Would you like to have quick and easy access to everything Google with just one or two clicks of your mouse in Firefox?  That is what the Google Shortcuts add-on for Firefox promises to deliver.  The idea here is simple.  This extension will display any or all Google services as buttons next to your address bar or anywhere else you would like for it to show up.

One installed, you can quickly pull up Google Reader, Analytics, News, Notebook, Maps, Mail and anything else that is Google related.  Your shortcuts can also be displayed under a Google icon drop down box, to save on clutter too. 

Now, you might say you do not need access to every Google service out there.  You only need a few shortcuts.  You can easily customize and select which services you can see – and which will be hidden.

Overall, if you are a big Google fan – this is an add-on for Firefox you have to try out.  You can pick up the Google Shortcuts add-on for Firefox on the Firefox Add-ons web site. 

There are a lot of Firefox features that don’t get much press, or are quickly forgotten about.  For example, did you know that you could switch to using Gmail or Yahoo! Mail as your default mail client (to handle those mailto links)?

To chance your settings, go to Tools, Options and then click on the Applications tab.  From there, type “mail” into the text box to go to the default mail handler settings.  From the drop down box, you should get several choices, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail being two of them.  Choose the webmail application of your choice, hit the button labeled, “OK” and you are all set.

Now you are ready to use the webmail provider of your choice as your default e-mail application, as far as Firefox knows.

There are three additional scripts you can add to Firefox though that promise to make it even more customized to suit your needs.

• Gmail Redesigned Label Extender
• Gmail Redesigned Label Extender w/Auto Hover
• Gmail Redesigned: Hide Labels, Chat, Invite Friend

Remember before you get started with any of these, you will need to pick up the Stylish add-on for Firefox.  To check out more Stylish tweaks and tips, also be sure to check the Firefox Facts archives.

Update – You can now get this great style as an add-on on the Firefox Add-ons web site too.

All you need to do is to pick up this user script for the Greasemonkey extension. The Yahoo Mail Cleaner is a great fix for this really annoying issue.