need your help to prioritize the many items on our sync roadmap. Please take a minute and answer this short survey -- it's your chance to have a voice in how we evolve our product.

Thank you for choosing Foxmarks and get ready for the new and improved Xmarks. If you'D like to send us feedback or need help through the upgrade process, please write to us on our forums.

Thank you,
The Xmarks Team

Upgrade to Xmarks Now

If you no longer wish to receive emails from Xmarks Inc. click to unsubscribe.
Copyright (C) 2009 Xmarks Inc. All rights reserved. 543 Howard St. / 5th Floor / San Francisco, 94105

-end email

I'm not exactly sure if it's a legit email.
It has download links for upgrading to Xmarks.
I haven't checked it out, just got home from work.

I like Foxmarks like it is, but it may be an improvement.
Or become something irritating as well......or resource hungry.
I do like the fact of syncing to different browsers like they speak of in the email. But the extra info built in will have to prove itself, and hopefully an opt out option for the extra stuff in my browser.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #270 on:** March 28, 2009, 06:38 PM »

hmmmm on Firefox 3.08 now. Found SyncPlaces to sync my bookmarks. It also claims to sync passwords and other stuff I don't use to personal ftp site so I'll give it a go. Haven't used it enough to know how stable it is. But AutoCopy, ContextSearch, Secure Login, Launchy and FasterFox seem to be working so I guess FF 3 is at the point of usability for me.

I'll see how it goes.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #271 on:** March 30, 2009, 06:58 PM »

Hmmmmmm trying FF 3.1 beta 3 with Fasterfox disabled. So far it seems just as snappy. My other AddOns seem to work with the blessing of Mr Tech. So far so good.

Edit: now using Minefield March 31 build. All my AddOns seem to work and there seems to be just a bit less lag time between clicking a link and the page starting to load. Looks like it has this "jit" javascript thing enabled by default. Seems pretty stable but I've only been using it for 1/2 an hour. Just hope there wasn't a good reason why it was named Minefield !!

MilesAhead · « **Reply #272 on:** June 03, 2009, 07:28 PM »

Anyone know how to get rid of "Open All In Tabs" in Minefield? I've tried all the UserChrome.css modifications you find on the web and none of them do the job. I'm using a custom theme, so that may be whay I suppose.

Lefax32 · « **Reply #273 on:** June 12, 2009, 07:43 PM »

My top extensions:

1. TabKit: Vertical and Grouped tabs. Didn't like it at first and found setting it up a bit confusing, but after giving it a go for a while I found it to be much more efficient for managing tabs. I get completely lost if I ever use a horizontal tab bar now.

2. Web Search Pro: Just the best thing ever! I make hundreds of searches a day on hundreds of sites now, because it's just too fast and easy!

3. Text Link: Double clicking text links to open in new tab ~ Don't know why it's not a default Firefox feature!

4. Adblock Plus

5. Page Zoom Buttons - I use the red one - allows you to scroll up / down over it to zoom in and out.

EDIT: Found another extension for zooming in and out, which is so much better. Special mouse shortcuts so no need to go to a toolbar to activate.

Mouse Zoom
https://addons.mozilla.or.../en-US/firefox/addon/2244

Right-Click + Scroll Wheel Up = Zoom in
Right-Click + Scroll Wheel Down = Zoom out
Right-Click + Left-Click = Resets Zoom
Right-Click + Middle Click = Hides / Shows all toolbars but tab bar remains.

6. PageZipper: Awesome! No more clicking the next button at the bottom of a page, just keep scrolling down as it joins each "Next" page seamlessly to the bottom of the previous one.
And it looks like it's still be developed to add new features. A toolbar has just been added that allows you to jump back and forth to the next / previous images on a web page. And also tells you what number page you are on, and how many pages have been zipped.

7. Wired Marker - I only use it to Right-Click and highlight words with one of my saved colours. It's great because it's permanent.

8. Google Icon - Adds the site favicon/icon to next to the link in the Google Search Results. I honestly don't know why Google don't have this as a default feature! It's so much easier to look at Google Search results, and easily identify known websites.

CleverCat · « **Reply #274 on:** June 13, 2009, 02:13 AM »

Just found this - it's great!

https://addons.mozil...policy/0/12059/54100