4 must have Firefox Add-ons for the Sys Admin

Now before I get into it here it should be known that I have nothing against Internet Explorer.  I think it does a great job and it performs well considering the types of strain some sites put it under – specifically such as ActiveX IE-only sites.

The primary reason I use Firefox as my main browser is that there are many extensions for it that make my life easier as a systems admin…and yes I know there are a thousand other lists on other blogs about “must have Firefox plug-ins”.  This is by no means a complete list and this post is partially to share my experience with the world as well as a reference for me if my laptop ever explodes and I need to re-install them

Check out the staples in my Firefox plug-in collection after the jump.

Download Statusbar (link)
Download Statusbar allows you to view and manage all your downloads from a tiny little status bar at the bottom of Firefox.  These files can be launched directly from it, and it is uniform across all open Firefox windows. Definitely a useful tool for most people doing a lot of downloading.

I personally hate the Downloads popup box that Firefox ships with. I don’t want a new window to popup each time I download something, yet I still want my downloaded file to be easily and readily available without having to open up Windows Explorer and browse to it.

Domain Details (link)
I manage alot of webservers on many different platforms. It can get difficult at times to keep track of what server I’m working on, where an application is hosted and so on. Enter Domain Details.

This plug-in is indispensable in my opinion. Visible from the status bar, this plugin displays Server Type, Headers, IP Address, Location Flag, and links to Whois Reports. Shows links to check server status and cache when page fails to load.

XUL/Migemo (link)
This add-on gives Firefox extremely powerful “find” enhancements. It seems to be made by a Japanese developer that has dictionary assisted functions for the Japanese language, however it’s usefulness goes far beyond that.

My favorite feature is it’s inline search function.  This allows you to be on any web page and just start typing typing the term you are looking for on the page without having to hit CTRL-F or manually opening the Find box. It also allows you to highlight the search term as you type and it will identify the locations on the page it is found, and place little arrows on the side of the Firefox window to jump to the next found location.

It might be a bit difficult to understand exactly what this plug-in will do for you until you actually use it, so take it for a test drive.  If you are like me and scour the messages boards everyday you’ll love this one.

Extended Statusbar (link)
This is another statusbar plug-in that makes the lives of the sys admin and web developers alike. This statusbar enhancesment keeps track of the speed and success of the page loading, much like in Opera.

Adds an Opera-like statusbar that shows:
– percentage of the page loaded
– number of loaded images
– bytes downloaded
– average download speed
– load time