Do you use Firefox as your browser - of course you do! Who wouldn't (shh, I won't tell anyone if you are still using IE, run and change and no one will notice!!!) If you do, are you aware of the Squidoo Firefox Plug In?

When I fired up my pc for work the other morning there was an update and it made me think that not everyone is perhaps aware of this - I use it all the time. It's brilliant for speedy updating of a lens if you find a link you want to add. No apologies here - the following features are a straight lift from the Squidoo Page about it. I couldn't put it any better!

1. Squidoo Search, At Your Fingertips

Add Squidoo to Firefox as a favorite search engine. Find what you're looking for, even faster.

2. Your Own Squidoo Menu

With this powerful Squidoo menu in Firefox, you can:

* Log in or out of Squidoo
* Add a page link (URL) directly to one of your lenses. You'll be asked which lens you want to add that URL to, and specifically which link list module within that lens. All without redirecting you from the page you were on. This is mobility at its finest. Never spend time on a link list module again!
* Go straight to your "My Lenses" dashboard.
* Go straight to your "My Account" page
* Keep your eye on The Top 100 at all times. The Top 100 shows several Squidoo bestseller lists. Is your lens in the Top 100?
* Read up on the team and the platform at "About Squidoo"
* Get Help: Go straight to the Squidoo FAQ.

3. A Customized Toolbar (with Squid!)

Still more shortcuts for Squidoo Lensmasters.

* Use the "Lenses" button to access your lenses straight from the Firefox browser.
* And click on the Squid with the plus sign for another, even more user friendly way to quickly add a page link (URL) to the lens of your choice. Think of it like Squidoo-to-go.

Install The Plug In You won't regret it!

This week's tip is about a Site - pause for gasp - outside Squidoo! Are there such things, strangely enough there are and a few are worth looking at. The site I am recommending to you is by lensmaster The Fluffanutta. He has created a site stuffed absolutely full of fabulous utilities for lensmasters that will make your life a great deal easier. I'm not going to spoil the surprise, take a trip to SquidUtils and you will be delighted with what you find!

This week's tip is about Adding a Drop Capital to Your Module. This is something that you should use with caution as it is possible to go over the top and make your lens look slightly ridiculous but in the right place it can be very effective.

1. Open your lens in 'EDIT' Mode and select the Text Module you are going to use or create a new one. It doesn't work well in the other type of module in my opinion.

2. Decide on the color you want your Drop Cap to be and also the font. Be careful with your choice of font - some of the fancier ones are not on all computers and your hard work may not look quite so elegant in a default font! I generally use Trebuchet as that fits with the Squidoo 'Look'

3. Enter the following code: <b style="FONT-SIZE: 100px; FLOAT: left; COLOR: YOUR COLOR CHOICE HERE; LINE-HEIGHT: 70px; PADDING-TOP: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: YOUR CHOICE HERE">LETTER HERE</b>

Hey Presto! You have a Drop Capital and the text that follows will wrap neatly to the side of it. You can play with the parameters but these work well in most situations. Have Fun

Linking to Other Sites is one of the most basic and useful tools to make your lens interesting (and profitable!) but is very easy to get wrong. I also make all my links open in a new window or tab so that the viewer comes back to their original starting point without any difficulty.

1. Open your Lens in edit mode

2. Click on edit on the module you wish to put the link into

3. Type in the following code

4. <a href="http://www.the web address you want to link to" target="new">the text you want the viewer to see</a>

5. The text you want the viewer to see will appear as a hyperlink which they can click on.

Hey Presto! You have a link to another site or lens - just like this one

This week's tip is about Linking Your Images.

One of the best ways of doing this is to use your own images rather than the relatively limited ones that you can use within Squidoo. By doing it this way you have lots more options on how to display your image.

You will need to host your image elsewhere - if you have your own webspace you can use that or you can use one of the numerous free photo hosting sites. Photobucket is probably one of the best known and is easy to use. However if you want to earn a little money as well as host your photos you can use Flixya or Shareapic both of which generate income for you from your Images. They each have advantages and disadvantages but you can choose which suits you best - or use them all!

1 - Upload Your image and get the address - all the sites named above give you comprehensive instructions on how to upload and will generate the code for you.

2 - In 'Edit' mode prepare your Module and decide how you want to display the image. You should also have a title for your image and/or your link to help with identification for people with visual disabilities and also Search Engines.

3 - Straightforward Image Link placing the image to the left or the right
<img src="YOUR IMAGE LOCATION HERE" alt= "IMAGE TITLE HERE" style="float: RIGHT OR LEFT HERE; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" />

4 - Straightforward Image Link placing a large image in the center of the module
<p align="center"><img src="YOUR IMAGE LOCATION HERE" alt="IMAGE TITLE HERE">< />
The maximum width of your image should be 500 pixels.

5 - A Clickable Image opening on a new page
<a href="YOUR LINK IN HERE" title="LINK TITLE HERE" target="new"><img src="YOUR IMAGE LOCATION HERE" style="float: RIGHT OR LEFT HERE; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" /></a>

You've created a wonderful lens with lots of wonderful information - now you need to get people to look at it. This was the dilemma I was faced with when I created my first lens, SquidU told me there were all sorts of great things out there - go use them, but where to start was the thorny question, never mind how. There had to be an easy way - building a lens was easy so there had to be a correspondingly easy way to promote it and share my passions. I sat there thinking about which Tags to use and the Sun came out from behind the Squidoo Cloud and The Silver Lining shone through. You can find out what I came up with when you Click Here I've just updated the Silver Lining with all sorts of new information ......