Here are the most popular add-on collections for the Firefox browser:

Windows 7 Theme for Firefox 3.5

32430 subscribers – This collection of add-ons were gathered to help you make Firefox 3 more seamless in the Windows 7 operating system.  Not only do you get the nice theme and tweaking add-ons, but you also get some great time conserving tools too!

Web Developer’s Toolbox

7934 subscribers – Speed up the development process by using add-ons to troubleshoot, edit, and debug web projects without ever clicking away from Firefox.

Reference Desk

5033 subscribers – Make the librarian jealous with add-ons that help students, researchers or anyone with a tough question find and document all the answers.

Lifehacker’s Must-Have Extensions

3849 subscribers – Then of the must-have add-ons for Firefox, as picked by the brilliant minds over at Lifehacker.com. Included are ten of the best add-ons for Firefox out there today.

Better Pack

2564 subscribers – Lifehacker’s “Better” add-ons, compiling multiple Greasemonkey tweaks for YouTube, Reader, Gmail, Google Calendar, Flickr, and other sites.

Power User Pack

1537 subscribers – Collection of Add-ons for power user, sys admin, developer, surfer, and more.  Most powerful add-ons which would change interface to better and tidy, add some cool functionality.

Traveler’s Pack

1270 subscribers – When the travel bug bites, these add-ons make it easy to plan, book and document your trip — without getting lost along the way.

Family Organizer

1211 subscribers – Create a safe and fun online experience while planning everything the family does offline with add-ons that keep the family cooking.

Social Circuit

1176 subscribers – Whether it’s LOLing with a BFF, finding a job or staying connected with old classmates, social networking add-ons keep the most popular sites front and center.

Icon-Only Perma-Tabs for Gmail and Google Reader

592 subscribers – Keep your Gmail and Google Reader tabs open at all times, but shrink them down to show the favicon only and add your unread count on the icon.

Know of an add-on collection that can get the proverbial job done better than the ones I listed above?  Leave a comment and share it with the group.  Also, if you have pulled together your own unique collection – share those with me too in the comments.

• Googlepedia – delivering relevant Wikipedia articles along with your search results.
• Google Assistant – Surf Canyon – helps to unleash the power of search by helping you find relevant information buried in the search results of Google, Yahoo!, Live Search and more.
• VideoSurf Search Plugin – Use VideoSurf’s visual search engine to find videos from all over the web.
• Add to Search Bar – Make any pages’ search functionality available in Firefox’s built in search box.
• Advanced Dork – Get quick access to Google’s advanced operators (such as site:, intext:, and others) directly from Firefox’s context menu.
• AutoPager – Automatically load the next page of any site that has inline results.  When you reach the bottom of one page go to the next!
• CustomizeGoogle – Add tons of extra information and tools to Google and remove unwanted information you don’t need.
• Infoaxe – Full text history search synchronized between multiple computers and multiple browsers.  Think of it as bookmark syncing for your browsing history.
• Who Is This Person? – Highlight any name on the Web to see matching information from services like Wink, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google News, and more.
• BetterSearch – An add-on for Firefox and Flock which enhances Google and Yahoo! with all their international flavors, MSN and Delicious by adding previews (thumbnails) and additional functionality.

Have another favorite search add-on for Firefox that did not make it onto the list?  Leave it in the comments, because I would love to hear your opinion on which would be the king of the search extensions.

This comes in handy because it allows you to check out scenes from a video before you watch it.  It works with: YouTube Search, the YouTube Home Page, the YouTube Video Pages, and FriendFeed.

It also works for your search results too:

A few other features included are:

• Use the visual summary to jump in time while watching a video on YouTube’s video page
• Discover more videos featuring the characters in the videos you click on, and learn more about them
• Make all HD-compatible YouTube videos play in high quality (or HD) by default

If you want to give it a shot, go check out the VideoSurf Videos at a Glance page over on the Firefox Add-ons site or go lean more about VideoSurf on VideoSurf.com.

Google has ported one of Chrome’s most popular features to Firefox, the personalized new tab screen.  The only catch is that you have to use the Google Toolbar to get it.  Your new tab page looks exactly like Chrome’s after the install of the Google Toolbar 5 Beta. 

When do you get this fantastic new edition?  This happens when you launch a new tab( hit Ctrl+T, or you double click on the empty space to the right of your tabs).  You can check out all the other features of the Google Toolbar Beta 5 on the official web site:

• Google Toolbar Beta 5 Features

I stopped using Google Toolbar myself once the search box was added to most browsers.  I mean, why do I need two search boxes in one browser window?  That is a post for another day though.  However if you want to check out this new ported over feature – be sure to pick up the beta off Google’s web site.

Here are some of the most popular plugins that help with increasing the privacy or security for your Firefox installation.

NoScript

The best security you can get in a web browser! Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.

WOT

WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. Protect your computer against online threats by using WOT as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar territory.

Stealther

Do you like to pretend that you are a super secret spy when browing the Web? Maybe you just don’t want that nosy brother or sister looking in on what you have been doing. No matter the situation, if you want to stay secret – the Stealther Firefox extension is for you.

