A Flickr user and Digg beta tester posted the above screenshot of the toolbar in development by the 900-lb. gorilla of link-sharing services. It’s JavaScript-based, offers Twitter-style URLs, and meant for hardcore Diggers. As you can see in the upper-right, the Digg toolbar, which should work with any modern browser, offers a StumbleUpon-like “Random” button to take you to a new, popular-on-Digg page, based in part on your own past Digg activity. And social network sharing links are ready to roll as well.
It’s obviously not something a casual Digg voter would get into, but would having a random Digg pointer make the link-voting site worth your free time? Cast your votes, and impressions, in the comments.
playing around w/diggbar bera [scottmeinzer's Flickr stream via TechCrunch]Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Friendbar is a toolbar add-on for Firefox that can rapidly update your Facebook or Twitter statuses, and show a ticker-style stream of your friends’ own text and photos. Friendbar continuously updates you on the status of people in your Facebook and Twitter networks, though both the text and the photos can be toggled on and off. To avoid running afoul of Twitter’s access restrictions, Friendbar lets you dial down its update frequency, tweak how many messages it displays, and set how often it shows you new stuff. When posting updates, you’ve got instant TinyURL creation for the page you’re looking at. If you can’t pretend not to need a quick Facebook or Twitter fix while you’re browsing other things, Friendbar makes it easy and fast to get your social data fix. Friendbar is free and works wherever Firefox does.
FriendbarAll platforms running Firefox: Google has updated their browser toolbar for Firefox, and it integrates Google services with your browser chrome better than ever. Frankly, we’re not so big on browser toolbars around here, but if you’re a big Google Apps, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, Bookmarks, and Notebook user, the Google Toolbar looks really useful. Probably the most impressive feature is the ability to set up profiles—like “Personal” and “Professional”—and associate web form auto-fill information with them, like addresses, credit card numbers, and phone numbers. If you’re willing to give the big G that info in your toolbar, filling in web forms becomes a one-click affair. You can also add Google Gadgets to your toolbar, like Wikipedia and YouTube. Check out the Google video clip of the toolbar in action after the jump.
Earlier today we mentioned the Quick Launch toolbar in our best ways to make Windows more productive. But Windows comes bundled with several toolbars that offer search, web site launching, and media player controls—and at least one reader can’t live without his toolbar setup. What toolbars do you have on your Windows desktop, and which is the most useful? Vote in the battle of the Windows toolbars after the jump.
The How-To Geek points to a nifty fix for Firefox extension fans whose status bars are seriously cluttered. Using a custom script and the Stylish extension, you can get your status bar icons to auto-hide and appear only when you move your mouse down to them. A lot of extensions pack handy utilities into their status bar icons, but it’s not always helpful to have a weight-lifting fox, a monkey, three or four exclamation points, and a weather sign staring at you while you’re trying to work. To use this trick, install Stylish if you don’t have it already, then head to the link below and hit the “Load into Stylish” button. Image by The How-To Geek. Statusbar: Mouseover for clutter [via The How-To Geek]
See less chrome and more web page in Firefox by combining your toolbars onto the same line. The How-To Geek tech site describes how, using an extension or just by repositioning the fox’s toolbars by right-clicking and choosing “Customize.” Want to utilise every single pixel in Firefox? Check out how we consolidate Firefox’s chrome with several configuration and style tweaks. Conserve Space in Firefox by Combining Toolbars [the How-To Geek]
