My favorite Firefox extensions

I switched to using the Firefox browser a few years ago, although I still use Internet Explorer to test web designs. I ONLY use IE for that purpose now - and that is largely because of the extensions, little tools and applications that can be installed into Firefox. The latest version of Firefox, though, does not allow for a number of my favorite extensions yet, so I have stayed with version 1.07 (which is now hard to find, but I located it here) - you'll want to be aware of that if you get Firefox and want to have some of these same nifty tools at your disposal - check the versions on each! If you want to change the way you do everything on the web, set aside an hour or so to browse all the possibilities. Trust me, you'll make up that hour in productivity when it's over!

For one thing, there is the Blogger extension called Blogger Bar, which allows me quickly create a Blogger post from any web page I visit. Then there is the Screen Grab extension that gives me the ability to snag a screen shot of anything I have in the browser. Dictionary Search is an extension that lets me right click my mouse over any word I see and find out what it means - and for a big word addict and avid reader like me, that's a lot of fun. The Clippings extension allows me to save up a bunch of text snippets that I use a lot when I surf the web, like forum signatures, and easily copy and paste them in from one repository. FoxClocks is another good one for a virtual business working in multiple time zones - it puts the cities you frequently contact in a little pop up at the bottom of the browser.

As a designer, I find that the Colorzilla extension is a must have. It lets me pick up the color of ANY pixel on the web browser screen - and see what the HTML code for the color (called a hexadecimal) is. I also have an extension called Measure It which lets me grab the pixel dimensions of anything on my screen with a little tool like a ruler.

I actually have a dozen or so extensions but these are the ones I use nearly every day. If you haven't tried Firefox yet, you should - I'm sure that over time these extensions will be ported over to the new version or maybe you can stick with the 1.07 version like I do, until that happens. You'll have a good time tricking out Firefox to your own personal needs, and then wonder how you ever lived without this kind of browsing experience!

Privacy and Marketing

There has been an interesting discussion going on within one of the communities I'm part of, about privacy and email marketing. It started when someone asked how they could give their newsletter subscribers the option to only receive text emails from them, and someone else pointed out that some of the HTML email services provide tracking "bugs" to spy on readers. This opened a debate about what rights marketers have to know what their customers are doing.

The service is question, Constant Contact, is the one I've been using for the last couple years, along with (I assume) thousands of other small businesses. I chose it because it makes it so incredibly easy to compose and send emails to a subscriber base, and allow people to sign up for the newsletter. I use it to send out the summary of blog postings to the people who have subscribed to Increase Your Reach.

I always assumed that anyone who subscribed either a) read the privacy policies if they were concerned and b) knew that opening my newsletter and clicking a link was an activity I could actually "see" happen. It never occurred to me that this might NOT be known, and would even considered "unethical" or offensive by some people.

In the case of my subscribers, I make it known up front that I will never sell or give my subscribers information to anyone for any reason. If I do (occasionally) look at the reports, it is to see what my overall click thru rate is, and I can tell at a glance whether a topic bombed or if a type of posting was really popular.

There are probably more nefarious marketers out there who will use this knowledge to go further - perhaps they see that someone clicked on a particular product and then follow up to make a sales call. That is the danger of subscribing to a list that uses HTML email and tracks click thrus, certainly.Personally, it doesn't matter to me that Subscriber Anne looked at a logo design article and Subscriber Bob found a software review of interest. I would only contact someone in response to them visiting a blog posting IF they left me a comment that required a response.

And, that is why if you are concerned with this privacy, you should only subscribe to only text emails (if this is an option). Or, not subscribe to email newsletters at all!

Meanwhile, I am thinking about editing my welcome letter for new subscribers to alert them to this feature of Constant Contact and nearly all over email newsletter services. Now that I realize just how many internet denizens had NO clue this was possible, I think it's the right thing to do.