Tag Archives | chrome

Add Pinning Tabs Feature to Firefox

Nov/06 in Add-ons Reviews, Tabbed Browsing

Pin Tabs in Firefox One of the cool Google Chrome browser features is the ability to pin tabs in the browser by default.

Pinned tabs are shifted to the left side of the tab bar where their tab will be changed to just show the favicon for the web site in question. Thanks to the Pin Tab add-on for Firefox, you can bring that functionality to your favorite browser.

Another neat feature of this Firefox add-on is when you type something in the address bar, or select a result in the address bar while a pinned tab is selected, the address you selected will open in a new tab – leaving your pinned tab alone.

How do you pin a tab?

You can also pin a tab by dragging it to the left of already pinned tabs.

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Chromifox Extreme 3

Jul/30 in Best Themes

I have really liked using some of the former Google Chrome-like themes for Firefox, so coming across Chromifox Extreme 3, I just had to give it a shot.  If you were one that was tempted to give Chrome a shot, but didn’t want to leave Firefox behind, this theme is for you.

Chromifox Extreme 3 in Action

As you can see, the idea here is to make it look as much like Google’s browser as possible.  You have tabs on top, you have those happy go lucky chrome icons, what else could a Google loving web citizen want?  I also highly suggest you pick up the Chromifox Companion add-on for Firefox if you want to be able to customize the interface and get that real Chrome look and feel. 

By far, Chromifox Extreme 3 has to win praise for being one of the best browser interface translations from one browser to another, don’t you think?

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Microsoft to Share Firefox Facts?

Jun/26 in Firefox News, Resources

So that you end your week with something really amusing, I had to share this story I found at CyberNet as it concerns Microsoft’s new browser comparison or “fact” sheet.

Microsoft Facts about IE8

So we are to believe that Firefox and Chrome are both insecure, difficult to use, and unreliable?  The Internet Explorer team might want to check their calendars, because last time I checked – it is June 26th, not April 1st. 

If that isn’t enough – they also have a MythBusting page.  What is your favorite “fact” they are claiming?

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Multi-Process Support Coming to Firefox?

May/15 in Firefox News

Some have discovered a new project from the Mozilla Wiki documenting the first steps and timeline for Firefox to become a multi-process supporting browser.  The project in question, simply known as Content Processes looks to separate processes to display the browser UI and web content.

Here are the current initial goals:

  • Provide better application UI responsiveness
  • Improve stability from slow rendering or crashes caused by content
  • Improve performance, especially on multi-core machines

Now why do this, and what does it even mean?  Well, both Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 have moved in this direction for increased stability.  For an example, with multi-process support, a single tab crash wouldn’t take down your entire Firefox browsing experience.  It would only effect that one tab, because it would be seen as its own process. 

It might be a year or more before we see this in action via our own Firefox installations, however it is nice to see that Firefox is always looking to expand and check into other areas of stabilization to see if we can all benefit from it.

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(Rumor) Flock Says Goodbye to Firefox, Hello to Google Chrome?

Mar/03 in Firefox News

Et Tu Flock? Flock, the social media browser, who’s backend is mostly Firefox, might be moving away from Mozilla and over to Google’s Chrome browser.  At least, so says a recent article on Tech Crunch. So why might Flock’s love for Mozilla be wavering? 

As to why Flock is leaving Mozilla: sources say that they’ve become frustrated with Mozilla’s lack of attention to Flock’s needs. One source says Flock felt like the “red headed step child of the Mozilla development community.” Sources are also saying that Flock feels that Google Chrome is far easier to work with than Firefox.

Now let me stress again, this all rumor for now, but if they do make the switch I see Flock going down faster than the Titanic.  For me, their connection with Mozilla is the only thing that really makes them that name-worthy at the moment. Also, if Flock is the red headed step child of the Mozilla development community, wouldn’t they get even more lost within the mammoth beast that is Google? 

It just doesn’t add up for me, so hopefully we will see Flock stick with the Mozilla platform.

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Google Toolbar Give us Chrome’s Thumbnails

Jan/31 in Add-ons Reviews

Want to get Chrome’s thumbnail preview page when you open a new tab in Firefox?

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. 

Chrome's New Tab Screen in Firefox

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:

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.

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Tweak up the Bookmarks Bar in Firefox

Nov/18 in Add-ons Reviews, Best of Firefox, Hacks and Tweaks

Image1

Tired of the way your Firefox bookmarks toolbar looks?  Here are some easy tweaks you can make, as long as you have the Stylish add-on installed.

