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5 Extensions Perfect for Flock

Written by Josh on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Flock is the all-in-one browser. Well, not exactly but it sure packs a lot more features then Firefox and any additional extensions you wish to add are almost certain to be completely compatible. Flock is built on Firefox so it has all the performance and security advantages while additionally having a great new interface and a lot of unique features and service integrations.

Here are a few Firefox extensions which I think perfectly complement the existing Flock browser:

1) Meebo – Web Messenger

Flock integrates a number of services such as Facebook, Twitter and Digg yet it has no messaging or chat capabilities.

Granted most people prefer their own messaging client such as Windows Live, Yahoo!, Pidgin or Digsby, but if not then here is a perfect solution for you; Meebo Web Messenger Extension.

Meebo Web Messenger is a surprisingly popular (even mainstream), service as pointed out by Robert Scoble. With Meebo you can chat to all your friends on any of the major chat networks (Windows Live, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL…) while avoiding any network or computer restrictions you may encounter at work, school or university.

The Meebo extension fits into Flock perfectly. The only slightly annoying thing is that to use the sidebar you have to have the Meebo website open in a tab even when your not having any conversations.

Try it out… I had a couple of crashes whilst using it, however I actually don’t know if that was because of the Meebo extension, or other factors. I have a lot going on at once on my computer and it could just be coincidence.

2) TwitterBar

Twitterbar may seem a little superfluous considering Flock already has handy Twitter integration right into the People sidebar, however this extension ads in a little icon to the address bar making it super easy to post straight to Twitter, and additionally making it incredible simple to post URLs.

These screenshots demonstrate how it works; a little icon appears at the end of the URL bar and when moused over displays the characters you have left while typing a message into the address bar. Click the icon to post straight to Twitter.

3) Video Download Helper

Flock includes YouTube as part of the People sidebar, and a number of other video hosting websites through the Flock MediaBar. Chances are if you like to watch online video you would also like to download some of your favourites to your desktop.

Video DownloadHelper downloads and converts various video and audio files from online galleries and hosting services into formats you can save and store on your desktop.

4) LinkedIn

It’s more of a niche social network but LinkedIN is very successful and even manages to make money! Guess it just doesn’t know how to play the Web 2.0 game.

I doubt it’s high up on the Flock Team’s development radar, so this a great little extension to bring LinkedIn functions into your browser to go alongside Facebook, Digg etc.

With this extension you can:

Bookmark LinkedIn profiles, searches and jobs:

Search using built-in LinkedIn Search Engines

Remember recent LinkedIn pages; easily go back to them:

Find inside connections at employers with the JobsInsider if you are a jobseeker:

See LinkedIn profile information for every email you receive via Yahoo! Gmail, Hotmail and AOL.

5) Blue Organiser

This perfectly complements the existing features of Flock, but adding in a whole multitude of sharing features to a toolbar context menu.

Blue Organiser analyses each web page you browse and provides various sharing, web services and bookmarking options:

BlueOrganizer understands the content of web pages and offers a smart-browsing experience: when looking at an address, find it on Google maps instantly, when reading a book review save it to your Amazon Wish List with a single click, or when looking at a movie add it immediately to your Netflix queue - and much more.

Looking at the extension page itself Blue Organiser suggested these options: