Tag Archives | cache

6 Add-ons to Grab Usage Stats from Firefox

Jun/03 in Add-ons Reviews, Best of Firefox

How do you use Firefox? Want to know exactly how you are making use of the Firefox web browser?  Here are six of the best add-ons for Firefox that will give you every statistic you would ever want from your own day to day usage.  From cache, to download usage, and even easy cache status – we have something here for everybody to make use of.

Net Usage Item – Displays a progress bar of your Internet usage (grabbed from your ISP) on your Firefox Toolbar.

Usage Counter – Tells you how much time you have spent using Firefox and browsing sites.

StatusbarEx – Show some useful information on status bar of Firefox, such as the memory usage of system & Firefox itself, network speed, system power status, etc.

Minimeter – Monitor your provider’s upload/download usage meter.

DataFox – Check your BSNL DataOne and MTNL Triband bandwidth utilization in Firefox at the click of a button. A color coded progress bar and bandwidth usage tracking helps you stay within your monthly cap and efficiently utilize your bandwidth.

Cache Status – Easy cache status & management from the status bar.

Know of another favorite usage add-on that didn’t make it to the list?  Be sure to leave your suggestions in the comments!

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Add More Tools to the Awesome Bar

Jan/22 in Add-ons Reviews

Wish to extend your already awesome bar (otherwise known as the address or location bar) with some really neat tools?  By default you can check out an RSS feed from there, and bookmark a web page.  For those looking for a few more perks, you need to try UrlbarExt.

This add-on for Firefox extends your awesome bar with more commands, such as:UrlbarExt in Action

  • Make Tiny URL
  • Copy URL
  • Search Site
  • Go Up a Level
  • Easier Page Tagging
  • Navigate Sequential URL’s
  • View Cached Version of  the Web Page
  • Surf Anonymously Proxy Servers

That is definitely a lot to do in such a little space.  You also have the option to show or hide any icon you don’t need using the settings dialog.  The only negative I could find, is that the options for the add-on do look a little cluttered – so much in there to configure in such a small amount of space.

You can pick UrlbarExt up on the Firefox Add-ons site.

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How to Clear Private Data in Firefox

Dec/12 in Firefox Support, Security

Clear Private DataWorried somebody is going to snoop around on what you are doing from within Firefox?  Have no fear!  Although private browsing hasn’t made its way to Firefox yet, you can still clear your private data in Firefox very easily.

What is Firefox Saving About Me?

Now the first question you may have is what type of content is saved by Firefox?

  • Browsing History: contains a log web locations you have previously visited.
  • Download History: keeps a list of files you’ve downloaded.
  • Saved Form and Search History: contains a list of phrases you have entered in text fields, such as web searches, and name and address fields.
  • Cache: stores temporary files, such as web pages and other online media, that you have downloaded from the Internet.
  • Cookies: stores files created by web sites, that store information on your computer, such as your preferences when visiting that site. (When a web site has a “remember this” check box, they are using a cookie.)
  • Offline Website Data: information web sites have stored on your computer for use without an internet connection.
  • Saved Passwords: contains a list of user names and passwords you have opted to have Firefox remember.
  • Authenticated Sessions: keeps you logged into secure web sites, you have already used the password manager to log in to.

Firefox makes it very simple to clear a few or all of these settings.  From the top of Firefox, in the menu bar – select Tools > Clear Private Data.  (You can also pull this up by using the keyboard combination Ctrl + Shift + Del )  Check mark the data you want to clear, then click on Clear Private Data Now, to clear the data; or click on Cancel, to close the Clear Private Data window, without clearing any private data.

How to Automate the Private Data Cleaning

I have my Firefox set to clear certain private data when I close Firefox.  To do this, go to Tools > Options and then click on the Privacy Tab.  From there, look at the settings listed under Private Data.  you have the option to:

  • Always clear my private data when I close Firefox
  • Ask me before clearing private data

Clicking on the “Settings” will allow you to choose what is cleared when you exit Firefox.

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Google Cache Checker

Oct/27 in Add-ons Reviews

Ever wanted to check to see if a page is cached by Google yet or not?

google-cache-checker

Now you could search Google for cache:yourdomain.com or you could use an extension to get this ability added to your status bar.  Google Cache Checker, currently an experimental add-on for Firefox, displays a checkmark icon if the current page is Google cached. If it is not, the extension displays a red X.

