Best Plug-Ins

[Ian Osborne]

There are some great plug-ins for the more popular software apps out there, especially web browsers and tools like photoshop. But what are the best?

I have one for Safari which adds predictive text functionality to the Google search field, but I can't for the life of be remember what it's called. There's Dashboard KickStart too, which is a plug-in for OS X that automatically launches your dashboard apps at start-up, so you don't have to hang around waiting for them when you first launch the Dashboard.

So what else is out there? Let's share our favourite application and OS plug-ins, and why they're so good...

 

[moopet]

I have one for Safari which adds predictive text functionality to the Google search field, but I can't for the life of be remember what it's called.

Do you mean Google Suggest?

I use Firefox with the IE Tab, Customize Google, AdBlock Plus and AdBlock Plus Element Hiding Helper plugins, and Thunderbird with Minimize To Tray, Minimize To Tray Enhancer and Webmail plugins.

I also use Greasemonkey, which lets me add user scripts to do practically anything to my "web experience". You can do the same natively in Opera. I like a clean webpage with none of those pesky adverts and like removing tabs and sections from commonly-visited sites that I'm simply not interested in. Clutter be gone!

 

[volatile]

My Firefox list is as follows:

- AdBlock Plus: Anyone who uses FF and doesn't have this installed is missing out.
- Add to Search Bar: Allows you to add any web search box to the Search Bar
- BugMeNot: Allows anonymous log-in to sites with free registration walls.
- Connsets: Switches between multiple sets of network settings.
- del.icio.us: Save bookmark to del.icio.us
- Download Manager Tweak: Opens download manager in tab rather than window
- Download Helper: Downloads YouTube videos and files from other sites
- DownThemAll: Allows mass downloading of images and links
- Link Fixer Thing: Makes links in Hotmail work properly
- Sage: RSS tool
- Super Drag 'n' Go: Brilliant, brilliant addon that allows the user to open unformatted URLs by highlighting text and drag left slightly
- Tab Mix Plus: Much more control over tabs. I have it set so everything, always, is tabbed
- WikiPedia Lookup: My favourite extension, that allows you to highlight text, right click and select "Lookup in Wikipedia", opening a background tab.

 

[volatile]

What does the Minimize to Tray Enhancer for Thunderbird do?

 

[moopet]

What does the Minimize to Tray Enhancer for Thunderbird do?

Adds "start with windows", "minimize on open" and "hide statusbar item"

Basically it makes the minimize to tray plugin work like it should.

 

[grmcdorman]

For Firefox, I'm surprised no-one has mentioned NoScript yet. Best plugin for the paranoid in all of us (control scripting by site, default off). Mind you, I wouldn't put it in for a neophyte.

Other ones I use for Firefox:
Download Status Bar (puts downloads on the status bar instead of a separate window)
Windiz update (Update Windows without using IE and without that oxymoronic Windows Genuine Advantage).

 

[Ian Osborne]

Anything for software that's not browsers? Office suites, perhaps? Or Photoshop? Quark/In Design?