Don’t get us wrong, Google Reader is our favorite feedreader. But sometimes, we just wish it was a little…better. Here are 50 Firefox extensions and scripts to make Google Reader your own.
Note: some of these require the Greasemonkey or Stylish extensions. Also see Google Reader on the iPhone.
Kamis, 31 Januari 2008
50+ Google Reader Extensions and Scripts For Firefox
15 Ways To Create Website Screenshots
Taking screenshots of web sites is probably one of the most commonly done tasks on the internet - doubly so if you have a blog or work as a journalist. This week, we wrote about Thumbalizr, a service that lets you take screenshots of websites. However, there are several other tools for easy screenshot capturing - some standalone and some in the form of a browser plugin.
Plugins
Save as image - an aptly named Firefox plugin that lets you save a page, frame, or part of either as an image directly from Firefox.
Pearl Crescent Page Saver - Save images of web pages in jpg or png format; save the entire page or just a portion of it, with the ability to automatically scale the image to a smaller size.
Picnik for Firefox - if you use online image editor Picnik this Firefox plugin enables you to easily import a screenshot of the currently opened webpage into it.
Snissa - simple Firefox plugin for taking web page screenshots.
Screengrab! - a plugin that lets you save visible part of window, the entire page, just a selection, or a particular frame of a webpage.
ieSnapshotter - a shareware plugin for Internet Explorer that allows you to take screenshots and thumbnails of web pages.
Standalone programs
SnagIt - definitely one of the best programs for screenshot capturing, with all the options you might need. Integrates with Firefox, can replace the standard Windows print screen function, and enables you to create profiles for various types of use. Costs 39.95 bucks, but you can try out a free trial version before buying.
FastStone Capture - a powerful utility for taking screenshots with a floating control panel as well as the ability to capture anything on the screen including windows, objects, full screen, rectangle regions, and even freehand-selected regions.
WebShot - a program that allows you to take screenshots and thumbnails of web pages or whole websites. Its main advantage is its powerful command line utility which enables you to automate the process of taking screenshots.
Paparazzi! - a tiny application for Mac OS X that lets you take screenshots of web pages.
PrintKey - replaces your print screen function with a better one with more features. There’s a commercial version but you can also find an older, unsupported, freeware version on the provided link.
I4X Screencatcher - take screenshots of the active window, entire screen, or the selected area with this tool.
InstantShot - an advanced but freeware application for Mac OS X that sits in your menu bar and gives you a myriad of screen capturing options, including capturing a region, hotkeys, several output formats, image scaling and many others.
Web based
WebShotsPro - enter a URL address and get a screenshot of the website in question. Simple. You might encounter quite a long queue before getting your screenshot, though.
Thumbalizr - already mentioned in a recent article, Thumbalizr lets you create screenshots of websites by pasting their URL; the only problem is that it doesn’t always work.
Read More..Top 50+ Great Widgets For Your Blog
Widgets are a handy, easy and simple way to add some flare to your blog. Whether you’d like to display the number of currently online visitors to your site or simply the weather report for Los Angeles, you can do it with widgets. We’ve assembled a list of 50 useful or simply cool widgets for your pleasure. And remember, the first rule of widgetizing your blog is - don’t overdo it!
- MyBlogLog’s Recent Readers - this widget can easily be called a hit amongst blog owners; its popularity even managed to convince Yahoo into buying MyBlogLog. The widget lets you see the avatars of recent visitors to your blog, provided they’re also members of MyBlogLog.
- Mashable - get the latest social networking news from this very site.
- Flickr Flash Photo Stream Badge - display images from your Flickr profile with a handy Flash photo stream.
- Preview Anywhere - see a live preview of outgoing links in a small popup which activates on mouseover. Some find this annoying, while others might find it useful.
- Twitter Badge - if your life is so interesting that everyone must know what you’re up to all the time, then a Twitter badge is the ideal counterpart to your blog. It’ll proudly displays your recent tweets.
- Digg News - display the latest Digg links on your blog. Themeable and fully customizable.
- FEEDJIT - real time traffic data directly in your blog’s sidebar.
- LineBuzz - inline comments for your blog. Very handy for blogs with frequent lively discussions.
- Flixn - display a stream directly from your webcam, so your blog visitors can always see what you’re up to.
- 3Jam - lets your visitors send messages to your mobile phone, without them knowing your phone number.
- Jaxtr - with Jaxtr, your visitors can actually call you to your mobile phone; again, your number stays private.
- LinkedInABox - show off your LinkedIn profile. Perfect for personal blogs.
