There are many add-ons to help you when you need to rush through a Firefox browsing session and see something you want to read, but don’t have the time to do so.

There is the add-on “Wired Marker” (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6219) that let’s you mark up web pages and keeps a list of those web pages with the mark ups and allows you to go back to them. This is particularly useful for things like forum postings and blog comments, where the mark up allows you to remember just exactly why you wanted to come back to the page. Before I started using this, I’d often go back to a forum posting I had meant to comment on and I’d forget just what I wanted to comment on. I’d find myself saying “What in the heck did I want to say in this thread?”

Then there’s “Scrapbook” (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/427). This add on allows you to save an entire web page so that you can read it off line or come back to it later on line. In the online circumstance, it will even allow you to mark up the page with comments, but you actually have to do this in the offline save, and then you can call it up and put it in a tab beside the online page. It’s a little Rube Goldberg-like and kind of tedious, but it is sort of an enhanced bookmark.

And then there’s an add-on called “Read It Later” (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7661). Basically it’s just what it says. If you run across something you want to read and then discard after you read it, it’s good for that circumstance instead of cluttering up your bookmarks with what is really “temporary” bookmarks.”

Finally, there’s an add-on called “Dog Ears” (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4482). This one is pretty bare bones. If you see something on a web page you want to come back to, you can mark it with Dog Ears.

And then there’s just plain old bookmarking.

I’ve used all of the add-ons, and of course bookmarks. But here’s the deal. Unless you make it a point to go back to these web sites, the listings can get lengthy and old fast. For example, at one time I had a “Read It Later” list that numbered 66, with the first in the list going back several months. Looking at it, I found myself saying “What in the heck did I save that for?” So if you don’t keep up on these things, the lists grow long and pretty much outdated.

I finally decided the best way to do this was to use Firefox’s built in “Session Restore” feature. If I was in a hurry and saw something I wanted to come back to, I left the tab open when I closed Firefox. That way, the next time I opened Firefox, those tabs were fresh and staring me in the face. It’s sort of like a nag screen . . . a constant reminder. Eventually, I’d open up so many tabs just to clear out the clutter (not to mention the slow loading time for all those open tabs), I’d either do what I was thinking of doing or just flat out close the tab. It’s amazing how clutter will get you focused on priorities.

With those add-ons, the clutter is hidden and you’re more likely to allow it to accumulate. With the Session Restore feature, it’s either deal with it or dump it!