Firefox Add-onsSoftware name : Firefox
Firefox can do a lot more than your average browser. One of the ways you use Firefox for something other than just browsing the web is to install Add-ons. The installation process is the same for Firefox on any Operating System, so you can install them on Windows, Linux, or MacOSX (you must first have Firefox installed!). What is a Firefox Add-on?Many softwares can extend their functionality in a modular way. You download a module and install it and then the original software inherits the functionality of this new module. In the Firefox world these modules are call Add-ons. Usually these are not developed by the Firefox development team themselves, instead any programmer can create an Add-on and offer it for use. Most of these Add-ons are interesting if not entirely useful, some however are very useful. It may take a while to pick your way through the long list of official Add-ons to find something that you like but it can be well worth the effort. The functionality available from Add-ons is very wide. You can add dictionaries to Firefox, change the look of Firefox, display the time in different countries in the browser, or an Add-on might suggest other websites you can visit that are similar to the one you are looking at. The scope is pretty huge. If you want to see what is available then first have a quick read of the Firefox Add-ons page:
The list of Add-on categories are here : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/browse/
You should browse the list and see whats available. As a word of warning - it is possible to create Add-ons that can do a number of things you might not like. An Add-on can read a lot of information from your browser as you browse sites or might use various tricks to get, add, alter, or destroy data on you have on your computer. It is for this reason that you should never install an Add-on unless it is from a trusted source. In my case I never install an Add-on for Firefox unless it is available from the Firefox Add-on pages.
Installing an Add-onThe process for installation of an Add-on is very simple. Actually its a bit too simple, and if you are the kind of person that likes gadgets then your might find your browser overwhelmed in a very short time with all sorts of new bells and whistles. You just need to find the Add-on you want and click the install link then Firefox downloads the Add-on for you and installs it for you. For this example I am just going to go to the Recommended Add-ons page : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/recommended Here we see a list of Add-ons available that the Firefox team recommend you consider. Your list will almost certainly differ from mine (depending on when you read this). At the time of writing the list includes, amongst other things, the Add-on called Download Statusbar. To proceed with the installation click on the underlined title of the Add-on. You will then be taken to the Add-ons 'home' page.
All you have to do is click on the Install Now (the big green button at the bottom of the Add-ons home page). You will see something like this: If you trust this Add-on (and I do) then press the Install Now button on this window. Then the browser will automatically begin downloading and installing the add-on and a screen will pop up which shows the progress of this process. When it is complete you will see this: You need to restart Firefox for the Add-on to take effect, so hit the Restart Firefox button. The browser will then close and open again, it might take a few minutes. In the case of Download Statusbar you will see a new window when Firefox starts up again : You can browse through this information and press Close when you have finished. An information window like this is shown the first time the browser is restarted after a new Add-on is installed. Now the Add-on is installed and ready. If I start to download something I can see in the statusbar the new Add-onat work: Depending on which one you have installed you may have to search around the browser window to find it!
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