Firefox Addon of the Week: Download Manager Tweak

Posted 01/20/2010 at 11:15am | by David Murphy

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Whenever you want to download a file in Firefox, you get a little gremlin tagging along for the ride. He's a helpful little monster, and his eerie resemblance to a common "download window" allows you to quickly see the status of, pause, and cancel your file transfers as you see fit. Easy as cake! Simple as can be! Insert more similes here! Seriously, how could one really improve a pop-up window whose sole purpose is to tell you how much time you have left on your download, only to scurry away into your browser's back pocket once the file is done?

I just gave you a clue. But this isn't a Sherlock Holmes mystery, so I'll jump straight to the big spoiler. Your download window in Firefox doesn't have to be a pop-up element that rests overtop your browser. In fact, this can be kind of annoying. Given that Firefox is all about the tabbed browsing, it makes much more sense to pull the download window out of the airspace and chain it to its own individual page amongst your plethora of open tabs. You can't do this via Firefox natively, and that's where this week's Firefox Addon of the Week comes into play.

As the name alludes, Download Manager Tweak is the addon that makes this all possible. With it comes three key options: keeping your download window in its natural, pop-up state; sticking the contents of the download window in a completely new tab; or relegating the download window to Firefox's sidebar area. I prefer the middle option myself, but that's not all you get with this little extension. Download Manager Tweak also slaps a number of helpful buttons on top of whichever display option you've selected. You can now launch downloaded files, open their containing folders, delete the files, and remove individual files from the download history at the touch of a mouse-click.

All of these options--and more--are fully customizable via Download Manager Tweak's options menu. There's not a crazy amount of alterations to select from. However, Download Manager Tweak isn't intended to completely recreate the downloading experience. It's a tweak, not a substantive transformation. But don't let that dissuade you from slotting this addon in your own personal to-download list. Repeat after me: nobody likes pop-ups.

Maximum PC picks one new Firefox add-on as its favorite of the week each... week. Have a nifty extension that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.