Some Ghacks readers may remember Firefox collections, which are user generated add-on compilations.

Firefox user Nawoa recently created a netbook optimization kit collection, which consists of ten Firefox add-ons to optimize Firefox for netbook usage.

Even better is the fact that instructions are included for each add-on in the collection. These aid the user in configuring them the intended way.

netbook optimization kit

The add-ons of the collection can be divided into two groups: Add-ons that change the appearance of Firefox, mostly to reduce the screen space requirements of Firefox toolbars and menus, and additional add-ons that add functionality to the browser.

In the first group, add-ons are listed to control the presence of the titlebar and statusbar, to reduce the size of the menu, to combine the location bar and search bar, to combine progress bar and address bar, and to add new toolbar buttons that offer additional functionality on the Firefox toolbar, including the ability to quickly toggle image and embedded content loading.

The second group consists of an adblocker to speed up loading times, url tooltips to offer an alternative way to check urls in the browser (without statusbar), an add-on that disables backspace navigation, an add-on that scrolls the pages smoothly when scrolling and a menu editor to remove or add menus from the web browser.

The provided add-ons are helpful in reducing the screen size requirements of the web browser. In addition to that, they offer several features that improve the overall experience of the user.

The explanations by Nawoa add to the experience, and offer valuable configuration tips.

The Netbook Optimization Kit is available at the Mozilla Firefox Collection repository. Firefox users who do not want to install all ten add-ons individually can take a look at Massive Extender to install them all at once. (via Liliputing)

The development team seems to have increased the size of the fonts quite a bit which makes everything more readable on the website. Probably the most important aspect of the update is the introduction of collections. Collections are basically lists of Firefox add-ons that can be created by Firefox users.

A lot of collections are already available like the Web Developer’s Toolbox, Traveler’s Pack or Family Organizer. Each collection includes a number of add-ons which can be installed at once. This can be very helpful in certain situations like configuring a new computer system for relatives, friends or colleagues. It has to be noted that the add-ons that are stored in collections will come with the default options enabled. This is different from programs like Febe which can not only backup the extensions but also the preferences of these extensions.

Every user may create a custom collection that is then listed on the Mozilla website along with all the other collections that are available. This can be an interesting tool for website owners to offer an extension collection to their website’s visitors. The add-on collector extension has been created to make the collection creation easier.

I have created the Ghacks.net collection which basically consists of a few add-ons that I use on a day to day basis. I’m open to suggestions on additional extension that should be added to the collection. It is possible to add users to the collection to make it a group project.