Firefox happens to be my favorite browser. I have used it for quite a while now, and use a variety of add-ons, Greasemonkey scripts, along with Stylish scripts to make it a better browsing experience. In this article, I will be listing the top 20 Greasemonkey user scripts that I use. For those of you who don’t know about user scripts, here is the best definition I can give:
Scripts are used to extend the functionality of existing web applications, web sites, etc., created by a community of developers. Greasemonkey scripts are considered to be a browser add-on that gives you the ability to integrate Javascript-based modifications to a site when you load it.
To use scripts, you will want to install Greasemonkey, which gives you access to thousands of scripts to use for a better browsing experience. Once you install Greasemonkey, you will also want to install another Firefox add-on ‘Greasefire’ to help you find scripts for a page that you want to make more user friendly.
Here is how it works:
Lets say you are on iGoogle and you want to have a different way of viewing iGoogle. All you do is right-click on the monkey face (Greasemonkey), and at the top of the list, you will see how many scripts are available for iGoogle. Hover to that menu item and click it to open the list. Here is where you will be able to see the name of the script, rank, update, and a description. You can also sort the list by name, rank, or update. When you find a script that you want to use, click on Install “name of the script” and it will bring up a pop-up window with a warning. Just click on Install if you trust the source. Once you have installed the script, hit your ‘refresh’ button to see the script in action.
If you decide not to use Greasefire, or are having problems with Greasefire (which I had been having since updating to Firefox 3.6), you can find specific scripts for Greasemonkey at http://userscripts.org which currently has over 45,000 scripts for you to choose from.
Now, enough about how scripts work and where to find them, let’s get to the list!
(NOTE: Most of the images will have the before and after shot. Some screens may not look exactly like yours, I use Stylish also – read about it in the next article.)

GOOGLE SEARCH SCRIPT

GoogleMonkeyR v.1.3.2

Used to create multiple columns for results, remove “Sponsored Links”, generate number results, auto-load more results, remove web search dialogues, open links in a new tab, view favicons, GooglePreviews with search, self updating and all configurable from a simple user dialogue.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/9310

GOOGLE IMAGES SCRIPT

Google Image Search Direct Links

This displays a little “direct image link” above your Google image search results
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/62950

GOOGLE MAIL SCRIPT

Helvetimail

This is a skin for Gmail created by http://www.josefrichter.com/helvetimail/ Josef Richter.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/57785

GOOGLE VOICE SCRIPT

Helvetivoice

This is a skin created for Google Voice based on Helvetireader by Jon Hicks and Helvetical by Ad Taylor.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/57891

FLICKR SCRIPTS

Flickr Link Original Images

Adds a link to the original image on top of Flickr thumbnails so that when you click on the ORIG in the top left-hand side of the thumbnail, it will open the image in full view.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/47925

FlickrZoom

Generates a preview of thumbnailed images on flickr, photosight, photosig.com, onexposure.net, facebook and google images.
Clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand side of the thumbnail (when hovered over), it will generate a larger preview of the thumbnail along with its information.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/29151

Flickr More Home

By default, the Flickr home page shows four images for you, eight from your contacts, and four from a group. This script expands it to 8, 16, and 16, respectively. Requires Greasemonkey 0.8.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/1584

Flickr Multi-Group Sender

Overrides the flickr “Send to Group” button above your photo/video to send your Flickr image or video to multiple groups simultaneously.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/1543

FACEBOOK SCRIPTS

Remove Facebook Ads

Removes silly Facebook ads with this script so that you’ll never be prompted to “CHECK OUT THIS NEW ENERGY DRINK” or “HEY ARE YOU PREGNANT” ever again.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/46560

