I entirely lost this post – not even an autosave existed. I’m not sure what happened. But I’m going to carry on anyway. If you’re a Firefox user like I am, you probably have a few add-ons that you install right away when you first setup Firefox. Here’s a few of mine – feel free to share yours in the comments!
Autocopy – Automatically copies your highlighted text to the clipboard. This is sometimes useful, and sometimes a pain. You just have to get used to it if you’re going to use it, or know when to turn it off if it’s inappropriate.
Automatic Save Folder – An awesome add-on that organizes your downloads for you. Puts them in to folders based on where you downloaded the files from, or other criteria. Works with default file downloader in Firefox, not necessarily with replacement download managers (see DownThemAll! below) NOTE: This is an experimental add-on.
Better Gmail, Better YouTube, Better G-Reader, Better G-Cal – Gina Trapini‘s set of add-ons that significantly improves your experience with Google’s various web apps. Some of the features end up in the core apps, so it’s clear Google is paying attention to them.
DownThemAll! – The missing awesome download manager for Firefox. DTA! lets you connect multiple times to servers with connection download speed limits, so you can shotgun a download in a lot faster time. It also lets you download everything on a page, and other cool things, but I use it primarily as a no-bloat download accelerator. Does not work with Automatic Save Folder add-on above.
Grease Monkey – Allows you to use scripts from UserScripts.org that modify, customize, automate, or streamline your experience on various web sites. Many Grease Monkey scripts have been turned into full-fledged Firefox plugins, but there are still a lot of great ones that only come as GM scripts.
Personas for Firefox – Like Themes for Firefox, but way cooler. They remind me of Hot Bar, a program people used to use to slow down customize Internet Explorer, but without all the bloat or spyware. The skins customize Firefox without changing the UI, something Firefox Themes are known for generally uglifying. Keep your existing buttons and such while adopting a cool skin. Check them out – they have to be seen to really understand how cool they are.
Tab Mix Plus – A must have if you want more control over your Firefox Tabs.
Tor button – Internet anonymnity is not just for criminals and crooks. Sometimes you just don’t want Big Brother looking over your shoulder. Route your web browsing through the Tor Onion Router network with the touch of a button. Turn it off just as easily.
TwitterFox – Twitter right from your web browser without leaving the site you’re on.
Adblock Plus – Awesome ad-blocking program. Can disable ads on individual pages, or an individual part of a page, or disable ad-blocking on a per-page basis. Updates frequently from an internet blacklist to make sure ads are blocked quickly even as advertisers change servers. (Please disable this plugin for my page if you use it, Sponsors keep me in grad school!)
Xmarks – Sync your saved passwords and bookmarks across multiple computers. If you’re worried about saving your passwords with X-marks, consider why you’re saving passwords in your browser that are that important. Plus, they’re secured with a PIN if you choose to use the password sync.
These links are subject to change over time, of course, but should get you pointed in the right direction. This list is by no means comprehensive of all the great add-ins out there, but it’s a few that I like to use in my install. As always, caveat emptor, your mileage may vary, etc. when installing add-ons even if they’re rated awesome, they could still potentially hose something.