Firefox Web Browser Add-On Suggestions

The experimental Firefox add-on AST Add-ons Suggestion Tool offers add-on suggestions based on the already installed add-ons in the Firefox web browser.

Update: The browser add-on was pulled from Mozilla's Add-on repository. There is no comparable add-on available at this point in time.

The add-on can be downloaded from the official Mozilla website. It offers an Get Add-ons button in its interface that will do some magic in the background to display Firefox add-on suggestions to you that complement what you have already installed in the browser.

The description offered by the developer of the add-on is a little bit vague but it seems that they suggest add-ons by evaluating add-ons that are used by other users in conjunction with add-ons that are already installed on the computer system. It has to be noted that the add-on will submit information about installed add-ons to the developer's web server, and that there is nothing that you can do about that in the UI.

Add-on Suggestion Tool

The suggested Firefox add-ons are displayed in a list that resembles the Firefox add-on menu with the difference that only the name of the extension is listed in it. This is one of the weaknesses of this Firefox add-on as you don't necessarily know from the name what functionality an add-on offers. Adding descriptions would make this add-on more useful than it is right now.

It does however provide two buttons to open the add-on's homepage on the Mozilla website (opens in a new tab) or to install it right away. Most users will likely click on the button that leads to the add-on's homepage first to find out what it adds to the Firefox web browser before installing it.

The installation can be completed on that page then as well which makes the install button in the add-on's interface more often than not redundant.

The Firefox add-on can become very popular if the developers add add-on descriptions to the interface.

Update: The add-on has not been updated since 2009, which may indicate compatibility issues with more recent versions of the Firefox web browser. It is likely that the add-on won't work anymore in the latest versions.

The Get Add-ons page on about:addons features a recommended section as well. While it does not seem to take installed add-ons into account, it appears to be closest in terms of functionality to this extension.

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