This page content has been ripped out of my Firefox Customizations (Notes) page to make it
smaller, and so that problems are basically on a different page than notes about extensions.
Some problem solving material remains on the main page that provide solutions
for problems that would not likely be viewed as problems but as alternatives such as
how to make Ctrl+U Open into Notepad, additional notes
on blocking ads besides extensions.
Firefox Problems: Things that don't always work, or never worked(#problems)
Case sensitivity of fragment id: Unix
servers are case sensitive, so all files and directories, have
been created as lowercase. But Mozilla Firefox has extended this
problem to the HTML id= tags as well, so that they are also case
sensitive. (called fragment id and by definition is not part of
the URL) Response: See standard
and see discussion;
I'm going to keep it here anyway because it seems arbitrary, and
“not defined” and “(incorrectly)” seem
contradictory when on this side of the fence. Reason for keeping this here as a problem: HTML must be
changed and others who write mainly for Internet Explorer should
be aware of this problem. Users who rely on fragment id should
be aware of possible failures. Help with locating fragment id problems: Check web page
with W3C Link
Checker similar to using The W3C Markup Validation
Service Help with viewing fragment id:Bookmarklets: Show Classes and ID,
id visible; Extensions:Aardvark, Colorzilla #top, requires an actual id= or a name= anchor in Firefox and Opera.
Adjacent hyphens within comment: This error is flagged in HTML-Kit and failure to correct will result in
missing areas of content in Firefox. The following is an
example, solution change the inner hyphens to equal signs. Easy
to find and fix, result is easier to see, but is something to
watch out for. (#hyphens)
<-- ------------------ snip out for other model ---------
-->
This code will be ignored in Firefox. (to locate and fix search
for triple hyphen)
<-- -------- end of -- snip out for other model ---------
-->
Adobe pdf files load slowly in Windows?
(#pdf) ♦,
Adobe Reader 6.0 for Windows loads lots of unused plugins on
startup (bloated). You would do much better eliminating these
plugins and opening PDF files externally with the Adobe Acrobat
Reader from your browser rather than within your browser. You do
not want these plug-ins using valuable system resources. Trying
to use the plug-ins within a browser greatly diminishes your
ability to properly use the Acrobat Reader and you lose screen
space to both browser and Acrobat Reader toolbars and menus.
Set the options in Firefox, do not install the PDF Download Extension
as it is not needed. See complete instructions on my
PDF page
Can not paste table from Firefox to Excel: (#excel)
To paste into Excel you will have to switch to Internet Explorer,
you can use IEView extension or to keep
down the number of extensions you have/use you can use Launchy to open same page in IE, then copy
and paste. (Table Examples). Excel 12 will
use XML). See TableTools2 extension to copy from Firefox directly to Excel.
MacroMedia Flash (#flash), some run and some don't, solution is to uncheck "obj-tabs"
option in Adblock. [ref 2005-10-18][Problematic extension] . Upgrading to Firefox 1.5.0.1
seemed to work for some, but then got sound only even after
moving window and scroll bars, so if using ADBLOCK suggest
you uncheck the option. IE users may have the same problem
with flash files and I've not run across a solution.
Minor annoyances: (#minor) The above are problems for most
everyone, this one is an annoyance for anyone that has their own
web pages on their own hard drive. IE would look at directory as
you type in a page on your local drive, but Firefox will only
suggest pages as you type that have been read meaning they have
to be in your history file; however, since it is the local drive
you can look at the directory. Workaround: the directory is
listed within Firefox, so you can view the directory and select
the file. You can invoke Launchy to
invoke Windows Explorer from the directory or file. You can use
Launchy to invoke Notepad from within the file.
Slow typing in Firefox on a duo core machine running Firefox 3.0.6. Try changing browser.cache.memory.enable to False. Problem of maxing out one core of a processor is fixed in Fx3.1 [ref, hmmm]
Problems with FIND continues to be
a problem ever since Firefox 1.5.0.1 it is still a serious problem even in 2.0
(possibly fixed in 2.0.0.2). More detail in Firefox find not working, though you can probably find what you need in the following workarounds.
workarounds for FIND problem are just that, they are completely unsatisfactory. (most have to do with caret browsing)
Highlight all, you really won't know if you see them all, and the main purpose of Find is to act like Find.
Duplicate Tab extension to create a new window
will work-around the problem by allowing you to open a new window, populating
it with the content of the current Tab using Ctrl+Shift+N
Use Launchy to bring up Internet Explorer or other alternate browser (IEView is another way to bring up IE).
Bug 311376 – Occasionally ' or / keys start find bar even in textareas [slash, apostrophe, quote, FAYT]. Bypass: Uncheck the Search for text when I start typing
(opposite of what was written above, [Nir 2007-06-21 (groups dead-link),
also see Bug 311376#c40].
Turn off Caret Browsing (see next item) as it affects Find.