FoxyProxy

FoxyProxy is an advanced proxy management tool that completely replaces Firefox’s limited proxying capabilities. It offers more features than SwitchProxy, ProxyButton, QuickProxy, xyzproxy, ProxyTex, TorButton, etc.

Fire Encrypter

Want Firefox to help you encrypt your secret files and documents? Maybe you just want to learn more about the encryption process? No matter which camp you fall into, the Fire Encrypter Firefox extension is for you. It brings the top secret world of encryption right into your favorite little browser.

Sxipper

Forget your passwords! Sxipper accurately fills in forms, manages passwords and your OpenIDs.

CookieCuller

Want more control over your cookies? No, I’m not talking about the ones your grandmother loves to shove down your throat – I am talking about the ones that involve your browser. The Firefox extension CookieCuller gives you total control over which cookies stay on your computer by letting you protect cookies of your choice while automatically deleting the rest.

Flashblock

Flashblock is an extension for the Mozilla, Firefox, and Netscape browsers that takes a pessimistic approach to dealing with Macromedia Flash content on a webpage and blocks ALL Flash content from loading. It then leaves placeholders on the webpage that allow you to click to download and then view the Flash content.

TrackMeNot

With all this talk about your privacy being attacked and people snooping on what you have been searching about, you are bound to feel a little paranoid. You might be watching over your shoulder as you type. You might be turning the lights out before you get Online. How can you protect yourself from being tracked in your searches though? If you use Firefox, you need the TrackMeNot extension.

BugMeNot

Tired of web sites asking you to register to view the content inside?  Bypass compulsory web registration with the context menu via bugmenot.com.

Know of another Firefox security add-on that is well worth using, just not that popular yet?  Do any of these add-ons make you sleep a little easier at night?  Let me know what you think the best security add-on for Firefox is.

KidZui is an addition to Firefox that with one click turns the browser into a kid-safe environment with over a million kid-friendly websites, games, pictures, and YouTube videos.  I do have to say that this service might be a nice gateway to allow younger kids to get on the Web without much need to worry.

Another feature they pride themselves on is when locked down, KidZui prevents kids from closing the browser, downloading files, or opening other applications.

The free Firefox extension is a gateway into a free vs paid membership situation.  If you get a membership via the Kidzui web site, you can get a few more features.  You can see a comparison of the free features versus the paid features via their membership page.  You might also want to check out an alternative extension Glubble for Families.

If you have young ones around the house, KidZui might be worth playing with.

Better Amazon – The Better Amazon add-on for Firefox highlights listings with free shipping, enlarges product images, cleans up book pages, shortens URLS and more on Amazon.com.  One of the best Amazon.com enhancers for your browser.

Better Flickr – A great complication of Greasemonkey scripts to make Flickr better for your average user.  You have the Flickr buddy icon reply, more user links, photo magnifier, page enhancer and a more feature rich editor.

Better GCal – The Better GCal add-on for Firefox is a favorite of mine.  It allows you to collapse the header and sidebar, wraps event titles, color weekend days, give week numbers and even a few skins too.  Google Calendar never looked so good!

Better Gmail 2 – A handful more of useful features you can add to your Google-powered e-mail client.  Here you have all kinds of useful additions, from macros to attachment icons.  You even have a few more skin choices and hierarchical labels.  Also don’t forget the first one, if your not yet rolled over to “Gmail 2″.

Better GReader – Add a few more popular Greasemonkey scripts into your Google Reader.  You can preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar, get a Mac OS X like skin, add favicons and tons more.

Better YouTube – Enhances YouTube with Greasemonkey user scripts, that offer options like the FlowPlayer “doesn’t start till you hit play” viewer, clean “theater” view, and links to download the video automatically.

Better Lifehacker – I am a BIG fan of Lifehacker, so why not make them “better” too?  This extension enhances Lifehacker.com and other Gawker blogs–like Gizmodo, io9 Jezebel, Valleywag, Gawker, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Defamer–with useful Greasemonkey scripts.

Which is your favorite “Better” add-on for Firefox or which area of the Web would you like to see Gina cover next?

Firefox Themes and Design 

• Halloween Themes for Firefox
• Want to Create a Firefox 3 Theme?
• Lightest Popular Themes for Firefox 3

 Tips and Tweaks for Firefox

• 25 Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar
• 25 More Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar
• 6 PDF Power Tools for Firefox
• Gallery of Firefox Toolbar Customizations
• How to Backup Firefox Bookmarks
• 8 Ways to Open Text as a Link
• Spell Check All Text Fields in Firefox
• Combine Stop and Reload in Firefox
• How Have You Customized Firefox?
• Resize and Reposition Your Browser with JavaScript

 Mozilla and Firefox Related News

• Fennec, Ubiquity Tweaks and Minefield Gets Faster
• A Slew of Firefox News (Mobile, Firefox 3.1, Better Session Restore)
• Foxmarks Introduces Password Sync
• Google Cache Checker

 Best of the Firefox Add-ons and Extensions

• Inquisitor Comes to Firefox
• Become a Better Typist with Firefox
• Smart Bookmarks Bar
• Play and Download YouTube Videos Inside Google Search
• Geode
• Social Network Updating with PingFire
• Don’t Pick Adobe, Go with Nodobe!
• Pros and Cons of Feedly Add-on for Firefox
• Mashup Gmail with Google Calendar

Which was your favorite and what would you like to see me talk more about going into November?  Remember, you are my boss – and not the other way around so let me know how you feel and what you think.