Facebook Fixer

Enhancements for Facebook: bigger profile pictures and photos, easier viewing of albums, links to download videos, showing people’s age and sign, google calendar integration, bookmarks, keyboard shortcuts & more. It’s fully customizable!
Note: If you do not have the new Facebook home page (new as of February 2010) you should wait until you get it before you install this new version.
Some other features include:
A new bookmark feature which allow you to add and remove bookmarks for any facebook page. They will appear in a new drop-down submenu within the top menu of every page. To add or remove a bookmark you first have to go to the page you want added or removed.
Use a keyboard shortcut for adding bookmarks: K (shift + k).
Logout link on the main menu so you don’t have to go to the “Account” submenu to log out.
A link to the Facebook Fixer config screen from the “Account” menu
Hide application, status and wall stories. Previously you could “block 3rd party applications” but hiding application stories should be more reliable and will not adjust the settings for Facebook account.
Hide feed items for all feeds, no longer just the “most recent” feed.
Hide specific sections of the left column on the home page.
A list of translators to the About tab of the config screen.
Big pictures popup to be above the menus.
Hide feed items by story type.
Show today’s birthdays/events in bold on the home page.
Option to keep the top menu bar fixed.
Show popup pics for the new Photos page.
Support for URLs including an exclamation mark.
Load all tagged photos on one page.
Translate using Google’s translation API.
“Big Pictures” show above “ads”.
Download videos even if flash is not installed (thanks to Philipp Weis)
Option to prevent automatically closing popup pics when the mouse is over them (thanks to Samuel Tai).
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/8861

TWITTER SCRIPTS

Helvetwitter

A simple way to read what’s going on with your friends and/or random strangers. It strips everything out of the Twitter interface save for the essentials: names, Tweets, and a box for updates. Instead of a ton of colors, you get three: white, black, and red. This is Twitter minimalism to the max.
http://www.josefrichter.com/helvetwitter/

Twitter Unfollow Buttons 2

Creates buttons next to each posting to allowing you to easily unfollow users on twitter.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/54894

Power Twitter

Power Twitter adds additional features to Twitter including:
-inline YouTube, Flickr, TwitPic, Google Maps, song.ly, and all sorts of playable/viewable media 
-link expansion 
-link translation to page titles 
-search scoped to a specific user 
-status history peeking on mouseover 
-Facebook status updates 
-custom settings 
-@mentions of friends on profile pages 
-photo uploading 
-link shrinking 
-#dailyquestion
http://powertwitter.me/get/greasemonkey/

DEVIANT ART SCRIPT

deviantDestroyer

This script gets rid of the idiotic footer of massive proportions of DAV6
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/53564

Suggest DD V0.6

This allows you to easily suggest daily deviations from the deviation page.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/30911

ABOUT.COM SCRIPT

About.com Cleanup

Remove ads, make outgoing links direct, remove extraneous elements.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/19095

LAST.FM SCRIPTS

Last.fm – Lyrics

Adds lyrics from Wikia to Last.fm track pages.
This script adds a panel with song lyrics to Last.fm track pages. The lyrics are retrieved from lyrics.wikia.com. You can configure the positioning of panel, collapse or expand the panel, and delay loading of lyrics when collapsed.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/25208

Last.fm – Hide Activity Box

Allows user to toggle display of activity box in their own profile
This is a short script that modifies the activity box for a user on their own profile.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/30628

YOUTUBE SCRIPT

YouTube Auto Buffer & Auto HD & Remove Ads

Buffers the video without autoplaying, removes in-video ads, and puts it in HD if the option is on.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/49366

OTHER SCRIPT

Google Reader Subscribers Count

Shows how many subscribers to a Google Reader feed on many sites.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/21909

There are many other scripts that I use. I have more on Stylish scripts, but you will want to come back to read about Stylish.
If you use Greasemonkey, Greasefire, or other user script utilities, please let us know your experiences and advice. Help spread the word to other readers and share the wealth! Also, if you liked this article, please leave a comment.

I use Firefox as my default browser and have been working on developing my skills in web development. Here are a few of the tools for Firefox that I use and find very helpful in helping you learn and grow. (NOTE:  I am unable to link you to the exact location on the Mozilla website, I apologize for the inconvenience. There is a link on a few of the extensions to the developer site.) Enjoy!

