How would you like to know what’s behind a web link before clicking it? If we all knew what was on the other side of a link before we click on it, viruses, spyware and other harmful programs might never have had the chance to infect our computers.

 

 

In this brief tutorial, I’ll show you how to use LinkExtend, a smart Firefox extension that provides threat ratings on most websites online. With its smart rating technology, you can get instant safety reviews about a website before you ever click on the link.

 

1) To install LinkExtend in Firefox, click Tools –> Add-ons as shown below.

 

 

2) Type LinkExtend in the search box and press enter. Then click Add to Firefox button to install.

 

 

 

3) Next click Install Now

 

 

 

4) Select the features as shown below and continue

 

 

 

5) After install, click the LinkExtend button on Firefox menu, then select Options.

 

 

 

6) Select Toolbar options and uncheck all the boxes. This allows you to remove some of the clutter from Firefox Menu.

 

 

 

7) Next select the Search Engines tab and select only what you want to rate. Uncheck any feature you don’t need. If your primary search engine is Google, then only select Google from the list.

 

 

 

The next time you search for something, you’ll see the rating button to the right of each link. The Green check mark means the site is safe. Red means stay away.

 

 

9) Besides rating web links, LinkExtend also has displays links with thumbnails.

 

 

 

If you don’t want the thumbnail to appear, you can go to LinkExtend Options and select the Thumbnail tab then uncheck the box to disable thumbnail in your web searches.

 

Enjoy the extension and browse safe online.