Problems in using Page Up, Page Down, Space Bar, Home, and End keys continues to be
a problem ever since Firefox 1.5.0.1 it is still a serious problem even in Firefox 3.5
Turning off caret browsing (caret navigation)
is tricky, since F7 can change it. These are some of my
about:config settings,
the important one is that accessibility.browsewithcaret be set to false.
Needless to say this is also a workaround, and not a fix for the Firefox caret navigation problem
Tools, Options, Advanced, General, Accessibility: [_] Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages (formerly: Allow text to be selected with the keyboard) [uncheck same as false for caret]
[x] Search for text when I start typing (formerly: Begin Finding when you begin typing) nice feature, hopefully not involved with problems
With caret browsing off, the blinking cursor {|} is off.
You can go for hours or weeks without further problems, but will still have problems later on even though you are careful to keep caret browsing off, so keep in mind
the other workaround about opening a new window (Ctrl+N) or if you
installed Duplicate Tab (Ctrl+Shift+N) would be better. In any case, if you
are one of those that has a problem, you will never be able to work when caret browsing is on. Another problem (feature) of caret browsing is that it changes
getting to end of a page from End key to Ctrl+End key.
The following additions to user.js should alleviate problem
caused by inadvertently hitting F7 which changes the setting. This
will reset when Firefox is restarted.
// Get SpaceBar, PageUp, PageDown to work properly if F7 hit accidentally
// see http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox.htm#caret(problems)
user_pref("accessibility.browsewithcaret", false);
user_pref("accessibility.warn_on_browsewithcaret", true);
Problems with vertical scrolling using Spacebar, and Page Up and Page Down continue through 1.5.0.7, though directly related to Find Problem (above)
you can sometimes get these working on a page by moving the vertical scrollbar with the mouse, and you know for sure when it is not working. (as opposed to Find problem) Again major cause
of problem is MenuX and especially if caret browsing is involved. Another problem, after a bad change to a .js file in the keyconfig extension then
none of the vertical scrolling worked except the scrollbar itself. Backed off
the change and this is working again (2008-03-22).
Firefox will not always terminate (#terminate) and when it won't terminate you can't start
another instance of Firefox until you kill the running one seen only in the Task Manager. Seems the bypass is to use File, Exit instead of the [X} close button,
even though both may show the close multiple tabs warning. If you are experiencing such problems though you should check out Firefox hangs article.
If you just want to Restart Firefox, like you do just after installing an addon, it would be a lot
easier for you if you installed the “Quick Restart” extension and used Ctrl+Alt+R keyboard shortcut.
Updates, update indicates later extension available for Linky but
already had that update installed. There were two Linky's in the Extensions list,
uninstalled both of them and reinstalled (fixed).
Unrelated problem: HTML-Kit scroll wheel direction is reversed
in the Edit window, and only in the edit window, to all other
usage in Windows. Scroll wheel direction works fine in HELP
(browser).
Some problem items have solutions and have been moved to
Firefox Notes in the frame above.
Problems in starting Firefox – problems cont'd
(#willnotstartup)
If Firefox will not start, first check
to see if FIREFOX.EXE is already running by checking your
running tasks — ctrl+alt+del, Task Manager, Processes.
If it is already running then terminate that task and try again,
this usually gets you back.
Had a rather serious problem in that Firefox
would come up in the running tasks (Ctrl+Alt+Del) but not in the
running Application (tab) and terminating and restarting did not work. Had to backup my profile
(2005-03-19), uninstall Firefox from the file folder (not found
in uninstall programs), and delete all it's files and then a
complete reinstall of Firefox 1.0.1 (and 1.0.2 was coming out the
next week is now available). Probably somewhat of a symptom the
firefox that would not start had a zero size XUL.mfl
http://techpatterns.com/forums/about372.htm (which is not a
Firefox forum), and in
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser_will_not_start_up#How_to_Make_Firefox_Start
Though safe mode did not help, I did have to delete and recreate
a profile, after reinstalling Firefox. Safe mode allows you to
disable or uninstall extensions without invoking any extensions -- for Windows the command would be:
"C:\program files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode
firefox.exe -profilemanager
Some other things you can do with Start Run or System shortcuts:
Restoring some specific profile
files, after reinstalling Firefox after complete
removal.
Files I restored from my thumbdrive backup so far were:
bookmarks.html, cookies.txt, chrome/userChrome.css,
chrome/userContent.css, and chrome/launchy.xml
which put me in good shape for my options, and menus, then simply
reinstalled the extensions that I really needed. Was a lot more
conservative about what I really need as you can see to the right
(I had a slow memory impaired computer, much better after
upgrading from 128MB RAM to 512MB RAM since then). With limited
RAM the important ones are: Adblock, Context Highlight, Copy URL+, Drag to Tab (built-in), Launchy,
InfoLister (better than Listzilla), Sort Bookmarks,
and Web
Developer.
