Browser extensions. We love them!
Whether you use Firefox, Chrome, or another browser, there are ways to make a workday easier through the help of add-ons. We asked our fellow Mindgrubbers about their favorite browser extensions and why they love them.
Firefox
“I use the MyMind and Notion extensions for Firefox a lot! Also, whenever I try to download an image that turns out to be in WebP format, the WebP extension is super handy for downloading it as a JPEG or PNG instead!” – Lauren Herda, Interactive Art Designer
MyMind
Navigating the internet can be distracting. With MyMind, you can easily add items that catch your attention to the browser extension to save for later. Whether that’s pictures, tabs, articles, quotes, or recipes, MyMind captures it all!
Notion
Easily collaborate with team members or clients on documents and more with Notion. Manage teams and project plans with this easy-to-use tool.
WebP
Save, store, organize, and convert images to JPEG and PNG formats with this Firefox extension!
“For Firefox extensions I use Multi-Account Containers and Temporary Containers!” – Jonathan Hawk, Director of Cloud Engineering
Firefox Multi-Account Containers
Multi-Account Containers allow you to color-code tabs, as well as keep your online profiles (and associated cookies) separate within the same browser. For example, you could log into your personal G-Suite account and your work G-Suite within the same browser, all while keeping both organized.
Temporary Containers
To enhance your browsing privacy, Temporary Containers open tabs and links into disposable containers that isolate data that websites store such as website cookies. Closing the ‘container’ created by this extension deletes the data stored by that particular group of websites.
“I consider UBlock Origin a necessary extension for modern web browsing.” – Harrison June, WordPress Engineer
UBlock Origin
For general content blocking, our engineers rely on UBlock Origin! This extension blocks popups, ads, coin miners, and anything else that can be deemed distracting or unnecessary on a page.
Related reading: What You Need to Know About Data Privacy for Mobile Apps
Google Chrome
“I can’t handle all of the bright pages on Jira. Night mode for Jira is great for remedying that and plays well with Chrome.” – Skylar Robaczewksi, Senior Project Manager
Night Mode for Jira
For those who use Jira, the white pages can be a little too glaring. Turn down the brightness with this helpful Chrome extension!
“Yet Another Lorem Ipsum Generator is great for testing purposes. Go Full Page lets you take full web page screenshots without having to scroll and stitch multiple screenshots together, and Tabby Cat generates a cute animal on every new tab!” – Steve Morton, Staff Engineer
Yet Another Lorem Ipsum Generator
This tool is a filler text generator for developer testing.
Go Full Page
If you ever need to take full-page screenshots, look no further. This tool allows you to take screenshots without having to scroll and stitch multiple images together.
Tabby Cat
Who doesn’t love cute animals? Tabby Cat generates a cute animal on every new tab. And if you’re like most people in the biz, you probably have more than your fair share of tabs open…
“Grammarly! It’s so much better than regular spell check and works places spell check doesn’t. Plus it helps with grammar by explaining why something is grammatically incorrect so you can learn as you write.” – Mallory Sprinkle, Internal Marketing Manager
Grammarly
Not all of us are skilled writers! Grammarly works within documents, emails, forms, and more to assist with spell check, grammar, and writing improvements.
Related reading: How a Robust Content Strategy Can Drive Revenue Growth [Case Study]
“WAVE is my QA [quality assurance] starting point when doing accessibility testing.” – Diego Gomez, Automation Engineer
WAVE Evaluation Tool
WAVE is a great starting point for those testing for accessibility. This tool checks how well websites adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Learn more about the importance of site accessibility here!
“I use EditThisCookie for dealing with cookies, Wappalyzer for finding what kind of tech a website is built with, and JSON formatter for sorting through unformatted JSON code (which is impossible to read). As a bonus, Google Arts and Culture is a great add-on to make my new tab screen a bit classier.” – Andy Brown, Staff Engineer
EditThisCookie
View, edit, or remove cookies with this easy-to-use tool.
Related reading: Your Website Needs to Utilize Cookies–Here’s Why
Wappalyzer
Wappalyzer analyzes websites to determine what kind of CMS, framework, eCommerce platform, JavaScript libraries, and other analytics are used.
JSON Formatter
Unformatted JSON is impossible to read for our friends in coding. This plug-in changes the game.
Google Arts & Culture
If you want to open up a new tab and feel as though your computer is part of an art museum, this plug-in is for you.
“I use Fonts Ninja for easily identifying fonts on websites, Awesome Screenshot for getting screenshots of full webpages, and Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller in combination with QuickTime Player (my Mac application) to capture videos of webpages with interactions and animations for case studies!” – Emilee Beeson, Art Director
Fonts Ninja
Design relies heavily on font choice. When designers are looking for inspiration, Fonts Ninja lets them identify, save, and analyze fonts on different websites.
Awesome Screenshot
When saving full web pages, Awesome Screenshot allows users to save images of entire website pages without needing to scroll and stitch screenshots together.
Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller
To enhance the smoothness of your scrolling, the Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller allows you to customize scroll behavior. Design your own scroll path and preview the options all on the webpage.
The Mindgrub team has a knack for knowing what tools are available to streamline any task. If you love these suggestions, let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin!