Do you use Firefox? Have you customized it to your liking? Have you added on any of the thousands of powerful utilities yet?
 
This post is written for those who have made the switch to Firefox but have yet to really explore the possibilities that didn't exist with Internet Explorer. These are my recommendations yet I also urge anyone who finds them useful to continue to poke around - I'll only be covering that which I've personally found to be useful.
 
Most importantly, under Help->About Mozilla Firefox, you'll find your version number. You should be using the most current version which is 2.0.0.3 (as of today 4/28/07). If your not up to version 2, download and install it here.
 
Set-Up
Toolbars: Under View->Toolbars->Customize you'll find the window that lets you add/remove buttons to your toolbar at the top of your browser. This can be a great starting place for customizing your browser but is also worth revisiting if you've used Firefox for quite a while because many Add-ons use optional buttons that will show here. (I was surprised by a few new options just now!)
Tools->Options
Under the Main tab, set your homepage or choose a blank window or to restore the last open page. You can start Firefox with multiple homepages by entering them here, separated by a | (pipe symbol). So entering "www.google.com | www.gorillasushi.com" will open both in tabs as your homepages every time Firefox starts. Here you can also choose where your downloads go or "Ask me".
 
I suggest that you poke around the rest of the tabs and play with the settings depending on your own personal likings. If your timid about tweaking, you'll find a complete guide to the Options window here.
 
Themes
Nobody has ever dies from using a boring looking browser but it's still nice to customize the look. Warning: Some themes may not offer the complete functionality that you're used to! I recommend getting all of your tweaking and add-on-ing done and make sure that you're comfortable with your set up before changing your theme from the default. You'll find a complete list of themes here.
 
About:Config
Open a new tab and enter about:config in the address bar (or just click my link). This is Firefox's configuration which is a long list of keys and values. If you know it, you can enter the name of the key you want to update in the "Filter" field. The list will narrow to only the entries that match your keyword as you type. Here are a few useful changes...
Change browser.startup.page key to 3. By default Firefox will restore your session if it crashes but this tweak will restore your session (with any text that you've typed) when you accidentally close a tab/window! Essential for klutzes.
 
After opening 12 or so tabs in the same window, you may see them disappearing with the option to scroll them on the right. Does this bug the hell out of you? If so, change browser.tabs.tabMinWidth from 100 to something like 75. Changing the value to 0 will disable tab scrolling completely.
 
layout.spellcheckDefault = 2 turns on Firefox's spell-checking in input fields as well as textareas. (That means no more typos in comment headlines)
 
See here for a complete-uber list of about:config tweaks.
 
Keyboard Shortcuts
There are a few keyboard shortcuts that I use on a daily basis simply because they make things easier.

• Go Back - Backspace
• Close Tab - Ctrl+W
• Add "www" and ".com" - Ctrl+Enter (type "google" in the address bar and hit Ctrl+Enter)
• Find on Page - Ctrl+F
• Homepage - Alt+Home
• New Tab - Ctrl+T

Here's the complete list. If you can't remember to try any shortcuts, try installing Asdf-jkl.It will show you the shortcuts as you mouse over buttons.
 
Extensions
Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox, from a simple toolbar button to a completely new feature. You can browse the complete list here but below are a few of my favorites.
 
FoxyTunes
Do you listen to Music while surfing the Web? FoxyTunes lets you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers, videos, bios and much more with a click right from your browser.
 
Select Search
Select Search is a Firefox extension to enhance your right click. You will have the power to select any text on any page and use that text to: Map it with Google Maps,Compare prices,Shop,Search jobs,Read Product Reviews,Look up Definitions and Acronyms,Search Health Information,Find Movies and TV shows,Look up Music, search in Google Images, Google Groups and more...
 
FullerScreen
Watch video on-line? This extension enhances the Full Screen mode into a really full screen mode, hiding the remaining toolbars and statusbar and making them visible again when the mouse pointer hits an edge of the screen.
 
ScribeFire
ScribeFire (previously Performancing for Firefox) is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog. You can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post to your blog.
 
FireFTP
If you don't know what FTP is, skip it. If you use an FTP client, try this one.
 
Web Developer
If you work with HTML or CSS, this one is essential. The Web Developer extension adds a menu and a toolbar to the browser with various web developer tools. You'll thank me, I promise.
 
del.icio.us Bookmarks
This extension integrates your browser with del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/), the leading social bookmarking service on the Web. It offers the following advantages:
 

• Search and browse your bookmarks
• Access your bookmarks from any computer at any time
• Keep your bookmarks organized with tags
• Share your bookmarks with friends or anyone on the Web
• Import your existing Firefox bookmarks

 
And last but not least..
 
Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows you to customize the way webpages look and function. Hundreds of scripts are already available for free. Unlike other extensions, Greasemonkey is nothing by itself - you'll want to browse the scripts. (try doing searches on web pages that you use often) Here's a few nice one's to start with...
 
Google 100
Let Google show 100 results per page instead of the default 10.
 
YouTube Video Exposer
Links video title to the FLV video file and removes ads on YouTube.com.
 
Dig Me Later
Adds a small bar at the top of articles linked from digg. This allows you to digg the article directly from the article page after you read it without having to return to digg!
 
Did I leave anything out? What are your Firefox tips/tricks?