If you use Chrome, you know extensions make life so much easier in so many little ways. Here are five extensions that I rate.
First up is AdBlock. There are few things more annoying than intrusive ads. This extension automatically blocks those ads, while allowing you to pause or whitelist particular pages in order to support monetised sites (if you want). If there's anything that isn't blocked automatically, AdBlock allows you to select and block specific ads. AdBlock is free, but you can support its development by donating. It's super easy to use and has excellent support.
The App Launcher Customiser is another handy little thing that allows you to customise the Google Apps shown in the 3x3 app grid. There are over 500 Google Apps, so this makes things much easier to access. As well as that you can add shortcuts to any website, and they are all accessible from the icon beside the Omnibox (or location bar). It's kind of like having an extra bookmark section, and is especially useful if, like me, you don't use google as your new tab page or if you find the apps section on the bookmark bar a bit clunky.
CiteThisForMe saved my life when I was studying. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I swear it's not much of one. It will cite almost any website in Harvard, MLA, APA or Chicago style with one click. So easy. So useful. Other sources can be added on the tool's main page. Seriously, if you are a student - YOU NEED THIS.
If you are an avid Tumblr user like me, New XKit is definitely an extension you need. It is a fork of the original XKit, which was discontinued several years ago. A group of awesome coders took over to keep the resource alive. This extension makes Tumblr a heck of a lot more user friendly and allows you to roll back some of the more... inspired... updates. It also helps get rid of ads, so.
Number 5 in this list is Momentum Dash. I kinda just like it because it's pretty and it gives me interesting and inspiring quotes to think about as I open new tabs. I pretty much use the Omnibox on Chrome for everything (and the app launcher or bookmarks for everything else) so there's not a lot of point having the default Chrome new tab. You can use it for a lot of other things if you want to pay for Plus (added customisation, widgets, integration) but the free version is fine for me. Momentum also allows you to set a daily focus, if you're into that kind of thing.
Here's the Plus 1. It's kind of a geeky secret and I love it. When Terry Pratchett died, a group of coders got together to keep his memory alive online. In his book Going Postal (which is brilliant and you should read it) John Dearheart's name is kept alive via a message which travels constantly along the clacks (kind of like telephone lines). With this extension, a small lantern icon lights up beside the Omnibox on pages which has the code on it, keeping Terry Pratchett's memory alive. This site shows you how to add the code to your own website, emails, and other codey things but sadly I can't work out how to make it work on this site (nerd lite, remember?).
I hope this post helps make your Chrome experience a little better!
Deanna x