Top 5 Firefox Plugins: Boosting Performance & Security

Firefox users can access a wealth of plugins that enhance functionality and productivity, from tab management tools to password keepers. These add-ons can simplify work by saving time and completing tasks more efficiently.

Here are my Top 5 at the moment. Although I could have easily and probably will make a top 20 at some point too!

Firefox Midnight Lizard

Firefox Midnight Lizard can transform your browsing experience, allowing you to customize websites so that they’re easier on the eyes – reducing eye strain while making reading text online much more straightforward. You’ll immediately feel this is a lifesaver if you read any amount online.

This plugin not only offers pre-defined dark themes for web pages, but it also enables you to create your own. Choose between various colors for backgrounds, text, buttons, links, and borders – remembering an optional blue light filter and adjusting brightness/saturation levels of individual hues – It pays attention to options for creating accessibility-ready themes, which is something that can be great if you have difficulty viewing some websites for personal reasons.

Also noteworthy is the plugin’s capability of blocking specific types of content from loading on websites, helping reduce page load times and protect privacy. Furthermore, this protection can help guard against cross-site scripting attacks and content injection.

Finally, this plugin can protect your privacy by blocking requests to Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), often used to track users. Furthermore, it helps speed up page load time by stopping CDNs from sending content from remote servers. However, this is a double-edged sword as many websites use CDNs to prevent hackers and scrapers from abusing their sites. Nobody can stop the scrapers though! 

ClearURLs

ClearURLs takes one step further in cleaning up URLs by stripping tracking parameters from links – often used by advertisers to monitor users across the web – using an easy filter.

This add-on uses Mozilla’s WebExtension technology and works like any other Firefox add-on; when clicked, it displays an extension interface that lets you configure or disable its primary function – automatically strip tracking elements out of URLs as you type them. This annoys many webmasters as their links around their site and external are usually affiliate links where they earn money. However, be aware this is fundamentally what keeps the Internet in business. So you see something useful? Turn off this plugin, or consider a direct donation, which can, sometimes, go a long way.

Clicking the ClearURLs icon generates a clean URL containing only necessary details about a page, making copy-and-paste easier and providing cleaner links. You can even use it with links copied directly to the clipboard by selecting them and clicking its icon before copying them again – or use it on links copied and pasted directly from other websites by using ClearURLs’ capability of creating clean versions of links copied directly into it from elsewhere.

Apart from its primary function, this extension also features additional options, including logging and statistics functions. These will show how much data has been cleaned while also helping identify which sites use tracking elements.

Despite this helpful feature, Google banned an extension from Chrome’s Web Store despite widespread criticism on user forums. Citing an inaccurate description and excessive permission usage as justifications for their decision, Kevin Robert, the creator of this add-on, disputed these claims with BleepingComputer. Obfiscing the real reason, as usual, Google? Instead, Kevin stated he is working on a new version that addresses these concerns. Chrome users can manually install their copy from its GitHub releases page or Microsoft Edge Add-ons store.

Web Archives

Web Archives is a Firefox plugin that enables you to easily save and retrieve websites on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, helping address impermanence challenges associated with online content by making valuable information available over time. Archive pages are searchable while remaining private. I like this plugin because I am a big fan of the Wayback Machine and use it regularly. It’s the most convenient way of staying updated with the archive.  

Web archiving utilizes many of the same processes used by traditional archives; however, web archives present unique challenges, including capturing resources constantly shifting or moving, particularly concerning social media, where fake accounts may attempt to make themselves look legitimate while disseminating fake news.

Another challenge of web archiving organizations is their small size and underfunding; as a result, they only capture a tiny fraction of global web activity, as there are competing priorities such as research, ad hoc collections, institutional policy decisions, etc., and institutional priorities are likely competing with web archiving investments; it would be helpful if more investment were put towards web archiving since our digital cultural heritage is at risk of loss.

Despite these obstacles, some web archiving organizations have proven an extraordinary level of responsiveness to researchers and the general public despite their limited staff and budgets. Their achievements deserve our admiration and celebration.

No matter your browsing needs – taking screen captures, rearranging tabs, checking grammar, or setting dark mode on every website – there’s bound to be an extension available that can revolutionize it for you. Firefox extensions (formerly add-ons) provide an effective and easy way of personalizing the experience online; many are free, open source, and compatible with both Firefox and Chrome; others may be more complex, but all have the power to make life simpler and safer!

Tab Reloader

Tab Reloader is an intuitive yet effective browser addon that allows users to automate how often web pages should refresh. Installed as a small button next to the address bar, when clicked, it opens a toolbar panel where users can set their preferred frequency of web page reloads. In addition to developing an interval value, users may customize its behavior through several options, including randomizing it or moving tabs down after each fill and running custom JavaScript code.

Users of this addon can also create custom reloading jobs for specific websites or tabs by completing a JSON object with desired reloading rules and submitting it to the tab reloader plugin. Once submitted, it will execute and apply the script to the selected tab. Furthermore, you may hear a sound indicating that your job has begun and dispatch an “activate-tab” event with an arbitrary value from your script injection.

Tab Reloader is an easy and efficient way to enhance your browsing experience and increase productivity by streamlining tasks and increasing efficiency. Its simple design makes it perfect for anyone needing to save time when surfing the web, though excessive reloading may strain computer resources and internet connections. If you want to try this extension, click below for its official page on Mozilla Addons Catalog; follow its installation instructions, then enjoy browsing faster with less interruption!

Toggl Track

Toggl Track for Firefox browser plugin is an efficient time-tracking app designed to assist freelancers and others in working more productively. Users can easily monitor activities across platforms while taking advantage of features like Pomodoro timer, idle detection, and integrations for improved work efficiency.

Toggl OU Firefox extension and Toggl UI add-on are designed to enable time tracking with over 100 apps, easily connecting with them after logging into your Toggl account. Once logged in, these web tools feature the Toggl button, so it’s easy to start or stop your timers without opening the Toggl website itself. Plus, with Zapier integrations such as starting time entries from calendar events or adding entries in spreadsheets directly into Toggl, tracking time became even simpler!