Firefox productivity extensions for Google Mail and Calendar

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I’ve been slowly switching from Outlook/Entourage and Exchange to Google Mail/Calendar now that Google Calendar has been released. One of the disadvantages to a web based solution like this you always have to keep a browser tab open with your Mail and Calendar open for quick access. To make this
alittle more easier, I found two Firefox extensions that help with this.

First one is called GCalQuickTab and it allows you to use the “Quick Links” at the top left corner to jump between open tabs instead of the default behavior of opening new tabs every time. It always provides keyboard shortcuts to switching to Gmail and Gcal using “g” and “l” respectively.

Second one is called goocal which is very basic right now but provides a icon in the statusbar that brings you directly to Google Calendar. This way you don’t have to clutter up your bookmark bar.

This gives me basically instant access to my calendar when i need it. If I’m already in Gmail i just hit “l” and it opens up Gcal where i can then hit “q” to Quick add an appointment. Or i just click on the Calendar icon if nothing is open. If i need Gmail, its just a “g” away from there.

You could also add in the Gmail Notifier for Firefox too but i prefer the standalone one.