------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 2, Issue 21 Lisa, Kaylie and I spent a wonderful week in Traverse City. The Autumn colors were pretty much at their peak and it was just a wonderful time away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. We got back from that and three days later I was off to a retreat for the Leadership Ann Arbor program for which I am serving as a co-Chair this year. Now, I'm finally back home in Ann Arbor and with all of that traveling, you can bet there's one or two things in the "In" basket. Sitting down to crunch through some of the pile I realized that I've set up a number of tools to help make me more efficient in my work. A lot of them are add-ons and extensions to the Firefox browser. I'm going to cover a few of them in this issue. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue... ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Filling the Firefox Toolbox 2. Shameless Self-Promotion 3. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Filling the Firefox Toolbox ---------------------------------------------------------------- I love the Firefox browser. Part of it is that it runs on Linux, my operating system of choice. Internet Explorer certainly doesn't do that. Part of it is just that it feels cool and rebellious to go with a product that 80% of the people out there *aren't* using. I think that the biggest factor is just that it is so darned flexible, that I can make it work especially well just for me. Firefox has a mechanism which allows third-party programmers to create new features for the browser. They've come up with features to retrieve maps, stock quotes, and blog posts directly into the browser. The add-ons can act to protect you against malware and unwanted advertisements, or just make you more efficient with whatever you are trying to do. Installing these new features couldn't be much easier either. After you've installed Firefox, just go under "Tools" and click on the "Add-ons" command. A small window will pop up with a link to "Get Extensions". Clicking on this will send you to a site which houses a vast selection of tools and toys. If any of them look good to you, just click on the button and follow the instructions to make it a part of your browser world. So, what sort of tools am I using? What follows is a short list. Most of mine are aimed at making my work on websites go more smoothly and efficiently. There are one or two, though that just make my life easier. If you would like to use any of these tools, the best way to get them is just to go to the Firefox add-on site (https://addons.mozilla.org/) and search on the name. 1. Firebug. This is my Swiss Army knife for working on website layout. This one tool allows me to examine layout, to experiment with new settings, even to debug some of the more advanced aspects of the site, such as scripting. Not everyone needs this extension, but if you need it, you really need it. 2. BlockSite. OK, I'll admit it. I have a little "problem" with getting distracted by some sites. When one (cough) kakuroconquest.com (cough) starts taking up too much of my time, it goes on the BlockSite list. Now this one isn't sufficient for true site blocking (for example to keep your kids away from the less savory parts of the Web), but it is sufficient to help remind me that I should keep focused on the *work* that I'm supposed to be doing. 3. Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer. I use two different computers with two different operating systems on each. That means that I have four different Firefox browser installations. Trying to keep all of my bookmarks synchronized was a pain in the patoot. Now that I have Foxmarks set up, though, the computer takes care of all of it for me. 4. Remember The Milk for Gmail. I use RTM for my daily "to do" lists. It does an admirable job. Using this tool, I can see my list of tasks -- broken down by day and sorted by priority -- right next to my main Gmail inbox. In many ways, I find this interface easier to use than the one on the RTM site itself (though slightly less powerful). 5. Map This. With this simple add-on, I can highlight an address on a web page, right click on it, and request a map of the area. This tool opens a window to either Google Maps or Yahoo Maps to display the area in question. I have a number of other add-ons that I've been using which I'll share with you next time. In the process of researching this article, I've uncovered a few more which bear investigation, so I might be adding to the list. In the meantime, if you are using any of the Firefox extensions, I would love to hear about them. Drop me a line at gpeters@cyberdatasolutionsllc.com Copyright 2008, Greg Peters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Shameless Self-Promotion ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. 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