The good news is that I don't seem to have the extra Mozilla
Firefox window without customizations opening along with the
Firefox window when I open Firefox.
Alternate browsers
There is no excuse for being shut out from the internet
when your favorite browser fails at a critical moment, you
should always have a couple of other browsers installed
and available to fall back on to check connectivity and
to search for a resolution of problems.
image url: http://www.google.com/imageslogo_sm.gif
link url: http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en
width: 150px
height: 55px
Don't know where this came from,
but when I hover over an image this shows up, and it is annoying, covers up text, and even worse often gets stuck and won't go away. Seems to match description of various “floating image toolbar” extensions -- but I have no such extension installed that I know of. In fact the comments on one such extensions say it is annoying. Incidentally properties on the context menu provides additional information: size on disk (if not local), and alternate text – to this annoyance is absolutely worthless.
Finally resolved: turn off option in MenuX -- Display tips for tools/images --
now back to displaying titles only in a small strip for images (not alt).
Another annoyance is when a Firefox window opens too small, not only is it hard to find, but it is hard to resize with the cursor unless you remember to use Alt+SpaceBar first to move or resize a window.
Initial comments concerning what I was going to do
in Firefox 2.
Move the cache out of the profile, does
not belong in my backups. (finally done 2006-12-25).
For users who started with Fx 1.5 or later the cache is not in the profile.
I forced extensions to not check version compatibility and it appears that I've not lost any
extensions, certainly none of my most used that I've tested.
(see disabled).
Clear Private Data In Firefox Browser For Windows, Scott Orgera, attempts to explain exactly what you
would be clearing (Tools, Options, Privacy). You would normally choose not to clear your passwords, or cookies (Browser History, Down Load History, Saved Form information, cache, cookies, Saved Passwords, Authenticated Sessions).
Get rid of Green Arrow (GO) to right of location bar.
browser.urlbar.hideGoButton set to True (default is False)
[ref]
Can get rid of search button to right of the search bar.
and the Go button to right of Location Bar (see userChrome changes on tabs.htm page).
Use of Throbber to address additional home pages is available in an extension [background],
the extension is better than the original lost feature.
Mailbox button dropped from Firefox (use SeaMonkey) can be restored to Firefox as a toolbar button with the "Get mail" extension. The extension's author and
several other authors have removed their extensions from AMO (moved to author's site). Read about additional AMO problems. The extension assignment remains reserved and the author can put his
extension back on AMO or simply point to his own pages from AMO as several other extension author's have done.
Problems with toolbars, or can't bring up Firefox 2.0 after upgrading
from a previous version see deleting localstore.rdf;
Problems with adding/deleting searchbar engines, delete or rename search.sqlite file
Fx2 - Bookmarks Bar (#bookmarksbar)
Major problem: scroll bar on many tabs (caused by a forced Bookmarks Scrollbar extension)
obscures 75% of tab names leaving only top 25% exposed. Only recourse
is the nice new button at right of tab bar (left of right only tab close button); Allowing tabs to squeeze down real tight helps.
Bug 358154. AND see solution in link.
Appears to be the most common problem in moving up to Fx2, but also common after updating Firefox or extensions.
Rename localstore.rdf (effectively deleting it) seems to fix
a lot of things. Firefox will recreate it. For me that
simply meant hiding four toolbars and moving built-in searchbar back
to the menu bar. Fixed keyconfig extension. Size reduced from 88KB to 6KB)
Deleting localstore.rdf will reset your customized toolbars, window positions and sizes, tree sort orders, and similar settings. A new file will be created on start up or when the application first needs to write to the file.
Before deleting localstore.rdf: Take a snapshot of your toolbars before doing this so you can quickly
recustomize (View, Toolbars, Customize) by choosing small icons, and
dragging items on/off/around toolbars. Firefox 3 has a built-in delete of localstore.rdf via View, Toolbars, Customize (Toolbar), Restore Default Set (Button), which can be used without knowing your profile location.
symptoms seen: some extensions not updating, Firefox won't start,
localstore.rdf of 80KB or more, When recreated it was 5KB expect you
may start to have problems with slowing down when it gets back up to 20KB.
I have 84 enabled extensions.
Some additional files that can be deleted from profile (2007-02-26, Nir),
also see Browser will not start up [KB],
and the following may solve some "can't find file" errors but starts up slowing
Delete sessionstore.js in the Profile_Folder and if you see multiple files sessionstore-##.js with a number in the name then delete them as well. [ref],
also see
Documentation of what is in profile or on Gemal's site.
Major annoyance: shiny metallic tab markings with center shading, harsh annoying and
hard to read on laptop depending on angle even with my active tab color choices, was going blind with that garbage. Have since found the
solution from a search for "flat tabs" or "classic tabs", see my Tabs Page.
