As I have gone through the process of reinstalling my OS twice in the last two months after a hard drive failure, I realized that I am very forgetful when it comes to setting up my computer the way I want it.

Therefore, I have decided to begin documenting my setup. I’m going to start with my browser of choice… Mozilla Firefox.

Besides the security of not being part of the OS and the tabbed browsing feature, one of the major reasons that I made the switch back when it was called Phoenix, was the ability to extend the browser.

Saferfox Xpanded
With the wipe and reinstall I lost my extensions and themes. The theme I use is called Saferfox Xpanded.

My extension list is much longer though and the amount of customization it takes to get everything working perfectly is only done over time. I thought I’d let everyone else know how I get my browser working the way I like it.

SessionSaver
The first extension I install is SessionSaver. This basically means that when I open my browser it opens the same tabs that I had when I closed it. It is very handy when I am installing an update and it makes me reboot. I use it with the default settings.

At this point, I close Firefox and open it again to allow the installation of this important extension.

Download Manager Tweak
The second extension I install is the Download Manager Tweak. Although the regular download manager is ok, it is nice to be able to prevent the extra window and use a tab. That’s pretty much the only modification I do in the settings.

Bookmarks Synchronizer
Number 3 is now one of the coolest. The Bookmarks Synchronizer allows me to download my bookmarks from my website (only takes about a second) when I launch firefox. When I close firefox it uploads any changes I made. This is very cool when combined with my #4 extension.

I close and open Firefox again so I can get my bookmarks. To setup this extension I have everything checked and use my own FTP server to upload, and download using http. Make sure you sync up manually if you have already used this extension and you are just trying to get your bookmarks back. When I download my bookmarks it makes my fourth installation work even more impressively.

Sage
Sage is number four in the order I install it only due to the usefulness of having the first three installed first. Sage is a news reader which resides in the sidebar of Firefox and allows me to navigate my favorite RSS/Atom feeds very quickly. Twice a day I click the little refresh icon and it lets me know which of the 75+ sites have been updated.

I used to use blo.gs as well as bloglines which were web based aggregators but I didn’t like the interface of either. FeedDemon worked ok but I didn’t like to have to launch my browser separately. Plus it cost money and Kristin gets all of that.

Once I tried Sage I was hooked and have stopped looking. Used with the Bookmarks Synchronizer, I am able to have Sage installed on three separate computers, 2 Win XP and 1 Debian, yet still keep track of the sites I feel are important to watch. As long as I close the browser on one computer before opening Firefox on another, it will keep track of whether I read the story yet or not.

Well, that’s part one of “Handy Firefox Extensions.” Stay tuned for part two…