Google Chrome browser extensions for journalists

Browser extensions can speed up daily tasks by creating shortcuts to useful tools and information without requiring you to fire up a new application every time.

Here are 16 Google Chrome extensions to help you monitor social media feeds and statistics, organise tasks and emails, and more.

Some of the extensions below are also available for other web browsers, and you can find recommendations for Firefox users here.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and you can share your own favourite extensions for journalists in the comments below or by tweeting us @journalismnews.

• Social Media

Social Analytics

This extension allows you to see how many times a page has been shared on social media by looking at the Social Analytics logo in your browser. Simply click on the logo to get more specific numbers, such as the number of Facebook 'likes' or shares, and Pinterest pins.

Silver Bird

Silver Bird not only monitors the timeline and notifications for a particular Twitter account, but also lets journalists set up search filters which then update automatically.

HashPlug

If you're looking for a way to maximise Google search results, HashPlug can help. It scours Twitter for relevant messages and displays them next to Google's own results, with a link to the relevant Twitter page in case you need to revise key words or research in more depth.

The HashPlug widget also updates automatically, and as it's linked to your Twitter account, you can favourite, retweet or reply to messages.

Sniply

Use Sniply to shorten links and add your own comments when sharing articles on social media. When someone click on the link, your message will be displayed at the bottom of the page – here's more about how it works.

Editoy writer

Editoy is a text editor that lets you add social media posts to your articles and then publish everything to your Tumblr or Wordpress blog among other publishing platforms.

It adds a 'curate' option to your right-click menu so you can save interesting messages, text selections and images into your blog posts as you browse.

Storyful Multisearch

If you need to search for the same term on multiple social networks, Storyful Multisearch can help you do that in one go. Just click on the extension, enter your search words and choose your preferred networks, and you're all set – results will come up in a separate tab for each site you searched.

• Monitoring and research

World Data Finder

World Data Finder, built by data platform Knoema, picks out the key terms on the page you are reading and offers related figures and visualisations. Here's more on how journalists can use it for fact-checking and research.

Page Monitor

This extension runs in the background as you browse the web. When you come across a page you'd like to monitor for updates, click on the extension and set up page monitoring.

You can decide how often each page should be checked or set up a universal setting. Page Monitor will then notify you whenever something has changed on a page.

Punchr

Punch is another web page monitoring extension, this time paired with an iPhone app that sends a push notification whenever updates are published.

• Photo and video

Screencastify

This extension can simplify screencast recordings as it offers the option to capture only the activity inside a Chrome tab rather than your entire screen – including any audio playing in the tab.

TinEye

Reverse image search is a helpful first step when it comes to verifying images posted on social media. With the TinEye extension you can find out a photo's history in just a few clicks.

• Productivity

FollowUp.cc for Gmail

This extension aims to ensure you will never forget to follow up ideas if your first email to a contact goes unanswered. Use it to track messages and replies and to schedule reminders for more efficient emailing.

Wunderlist New Tab

Productivity tool Wunderlist comes with this useful extension that bring your to-do list and notes straight to your browser. Next time an idea strikes, open a new tab and write it down.

Grammarly

This extension not only checks your copy for spelling mistakes, but also looks at sentence structure and corrects any grammar errors you may have made.

Draftback

If you use Google Docs for collaborative reporting, Draftback lets you keep track of all revisions made to a document, as well as embed a selected version of the file.

Save to Google Drive

This handy tool from Google lets you save links and documents such as PDF files from the web to your personal Drive with a right click.

Update: This piece has been edited to include the Storyful Multisearch Chrome extension, which updated on January 9.

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