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Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 02 Issue 21
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 2, Issue 21
Lisa, Kaylie and I spent a wonderful week in Traverse City. The
Autumn colors were pretty much at their peak and it was just a
wonderful time away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday
lives. We got back from that and three days later I was off to a
retreat for the Leadership Ann Arbor program for which I am
serving as a co-Chair this year. Now, I'm finally back home in
Ann Arbor and with all of that traveling, you can bet there's one
or two things in the "In" basket.
Sitting down to crunch through some of the pile I realized that
I've set up a number of tools to help make me more efficient in
my work. A lot of them are add-ons and extensions to the Firefox
browser. I'm going to cover a few of them in this issue.
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In This Issue...
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1. Article: Filling the Firefox Toolbox
2. Shameless Self-Promotion
3. The Fine Print
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1. Article: Filling the Firefox Toolbox
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I love the Firefox browser.
Part of it is that it runs on Linux, my operating system of
choice. Internet Explorer certainly doesn't do that. Part of it
is just that it feels cool and rebellious to go with a product
that 80% of the people out there *aren't* using. I think that
the biggest factor is just that it is so darned flexible, that I
can make it work especially well just for me.
Firefox has a mechanism which allows third-party programmers to
create new features for the browser. They've come up with
features to retrieve maps, stock quotes, and blog posts directly
into the browser. The add-ons can act to protect you against
malware and unwanted advertisements, or just make you more
efficient with whatever you are trying to do.
Installing these new features couldn't be much easier either.
After you've installed Firefox, just go under "Tools" and click
on the "Add-ons" command. A small window will pop up with a link
to "Get Extensions". Clicking on this will send you to a site
which houses a vast selection of tools and toys. If any of them
look good to you, just click on the button and follow the
instructions to make it a part of your browser world.
So, what sort of tools am I using? What follows is a short
list. Most of mine are aimed at making my work on websites go
more smoothly and efficiently. There are one or two, though that
just make my life easier. If you would like to use any of these
tools, the best way to get them is just to go to the Firefox
add-on site (https://addons.mozilla.org/) and search on the name.
1. Firebug. This is my Swiss Army knife for working on website
layout. This one tool allows me to examine layout, to
experiment with new settings, even to debug some of the more
advanced aspects of the site, such as scripting. Not everyone
needs this extension, but if you need it, you really need it.
2. BlockSite. OK, I'll admit it. I have a little "problem" with
getting distracted by some sites. When one (cough)
kakuroconquest.com (cough) starts taking up too much of my
time, it goes on the BlockSite list. Now this one isn't
sufficient for true site blocking (for example to keep your
kids away from the less savory parts of the Web), but it is
sufficient to help remind me that I should keep focused on the
*work* that I'm supposed to be doing.
3. Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer. I use two different computers
with two different operating systems on each. That means that
I have four different Firefox browser installations. Trying
to keep all of my bookmarks synchronized was a pain in the
patoot. Now that I have Foxmarks set up, though, the computer
takes care of all of it for me.
4. Remember The Milk for Gmail. I use RTM for my daily "to do"
lists. It does an admirable job. Using this tool, I can see
my list of tasks -- broken down by day and sorted by priority
-- right next to my main Gmail inbox. In many ways, I find
this interface easier to use than the one on the RTM site
itself (though slightly less powerful).
5. Map This. With this simple add-on, I can highlight an address
on a web page, right click on it, and request a map of the
area. This tool opens a window to either Google Maps or Yahoo
Maps to display the area in question.
I have a number of other add-ons that I've been using which I'll
share with you next time. In the process of researching this
article, I've uncovered a few more which bear investigation, so I
might be adding to the list. In the meantime, if you are using
any of the Firefox extensions, I would love to hear about them.
Drop me a line at gpeters@cyberdatasolutionsllc.com
Copyright 2008, Greg Peters
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2. Shameless Self-Promotion
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The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg
Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data
Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better
web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us
on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your
webmaster.
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3. The Fine Print
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