First of all, I recommend Chrome as your browser. If you haven't downloaded it yet, you should do it here. Lots of awesome features and plugins that are arising daily. In this article I will cover bookmarks, extensions and tips for Chrome.
Bookmarks
Amount of time saved by using bookmarks is tremendous, it may be small chunks of time, but investment in familiarizing yourself with your bookmarks and way of sorting them out is pretty important tool for anyone who is spending a lot of time in front of computer. For Chrome there is one awesome tip. When you are bookmarking, delete the description of your bookmark and you will only save favicon of website. For websites that you visit often, but not on daily basis, use Folders. I am using folders to organize my Google Docs. Hence my browser is becoming more and more like my operating system.
Extensions
There is a huge list of extensions that I am using. When I sit down on some foreign computer I find myself amazed how people could function without all the plugins and addons that I use on day to day basis. What I find amazing about Chrome is that it helps me out with my extensions. Unlike Mozilla, I have this neat feature, where I can sync my bookmarks, but if you scratch under the surface, you will find out, that not only bookmarks can be synced, but also your theme, your extensions, apps, auto fill... And couple of other stuff that I've forgot to mention. So you're away from your devices and need to sit and work on device that isn't customized to your needs, you simply sync everything and you can feel like on your own computer. This tool is lifesaver, keep your working environment in the cloud...
There are some changes in the newer version of Chrome, you will need to access sync from the options.
Here is the list of extensions that I find important.
10. Chromed Bird - If you are Twitter user, you will find this extension extremely useful! Chromed Bird is a Twitter extension that allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account, and it does a great job at it!
09. Google Tasks - A simple Google Task extension for Chrome. If you are using Google Tasks (you can access it from your gMail) you will find this extension great. I keep note of things that I need to do, and if I remember something I can add it directly from browser. Keep in mind that all my to do lists are kept on my android device main screen. It's neat and always reminds you to keep the right track on what you need to do. Here are some tips from LifeHacker on android tasks sync.
08. Insta Paper - You are surfing the web to find something and you stumble upon this great article that's not really related to the topic that you're looking for. You would love to read it, but you need to look for other things? With Insta Paper website and Insta Fetch, you can save those articles for later and read them offline on your phone while waiting in the line of the bank, or while you are waiting for a bus, or whenever you have free time to read stuff that you saved. I prefer Insta Paper to Evernote, because of some cool features InstaFetch has. If I find article really useful for later reference for the article I am developing I will send it to Evernote's notebook related to that particular website. Also one of great features of Insta Paper is that you can send articles you find interesting directly to Google Reader. If I find desktop standalone application I will update this article. But for now, this is one of the extensios I highly recommend. You can also optimize it to close the page, when it's done memorizing it on InstaPaper.
07. Send Using Gmail - If you are like me, than your gMail, is most probably your default mailing client. When you click on email link, it will automatically open compose new message in gmail.
06. Swap My Cookies - You are using multiple email adresses? Or have couple of Twitter accounts? You can check them all by using Swap My Cookies extension. You simply click the cookie set that you want opened and it switches you right to it. That way you can check multiple emails. There are many other uses of this spectacular addon, which you can figure out for yourself.
05. Clip To Evernote - Same as Insta Paper, just different platform. I use it for article research.
04. Share-a-holic - This add on you've gotta see for yourself. Let's you customize it in the way you are using the web. You can share on Facebook, Twitter, via gmail and many other things... Saves time and makes your browsing experience more social...
03. RSS Subscription - I am avid user of gReader, and this extension lets me subscribe to a blog that I want to follow in 1 simple click.
02. PDF Viewer - Automatically previews pdfs, powerpoint presentations, and other documents in Google Docs Viewer. Adds cool feature to download the file into your Google Docs.
01. X Marks - If you use multiple browsers and computers like I do, Xmarks is insane tool! Lets you sync your passwords as well as your browsing history, all of that across multiple browser platforms. You also have backups of everything on your Xmarks account. All of these features put it on the very top of extension for Chrome and for other browsers as well.
Tips for Chrome
I will keep tips short and useful, just meat.
First of all, learn to pin tabs. Pinning tabs saves space and whenever you close Chrome, pinned tabs will be saved, for the next time you open it.
Use Auto Fill (you can find it in settings). If you are completing a lot of forms on the web you can use this neat feature.
DO NOT SAVE YOUR PASSWORDS - This is one of the weakest features in Chrome. Whoever comes by and sits by your computer can gain your passwords in three simple clicks. There is no master password like Mozilla have it, and seems like Google won't implement this feature anytime soon, even though users are complaining on this major security flaw.
Hope you enjoyed this article, if you found it useful share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter or simply email it to someone who might make use of it.
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