Firefox tips and triks 5.

Article about Firefox tweaks from cybernetnews.com

–How To Use About:Config–

Almost all of the tweaks use the about:config screen in order to change the options. By now I’m sure most of you are familiar with using it but in case you aren’t I’ll give you a quick run through.

1. Start Firefox.
2. Type about:config into the address bar and press Enter. If I tell you that the key already exists then you can type the name of the preference in the Filter box. Once you find the preference you just need to double-click on it to change the value.
3. If I tell you that the key does not exist then you you will need to create a new value. The value may be a string, boolean, or an integer and can easily be created by right-clicking anywhere in the screen.
   
4. You may need to restart your browser for some of the options to take effect. All preferences can be reset to their default value by simply right-clicking on the option in about:config and selecting Reset.

   Alright…it’s tweak time!

–Configuring The Scrolling Tabs–

Firefox 2 is now designed to create a scrolling tab bar when there are an abundance of tabs open. It is hard to define “abundance” because some people prefer to have really small and nearly unreadable tabs instead of having them scroll.

• Name: browser.tabs.tabMinWidth
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 100 (pixels)
• Possible values:
  • Value greater than 100 will initiate scrolling sooner.
  • Value less than 100 will initiate scrolling later.
  • Value of 0 disables scrolling.

–Configuring The Red X (Close Button)–

The placement of the Close Button has been a very controversial subject for many people. I have run into several individuals who hate that there is now a button on every tab while others say “it’s about time.” I like the feature but if you’re one of the people that don’t then you can easily change it:

• Name: browser.tabs.closeButtons
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 1
• Possible values:
  • 0 - display a close button on the active tab only
  • 1 - display close buttons on all tabs
  • 2 - don’t display any close buttons
  • 3 - display a single close button at the end of the tab strip (Firefox 1.x behavior)

If you decide that you want to leave the Close Button on all of the tabs then there is another configuration option that you may be interested in. This option is considered the clipping width and refers to how small a tab can be and still display a close button. It only applies to the tabs other than the one that is currently selected.

• Name:browser.tabs.tabClipWidth
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 140 (pixels)
• Possible values:
  • Value greater than 140 will hide the Close Button sooner.
  • Value less than 140 will hide the Close Button later.
  • Value of 0 disables the hiding of the Close Button.

–Change Address Bar Search To “I’m Feeling Lucky”–

Firefox no longer uses the “I’m Feeling Lucky” search by Google. Now it uses the “Browse By Name” which is very similar. In fact, you may not even notice a difference but there definitely is.

I put together a search box that will demonstrate the difference between the two types of searches. Just type a word in the box and press the respective button for the search type that you would like to perform:

Basically the “Browse By Name” will only take you directly to a site if Google is sure that the first result is what you’re looking for. Otherwise it will take you to the Google Search Results page. If you type “Microsoft” into the box both searches will give you the same result but if you type “Stanford” into the box they will be different.

If you want to keep the “Browse By Name” then you don’t have to do anything, but those of you that want to switch back to “I’m Feeling Lucky” can use this information:

• Name: keyword.URL
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: Browse By Name (right-click and copy the URL)
• Possible values:
  • I’m Feeling Lucky (right-click and copy the URL)
  • You can also change it to any other search strings

–Adding Other Default Feed Readers–

In my last article on tweaking Firefox I walked through the 11-step process to adding another feed reader to the existing list that Firefox has. There is a much easier way that Mozilla Links pointed out and it is as simple as clicking on a few things. Just click on any of the feed reader links below to add them to the list in Firefox (you’ll be prompted to confirm the addition):

• My AOL
• My MSN
• Netvibes
• NewsGator (web based)
• Rojo

–Unresponsive Scripts–

Sick of getting the unresponsive script error messages? In Firefox 2 a script will be given 20 seconds to execute, and anything beyond that it will display the script warning. If you are constantly getting these warnings (common on some slower computers) then you should consider increasing the duration.

• Name: dom.max_script_run_time
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 20 (seconds)
• Possible values:
  • Value greater than 20 will delay the unresponsive script longer.
  • Value less than 20 will delay the unresponsive script sooner.