Change tab color, particularly the active tab in userChrome.css
Tabs scroller was poorly done, you will have to live with it.
If it's any consolation Opera's multiple rowed tabs bar is unusable
(test at tabs.htm#multitabs_loadtest).
This page (firefox.htm#ext) lists many extensions see Extensions Table below on this page.
Problem that was missed by 2.0.0.8 and will be fixed in next update:
Bug 396695 - Add-ons are disabled after updating. Users can fix this problem
by opening their profile folder and removing three files (extensions.rdf,
extensions.ini and extensions.cache) Actual bug title was
"Add-ons go into 'needs to restart' loop commonly after a firefox update"
[ref:
regression-bugs-in-Firefox-2008]
FIND bar is too high but must have min/max same or lose words behind. Make the min/max height constant in userChrome.css (see code) #find-field-container {min-height:18px !important; max-height:18px !important;}
Fx2 - Display (#fx2display)
Displays only HTML code or gibberish (server configuration issue).
Fx2 - Fonts (#fx2fonts)
Font changes was not working because I used Notepad instead of HTML-Kit to edit an "LF"-only file.
permissions.default.image. set to 1 to load all images, prior to Firefox 1.5 was known as permissions.default.image. and prior to Firefox 2.0 was network.image.imageBehavior and had additional options in the Tools,Options,Content tab. Also could get accidentally disabled at: Tools, Web Developer, images, disable images, [_] external images -- more comments
The option for "Shrink to fit" has been removed in Firefox 2. If you wish to change this from the value you had set in your previous version of Firefox, change the value of browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing the default is True.
Zone
Alarm problems with Firefox and startup, images, etc. Remove Firefox from
ZA then let ZA find the new Firefox application. Also see
specific to Map Quest and ZA
The latest thing now is that email and chat are locked together, you can get out of chat, and can get back
to Classic mail but it is difficult. First make sure that you have no contacts, then in your Yahoo profile
make sure that only those in your contacts list can see you. When you get logged out of chat but not out
of your userid, go to the actions dropdown next to where you see your login id and choose "return to classic"
don't give the devils any information other than you don't want chat or spyware and want back to classic email.
You may have to remove all cookies for Yahoo, and turn off JavaScript
then choose "classic" or old once in Yahoo, after you have created new
cookies, you should be able to use Yahoo and Firefox in the normal manner
with JavaScript enabled.
You should allow cookies in Yahoo or you will probably have the same
problem again later.
Yahoo login, if using Redirect Remover use "add defaults" in the extensions Options to include as an exception http://*.rd.yahoo.*/my/login/drawbridge/signin/
Google Advanced Search in Fx 2.0.0.4 -- remove Butler from GreaseMonkey scripts
(2007-06-01)
Popups allowed: googgle.com, google.ca, groups-beta.google.com, groups.google.com
Hotmail, can't print second page, see
Bug 154892 - Splitting Absolutely positioned frames not implemented - Missing second page of content when printing or print previewing this site.
Popups allowed: by4fd.bay4.hotmail.msn.com,
by107fd.bay107.hotmail.msn.com,
by101fd.bay101.hotmail.msn.com,
accountservices.msn.com,
accountservices.passport.net
Hotmail and problems with many sites, screen turns white and redirection
problems. Will pursue as as cookie problem must use classic (2008-01-31 for about 3 weeks on 2.0.0.11). Google search: "Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete" 2.0.0.11 hotmail
Removed a lot of extensions without success
Solution appears to have been deleting all hotmail.com, live.com,msn.com cookies
and allowing same. Immediately after can access hotmail (though very slow)
and generated cookies for h.live.com, p.live.com, login.live.com, mail.live.com
Google, addons.mozilla.org, and cookies dialog are also still slow on 2.0.0.11
Hotmail using 3.1Betas -- Bug 462428 - Regression preventing Minefield from working with latest Hotmail upgrade
YouTube, not a problem but it did ask to download/install Flash Player and had been having problems elsewhere with some movies so maybe things will be better now in 2.0.0.12.
To improve the quality of YouTube videos include &fmt=22 in the youtube.com url.
Additional comments concerning use of popups, cookies, passwords all sites:
Many sites require JavaScript and under Advanced the only item I allow is for scripts to raise
or lower windows.
pop-ups while I do have exceptions
(tools, options, contents; exceptions) for when pop-ups are turned off,
I generally do not suppress pop-ups, but do rely on other means of controlling
unwanted urls including the Adblock extension, and hosts file.
Put another way, any site that serves third party ads in images or pop-ups is unlikely to have your interests
at heart and makes a mockery of any privacy policy statement they show on their site.
Unfortunately there are far too many such sites to block third party images.
If you have "Redirect Remover" (RDR) extension you will have to make some exceptions, and it is easily enabled/disabled at the status bar. The "Adblock" and "GreaseMonkey" extensions are easily enabled/disabled at the status bar
without affecting your entire session by going through tools, addons.