- Box Widget - enable visitors to use box.net’s online storage directly on your web site.
- Price of gas - displaying gas prices on your blog might seem unnecessary to some, but it’s cool if you have a traffic/travel related blog.
- iBegin Weather Widget - Display weather information in your sidebar. Just like with Price of Gas, works great with travel-related blogs.
- ClockLink - display time in various time zones with these nifty Flash clocks.
- Film Loops - display the latest loops from your FilmLoops account.
- Daily Painters - display paintings from famous painters on your blog.
- WhoLinked - show your visitors which sites have recently linked to your web site. Works with all major blog platforms.
- Criteo AutoRoll - displays links to blogs similar to your blog.
- Bitty Browser - embed a cute, fully functional mini web browser to your blog.
- Leafletter - create a mini website and embed it into your blog.
- WikiSeek - search Wikipedia with this simple widget.
- FeedCount - show off the number of visitors to your blog with this handy little button.
- Technorati Link Count - display the number of links your website has from one of the biggest blog authorities - Technorati.
- MyPageRank - another good way to show how “big” your blog is is to show off your Google PageRank.
- del.icio.us Tagometer - display how many times have del.icio.us users saved your page.
- del.icio.us Linkrolls - this badge shows your latest bookmarks from del.icio.us.
- Timelines - need to create a timeline? Seek no further. This widget makes it really easy.
- PollDaddy - PollDaddy lets you create beautiful polls in no time, and display them at your blog.
- Vizu - another poll-making widget, compatible with all major blog platforms.
- AnswerTips - display definitions from Answers.com for various terms on your blog. The definitions are shown in bubbles which are activated on doubleclick.
- AnswerBoxes - give your visitors a chance to enter a term themselves, and get a definition from Answers.com
- Now Playing - if you got to share your current playlist contents with the world, Sigamp will do the trick. Works with most popular music players, including Foobar, Winamp, iTunes and others.
- BuzzBoost - display headlines from your RSS feed on any website.
- LibraryThing - show off the latest books you’ve been reading.
- Plaxo Address Book - let your most faithful visitors access their address books direclty from your site.
- AuctionAds - a widget that displays auctioned items on eBay, and gives you a percentage of the price paid when sometimes buys an item.
- aStore - similar to AuctionAds, only for Amazon. Create a mini-store on your site and receive profit when someone buys an item through your store.
- Plazes - show your current location on a Plazes map.
- Stockalicious - track your portfolio with this widget, and share it with others. Let everyone know how much money you’ve lost.
- Yahoo! For Good - create a charity badge and ask for donations for a worthy cause.
- Giftspace - your friends never know what to buy you for birthday? Let them know what you really want with this nifty widget.
- MixMap - see where are the visitors to your MySpace profile from on a map.
- Google Map Widget - display a searchable Google Map on your website.
- Google Video Search - add a video search form and selected videos to your web site.
- Odeo player - display an Odeo player for and podcast right there in your sidebar.
- CheckPageRank - in addition to showing your PageRank, this widget also shows your Alexa ranking.
- BlinkxIt - embed a link to related videos directly into your website.
- Skype button - display your Skype online/offline status on your blog.
- RockYou Horoscope - not something I would personally use, but some people are into horoscope. Hell, most people are into horoscope. Anyway, this widget shows horoscope (doh!) and does it in a nicely designed colorful box.
Read More..
Top 10 Free E-books For Bloggers
E-books aren’t as great to read as old school hard-bound books that you can cuddle up with in your bed. But, with some topics, like blogging, you’ll find more useful e-books than regular books. That’s why we checked out all the e-books for bloggers and handpicked ten contemporary ones that we think are the best of the lot.
Authority Black Book
Authority Black Book - What is an authority presence on the web? Why is it important to have an authority and how can you attain authority? What are the web 2.0 tools that you can use? Authority Black Book is a 64-page ebook by Jake Humphrey explaining how to get the best out of web 2.0 technology including blogging, RSS marketing, social bookmarking sites, social media marketing sites, and video marketing in order to attract more traffic to your site. There is also a list of web 2.0 resource sites.
You would already be aware of what is written about in the ebook if you have been blogging for quite some time. But the ebook is a good resource with plenty of links of the top sites and services in different categories related to blogging, and you can take it as a starting point if you are newly starting out in the blogosphere.
Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization
Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization - For many a blogger, search engine optimization is the next thing they want to understand once they set up their blog and are couple of weeks into blogging. If that’s the case, this is the ebook that they should get their hands on. Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization is a good newbie’s guide to SEO practices from SEOmoz explaining how search engines operate, how to conduct keyword research, building a traffic-worthy site, and growing a site’s popularity.
