The same is true for the majority of forms on websites. Sure, some get automatically selected when you load the page, but on most, you need to click in the form before you can start writing.

This changes with the Focus Keyboard extension for the Firefox web browser. Once the add-on is installed you can start typing in web addresses right away. The add-on automatically activates the url form on the first keypress. The tab key is used to cycle through other form elements on the website, for instance to a comment form or submission form.

What makes this extension special are the available customizations in the options. Here it is among other things possible to define the elements on web pages and in the browser that should react on keypress and that should be cycled through.

It is for instance possible to change the default behavior so that text is typed into the search bar instead, and not in the url bar. The web elements that are cycled through can be defined in detail as well. It is for instance possible to jump over single text fields or add select form fields to the cycle.

The Options tab lists several additional settings. Ctrl-v for instance copies a Clipboard url directly into the location bar, while Ctrl-C copies the current address from it.

The program ships with a freely configurable blacklist. The Focus Keyboard functionality is automatically disabled on blacklisted web pages. That’s handy if you regularly visit websites that the extension breaks.

Focus Keyboard is available for all versions of the Firefox web browser from version 4 on. Beta, Aurora or Nightly users may need to force compatibility to install the extension.

Why is the url bar that important? Because it lets users know where they currently are. Users use the information displayed in the address bar to determine if they are on the right website, which is essential to avoid phishing attacks and other forms of malware on today’s Internet.

Locationbar 2 is an add-on for the Firefox web browser that adds several interesting urlbar manipulation options to the browser.

Among them the option to highlight the core web address so that it becomes easier to identify the domain. The color of the domain is selectable in the options of the extension, and it is furthermore possible to bold it to make it stick out even more.

But that’s only one of the options available. Another interesting feature is the ability to split the web address into breadcrumbs, either for the host or all segments. The breadcrumbs become clickable which can then be used to naviagate between directories of the domain directly without having to find those navigational options on the page.

The individual segments become selectable with hotkeys, or if the mouse is moved to the website’s favicon first.

Locationbar2 has another interesting option. It can hide protocols from the address bar. Protocols are http, https or ftp amongh others. Hiding protocols saves a few pixels and removes distraction from the website address. It is however recommend to keep security relevant protocols visible at all times.

Locationbar2 is a offers three interesting features that improve the Firefox location bar. The extension can be downloaded from the official Firefox add-on repository.

It appears that Google is not the only company that experiments in that direction. Mozilla’s Paul Rouget published a screencast today that demonstrated some of his HTML5 and native control experiments.

What’s the video about? It first shows how websites could add controls to the context menu of the browser. Examples are images that can be rotated or a new Twitter message dialog that can be launched that way.

That however was only the preparation for the second part of the demonstration where Paul showed how App tabs could utilize that feature and the previously mentioned Site Specific Browsers feature (see Firefox 5 Could Look Like This) to offer a new user experience.

Paul envisions different states for the browser, depending whether an app tab is active or a normal website. App tabs get rid of the url bar and make use of context menu controls and the new “site specific browsers” feature that is placed next to the Firefox button.

His idea basically is to give a webpage more control over the browser interface by giving it the means to “expose native controls to the UA”, the context menu and, if it is a web app, options to get “rif of the URL / Back Forward Too bar”.

Take a look at the video for a short demonstration, or visit Paul’s blog directly for additional information.

Users who would like to try the experimental feature can download an experimental add-on from Paul’s website.

Please note that this is just an experiment and not something that is planned to be integrated into one of the next versions of the Firefox web browser.

I personally think that it is not a good idea to give webpages or services control over the browser’s context menu or user interface elements. Why? Because for the large percentage of sites that will make use of the feature in a positive way or ignore it, there will be minority of sites that abuse it if possible. Think of adding thousands of entries to the context menu (which could be easily prevented by setting a limit) or adding links or ads to it (which could be difficulty to prevent). Then there are security implications. Phishing websites for instance are easily identified by their web address. Removing the chance to verify the address removes the most reliable option of identifying phishing websites from the browser.

Another thought that came to mind is that the site specific browsers menu makes navigation more complicated. It may just be me but having two buttons open for a website, instead of one button seems to make things more complicated. I’m no user interface experts but would not it be better to integrate the “Site Specific Browsers” functionality right into the tab so that only one button is displayed for a website?

Please let me know what you think of the idea? Complicated or ingenious?

Popup Url and Search Bar is a new add-on for the firefox web browser that hides the urlbar and searchbar in the web browser so that the displaying toolbar can be removed from the interface.

The add-on provides keyboard shortcuts to display the urlbar and searchbar on the screen in a little popup overlay. Users can press Ctrl-L or Alt-D for the urlbar and Ctrl-K for the searchbar. Instructions are provided by the developer to re-bind the keys with Firefox add-ons such as KeyConfig or KeySnail.

The bars appear directly on the page. The form is activated so that it is possible to begin typing right away. All the features and traits of the urlbar and searchform are retained and available, including suggestions.

Even better is the fact that it is possible to move the popup bars to any location on the screen. The new location is instantly saved and will be available from that moment on, even after browser restarts.

Popup Url and Search Bar is an interesting add-on for users who want to save space by removing the navigation toolbar from the browser. It may take a few sessions before the new way of opening the url bar and entering websites becomes a fluid process, but it can be well worth the transition phase.

The only problem with this new way of opening websites is that the url of the actual website is not displayed anywhere on the screen. The user needs to press the shortcut to open the urlbar to see the address.

The add-on is available for download at the official Firefox add-on repository.

Back to the Firefox extension. It adds six new icons to the right side of the Firefox location bar which look a lot like the icons that the Tagmarks extension is adding in that place. Users with the Tagmarks extension enabled might run into troubles. This has not been tested and is just an assumption.

The icons provide easy access to the following functions:

• Copy URL
• Create Tiny URL
• Search Site
• Up One Directory Level, Double-click for Root
• Tags
• Anonymous Surfing

Some functions require an explanation while others are pretty obvious. Copy URL copies the url of the current tab to the clipboard. Create Tiny URL will create a tiny url and replace the current url with the Tiny URL which could then be copied with the Copy URL button.

Search Site will simply open a google search in a new tab that uses the site parameter and is waiting for user input. Up one directory level does what it says while a double-click on the item loads the homepage or root address of the site.

Tags shows a few tags that can be used to tag websites while the anonymous surfing icon will reload the current website using an anonymization service.

Several of the functions are configurable by right-clicking them. A right-click on the Search Site icon will open a search form that can be used to search the site directly. The most extensive settings are available for the anonymous surfing function. Users can pick from a few dozen web proxy servers and configure a domain to be always loaded by a proxy.

The URLBar extension for Firefox 3 adds a few interesting features to Firefox that might appeal to more than just a few users. One option that would make sense would be keyboard hotkeys for the functions which would speed up the process. Another viable option could be to automatically use a proxy on a specific tab even if the domain gets changed.