Concerning sites requiring passwords to view material, avoid them if you can. Less
than 1% of the sites cause a lot of problems. Unless they hold your money or confidential
material, there really isn't much need for most of them, nor for you to use such sites.
Be sure to use unique passwords. See private data.
Long time to download (#slow)
Pipelining may slow down some sites such that they never appear to download or take a long time to download. A common site that is mentioned is
filehippo.com, which was slower but did load;
whereas, acdsee.com simply took forever, and was not improved with pipelining off (nefarious site, after it loads, it redownloads,
privacy policy also is slow).
Content in Firefox window bounces
(#bounces)
Window shakes
(Mozillazine KB), Content within Firefox window bounces, jitters, dances, dancing\
due to lack of bookmarks, bookmarks toolbar, or bad theme.
(2006-12-26)
Something to test after adding/enabling an Extension: Ctrl+A (select all) followed by
right-click to bring up context menu. Big problem if instead of context menu
you get "A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete [Stop Script] [Continue]". These extensions are a problem: and have been disabled/uninstalled:
Line Marker (200607), Quick Sum (0.1), Translate (0.6.0.9), gTranslate (0.3.1).
Also as you approach Firefox 2.0.0.12 some extensions that get
(not responding) and similar errors.
Fx3 - Firefox 3 ♦ section FAQ, etc. (#fx3) [also see Fx2 FAQ and notes]
Organization of this page: Generate the Table of Contents (Alt+O) for this page and other webpages by installing the Document Map extension, then from the View menu, click on
sidebar and then Document Map. You are not at the top of the current page.
These may be of particular concern to many new users of Fx3.
"More Information" security pop-up by clicking at left of location bar.
Click favicon once again to remove and select all of location bar as with Ctrl+A from location bar.
An alternative to remove popup is to hit the Esc key, instead of clicking on "More information".
F1 Help, has been changed to online help, if the formatting style is lost hit F5 to see
if styling returns.
Add-ons, addition of the badly needed Advanced Search may appear messed up on first
viewing. To get the advanced tab back to the right side, choose "All extensions on
the right drop-down of the search area, which should put categories and buttons back to normal.
Some of my experience with Firefox 3, and attempting to
gain more information is on my page Places -- bookmark tags, as of yet nothing on how to use bookmark tags, just lots of
problems because of starred bookmarks (quick bookmarks), and of making keyword bookmarks more difficult to create.
Unofficial Firefox trunk changelog, Approximately 12742 bugs have been fixed since Firefox 2.0.0.x. Important
items per Jesse Ruderman (squarefree.com)
New search powers lead Firefox 3 (BBC News), bring up a list of the sites that the user recently visited that have cameras in their names. Much hype over things
already available in History, despite the hype tags do not work properly.
Items mentioned or found as a result of Chris Pirillo's What's new in Firefox 3? (live.pirillo.com video podcast 2007-11-22),
while reading Asa Dotzler's ...
More integration with operating system it is running on. (Bad feature is that other
users feel unsupported, even worse users affected do not want Firefox to be anything like changes made to their operating system, or to features in other browsers that drove them to Firefox in the first place).
Click on Favicon for site information, similar to a subset of Tools, Page Info, but allows you
to modify your security settings for the site.
built-in warnings about Malware sites suspected Phishing and Attack sites, previously available in extensions like SiteAdvisor. (blacklisted sites not yet activated)
Better error (SSL) error pages.
Better addon version checking, and disables older insecure versions. (makes things difficult for small guys with extensions, esp. those that don't need updating). Secure updates.
Anti-virus integration.
Save passwords after a successful login.
New download manager (see if this gets better after beta), improved web based protocol handlers.
Full page zoom (like in Opera)
Resume Sessions improved with better Session saving upon exit, option to save tabs and location on each page.
Presumably allows multiple selections. (2x, 3x clicking supposed to be added doesn't work properly must be CSS styles)
Star (bookmark here), Tags (places)
Location bar -- autocomplete (like Autocomplete extension) but this
picks up from bookmarks and history as well.
Bookmarks and History Organizer (still hard to sort bookmarks) [may still want Sort Bookmarks ext.)
Bookmarks, History, etc now in Databases to be "crash-proof" (well how are you going to find them);.
300 memory leaks plugged, speed increases, optimizing memory use (in or outside of OS?)
The tabs will scroll with the mouse button though I have my tabs setup with my
own preferences so I can see all tabs at once, and so that they take less space. ; Scrolling tabs on the tabs bar would be
confusing to me. Though the drop-down keeps tabs fully readable and in perspective for everyone (most of this was in Fx2).
Firefox 3 Beta concerns Found
(#fx3comments)
Nicely created itself into a new program folder,
Appears to be using the same default profile and updating it, same toolbars, same bookmarks.html
still appears but has tags as well as keywords.
