Maybe you are like many people and never have heard of Firefox Plugins, don’t know what they do or what they are. It’s OK; there are many people who never heard of Firefox Plugins. In this post we’ll explain in detail what the plugins are, what’s their function and they are they important.

What is a Firefox plugin?

A Firefox plugin is a program that is made to function with the Firefox browser, (To download the latest version of the Firefox Browser click here) it is often made by a third party software developer. For example, the current version plugin iTunes application detector is made by Apple and is part of the iTunes software pack that you can download from their site.

Are Firefox Plugins Safe?

For the most part the plugins are harmless, the reason I say for the most part is that there have been some plugins that did not work well with some versions of Firefox and would crash the software, however that is rather rare. Otherwise they are completely safe and beneficial.

How do you get Firefox Plugins?

The majority of plugins that are installed on your browser are installed during the installation process of different software. To go back to the iTunes example, once you’re installing iTunes it will install the iTunes Application Detector plugin in Firefox.  That’s how the majority of your browser plugins are installed.  You may have Firefox plugins installed and not be even aware.

Why Are Firefox Plugins Important?

In the early days of the web, most websites were pretty static, there was not much that they would do other than be a source of information, while some maybe built for transactions the greater majority where static pages. Over time as website capabilities increased and people have spent more time online the function capabilities of web sites has increased. For example if someone posts an excel file on their website, the user can now open the file within the browser, no longer do users need to download files to their computer, open the program associated with the file then open the file that they just downloaded. That’s why Firefox Plugins are important; they bridge the gap between the browser and program that is installed on the user’s computer.