Looking to make your web browser a little more blue?  I am here to give the Bluetacular theme for Firefox two thumbs up, for an original look and feel when it comes to giving Firefox a new face.

While the color choices used in the theme might be too busy for some, I do have to give the designer of this theme credit for bringing an original design idea and concept into his work.  As the notes on this release say, this is a work in progress too – so if you like this theme, it will only get better from here.

Let us all go check out this theme (you can download it from the Firefox Add-ons web site) and help encourage this new theme designer to keep up the good work.

Want to clear any stored information about one web site in particular, without clearing out all of your browser’s history files?  Hidden deep within the Firefox browser, there is a way to clear Firefox’s history for just one single web site.  You just have to know where to look.

From the Firefox menu bar, click on History and then Show All History. This should pull up the Library window.  Now, in the Library’s search box (located in the top-right corner) type in the name of the web site you want to forget. 

Scroll through your results, till you find the web site you wish to forget and select it.  Now, right-click on the entry and click, “Forget About This Site”.  All history items (browsing and download history, cookies, cache, active logins, passwords, saved form data, exceptions for cookies, images, pop-ups) will be removed only for that site. So be careful with using this choice and only use it if you really want Firefox to forget everything.

Now your browser history is cleared of that one annoying web site.

Rather than hunting down the X to close your current tab, what if all you had to do was wish upon a star, and then right click anywhere on the tab you wish to shut down?  I will let you know how to get that done, without the need of the “wishing upon a star” part.

The add-on you want to grab to get this done is Rights To Close.  This extension enables a user to close the current tab by simply right double-clicking, with your mouse, anywhere on the web page.   This cleverly named add-on works very well, and gets the job done. 

It is a tiny extension, but it is really handy to have.  You can pick up Rights To Close on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

This is one of the few dark Firefox themes I could see myself using on a regular basis.

BlackFox is a very nice looking dark theme, with just a hint of red to help highlight your selected browser elements.  The entire them has been designed to be focused, compact, and easy on the eyes. 

The theme’s author also promises that it is compatible with a long list of popular extensions too.

You can pick up BlackFox via the Firefox Add-ons web site or check out the theme’s official web site, at zigboom.com.

Simplification for web site logins is desperately needed.  Once upon a time, people thought Open ID might be the solution, but it has fizzled out.  Where is the future?  The Firefox Account Manager.

The Account Manager is a prototype that really makes things easy when it comes to logging into your favorite web sites.  You can login and logout, right from the toolbar.

How Does Account Manager Work?

I will let the fine people at Mozilla Labs explain that one:

We are proposing a new standard that Websites can implement, and although it is still an early draft, we’d love for you to check it out. We are particularly interested in feedback from Web developers and site administrators.

If you’re interested in hacking on the add-on, you can check out the source here. The project wiki page also has additional information.

Right now, the prototype they have posted only works with Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Mozilla Addons, Mozilla Bugzilla, and Get Personas – but with time (they hope) every web site will support this new standard.  You can learn more about the Account Manager concept idea here:

• Account Manager Details at Mozilla Labs

Tell me what you think.  Does this new concept excite you, or do you want to see it in action a ‘bit more before you make up your mind?

The History Submenus extension for Firefox is here to make thumbing through the browser’s history easier.

The browsing history in Firefox is one of the most taken for granted features, that can sometimes produce amazing results.  Say you check out a web page today, never think about it again – and then tomorrow you say, “what did that article say again?”.  Just browse through your Firefox history, and you can find the answer. 

What the History Submenus add-on does different, is it places each day’s entire browsing history in a submenu of the history’s menu from the menu bar in Firefox.   Simply put, it makes the History menu much more usable. 

You can pick up the History Submenus add-on on the Firefox Add-on’s web site.

Do you use multiple computers and want to sync your saved passwords between them all? LastPass is an extension for Firefox that will allow you to do that easily within the browser.  LastPass hides all your individual passwords behind one master password.  When you type in that master password, then LastPass automatically logs you in to any web site you have set it up to remember. 

Along with the whole password syncing and simplification, you can also set LastPass up to store secure notes for you, or automatically fill in forms for you.  This might possibly be the best Firefox password related extension on the market today, plain and simple.

Here are a few more features of LastPass worth mentioning:

• Access and manage your data from multiple computers seamlessly
• Share logins with friends and let others share logins with you
• Use One Time Passwords, and a Screen Keyboard to help keep you safe while on the road.
• Supports IE as well, so if you switch browsers you’re always in sync, as well as when you switch computers
• Supports Opera, Google Chrome, Safari, iPhone, Opera Mini, via Bookmarklets
• Supports importing passwords from other password managers such as Roboform, Keepass, PasswordSafe, MyPasswordSafe, Sxipper, TurboPasswords, PassPack, Firefox and IE’s built in password manager

So, if you have been in search of a way to sync up your online passwords, and need a tool to help you do so, LastPass is definitely worth checking into. To learn more about the LastPass service, go check out LastPass.com and to pick up the add-on go visit the Firefox Add-ons web site.

Come on, is it time yet?

If you find yourself asking this question time and time again, it might be about time you picked up the Simpler Timer add-on for Firefox.  This clock and timer, once installed, lives inside your status bar (or toolbar) for easy access.

The built in timer mode has three different functions:

1. Count up from zero.
2. Count down from any time (less than 24 hours). You can set as many
timers as you want.
3. Select a specific time of the day to receive a notification. You can also
specify the day (daily, weekdays, weekends or a specific day).
You can set as many notifications as you want.

The Simple Timer add-on also features a clock mode, that will amazingly enough tell you the time. 

You can pick up this amazing little Firefox add-on from the Firefox Add-ons web site.

Looking for a way to keep your eye on your stocks? 

Sure, there are a number of different web sites that will do this, but adding this functionality to Firefox would be even cooler.  StockFox is the best lightweight stock ticker you can integrate into the Firefox browser.

You can setup your favorite stocks to either rotate in the status bar of the Firefox browser, or scroll across, like you see on the big cable news networks.

Does StockFox look like the tracking tool you need?  You can pick it up on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

It all comes down to quantity over quality.  Some of these backgrounds just are not any good.  The same could be said for many Firefox themes too, but with Personas – there are a few simple things that could go a long way before you submit it for the public, that would be so easy to check into.

For example, look at this:

I am not going to use a Persona where I can’t read anything inside of the browser. 

Other annoyances would be having text in the background, having the background be too busy, and general “why the heck did you think that would make a good background” questions of designing competence.

So you tell me, what makes for a better Firefox Persona or have you been turned off my many of the ugly background out there? Post your feedback and thoughts in the comments.