Appear to be able to bring up either Fx2 (with everything working as before, or Fx3 (with failures as first found).
Ctrl+D dialog frozen to upper right corner means it is not free floating
and will not allow you to copy and paste from other areas or the research other areas while while working on the dialog.
Ctrl+W ended the session when the only tab was closed. Standard behavior was changed in Fx2, and like in Fx2, this will only happen if Tools, Options, Tabs did not checkmark "Always show tabs bar".
Places, new SQLITE bookmarks, seems to be very lacking in documentation,
here are a few links: Browser.bookmarks.overwrite - MozillaZine Knowledge Base, may cause problems for those that use relocate bookmarks.html by setting browser.bookmarks.file
(bug: 381216), and more[1]. bookmarks.postplaces.html gets written to if setting is false (default).
target="_search" is not opening the link in the sidebar (cheatsheet:),
requires browser.search.openintab set to False (default), which it is. ; Works from a bookmark,
but does not work from a keyword shortcut (which is a bookmark). (Bug: 259199)
Secure Server required for extensions so had lost a few extensions for a while.
AutoHide, keyconfig.
So have to find a keyconfig version on a secure server, or find one that does not say
it works for Fx3, see User:Mossop:Fx-Docs:AddonUpdateSecurity - MozillaWiki, which puts the little guys out in the cold, kind of reminds me of the TI computer. Solution: about:config
extensions.checkUpdateSecurity set to False (Bug: 378216#c83)
extensions.checkCompatibility also set to False so don't check for compatibility either
thought I was going to pick up AutoHide, Colorzilla, and Keyconfig but instead
AutoHide and keyconfig don't work, and Colorzilla crashes Firefox and have to
use SafeMode to disable Colorzilla.
Reinstall from Add-ons meaning first uninstall then reinstall: Web Developer, Open Long URL
Default fonts changed., and I see same selections as before in Tools, Options, Content,
and I allow pages to change fonts. My fault, I never set the Tools, Options, Content
to my default "Times New Roman" font. The defaults for each type of font matched
old system as well as "Western (ISO-8859-15)".
My userChrome.css changes came through flying, only problem is that the bottom
borders of toolbars are showing and cut through the middle of next toolbar, which is
my fault because I can't figure out how to properly reduce the height of the bookmarks bar,
have words at bottom but upper half is empty and purposely overlapping bar above it,
can't figure out how to get rid of the bubble behind a menu selection for bookmarks toolbar menus
and for folders within folders under bookmarks toolbar folders . (see Tabs). Most of overlapping bar problems have been solved and I have removed everything I had in userChrome and converted them to Styles so that items can be individually toggled on/off.
This problem is in the future, Warning: the Firefox throbber (what is left of it) is going to become a
"state" of the favicon: see Bug: 402968
and Throbber discussion 2007-11-28.
Unfiled Bookmarks are NOT being saved in bookmarks.postplaces.html nor are they in exported from the Library window brought up by Bookmarks, Show All Bookmarks. very bad
Fx3 Beta - Lost these extensions grayed out, can't make them singularly compatible
(#fx3ext)
About This Site Bookmarks, Anchorun, Autohide, Colorzilla,
Color Contrast Analyser, Idiri, iMacros for Firefox, keyconfig. KGen, Line marker, LinkChecker,
Linky, ListZilla, MeasureIt, Mouse Gestures, MultiSidebar, Open Long Url, Open Book, OPML Support, PermaTabs, PicLens, Quick Sum, RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin, Server Spy, Snagit Firefox Extension, TestGen4Web, Unicode converter, View Cookies (?), Web Developer, Word Count (?).
I was using each of the underlined extensions before, and
each of those is very important to me, the
others were disabled or
maybe even uninstalled - don't know about View Cookies, or Word Count if they were disabled or not Prior to Fx3 Beta. Actually since Fx2/Fx3 don't seem to interfere with each other you can see my Fx2 extensions summary in my
InfoLister generated page. Do Check above the table to see if it was
run with Fx2 (Firefox/2.0.0.10 with
enabled: 101, disabled: 17, total: 118) or Fx3 (Firefox/3.0b1 with enabled: 85, disabled: 30, total: 115) OpenBook updated 2008-03-24. Deleted a lot, since, to help find the Ctrl+D culprits.
A possible reason for failure is that Fx3 will not
install an extension from an unsecure site and even if
obtained from addons.mozilla.org the site internally listed
may be the author's site regardless of whether it points back
to add-ons to install. Linky, Web Developer can be reinstalled from Add-ons.
True
When importing bookmarks.html into Places, make a copy as bookmarks.preplaces.html. Each time the browser quits, export the Places bookmarks as bookmarks.html.
