Chrome Extension Puts Some Pep Into New Tab Page

Chrome extensions are getting more diverse and very interesting of late. So here is my challenge to you. If you are a Chrome user open up a new tab. Looks pretty bland doesn’t it? Well there’s actually a plugin to fix that blandness, and its called Speed Dial.

Speed Dial transforms your new tab page with all your recent pages into something a little more useful and easier on the eyes.

To add speed dial pages all you need to do is click the small tab on the top right in your URL bar, click add current page and keep on browsing. Speed Dial also has a few features that truly allow you to customize your new tab page.

Besides the solid color backgrounds that they offer in the extension options, you can also add your own image for the background. Also if you so please, you are able to add your own images to speed dial boxes if you would like to identify a link in a different way than normal or choose from the large number of preloaded logos from a wide variety of popular websites.

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One other usually unnoticed feature is the gold star to the right under your actual bookmarks bar. This is actually a great tool to see your bookmarks, click the gold star and you’re taken to another page where all your bookmarks are displayed in folders and drop down lists. This allows you to easily look through your bookmarks and visit your favorite sites.

Some features that I think are missing in Speed Dial lie in how this plugin handles bookmarks. There is no real way to add your bookmarks to the Speed Dial page without actually visiting the website and adding it manually. Speed Dial could work a little more on giving their users as much convenience as possible and adding as many ways as possible to add pages to Speed Dial through Chrome itself.

Speed Dial is a great extension for folks who want a great looking new tab page and a simple all in one place to see your favorite links. Though it lacks a few features, it makes up for it in functionality and visual appeal.

If you’re a Firefox you can grab a plugin with the same name and functionality here.