–Microsummary Update Interval–

Microsummaries have the potential to become extremely useful but they need a little push. For CyberNet I came up with three different ways that I could use Microsummaries to keep users more informed of new posts and comments. If you haven’t been using the Microsummaries because they don’t update frequently enough then you can always adjust it:

• Name: browser.bookmarks.microsummary.updateInterval
• The preference name does not exist and needs to be created. Use an Integer type when creating the preference.
• Default Value: N/A
• Possible values:
  • The number of minutes between updates expressed as an integer.

–Changing The User Agent–

If you run into a site that says it is not compatible with your browser there may be a good chance that it’s because you are running Firefox 2. If you know it worked fine in Firefox 1.5 then you should try to change your user agent. By doing this Firefox can identify itself as a previous version, such as Firefox 1.5, which may solve the compatibility issue.

• Name: general.useragent.extra.firefox
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: Firefox/2.0
• Possible values:
  • Firefox 1.5
  • Firefox 1.5.0.7
  • etc…whatever identification string you would like, but the I listed should work fine.

–Hide The Go Button–

If you haven’t noticed that new Go button can’t be removed from the Address Bar. Well, at least not in the typical fashion of removing buttons from toolbars. There is a configuration option that can be used to remove the button though.

• Name: browser.urlbar.hideGoButton
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: false
• Possible values:
  • false - display the Go button
  • true - hide the Go button

–Eliminate JavaScript Popups–

Firefox is setup to let you customize how you want it to handle popup windows. In the Options they can be set to open like normal in a new window or they can be set to open in a tab. However, JavaScript popup windows are a slight exception but can be changed so that they are treated the same way as any other popup.

• Name: browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 2
• Possible values:
  • 0 - Open JavaScript windows the same way as you have Firefox handle new windows. This is my recommendation because if you have Firefox set to open new windows in a new tab then it will treat JavaScript windows the same way.
  • 1 - Allow all JavaScript windows to popup if requested.
  • 2 - Open all JavaScript windows the same way as you have Firefox handle new windows unless the JavaScript call specifies how to display the window.

–Enable Spell Checking In All Text Fields–

The inline spell checking is probably my favorite feature in Firefox 2 but it doesn’t check the single-line text boxes for spelling mistakes. You can right-click on the field and have it check the spelling or you can permanently turn spell check on by changing a configuration option.

• Name: layout.spellcheckDefault
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 1
• Possible values:
  • 0 - Disable the spell checker
  • 1 - Enable the spell checker for multi-line text boxes
  • 2 - Enable the spell checker for all text boxes

–Increase Maximum Number Of Connections–

When you go to download multiple files you may notice that Firefox will only let you download two files at a time. If you want to download more you will have to increase the number of connections Firefox can make.

• Name: network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: 2
• Possible values:
  • Increase the value to something larger than 2 if you want to have the ability to download more files simultaneously.

–Open Search Box Results In New Tab–

The search box in the upper-right corner of Firefox makes it really easy to search your favorite sites. You can get each of those search queries to open in a new tab with this simple tweak:

• Name: browser.search.openintab
• The preference name already exists and does not need to be created.
• Default Value: false
• Possible values:
  • false - open search box results in current tab
  • true - open search box results in new tab

–Disable Session Restore–

The built-in session restore feature is really nice but I use Tab Mix Plus and its session restore is a little nicer (it remembers things like tabs that I have protected). It has some nice features but if you don’t disable the one that Firefox has then you may end up receiving duplicates of all your tabs.

• Name: browser.sessionstore.enabled
• The preference name does not exist and needs to be created. Use an Boolean type when creating the preference.
• Default Value: true
• Possible values:
  • false - disables the built-in session restore
  • true - enables the built-in session restore

–Lower The Physical Memory Used When Minimized–

This last one is a classic for our site. This article was posted back in March of 2006 and has received over 4,300 Diggs. Since that time it has brought in nearly 200,000 unique visitors and many find that it does exactly what they want.

This tweak will send Firefox to your virtual memory when you minimize the browser, therefore freeing your physical memory for other programs to use. Firefox will reduce its physical memory usage, when minimized, to approximately 10MB (give or take some) and when you maximize Firefox it will take back the memory that it needs. Some people argue that this is not a good thing to do but other browsers, like Opera, have are setup to do this by default.

• Name: config.trim_on_minimize
• The preference name does not exist and needs to be created. Use an Boolean type when creating the preference.
• Default Value: N/A
• Possible values:
  • true - this enables Firefox to be written to the virtual memory when minimized.