False
Do not make a copy when importing bookmarks.html. Each time the browser quits, export the Places bookmarks as bookmarks.postplaces.html. (Default)
Turn off automatic select all on urlbar Ctrl+L,
triple click will select all as will Ctrl+A
[link]
[reason]
Additional concerns and tweaks for Firefox 3 Beta testing are on places page,
and on bookmarks page.
Other observations
Difference in looking at http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/code/
in Fx3 than looking atc the same from from local drive, you can see a
local drive by pasting file:///c:/ into your location bar.
extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6 set to False in about:config in order to use extensions that work but have not been updated by their authors. 53 extensions without, and back to using 92 with the change and 22 of 122 I simply keep disabled when not using [my
Infolister listing].
Please read Extensions.checkCompatibility - MozillaZine Knowledge Base,
allows disabling of extension compatibility checking; however, enabling incompatible extensions may cause crashes or other malfunctions. Always check Problematic extensions before installing new extensions, or if you have problems.
Breaks - Extended Link Properties (dead-link) which provided properties menu for a link to show size and all HTTP headers. A great extension and it worked fine before Firefox 3.6.
(solved) Tab Color Underscoring active/read/unread | userstyles.org (style 9023) - was a MAJOR problem for me. Possibly
even more of a problem for those who will allow tabs in 3.6 to be created alongside the parent tab rather than to the far right. See revised version for Firefox 3.6 and 4.0 -- Tab Color Underscoring active/read/unread (Fx3.6) | userstyles.org, also requires an extension (.xpi) from the bug mentioned in the description. http://kb.mozillazine.org/User:Dickvl/TabVisited
Install TabVisited 2.5 to use in Firefox 4.0
Another show thing, will initially be set to False, but it if gets set to True later it will show small pictures of webpages as you Ctrl+Tab through your tabs (bad).
Windows and Mac mess up Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab [Bug 505404, 505751]
On Linux also messes up Ctrl+1 thru 9
browser.ctrlTab.previews user set Boolean False
New tabs insert to right of current (bad), to put back to far right (good). Somewhat mitigating this bad feature is that it only applies to tabs opened in the background (but keep watching for changes), since it was put into production to disable feature use:
browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent set to False (Bug 465673 and Beltzner blog 2009/01/11 you don't stand a chance of prevailing, nor can you vote against a bug)(also see my new tabs testing page for "Order of Tabs")
"Fix" for the space wasting warning text beside location bar favicon ("Larry") -- 3.5cm is lot of wasted space. Click on the favicon to see information.
/* Remove unimportant Location Bar Icon Text -- http://eriwen.com/firefox/use-the-dom-inspector/ */
#identity-icon-label { display: none !important; }
Empty bubble box on links caused by
Google Toolbar extension. Also compare to problems with Menu-x extension.
Mac feature rotate on track pad, restore with
browser.gesture.twist.left set to Browser:PrevTab
browser.gesture.twist.right set to Browser:NextTab.
oldbar extension, for those that dislike the double-line entries within the AwesomeBar results.
The underlying autocomplete algorithm is the Firefox 3 algorithm, not the Firefox 2 algorithm. oldbar only affects the presentation of the results. Also in about:config set browser.urlbar.maxRichResults integer 30 (default is 12, I actually use 60 and scroll as only 20 show at a time)
Also read Location Bar search for some hints on restricting some searches.
major problem 3.6.4 and 3.6.6 may be Flash:Slow as a Flash? - mozilla.support.firefox | Google Groups, changed
the Flash version back to 10.0.45.2(third column). Sure
enough, the speed loss was reversed - regardless of FF version. It is,
in fact, the Flash version (that Firefox 3.6.4 insisted I installed)
that was causing the problem. [Bob Henson 2010-06-27].
[test]
Possible solution waiting on feedback: Right-click on video > Settings > turn off Hardware Acceleration. [mozilla.support.firefox | Google Groups">Omega X (2010-07-21)]
Fx4: Firefox 4.0 Orientation, and Problems/Solutions/Issues (#fx4)
-- [also see Fx2 and Fx3 issues above ] --
Orientation:
These items are mainly from material that is shown to you when you first install
Firefox. The links will help you re-orientate yourself later.
MozillaZine articles -- Problems and Issues These articles are for problem solving, Firefox 4.0 has reduced problem issues,
most of these articles are to help you do something different, and to avoid problems
by being aware of what you are doing.
Fx4 Problems (most have solutions) (#fx4_problems)
Problems: (note the solutions)
It is hard to comprehend how such a bad user interface came about in Firefox 4,
while the underlying Firefox was greatly improved. Not only do the UI changes make things
harder to use, but they cause many extensions, themes, and styles to become more bloated. (my opinion). I have been working with the 4.0 Betas for over a year, so I do have solutions
to most of the problems I encountered.
Before continuing, you might want to take a look at the changes that were made
and how you were expected to cope with them. Fortunately if you disagree
you can customize things.
