Google Chrome is already one of the fastest browsers around. However, that speed often falls short, especially when we’ve to plod through dozens of links and pages just to find what we’re looking for. And even though we finally find it, the huge amount of time consumed in doing so can be a bit annoying, mainly for journalists and researchers who need to find stuff real quick. So, if you’re looking for ways to reduce that time you lose just searching for things, then here are 7 time-saving extensions for Chrome.
Google Quick Scroll: This extension, which has been around for quite a while, lets you jump directly to the relevant bits of a Google search result. Whenever you click on a Google search result, Quick Scroll appears at the bottom right corner of the page allowing to quickly scroll to the content you’ve been looking for.
Annotated scrollbars: Wading through a lengthy document, that too on the web, can be quite an ordeal. Things get even worse when you’re looking for specific information that is scattered all over the page. Addressing this problem comes Annotated scrollbars, a handy Chrome extension that lets you save positions while scrolling through a lengthy document.
Once installed, Annotated Scrollbars allows you to annotate specific sections of the page and access them later from your scrollbar. Annotated sections appear in multicolor ‘tabs’ besides your sidebar which let you quickly scroll to previously marked content. The marked content is usually in the form of sticky notes that give a little more information about the content.
To get started, just right-click anywhere you come across some important information. Then, from the right-click menu go to Annotated Scrollbars and select the option that says ‘Add Note Here’. Then, a small box will pop up which will allow you to add a sticky note of your favorite color. You can thus create many such notes throughout the page and forget about scrolling continuously just for specific content.
Scrollbar of Contents: Unlike the aforementioned Annotated Scrollbars, this extension automatically puts navigation markers besides your scrollbar. Useful for fording through long Wikipedia articles, Scrollbar of contents shows black markers, which when clicked, take you to specific sections of page that are important.
Even though sometimes the black markers tend to get a bit too overwhelming, the extension might come in quite handy for regular Wikipedia readers.
Autopager: When major websites publish long articles, they usually split up the article into multiple pages, so as to make the content easier to read, and also, for a chance to reduce their site’s bounce rate. Whatever their reasons for doing so might be, it gets really annoying when you have to click the ‘Next’ button just to read the complete article. Addressing this issue comes Autopager Chrome, which, once installed, automatically loads the next page, thus allowing infinite scrolling of content.
Not only does this extension auto page articles, it also gives you infinite scrolling on Google, YouTube, Digg, and Ebay search results. Since the extension is a work in progress, it might be a bit unstable, so proceed with caution here. Also worth trying is Autopagerize, which comes with almost the same amount of features as Autopager
Lookup Companian for Wikipedia: Here’s another useful extension for Wikipedia junkies. Lookup Companian is a nifty little add-on that sits in your toolbar and lets you quickly look up information on Wikipedia.
Just click the ‘W’ icon on the toolbar and mini version of Wikipedia will pop up. From there, you can search Wikipedia and also look for words within a particular article. Worth a shot if you want quick access to Wikipedia.
HoverZoom: If you’re browsing image galleries and slideshows, checking out each image individually can get a bit tedious. Thanks to Hoverzoom, you won’t have to do that anymore. The open source Chrome extension lets you view images in their full glory without loading a new page. Working perfectly on thumbnails as well as large images, this cool add-on works across many popular sites like Google, Flickr, Reddit, and Amazon.
Wikipedia Quick Hints: More often than not, we end up opening another Wikipedia article just to lookup the definition of that term. Wikipedia Quick Hints is an extension that alleviates that problem by putting all the linked definitions at your fingertips. Just hover over the link and a small, non-intrusive box pops up giving you just the definition of the term. Undoubtedly a nifty time-saver for all Wikipedia users.
On a side note, if you want an all-inclusive add-on for speeding up browsing then you can try out FastestChrome. A Google Chrome port of the popular Fastestfox add-on, this feature-packed extension comes with autopaging, instant lookup, quick sharing, and more. Though the features in this app are quite amazing, personally, I find the add-on a bit too overwhelming. Nevertheless, you can always uninstall it if you don’t like it.
Image Credits: Cathdew via CC
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