Enhance your web browser with add-ons

Internet Explorer 7 is currently the most popular internet browser, so we’ll start by looking at this program. If you use Firefox, feel free to skip to Step 8. To view a list of the add-ons that are currently installed, click the Tools button in the toolbar and select Manage Add-ons followed by ‘Enable or Disable Add-ons’ from the menu that appears. By default, the displayed list shows only the names of any installed add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer. To change this view, make a new selection from the Show menu.

A longer list of installed add-ons can be seen by selecting the ‘Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer’ option. Whichever view is selected, the main portion of this dialogue box provides plenty of information. The Name column indicates the names of add-ons, while the Publisher column reveals who produced them. The status column indicates whether an add-on is enabled or disabled, and the Type column shows the type of extension. There are three types of add-on: Browser Extensions, Browser Helper Objects and ActiveX Controls.

Although it is not possible to uninstall Browser Extensions or Browser Helper Objects, those which are no longer needed or are proving troublesome can be disabled. Perhaps the easiest mode in which to do this is to select the ‘Add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer’ option before choosing the add-on you want to work with. In the Settings section beneath the list of add-ons select the Disable option. In the list of installed add-ons, the add-on will move from the Enabled to Disabled section.

Browser Extensions and Browser Helper Objects are generally either pre-installed components of Internet Explorer, or part of another program – this is why they cannot be uninstalled on their own. The third group of add-ons, ActiveX Controls, must be manually installed and often provide access to multimedia content on web pages – such as the Flash add-on and Java. To view a list of these manually-installed add-ons select Downloaded ActiveX Controls from the Show menu.

ActiveX Controls can be temporarily enabled or disabled in the same way as Browser Extensions and Browser Helper objects – just select an item from the list before selecting the Enable or Disable option. But ActiveX Controls that are no longer needed can also be completely uninstalled, and this is useful if a particular add-on is causing problems, or too many add-ons are causing Internet Explorer to run slowly. Select the relevant add-on from the list and click the Delete button before confirming the action. After making any changes to add-ons, Internet Explorer will need to be restarted.

When troubleshooting problems with add-ons, it can be useful to start Internet Explorer in a special ‘no add-ons’ mode. Click the Start button followed by All Programs, and then click Accessories followed by System Tools before selecting Internet Explorer (No Add-ons). Add-ons that could not be disabled in normal mode can now be disabled by clicking the Tools button followed by Internet Options. Move to the Programs tab and click the ‘Manage add-ons’ button before using the information in the previous steps to delete unwanted items.

Loads of extra add-ons exist for Internet Explorer, and there are a couple of ways to access the online gallery of downloads. With the Manage Add-ons window open, click the ‘Download new add-ons for Internet Explorer’ link at the bottom of the window, or alternatively, click the Tools button and select Manage Add-ons followed by Find More Add-ons. Since the release of Beta 2 of Microsoft’s latest browser Internet Explorer 8, this is now a requirement for trying out the add-ons. It’s is still in beta (test phase), but it includes a range of enhancements and improvements, along with support for a new selection of add-ons. If you’re using IE8 already, visit www.ieaddons.com for an idea of what’s available.

Much like Internet Explorer, Firefox makes use of add-ons to add extra tools and functions, and they fall into two broad categories – Add-ons and Plugins. Whether looking for new add-ons or to take control of those which have already been installed, click the Tools menu and select Add-ons to access the Add-ons dialogue box. From here it is possible to configure not only add-ons that have already been installed, but also search for new add-ons and receive recommendations for ones you may be interested in.

In the Get Add-ons section, a list of recommended add-ons is displayed. Click a title to read more about a particular add-on – or the Learn More link to visit the add-on’s web page – and click the ‘Add to Firefox’ button to install it. After waiting for a few seconds, click the OK button to continue with the installation and follow the instructions. To track down an add-on that performs a particular function, enter a search term in the search box at the top of the window and press Enter.

There are far more add-ons available than are listed in the recommended section. To access more, either click the Browse All Add-ons link in the upper right of the box, or visit https://addons.mozilla.org. Browse the various categories to see what’s available and click the ‘Add to Firefox’ button to install anything you’re interested in. As mentioned in the previous step, it is necessary to wait for a few seconds before clicking the OK button to continue installing.

Once an add-on has been installed, it is possible that there are some options that can be configured – although this is not always the case. Open the Add-ons dialogue box and move to the Extensions tab to see a list of everything that has been installed. Click an entry for a particular add-on and if there are any configurable options, an Options button will be displayed. Just what settings can be adjusted varies from one add-on to another, and you should check the add-on’s web page for details of how to use it.

It is possible for some add-ons to cause problems with some websites, and it may therefore be necessary to temporarily disable something which has been installed, or even uninstall it altogether. To do so, move to the Extensions section of the Add-on dialogue box, select an extension and click the Disable or Uninstall button as required. Just as Internet Explorer uses ActiveX controls to allow browsers to view special web content, so Firefox uses plugins. Move to the Plugins section to see what is installed and click the Disable or Enable button as required.

Like Firefox itself, not to mention most other programs, extensions and add-ons are frequently updated. Updated versions may fix problems that have been found or add new features, so using the latest versions is highly recommended. Move to the Extensions section of the Add-ons dialogue and click the Find Updates button. Any available updates for installed plugins will be detected and must then be installed. After updating you will usually have to restart Firefox.

To ensure that you are always working with the latest versions of any extensions you have installed, it is a good idea to make sure that automatic updates are enabled. Select Options from the Tools menu and then move to the Advanced section. Switch to the Update tab and tick the box labelled Installed Add-ons. Firefox will now check for any available updates for the extensions you have installed every time the browser is launched - manual update checks can be performed at any time.