Review: Control Tab

One of the features I like with Windows Vista (yes there are some things I like with Vista) is the improved ALT+TAB interface. With Windows Vista not only can you still switch between windows with ALT+TAB but it shows you a preview of the Window. Now, Firefox does have a tab switcher option by default with CTRL+Tab. But all this does is switch between tabs by bringing the next (or previous if you do CTRL+SHIFT+Tab) into focus. There is no preview interface like I grown so accustom to in Windows Vista. That is until the Control Tab extension:

This add-on for Firefox 3 ONLY serverd as prototype for what will be a standard feature in Firefox 3.1 due out late this year or early next year. As you can see from the screenshot above, it is very much like the ALT+TAB interface of Windows Vista. Even better is a redesign in both layout and function of the List All Tabs button. By clicking the button or pressing F4 you get a pop-up grid showing preview all your open tabs.  There is a ‘filter’ function (based on titles and address) in the pop-up as well.

Control Tab works with Firefox 3.0pre-3.1a1pre and is about 14 KB.

News Source: CyberNet News

Review: Undo Closed Tabs Button

This was another add-on from the 50 Add-ons…Change The Way You Surf The Web post that I thought would be very handy to have. Sadly, I was wrong. This add-on has a lot of potential but it’s default behaviors really bother me and are some what confusing. Once this add-on is install you will get your choice of a couple buttons to help you manage your Closed Tabs. However even that takes some work and is confusing. Here are my complaints:

• By default it adds an ‘Undo Last Closed Tab’ button to the left of the tab bar. I did not find this button useful as it is quicker for me just to do CTRL+SHIFT+T to reopen the last closed tab.
  • First off, this button is fixed so you can not place it anywhere else. Second. to get rid of this button you need to go into the add-on options and select ‘Remove the tab bar button’ AND then restart Firefox.
  • Suggestion would be add the button to the Toolbars ‘customize menu’ so user can place wherever they like (except on tab bar).
• There is an Undo Closed Tabs Button which feaures a drop-down list. Like any other custom button you have to add on to your Firefox by going to the Toolbars ‘customize menu’. That does not bother me as this is Firefox’s behavior not the add-on.
  • The developer needs to make it a lot clearer there are two separate buttons. Yes it does say in the overview ‘This extension allows you to undo closed tabs via a toolbar and/or tab bar button or the right-click context menu.’ and in the long description: ‘You must add the button by going to View -> Toolbars -> Customize, then drag and drop the button anywhere on the toolbar.’
  • It can get confusing when Firefox first restarts after installation of the add-on and the users see the ‘Undo Last Closed Tab’ Button on their tab bar. They may think (as I did to) that the add-on automatically installed the ‘Undo Closed Tabs Button’ for them. It is not until they go to click the button and discover that it only reopens the last closed tab on each click.
  • Suggestion: Make it clearer on the AMO page that there are TWO different buttons and the restrictions for placement of these buttons.
• The add-on for whatever reason removes by default the Recently Closed Tabs option from the History Menu
  • Equally puzzling is in the add-ons options you can ‘Remove the ‘Undo Last Closed Tab’ (option) from the right-click context menu’. But it axes the list from the History menu.
  • Not that big of a deal since I never really used these method to reopen closed tabs.
• The instructions on the AMO page indicate that you can use the keyboard short-cut CTRL+SHIFT+Z to reopen the last closed tab. This DOES NOT work (nothing happens), but CTRL+SHIFT+T still works. This short-cut may work in Firefox 2 as there is separate version for Firefox 2.

A nice feature of this add-on is the ability to set a specific number (0-99) of closed tabs for Firefox to remember. But again you have to restart Firefox for that option to go into effect.

Undo Closed Tab Buttons works with Firefox 2.0-3.0.*

• Firefox 2 (Caution: download is NOT hosted at AMO) - 29 KB
• Firefox 3 - 45 KB

Tip: Undo Closed Tab

There are seveal ways to quickly repoen a tab that was closed in error:

• CTRL+SHIFT+T reopens the last closed tab (note: CTRL+T opens a new tab)
• Right-click anywhere in the tab bar and select ‘Undo Closed Tab’ also reopens the last closed tab
• From the History Menu then Recently Closed Tabs allows you to select from a list of recently closed tabs.

Review: BugMeNot

Found this handy add-on from the list in the 50 Add-ons…Change The Way You Surf The Web post. Some sites (especially newspaper/television) require you to create a free account to view some or all of the content. Many people don’t want to give out their personal information or email address. In the case of the latter, some people setup a ‘junk email’ account for the purpose. Still, it is pain and time consuming to have to register then wait for a confirmation email before you see or worse get back to the content you were trying to view.

BugMeNot allows you to skip the whole invasive and time consuming registration process. When presented with a log-in box simply right-click and select Login with BugMeNot option and it will automatically log you in using a non-personalized login. If there is not currently a login for the site, users are invited to create on with fictitious contact information (note: you may need to initially use a real email address for those registration  which require confirmation/activation, just be sure to go back and change the email address.)

I have tested this add-on with a few sites and gotten mixed results. I would not work with The Washington Post, but found it worked on AZCentral.com (notorious for making you register/login after viewing a random number of articles). Also works great on AMO for those of you who want to download add-ons in the sandbox, but don’t have an AMO account.

BugMeNot works with Firefox 2.0 and 3.0.* and is about 19 KB. Note: User Agreement Acceptance Required

50 Add-ons…Change The Way You Surf The Web

What can I say, I am sucker for add-ons lists. They’re great as I usually I can find a new add-on or two add to my collection that I would have not known about otherwise. Last month we brought you 100 Essential Firefox Add-Ons for Librarians. This time around we have 50 Firefox 3 Add-ons That Will Change the Way You Surf the Web. Like the Librarians collection there are also broken down in to categories. Even better about this list is since all the add-ons listed are hosted on AMO, they should work with no problems in Firefox 3.

50 Firefox 3 Add-ons That Will Change the Way You Surf the Web

Tip Source: Kelly Sonora (via Contact Us)