This is the first time I can remember seeing all the Mozilla web sites down, wonder if they are fixing a technical problem, or maybe getting ready to launch something new?  Let the speculation begin!

Not often do the people behind the absolutely awesome Firefox add-ons, tools and the browser itself get much time in the spotlight.  I recently had the chance to talk with the ColorfulTabs extension author, Shivanand Sharma, to get his views on his creation and a number of other development related questions.

What first inspired you to create the ColorfulTabs add-on for Firefox?

Before I begin I’d like to congratulate you and commend you for the great and popular blog and content you have created. A ‘hello’ to all your visitors and fans of Firefox.

Back in the old days when Firefox caught my attention, there was a page with a walk-through on how to use userchrome.css to style your toolbars and buttons. The article was created by Flexer and I was so fascinated that I spent hours coloring and styling every aspect of the browser. One day the idea just struck – what if every tab was a different color? At least the tab boundaries will be more distinguishable. It was a small idea that gave birth to ColorfulTabs. Initially ColorfulTabs just used 32 fixed colors to color each tab in a cycle (after the 32nd tab color cycle just restarted).

A friend of mine used to say – “an idea always starts small but eventually it matures and manifests into something big.” Users reported using 56 tabs and said that the colors were not unique. I had never imagined someone opening 56 tabs all at once. I then implemented random generation of colors. Later users requested more and we now have coloring at domain level and user selectable colors for up to 5 domains.

Will we ever see mono-chrome tabs? :)

I’ve been requested this feature for quite some time now. And I’ve been toying around with this idea. In my opinion such a feature is more of a theming work than that of a functionality enhancement. When Vista came out people wanted metallic tabs. So the idea is there and the day I’m convinced about it, it will be there :)

How difficult was it to convert Colorful Tabs over from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3?

Generally whenever the Firefox user-interface gets modified it breaks some extensions. We saw some UI changes for the Firefox 3 tabs and that’s what required some fixing. Generally if you are good at debugging, you know what is breaking things and what needs to be modified. It took me two days to fix the JavaScript part and another few hours to style the new tabs with CSS. As always it wasn’t merely a compatibility fix. I wanted to introduce more features, more functionality to live up to the expectations of the Firefox 3 users. When it’s the launch of Firefox 3 you sure want your extension to have some new features and impress the fans. And that takes some time and trying. I was not a seasoned extension developer when I started so I’ve learnt with time. I just was good at C and logic. That goes a long way. ColorfulTabs was one of the top 50 most downloaded addons on the day of Firefox release.

Outside of Colorful Tabs, what else do you work on professionally or for a hobby?

Technology amuses me. I find it hard to resist computers. So of all the things I do, most are technical. I’m a jack of many trades. I’m a professionally blogger and I have my main blog at http://binaryturf.com. It is about blogging and doing the best at that to go full-time. Once in a while I also post about the technology that catches my fascination. I sing and pursue immense interest in music and have another blog about it at http://music.binaryturf.com (which I only post to when I’m really in ‘the mood’). I also function as an Editor at Firefox Addons (AMO). I’ve designed a Wordpress theme called Femme Flora and plan to design a premium theme soon. Photography is another favorite activity of mine. So it’s pretty much anything I can get my hands on.

While these activities keep my interest and I plan to pursue them full-time in the future. I work with an IT company as a Systems Engineer to make a living. However most of my earning comes from Google Adsense on my blog. May be in the future I’ll just work as a part of the open source community full-time and pursue my interests. I think that is what life is all about – doing what you want, contributing to a community and changing the world in whatever small way I can, having the money to afford this luxury and having a ball of a time :).

If somebody asked you, what is the best way to get started with creating add-ons for Firefox, what would you tell them?

I receive a lot of those requests on a regular basis. There are many tutorials online that will walk you through the process. They all stand good as long as you experiment and learn. However if I were to start learning extension development from scratch I’d head on to:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Extension_development – This is a formal introductory guide that serves as an induction into the process, the technology and the environment.
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Getting_started_with_extension_development – a guide to equip you and get set for development.
• http://developer.mozilla.org/ – The central place where everything is documented and detailed. You will find code snippets and examples that come in as invaluable because there are times when you are stuck and there’s no one to help. Just copy the code and try it out. It can save you hours of frustration.

The community at Mozilla has been doing some fantastic work documenting everything to make development easy for individuals of any level and knowledge of development. I’d like to thank them for their continued efforts in making Firefox such a popular project.