Firefox tips and triks 4. 10 Tips for Navigating More Efficiently in Firefox by graphicsguru

Tips by graphicsguru was found in foxiewire.com

If you use Firefox all day, as I do, you may have mastered a few of the navigational tools it offers, but there are a lot of them under the hood. You can be faster and more efficient with the browser if you learn some easy ways to use your mouse and keyboard to navigate. In this post, I’ll round up 10 tips for more efficient surfing. Quite a few of these will work in other browsers as well.

Open a Link in New Tab. Firefox lets you open any link you see at a site in a new tab if you right click on the link and select Open Link in New Tab. If you have a scroll wheel on your mouse, it’s even faster to do this by clicking once on the scroll wheel while hovering over the link. If you don’t have a scroll wheel, you can hold down the Ctrl key and click your mouse to open a link in a new tab (or Command-click if you’re using a Mac).

Close a Tab with the Scroll Wheel. If your mouse has a scroll wheel click on any open tab with it to close the tab.

Open a Link in a New Window. To open a link in a whole new instance of Firefox, right click on the link and select Open Link in New Window. You can also hit Shift-click to open a link in a new window.

Increase/Decrease Text Size on any Page. You can increase the size of text you are reading on a given page by holding down the Ctrl key and using the mouse scroll wheel to scroll down. Hold down Ctrl and use the scroll wheel to scroll up to decrease text size.

Scroll Slowly, One Line at a Time. To scroll up or down a page of text one line at a time, hold down the Alt key and move your scroll wheel.

Flip Pages with the Scroll Wheel. To avoid using the navigation arrows atop Firefox to flip pages, hold down the Shift key and move your scroll wheel down to go back a page, and up to go forward a page.

Quickly Select a Whole Line of Text. Within any word your mouse cursor is in, click your left mouse button three times rapidly to select the whole line.

Scroll Without a Scroll Wheel. If your mouse has no scroll wheel, hold the Tab key on your keyboard down until the page you’re on starts to rapidly scroll.

Scroll with Gestures. If your mouse does have a scroll wheel, click once within a body of text, and your cursor should change its form factor. Now just move the mouse up or down to scroll.

Use Navigational Extensions. There are several good, free extensions you can download to make navigating in Firefox easier and more flexible. Super DragandGo is a good one for dragging anything on a page, such as a link, to a blank spot in the page to open it in a new tab.

Firefox tips and triks 3.

Other Tips

View web pages in your preferred language (if available)

Some web sites offer content in multiple languages. You can choose several languages in Firefox and they will be treated in order of priority. In order to change the priority, just go to Tools > Options... > Advanced, select the General tab, and under Languages, click the Choose... button.

Run Firefox from removable media

This advanced tip makes it possible to run Firefox from removable media, such as a USB memory stick. This will allow you to run Firefox with your personal settings from any computer, even those that don't have Firefox installed. It has only been tested on Windows XP/2000. The basic instructions are as follows:

1. Copy the Firefox application folder and your profile folder to the removable medium. In this example we will use R:\Firefox for the application folder and R:\FFProfile as the profile folder, assuming the drive letter for the removable media is R:.
2. Create a simple batch file called R:\Firefox.bat with the following line:

   start \Firefox\firefox.exe -profile \FFProfile
   

3. Optionally, disable the disk cache to reduce the amounts of file writes to the removable storage by using about:config to set browser.cache.disk.enable to false.

The reason why a batch file is needed instead of a simple shortcut is that a shortcut uses absolute paths, and since the actual drive letter for the removable media may change depending on which computer it is plugged into, the relative path used in the batch file is guaranteed to work anywhere.

Select and copy individual table cells

While holding down the Ctrl key, you can select table cells. Just click on any non-link portion of the cell. You can select multiple cells, either by clicking individually on the cells you want to select or by just dragging with the mouse. Once selected, you can use Copy and Paste just like you would on a text selection.

Speed up page rendering

By default, Firefox doesn't try to render a web page for 250 milliseconds while it's waiting for data. If you use about:config to add the Integer preference nglayout.initialpaint.delay, and set the value to 0, Firefox immediately starts to display the page, even without complete data. The drawback, especially on slower machines, is that the total time to display the page will be longer.