The ebook can be downloaded in MS Word or Open Office Text Document format. There are single page and 9-page versions of the ebook as well that you can read online.
BlogBash: Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging - learn from 30 experts
BlogBash: Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging - learn from 30 experts - What can you say when you get 30 of the top bloggers from across the globe writing down their secrets in one free ebook? This ebook is a must-read for every blogger.
Some of the articles include - Synergy between SEO and traditional marketing by Aaron Wall of SEOBook, Driving traffic using Delicious by Neil Patel of ProNetAdvertising, 7 ways to make your content search engine friendly by Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips, Staying Connected-the secret to keeping those loyal readers by Liz Strauss of Successful-Blog, Help me - my mom is my blog’s only reader by Darren Rowse of Problogger, Advertising in the blogosphere by Chris Batty of Gizmodo, among others. This ebook is a product of BlogBash - the 30 day event featuring expert bloggers from across the blogosphereBlog Profits Blueprint
Blog Profits Blueprint - Starting off with how he discovered blogging, Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey explains in this 54 page ebook the strategies and tactics you require to start blogging successfully. Some of the subjects he talks about include key ingredients of attracting attraction to your blog, how to choose your blog traffic - passions vs profits, creating pillar posts, marketing your blog, etc.
Yaro also details blog monetization methods including Google AdSense and other alternatives. There is a section on RSS and blog advertising too. The writing is easy to comprehend and Yaro has included some genuine experiences that you can learn from.
Dive Into Web 2.0
Dive Into Web 2.0 - This is a comprehensive guide to Web 2.0 sites and technologies including search engines, SEO, wikis, blogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social media, tagging, web monetization, APIs, mashups, widgets, gadgets, RSS, web 2.0 business models, and rich media applications like AJAX, Silverlight, Google Gears, and many more.
Maybe you can say Wikipedia is there for all these terminologies. But what this ebook brings you is the entire set of web 2.0 technologies in one go, exposing many tools that you might not have heard about before.
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents - Reporters Without Borders is an international organization that works for press freedom. In this ebook, the organization provides tips to blog anonymously and get round censorship for free expression in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. In their own words, bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Sometimes, only bloggers provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest. Plenty of bloggers have been thrown in prison for their writing.
One unique tidbit that you won’t find anywhere else is the chapter on Blogging ethics that talks about thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, transparency, and independence. There are also personal accounts of bloggers who have been writing from Internet-censored countries.
The ebook also dedicates the final chapter to the countries that censor the Internet including China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. This is truly one read that reminds us that blogging is not all about keeping a personal diary or being just a business tool. It can play serious socio-political roles in different parts of the world.
Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com
Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com is a comprehensive ebook on everything you need to start a blog and maintain it successfully. Written by John Chow, one of the most outspoken bloggers on blogging, the ebook explains blogging tips for beginners and then goes into blog monetization tips with examples of various affiliate links, blog promotion tips, and Google Optimization. There is a chapter on Wordpress as well.
The ebook has 9 chapters spread across 59 pages. A must read for beginners and something that even a veteran blogger might find useful.
Unleashing the Idea Virus
Unleashing the Idea Virus - This is a mega 197-page viral marketing ebook by marketing guru Seth Godin. He explains why ideas matter, and reveals the secrets on how to unleash an ideavirus. He also presented many case studies to prove his point.
The book answers tricky questions like why is it foolish to launch a new business with millions of dollars in TV ads, why the market leaders in every industry are more vulnerable to sudden successes by the competition than ever before, what’s the single most important asset a company can create—and what is the simple thing that can kill it, does the Net create a dynamic that fundamentally changes the way everything is marketed, and how can any big or small business use ideavirus marketing to succeed, among others.
Although the book is aimed at marketing professionals, it is also a must-read for professional bloggers, webmasters, and those who are out in the blogospshere to create a successful brand/product for themselves.
Web Style Guide
Web Style Guide - This is a newbie webmaster’s guide to page design, typography, editorial style, graphics, and multimedia. There are sections on web site accessibility, CSS, and flexible page design, information architecture, and site maintenance, coupled with illustrations and examples.
Who’s There
Who’s there - Seth Godin again in his unconventional style reveals a few truths about blogging, and defines three types of blogs - cat blogs, boss blogs, and viral blogs. He also lists down the four laws of blogs and the five components of a great blog.
This is one of those books that’ll make you stop and think. A must-read.
Read More..
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