Browse the Internet More Efficiently with These Add-Ons

Have you ever found yourself thinking “Wouldn’t it be great if Firefox could translate this phrase into English”? That’s where browser add-ons come in. These downloads, sometimes created by third parties, can help make

Since time is money when it comes to running your business, check out just a few of the ways add-ons to the Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers can improve your efficiency while online.

Research

There’s no need to pull up Google every time you have to look up a term. With Hyperwords for Firefox, you can highlight a selection that brings up a menu where you can choose to translate it, search for it, convert it (for measurements), and e-mail it or blog it, among other options. Many other add-ons aim to make research easier as well. For instance, if you have a large number of tabs open and need to leave the office to work from home, use an add-on such as IESessions to store sessions from Internet Explorer to save or e-mail and open later on another computer.

E-mail

On the simple side you can find add-ons that notify you when you receive an e-mail in your Gmail or Yahoo account. Or you can use a more involved add-on such as Better Gmail 2 for Firefox to completely customize your e-mail. Firefox users, if you cringe every time you have to provide your e-mail address to register on a site or a forum, try Spamavert to create a temporary address.

Map It

Are you constantly looking up meeting locations or you’re curious which part of town a hotel is in? With add-ons such as Mini Map Sidebar for Firefox users, you can drag and drop an address and the application will show it on a map and add it to a list of saved addresses. Mini Map also shows latitude and longitude, map and satellite views (including Google Earth), or a combination of both, and weather.

Manage Tabs

Do you usually have at least a dozen tabs open before you’ve finished your second cup of coffee? Make them easier to navigate with add-ons such as Vertigo for Firefox, which aligns your tabs vertically on the left side of the screen, or the Firefox add-on FishEyeTab, which zooms in on tabs to make them easier to read. And if you accidentally close a tab, Internet Explorer users can try IE Open Last Closed Tab to recover it.

Fill Out Forms

If you fill out numerous forms on the Web or are frequently entering passwords, try an add-on that handles repetition such as iMacros for Firefox. Other add-ons can specifically fill out shipping and billing information at online merchants.

If you find yourself wishing your browser could perform a particular function, search for an add-on to make it possible. Make sure you look for ones that are compatible with the browser you use. Keep in mind that when a new version of a browser is released, your favorite add-ons may not be updated right away. And always be careful that you aren’t downloading spyware; check the source of the add-on and don’t provide personal information.

There are thousands of add-ons out there, so just start searching. You’ll probably come to depend on several you never even knew you needed.