ColorZilla 2.0.2

This addon features an advanced eyedropper, color picker, page zoomer and other useful tools. With it, you can obtain color information from any point in your browser, quickly adjust the color and paste it into another program. You can also zoom the page you’re on and measure distances between any two points on the page. It also includes a built-in palette browser containing pre-defined color sets and you can create a custom palette.  There are many other features that you can check out on their web site (the second link).
http://www.colorzilla.com/firefox/

Dummy Lipsum 2.3.2

This addon generates ‘Lorem Ipsum’ dummy text. This is useful when creating templates or web sites.
http://sogame.awardspace.com/dummylipsum/

Firebug 1.4.5

This addon provides development tools you can use while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live on any web page.
http://getfirebug.com/

FireFTP 1.0.6

This addon is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Firefox that provides easy access to FTP servers. You can compare directories, sync directories while navigating, use SFTP, SSL encryption, and much more.
http://fireftp.mozdev.org/

FirePHP 0.3.1

This addon allows you to log your Firebug Console using a simple PHP method call.
http://www.firephp.org/

FireRainbow 1.0

This is an experimental addon that requires Firebug. It brings JavaScript syntax highlighting to Firebug.
http://firerainbow.binaryage.com/

MeasureIt 0.3.9

This addon gives you a tool to draw out a ruler to get the pixel width and height of any elements on a webpage. It has many more features, see the MeasureIt web site (second link) to see what else it does).
http://www.kevinfreitas.net/extensions/measureit/

YSlow 2.0.2

This addon analyzes web pages and why they’re slow using Yahoo!’s rules for high performance sites. It analyzes pages and gives suggestions on ways to improve their performance. Firebug is required to use this addon.
http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/

If you have any suggestions for extensions you use or experiences you would like to share, please feel free to leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers.

Most of us use Firefox as our preferred browser. I use it myself. I have found many different extensions that Firefox offers along with user scripts that I use with the Greasemonkey and Stylish extensions. Check out the video below to get an idea of how the extensions that I use for customization work (you may want to watch it in full screen mode for a clear picture).

(NOTE: I had links to direct you to the extension for Firefox addons but they don’t seem to work. You would have to type in the name of the extension in Firefox addons to install. I apologize for the inconvenience and will try to figure out how to add the links.)

AutoPager 0.5.3.5
This extension automatically loads the next page of a variety of web sites when you reach the end of the page creating an infinite scrolling of the sites pages. To create custom autopaging for unsupported sites, you can use the included site wizard feature.
http://www.teesoft.info/

Fasterfox 3.8.2 Lite
This extension allows for performance and network tweaks for Firefox.  It allows you to easily tweak many network and rendering settings like simultaneous connections, pipelining, cache and initial paint delay. It includes options for SSL Pipelining, timer-based content reflows, UI Responsiveness, Link Prefetching, IPv6 DNS lookups and the Page Load Timer is disabled.

FastestFox Browse Faster 3.0.0
This extension saves you time by speeding up repetitive tasks. It gives you options like parallelizing downloads, autoloading of next page, improving searches and much more.
http://smarterfox.com/news/

Greasefire 1.0.4
This extension automatically finds Greasemonkey scripts from userscripts.org (requires Greasemonkey). If a page you’re visiting has available user scripts on userscripts.org, this extension will highlight the Greasemonkey icon in your status bar. Just right click the Greasemonkey icon and view the available userscripts.
http://code.google.com/p/greasefire/

Greasemonkey 0.8.20090920.2
This extension allows you to customize the way webpages are displayed using userscripts. It resides in your status bar and you can enable/disable it just by clicking on the Greasemonkey icon.
http://www.greasespot.net/

Platypus 0.81
This extension allows web page modification from your browser (WYSIWYG) and gives you the ability to save your changes as a Greasemonkey script so that every time you are on your modified page, it will be the same page you modified.
http://platypus.mozdev.org/

Restart Firefox 0.3
This extension adds  a ‘Restart Firefox’ menu item to your ‘File’ menu in Firefox.

Stylish 1.0.7
This extension allows you to change the web using Stylish. It allows you to install themes and skins for Google, Facebook, YouTube, and many others using scripts. Click the links below to view more of what Stylish can do.
http://userstyles.org/

These are just a few of the top Firefox extensions that I have found to be useful. What are some of the Firefox extensions that you use that you would like to share with everyone? Feel free to leave a comment with the extension and your experiences with them and share the wealth with our fellow readers.