This series is designed to help people to understand modern technology, and become more confident in using computing devices. It is not designed to educate experts.
The author is involved in tutoring older students at SeniorNet, a New Zealand wide organisation. SeniorNet hopes that students will feel more confident in using their computing devices as a result of the learning opportunities offered. This series of articles shares that hope.
As I said in an earlier article, add ons can enhance what a browser can do. Some browsers are very extendable, others less so.
Ad Blockers:
Advertising pays for much of the internet. My personal philosophy is I don’t want to see ads; I will research if I want to buy something. I’m willing to pay for content such as The BFD to support them because I deny them the ability to earn income from the advertising source.
Apart from not abusing my eyeballs with ads, other benefits of ad blocking software include quicker loading and cleaner looking web pages with fewer distractions, lower resource waste (bandwidth, CPU, memory, etc.), and privacy benefits gained through the exclusion of the tracking and profiling systems of ad delivery platforms. Also, adverts have been used as an infection vector for malware.
Installing an ad blocker on Firefox browser is easy. Click Tools/Add-ons to open the Add on page.
Type ad block in the Find more add-ons box and you have lots to chose from. My favourite is uBlock Origin. To install it, click on the entry for uBlock Origin, click + Add to Firefox and confirm the installation action when asked. Allow the extension (add on) to run in private windows and you’re done. Say goodbye to almost all ads.
PS. If you are too miserable to pay for the fantastic content of this site you can disable the ad blocker for future visits here. Here’s how.
- Go to the website where you want to disable uBlock Origin. In the upper right corner of the Firefox browser, click on the uBlock Origin icon in the toolbar.
- The uBlock Origin’s pop-up window will appear. Click the large blue power button to turn off uBlock Origin for the current site. This will be remembered the next time you visit the site. Alternatively, you can also Ctrl-click to turn off uBlock Origin only for the current page rather than the entire website/domain.
To re-enable the ad blocker, click the greyed out power button icon and refresh the page. This will enable uBlock Origin for the website.
This add on is available for Chrome browser, and most other Chromium based browsers. To install, go to the Chrome web store. Search for uBlock Origin and click on the entry to install it.
See other instructions for the Firefox browser.
Bonus Hint:
If the icon doesn’t show on the Chrome Tool Bar, click the “Extensions” button next to your Profile avatar.
This drop down will show you all of the extensions that are installed and enabled in Chrome. You’ll notice that they are divided into two categories: “Full Access” and “No Access Needed.”
Next to each extension, you’ll see a Pushpin icon. If the icon is blue, it means the extension is pinned to the Chrome toolbar. If it’s white, it means the extension is hidden.
Click the “Pushpin” icon to pin or unpin a Chrome extension in the toolbar.
Password Manager:
I have over 100 passwords I have to remember. I’m old, and my memory doesn’t work that well, so I use Lastpass Password Manager extension to manage this lot.
Search for Lastpass free and install the add on as described above for the ad blocker (available for Firefox or Chrome browsers). Once installed, use the resulting dialogue to create an account.
Important: Record your Master Password. It’s very embarrassing to forget this very important detail.
I have written an eBook for my SeniorNet students on installing and using this app, and will put a link in the comments section if requested.
Themes:
I’m terrified I will be thought ordinary, like you “ordinary people”. One of the ways I make myself a special individual is by customising my browser with a theme. Firefox is the champion here. To add a theme to Firefox, here’s how.
Click Tools/Add-ons. Click Themes in the left menu, and enter a search term in the box. I’m going to use spring for the current season. Scrolling down through the choices I decide I like Spring Garden Serenity by MaDonna. Click on it and click the large + Install Theme button. Click the two confirming boxes, and it’s done.
Too busy? It’s easy to revert to one of the other themes I have installed. Click Tools/Add-ons. Click Themes in the left menu. Choose another installed theme, and click Enable button. Done
There are thousands of themes available, so find one to suit your mood. Change when your mood changes.
Chromium based browsers can be themed, but not to the extent available in Firefox. Here’s how.
Click the three button icon at top right, Settings then Appearance in the left hand menu. Click Themes to reveal the Chrome Web Store theme choices. Choosing one of these will change the browser top colour, and add a picture to google’s search page in Chrome. It may not add the picture in other Chromium based browsers (I did say Firefox is better).
Here are some of my Firefox extensions. Not all these may be available for Chrome.
- Google Reverse Image Search
- Video DownloadHelper
- YouTube Video Downloader/YouTube HD Download
- WebRTC Leak Shield
- Add Search Engine from Mycroft Project
I will write about the Mycroft Project at a later date.
If you want an add on for a specific purpose, Google is your friend. Just search and see if one has been written. Go on, I know you really want to!
Android, iPhone and Apple Mac:
Firefox extensions and themes are available for Firefox on Android.
Extensions are NOT available for Chrome browser, but are available for Kiwi browser (which can be downloaded from the Playstore).
There are extensions available for Safari on Mac, but I haven’t tested these. Extensions on Chrome and Firefox on iPhone are not available.
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