Gradient Background for the Bookmarks Bar

gradient-background

Hide the Bookmarks Toolbar, Forever!

no-bookmarks

Hide only the Folder Icons on the Bookmarks Toolbar

Image1

Hide ALL Icons on the Bookmarks Toolbar

hide-icons

Auto-Hide the Bookmarks Toolbar

auto-hide

Icons Only (text on hover) via the Bookmarks Toolbar)

show-on-hover

Save on Space! Compress Bookmarks Toolbar Items

save-space

To make use of any of these changes, go download and check out the Stylish extension for Firefox.  It makes customization a pretty easy task, if you can find some jewels like the links above or you know a little CSS.

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Omnibar Comes to Firefox

Sep/29 in Usability

omnibar-firefox

Looking at Google Chrome features that could be ported to Firefox with an add-on, one of the most obvious additions many people wanted to see was Google Chrome’s Omnibar.  It mixes both the search box and address bar into one browser feature. 

The simply named Omnibar extension gets the job done, and adds a few new features where Google let us down in Chrome.  First, the most obvious feature (as pictured above) it gives you all the features of the search box in your address bar.  The problem, and thing they can not duplicate yet – is showing search results in the Omnibar for Firefox.

Omnibar does support  searching multiple search engines for same query in one go.  All you need to do is use this type of setup:

A general search query is:
@engine1,engine2 your search query

or,if you prefer to give engine name at the end:
your search query@engine1,engine2

Might not be perfect yet, but it does show a lot of promise.  If you have suggestions for it, check out this thread about it, and if you want to give Omnibar a shot – download it on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

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FfChrome is a Slimmer and Click-less Right Click Menu

Sep/27 in Settings, Usability

From the creator of Colorful Tabs, we have yet another handy and helpful Firefox extension.  FfChrome, for Firefox, is an add-on that trims and slims your context menus.  After installing too many add-ons, your right click menu might get a little cluttered.  FfChrome is here to clean things up.

FfChrome

The second part of this awesome addition to Firefox is that you never have to click on anything to get it going.  All you have to do is pause on the menu item you want, and that action is taken.  From BianaryTurf.com – here are the five things this addon gets right:

  1. It will optimize your context menu and show only the bare essential items.
  2. It will allow you to see the unwanted items on the fly by clicking "Show All". You can again collapse it to bare essentials on the fly.
  3. All disabled items are taken out by default. What will one do with the "paste" item when you haven’t copied anything?
  4. Ease of use – all changes happen on the fly.
  5. It is contextually sensitive. It knows and respects the context in which you use it. For e.g. context menu items relating to links or images etc. will only show when you right click on a link or an image etc.

You can get more information about the add-on for Firefox (and download it for yourself) at BianaryTurf.com.  FfChrome might just change the way (or at least make it a heck of a lot simpler) you get through the context menus.

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Quickly Access All the Other Browsers from Firefox

Sep/22 in Add-ons Reviews, Best of Firefox, Usability

943948800 What are you to do when you need to switch to another internet browser in a hurry?  Sure we all love Firefox, but some of us use maybe two or three other browsers for the Web too.  How can you quickly leap into Safari, Opera, Chrome or even Internet Explorer from Firefox?  Very easily.

1221148333 Open Links in Chrome – As the new kid on the block, it took some hunting to find a good way to switch to Chrome in a hurry.  The Chrome View add-on for Firefox is what you need.  This extension lets you open the page your currently viewing in Firefox, via Google’s new Chrome browser.

ie_logo Open Links in Internet Explorer – Switching from Firefox to Internet Explorer is something we have been doing for some time now.  There are two great add-ons that allow you to do this.  The first is IE View.  This extension gives you the ability to open any page you have open in Firefox, in Internet Explorer.  An even better alternative though is IE Tab.  IE Tab will embed Internet Explorer inside of your Firefox tab, so you don’t really even have to switch browsers.

opera_logo Open Links in Opera – Ah, yes Opera.  The girl at the dance with all the features that nobody uses.  Just in case you might want to hop over to Opera usage for a while, there is OperaView.  This too will give you a new context menu item that will let you open the target link in Opera.  Great for web developers or people who just like to be “different”.  (don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody)

safari_logo Open Links in Safari – Lastly, the new pretty boy on the block (at least for Windows users) before Chrome took the spot, Safari switching can be done with an add-on too.  Safari View (mac) and Safari View (win) get you from Firefox to Apple’s browsing delight very quickly.

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