Sidebar Icons is a Firefox Extension.

You can download it from the Firefox Add-Ons site.

Normally, when you open your sidebar, it will look like the image below. Take note of the empty space in the sidebar’s title bar:

After installing the Sidebar Icons extension, that empty space is filled with helpful icons:

The icon on the very left is for your bookmarks. But you can also click on the middle icon to access your Web History:

And the icon on the far-right to access your downloads:

These buttons are just a small time-saver that can be used to enhance your browsing experience.

Netscape Link Pad is a Firefox Extension.

You can download it from the Firefox Add-Ons site.

Have you ever come across a link that you want to save, but don’t feel like cluttering up your bookmarks?

Well, Netscape Link Pad provides a space in your sidebar where you can drag-n-drop links that you can quickly come back to.

There are several ways to open the Netscape Link Pad.

First, you can click on the the status bar icon:

Second, you can go to View > Sidebar > Link Pad:

Below is a screenshot of the Link Pad opened in the sidebar:

To add your links, just drag-n-drop them into the sidebar, or onto the status bar button.

Your links will appear in the order that you drop them there:

You can further customize this extension in the Options Window:

This tutorial will show you how to open the GoogleTalk gadget in your Firefox sidebar.

Just right-click on the link below and choose “Bookmark This Link.” Then save it as you would any other bookmark:

http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/client

Next, go to the bookmark that you just saved and right-click on it.

Click on “Properties”:

Check the box labeled “Load this bookmark in the sidebar”:

The next time you click on the bookmark, GoogleTalk will open in your sidebar.

Just right-click on the link below and choose “Bookmark This Link.” Then save it as you would any other bookmark:

http://www.google.com/notebook/ig?hl=__MSG_locale__

Next, go to the bookmark that you just saved and right-click on it.

Click on “Properties”:

Check the box labeled “Load this bookmark in the sidebar”:

The next time you click on the bookmark, Google Notebook will open in your sidebar.

What is Mahalo?

Mahalo is a human-powered search engine. Founded by Jason Calacanis, Mahalo seeks to eliminate spam, mediocre content, and deceptive sites from our daily search results.

Mahalo Follow is a toolbar/sidebar extension for Firefox. This tutorial will take you step-by-step through its features.

Installation

To download Mahalo Follow, go to http://follow.mahalo.com

Scroll down and click on the “Install Mahalo Follow” button:

If the download doesn’t begin immediately, it means you have to give Firefox special permission to download from this website.

In the top right corner of your browser window, you’ll see a button labeled “Edit Options.”

Click on this button.

An “Allowed Sites” window will open. Click on the “Allow” button:

Then click the “Close” button.

The download should begin.

Add Search Engine

After restarting Firefox, you’ll be greeted with a message box asking if you’d like to add Mahalo as one of your Firefox search engines:

If you click the “Add” button, Mahalo will be added to your search bar:

Toolbar

Let’s go through the different toolbar features.

First you’ll notice the search box:

Clicking on the logo will take you directly to the Mahalo home page. Or, you can type your search term into the search box.

Next, you’ll see the “Random” button:

This is a great way to expand your horizons and learn something new.

Clicking this button will bring up a random Mahalo results page.

If you’d like to narrow down the results page to a specific category, just click the small black arrow located on the right side of the button. Then choose from the menu:

The Random button is followed by the “Directory” button. Clicking on it will bring up a thorough directory to help you find your search term:

To the right of the Directory button, you can choose whether or not you would recommend the current page to a friend.

If you’d like, you can hide the Mahalo toolbar from view.

Just go to the top of your browser and click View > Toolbars > Mahalo Toolbar:

Sidebar

The Mahalo Sidebar is quite unique.

By default, whenever you do a search on one of the major search engines (like Google) your sidebar will open up displaying the results from Mahalo.

Here’s an example:

Click on any of the results in the sidebar to open them up in your browser window.

If you’d prefer not to have the sidebar open automatically, you can disable this feature in the extension’s Options Window:

If you disable the automatic function, you can still manually open Mahalo results in the sidebar.

Just hit Ctrl+Shift+F on your keyboard, or click on the Mahalo toolbar button:

Mahalo Follow is a great tool to help you find quality search results.

The history is stored locally on your computer. In other words, it is not being logged for someone else to see. You also have the option to delete parts or all of your history at anytime.

The purpose of having the history is for your own recourse. Let’s say you visited a great site last week, but can’t remember the name of it. You can easily search through your history to find out.

There are a bunch of options to help you pinpoint the site you are looking for, so let’s delve into it.

To watch a video on viewing your browsing history in the sidebar, click on the “Play Video” button below. Or, scroll down for step-by-step instructions with screenshots:

Step-by-Step Instructions with Screenshots

At the very top of your browser, click on History:

A list of the last 10 sites that you visited will appear. But we’re looking to access your entire history, so click on “Show in Sidebar.” Or, if you prefer to use the keyboard, type Ctrl+H:

A sidebar, containing your history, will open in your browser window.

Click on the “View” button:

There are 5 different ways to view your browsing history:

Let’s take them one at a time, starting with “By Date & Site”:

In this view, your history is organized by Date first (e.g., Today, 3 days ago, 4 days ago…) and then by each Site you visit (e.g., google.com, tech.cybernetnews.com…)

The next view is “By Site”:

In this view, all websites from all days are listed in alphabetical order.

The next view is “By Date”:

In this view, your history is listed by Date only.

The last two views are:

By Most Visited: This list is arranged by the sites you visit most. If you visit CyberNet News more than any other site, it will be at the top of the list. Every other website will follow accordingly.

By Last Visited: This list is arranged in real-time so-to-speak. As you browse the Internet, the site that you are currently viewing will be at the top of the list. Visit another site, and it will be at the top of the list, and so on.

Finally, you can search for a site using the search box. The results will appear as you type:

If you’d like to close the sidebar, just click on the Red [x] in the top-right corner of the sidebar window. You can also type Ctrl+H on your keyboard.

Step-by-Step Instructions with Screenshots

At the top of your browser click View > Sidebar > Bookmarks, or, on your keyboard type CTRL+B.

A sidebar will appear on the left side of your browser:

Close the Sidebar

You can keep the sidebar open at all times if you’d like. But if you want to close it, just click on the red box [x] located in the top right corner of the sidebar.

Search your Bookmarks

Let’s say you have lots of bookmarks, or, you accidentally forgot which folder you saved a certain bookmark in. Well the bookmark search feature is great for these situations. Just start typing the name of the bookmark in the Search box, and your bookmark will quickly appear.

Resize the Sidebar

If you find that the sidebar takes up too much of your precious browser space, you can always resize it. Just left-click on the the right edge of the sidebar and drag it in whichever direction you’d like.