Enable Pipelining

Pipelining is an experimental feature, designed to improve page-load performance, that is unfortunately not well supported by some web servers and proxies. To try it out, by using about:config to set the following preferences:

network.http.pipelining

Set this to true, to enable pipelining.

network.http.proxy.pipelining

Set this to true, to enable pipelining to the proxy server.

network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Set this to 8, to have a maximum of 8 pipelining requests at once. Possible values are from 1 to 8.

For more information about pipelining, read the HTTP/1.1 Pipelining FAQ.

Specify where to store the cache

To specify in which folder the cache is stored, use about:config to add the String preference browser.cache.disk.parent_directory, and set the value to C:\Path To Cache.

Replace Path To Cache with the actual path to your cache folder.

Specify the memory cache usage

Normally, Firefox determines the memory cache usage dynamically based on the amount of available memory. To specify a specific amount of memory cache, use about:config to add the Intefer preference browser.cache.memory.capacity, and set the value:

-1

(default) Determine the amount of memory cache dynamically.

0

None.

n

Memory capacity in kilobytes. For example: 4096.

To disable the memory cache completely, use about:config to set the preference browser.cache.memory.enable to false.

View page source using an external program

If you want to view the HTML source of a web page using an external text editor instead of the built-in source viewer in Firefox, use about:config to set view_source.editor.external to true, and then set view_source.editor.path to e.g. C:\Windows\Notepad.exe or whatever is your preferred text editor.

Firefox tips and triks 2.

Browser Behavior

Open external links in new windows or the current tab

The New pages should be opened in: setting in Tools > Options... > Tabs applies to links both from the current page and links triggered from other programs. If you want all links from other programs to be opened differently from links in the current page, you can use about:config to edit the preference browser.link.open_external. The values are:

1

Open links from other programs in the current tab

2

Open links from other programs in new windows

3

(Default) Open links from other programs in new tabs in an existing window

Decide which New Windows to Block

By default, all windows that a web page wants to open will be diverted to either the current tab/window or a new tab. However, this does not apply to small pop-up windows (e.g. a poll results window or the ICQ window in go.icq.com). To change this behavior so it does divert new windows that are spawned by JavaScript, use about:config to edit the preference browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction. Values:

0

Divert all new windows to current tab/window or new tab

1

Don't divert any windows spawned by JS

2

(Default) Don't divert JS windows that include size/placement/toolbar info

Tweak Find As You Type

Find As You Type has a few hidden preferences that can be changed to better fit your needs. Use about:config to change any of the following:

accessibility.typeaheadfind.linksonly

Set this pref to false if you want Find As You Type to search normal text too.

accessibility.typeaheadfind.startlinksonly

Set this pref to true if you require that the link starts with the entered text.

accessibility.typeaheadfind.timeout

This is the time in milliseconds for the Find As You Type to stop watching for keystrokes.

Disable Other JavaScript Window Features

Firefox has a few options that allow you to decide what scripts can and can not do with windows. These options are available by going to Tools > Options... > Content, and beside "Enable JavaScript", clicking on Advanced. However, this list of options doesn't cover them all. There are some other useful options which can be applied by using about:config to change the following:

dom.disable_window_open_feature.resizable

Set this to true to make sure all pop-up windows are resizable.

dom.disable_window_open_feature.minimizable

Set this to true to make sure all pop-up windows are minimizable.

dom.disable_window_open_feature.menubar

Set this to true to always display the menu in pop-up windows.

dom.disable_window_open_feature.location

Set this to true to always display the Navigation Toolbar in pop-up windows.

dom.disable_window_open_feature.scrollbars

Set this to true to prevent sites from disabling scrollbars.

Use your Netscape 6/7 or Mozilla bookmarks in Firefox

If you are using Netscape 6/7 or Mozilla, you can share your bookmarks with Firefox. All bookmarks are stored in a file called bookmarks.html and is stored in the profile folder. For example, if you want to use the bookmarks for Netscape 7 in Firefox, use about:config to add the String preference browser.bookmarks.file, and set the value to C:\Path To Netscape Profile\bookmarks.html.

Replace Path To Netscape Profile with the actual path to your Netscape profile.

This tip can also be used on dual-boot systems to use the same bookmarks on both operating systems. Just make sure that you place the file on a location that you have write access to from operating systems.