The result is immediately shown conveniently in the browser status bar.  Where would this be handy to have?  Well, let’s say your viewing a web site that is currently down.  By viewing the cache (if it exists) you could at least see what it looked like before it went down.  You can download the add-on from the Firefox Add-ons web site or get more information from the official web site.

For more status bar tweaks, be sure to check out 25 Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar and 25 More Tweaks for Your Firefox Status Bar.

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Best Firefox Fixes for Your Popular Pages Being Down

Apr/11 in Usability

popular-404-fixes Knowing that by the time I get there, the page will probably have already been dugg to death or viewed by so many people on reddit, del.icio.us and others that I won’t be able to view it, I often give up.  Firefox gives us a few more chances to bring that popular web site back up from the dead.

Handy Links and Bookmarklets

First solution I have to share with you would be the bookmarklet way of doing things.  Thanks to Stephen Ostermiller and his Cache Bookmarklets – you too can view Coral Cache, Google Cache, or the Wayback Machine history when it comes to checking out that cool link all your friends are talking about.

You could always visit come of these caching services by hand too.  Just toss these addresses in front of your link:

All you have to do is replace the word “link” with your own URL you are trying to visit.  Handy list of bookmarks to keep by your side.  What about the add-on fix?

Firefox Add-ons to Help Resurrect Pages

If you would rather go the extension route, then pick up the Resurrect Pages add-on for Firefox.  This tool will give you a way to access these services and more right from the browser.  It works from:

  • the context (right-click) menu for the current page, and for all links.
  • in the toolbar, just customize it to drag the button in.
  • with the keyboard: press Ctrl-Shift-U

Another extension for Firefox that may do the trick is CacheIt.  It will also display an archived version of the page you are viewing or the link you are hovering over.  Does a lot of the same things Resurrect Pages does, it just does it differently.

More Add-ons to Try: Cache View, ErrorZilla Mod, and TADSEE

Got Greasemonkey? Try Digg.com Mirrors.  I wish I could toss in a few more Greasemonkey fixes but all the scripts out there that used to be good just are not updated as much as they used to be.

Now you should be ready to view any popular link your friends have to send your way without the fear of being the one “out of the loop” due to the web site being down.  Have anymore fixes I didn’t mention?  Please share!

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Top 5 Links on Firefox this Week

Nov/16 in Resources

This week went by too quickly, so the links are not plentiful – but they are good. You come here for the quality though and not the numbers right?

As always, if you have a headline or two to send my way, feel free to send it to mitch@mitchkeeler.com. I’ll take the best of the best, and leave out the rest.

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Browse Through Firefox’s Cache

Jun/14 in Settings

CacheViewerTrying to browse through your old saved browser history can be a pain in Firefox in comparison with Internet Explorer.

IE has “Temporary Internet Files” – Firefox has a pain in the rear interface for browsing through its cache. One way to fix this design blunder though is do download and install the CacheViewer extension for Firefox.

This extenion is a GUI Front-end of and for “about:cache”. It allows searching and sorting memory and disk cache files. All in all a pretty nice tool to help you get going with browsing through what you have saved from the Web on your PC.

If you’d rather do it without the extension – here is a method thrown out there by the folks at Lifehacker:

If you prefer the old-fashioned way of browsing your cache, in Windows you can navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\********.default\Cache and see the hodge-podge of files that make up your cache. CacheViewer is a free download and works anywhere the ‘fox does.

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Firefox Security Threat

Apr/19 in Entertainment

A New FireFox Security Problem

Courtesy of my favorite Web comic, bLaugh.com!

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Cache View

Nov/28 in Usability

Having a problem viewing a Web page that is not there anymore? Maybe it got popular and now it is a little hard to pull it up. Well, that is why cache was created – you silly little person. Now with the extension Cache View you can make good use out of it.

Displays Google’s Cache, Coral’s Cache, Wayback Machine’s Cache, Dot Cache, Tech Guru’s Cache, and Cachebin’s cache of the current tab open via right-click or Tools menu. This was made so that if the site is down in any way, especially the Digg effect and Slashdot effect, you can hopefully view it.

+ Learn More About and Install Cache View!

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About This Site

Nov/17 in Usability

We all want a way to get more information about the Web sites we know and love, right? Even if you don’t run one yourself, it is always nice to go out and find out something you did not know. That is where the About This Site Firefox extension comes in. It will hand you a plethora of details all in one context menu.

+ Learn More About and Download About This Site!

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