7 Extensions to Fire Up Firefox Right-Click Menu

firefox What would Firefox be without extensions? Basically just another browser (well, still better than Internet Explorer of course) because addons breathe life into the raw browser skeleton.

Extensions are a key ingredient to a successful browser because they provide extra functionality and in most cases, they simply make life easier for the user.

Here is a selection of addons that enhance the right-click menu, for the lazy mouse user in you.

gTranslate

gTranslate is a handy translator hidden in the right-click menu. Select the word or text to translate, right-click it and click on Translate “…” in the right-click menu.

translate

The extension applies Google translate and supports over 20 different languages, which are automatically identified. You may have to change the language it translates to, though.

Isn’t it annoying when links appear as dead text? It often happens in forums and comments, when the links is posted as example.com without the www, let go http prefixes to identify it as URL. This addon provides a workaround. Simply select the text, right-click and click open “example.com” in the right-click menu.

open link

Can come in handy even in MakeUseOf comments.

Context Search

Firefox does come with a pretty cool search feature per default. It contains a respectable list of search engines and can be modified to your desires. But we’re all lazy and with this extension you don’t have to copy&paste or even hand type words into the search field anymore.

context search

All you do is select the word in a text, right-click and then move the mouse over search for “…” and the list of available search engines will pop open.

FireShot

FireShot is an extension for creating screenshots. Via the right-click menu you can choose to capture the visible area or the entire website you’re viewing and subsequently edit the image, save, print, eMail, copy to clipboard or upload it to a free hosting solution with EasyCaptures (account required).

screenshot

The extension is also available for Internet Explorer.

Open Image In New Tab

Here we have a very simple extension that doesn’t really do much. But it may be quite useful if – for whatever reason – you cannot use middle-click to open links or images in a new tab.

So quite obviously it adds an option to the right-click menu with which you can open images in a new tab.

Next Tab

new tab If you tend to open a ton of tabs while browsing the net, you may find it a bit of a hassle to open a new link at the very end of the tabs list.

With Next Tab you’ll have the option to open a new link in the tab right next to the originating tab. Simple and straightforward.

MouseZoom

This extension liberates the hand that used to push the [Ctrl] key in order to zoom into or out of websites. Now it’s all in one hand. Hold the right mouse button and move the wheel to zoom. A left-click while pressing the right mouse button will revert the zoom level back to default.

zoom

Hide/show of all toolbars by clicking the wheel (middle mouse button), while holding down the right mouse button didn’t work for me. Is it working for you?

What is your favorite right-click menu option in Firefox?

Photo credits: hagit

Tagged: firefox addons • firefox tips • right-click menu

Tina Sieber

Tina is a freelance writer, editor, natural scientist, and cosmopolitan with a strong interest in sustainability. She has been writing for MakeUseOf since late 2007 and also is the Editor for MakeUseOf Answers.

http://mhdbadi.com Mohammad Badi

Thanks for the extensions, they are really rocks, especially FireShot.

http://whatareyouwatching.uni.cc Television Spy

Yea like the mouse zoom. useful for things I do daily.

JK the Fifth

Instead of right click link, I use text link. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1939 – It has a lot of options and you dont even have to open up the context menu. I just double click on the link and it opens up.

mojo

@JK the fifth – i tried this extension, and like all the other extensions that scan text for links, it slows down rendering. the one suggested in the article doesn’t slow down rendering. i use this to test rendering speed: http://scragz.com/archived/mozilla/test-rendering-time

let the page load the first time (testing your internet speed more than rendering) and then hit refresh.

then try disabling your link extension and see how much faster it is.

http://zoolcar9.lhukie.net/ LouCypher

You should try the powerful ContextMenu Extensions
http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/ctxextensions/index.html.en
http://museverything.wordpress.com/ Happy_Man

If you middle-click “View Image” in the context menu, it opens the picture in a new tab as well. Has ever since Firefox 2.0.

http://quezra.blogspot.com Shreela

Thanks Happy_Man, I had no idea. That was cool, and didn’t have to ad an addon either 8^)

http://manukhanna.com manu

Nice stuff. All this is bound to clutter your right-click menu, so better install the Menu Editor extension as well. It lets you chuck out the unwanted stuff (Bookmark…, Select All etc.)from the context menu
http://reviewofweb.com Ankur Jain

Is there any FF add-on available that on selecting and right clicking a piece of text inside a form/comments field, let me insert the hyperlink?

Instead of writing the tedious
http://oksoft.antville.org Shantanu Oak

“Nuke Anything” extension allows hiding anything via context menu ‘Remove Object’.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/951
http://www.bidigitalframes.com 7 fhoto frames

i use firefox,but dont like too long list in rightclick,maybe i’ll pick up some of these,sound nice.

i like gtraslate!:P
http://quezra.blogspot.com Shreela

There’s a few translation addons. Some had too many bells/whistles, and one slowed down my system. But gTranslate does a great job without slowing my system down at all. I use the auto-detect most, so I don’t have to reset languages all the time, but it doesn’t translate everything (I think some translations are more challenging, like different alphabet, or using slang words).

I checked out Fireshot’s comments, and it seems like many options expire after the “free trial”, then it’s limited unless a license is purchased. Thanks anyway.
HamalSharatan

I find Hyperwords a good translator, and has more features.
http://www.Webdesignquote.ca Web Design Quote

HI. I like all the stuff but most of them i like the fireshot.
That is quite impressive and nice to visit your site and find such good information.
Anon

The ‘Hyperwords’ extension does the translate AND quicksearch as well as many other things. Surely it’s better to have one extension rather than two…
http://www.clockout.org employee clockin clockout

CtrlLaboutconfigrightclicknew booleanextensions. checkCompatibility0
Optimator

Hyperwords’ messing with the “original” search bar, you’ll have to hit ENTER to search, it disables mouse clicking on the magnifying glass – pretty annoying. Hope they’ll fix it soon – until that happens I’ve disabled Hyperwords.

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