Change the search mode in the address field

By default, if you enter a search term in the address field and press Enter, a Google "I'm Feeling Lucky" search is performed, and you're taken to the first result of that search directly. If you prefer to see the standard search result list instead, use about:config to change the value of the preference keyword.URL to http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=.

Of course, you could also change to a completely different search engine by changing the string to something else. The default search string is: "http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&q=".

Disable Bookmark Icons

You can disable the display of bookmark icons and "favicons" by using about:config to set both of the preferences browser.chrome.site_icons and browser.chrome.favicons to false.

Prevent sites from disabling the context menu

Some sites prevent you from right-clicking on the page to show the context menu. To disable such attempts, go to Tools > Options... (Firefox > Preferences... on Mac OS X, and Edit > Preferences... on Linux), click the Content section, and then click the Advanced... button next to Enable JavaScript. In the Advanced JavaScript Settings window, uncheck Disable or replace context menus and click OK.

Information from mozilla.org

Editing Firefox Configuration

about:config

Many of the tips and tricks mentioned on this site require you to use about:config. To access about:config, type about:config in the Firefox address bar, and press Enter. This will display a list of used preferences, as well as a search bar at the top.

Double-click on a preference to change its value. To do add a new preference, open the context menu (right-click) on any existing preference, go to the New menu, and select the type of preference.

Some preferences may require that you restart Firefox in order to take effect.

Configuration Files

userChrome.css

This file sets the display rules for various elements in the Firefox user interface and is located in the sub-folder called chrome in your profile folder. This file does not exist by default, so you need to create it before you can start adding your preferences. There's actually an example file that exists by default, called userChrome-example.css. Basically, you can just rename that file by removing the -example part.

userContent.css

This file sets the display rules for web content and is located in the sub-folder called chrome in your profile folder. As with userChrome.css, this file does not exist by default, so you need to create it before you can start adding your preferences. As with userChrome.css, there is an example file that exists by default, called userContent-example.css. Basically, you can just rename that file by removing the -example part.

user.js

This is the main preferences file for Firefox and is located in you profile folder. The file does not exist by default, so you need to create it before you can start adding your preferences. In almost all cases, edits made using the user.js can be done via about:config, which is the recommended method.

Windows users: If you know how to create a file, just skip this section. Before you can create the file, you must make sure that you can see the file type extensions in Windows. Start Explorer (just click on the My Computer icon on your desktop) and select Tools > Folder Options.... Click the View tab and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option. Now, go to your profile folder and select File > New > Text Document. The default name New Text Document.txt should be displayed. Change the name to user.js (click Yes on the file type warning that appears).

Linux users: I assume that you know how to create a file if you're running Linux. Just create user.js in your profile folder.

Information from mozilla.org

About Firefox additions

Additions it is the small modules changing either supplementing appearance or functionality Firefox. There are two kinds of additions: extensions and themes.

Extensions add new functionality in Firefox. They can add anything you like from the button on the control panel up to absolutely new functionality. They allow to adjust (set up) the application according to personal inquiries of each user, allowing to reduce to a minimum the size of the application.

Themes change Firefox appearance. They allow you to change a kind and interface of Firefox, adjusting them according to your needs. The theme can simply change appearance of buttons or it can change Firefox appearance completely.


Happens, that extension is not compatible to the current version of a browser. You can correct it in the different ways:
1. To install extension Nightly Tester Tools and in its options to allow to install incompatible extensions and to make extension compatible to the current version of Firefox.
2. To type in an address line about:config , in Filter to type extensions.checkCompatibility and change value of parameter on false. Or to add in a file user.js of profile a line

// Switching-off of check of compatibility of expansions
user_pref ("extensions.checkCompatibility", false);

Unfortunatelly some incompatible extensions can work incorrectly.

Firefox profiles

Mozilla Firefox stores all personal information of the user, such as bookmarks, cookies, passwords, expansions, magazine of visitings, themes, a cache and adjustments in a unique profile. At first start Firefox the profile by default is created, additional profiles can be created by Profile manager. The adjustments forming a profile are stored in a special folder on your computer, named Profile folder.

The Profile folder is located:

Windows 95/98/ME C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\
or C:\Windows\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\

Windows NT 4.x C:\Winnt\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\

Windows 2000/XP C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\ или %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\

Windows Vista C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\

Unix ~/.mozilla/firefox//

Mac OS X ~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles// или ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles//

Information from wiki.mozilla-russia.org