(Some screen shots:
[Fx0.8 ??]
[ad]
[fx1.0-3.0)]
[Fx1]
[fx2]
[fx3]
[fx3.5]
[fx3.6]
[fx5]
[History] )
Here are examples (below) of what was changed in Firefox 4.0.
It is possible to make Firefox 4.0 look like what you had in Firefox 3.6.16 and make some additional styling changes to help distinguish different profiles, reduce space on the bookmarks toolbar and whether a tab was read or not. Click here to view my Before/After customizations.
Fix Firefox 4.0 toolbar user interface, problems (Make Firefox 4.0 look like 3.6) (#fx4interface)
locator information: http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx4interface
subsection of Firefox 4.0 Orientation, and Problems/Solutions/Issues (see #fx4 above)
Numbered items are all subject to changed numbering / deletion/ rearrangement.
If you are not familiar with customization of toolbars (placement of buttons), please read How do I customize the toolbars? | How to | Firefox Help (support.mozilla.com) -- Firefox HELP ("F1") -- (Pictures before/after customization [Fx4] [Fx5])
To restore the Menu Bar: View → Toolbars → (check) View Menu
If you can't see menu click on "Alt" to see Menu Bar and other Toolbars temporarily or use "Alt+V" then continue as from View menu. Restoring the Menu bar gives you back having the title on the title bar so you know what page you are on. In either case, you always have the mouseover on the tabs and the list all tabs button to be able to see titles. The new "Firefox" button replaces the Menu bar and hides titles. If you restore the menu bar you normally will not see the "Firefox" button.
To restore the Tab strip to its rightful place immediately above web page content: View → Toolbars → (uncheck) Tabs on Top ? The three bookmark icons show only as "Bookmarks" in the Customize dialog ("Alt+V" the one you need here shows as "Bookmark Toolbar Items" once on the tabstrip during customize. The "bookmarks menu button" (with popup) brings up the bookmarks drop-down menu and if on the right side of the bookmarks bar -- Firefox 4 hid the menu bar, this serves as a bookmarks menu substitute.
The Bookmarks sidebar button
(no popup(brings up the bookmarksin the side bar ["Ctrl+B" bookmarks sidebar]
Toolbar buttons moved to other side and combined/morphing buttons --
When the page is loaded the stop-reload-go button on right end of location bar becomes a reload button.
To restore old behavior, use normal customize to fix: (Alt+V → Toolbars → Customize)
Separate, move or remove Go ["Enter"], Reload ["F5"] and Stop ["Esc"] buttons.
Remove the Bookmarks sidebar button ["Ctrl+B" bookmarks sidebar]; Return Home button ["Alt+Home"] from far right of navigation toolbar to the left side of the location bar, move new tab [+]
on the tabs bar to to right side of Navigation bar to appear as
.
Tab related keyboard shortcuts include: New Tab ["Ctrl+T"], Reopen Closed Tab ["Ctrl+Shift+T"], Close Tab ["Ctr+W"].
Back/Forward toolbar button without drop-down -- use right-click
(or hold left-click for a second) for dropdown, been doing that for long time and I had
removed it on my copies of my navigation styles.
The older pages are at the bottom, the blue globe is the current position within
the tab. Click and hold on either button also works. Use of a five button mouse saves time as you don't need to actually click on the Back/Forward arrows or use the Back ["Alt+<"] or Forward ["Ctrl+>"] keyboard shortcuts. Also see "Finding a recent web page".
(#bfdropdown")
Title Bar missing, and loss of Menu bar -- you can regain the title in Firefox 4.0 by displaying the menu bar, and extensions such as
Nightly Tester Tools
will still work as long as the menu bar is displayed.
See Customize Toolbar (MozillaZine FAQ article), and particularly the section
Restoring missing menu or other toolbars
Menu changes (wording), "Organize Bookmarks" under the Bookmarks menu has been changed to
"Show All Bookmarks -- Ctrl+Shift+B" with the same keyboard shortcut. You may also view ALL of your bookmarks in the Bookmarks Sidebar ("Ctrl+B"). "Customize" under View("Alt+V") → Toolbars(T) → Customize... has been changed to Firefox → Options → Toolbar Layout
Order within menus: including context menus such as "New Tab" and "New Window" were changed in Fx4, and as you add more extensions the order of menus will change. The order of menu items, the addition of menu separators, and hiding of menu items can all be changed with the Menu Editor extension. [Notes]. Windows 7: see item #9 on my Windows 7 Home Premium page to Restore missing underscored letters in menus.
Add-ons list messed up or hidden: Tools → Add-ons ("Ctrl+Shift+A") → Extensions (left panel) → click on Name button to sort alphabetically. Expand width of window if you don't see titles at left associated iconic menus for "Get Add-ons" (useless), "Extensions", "Appearance" (Themes/Personas), "Plugins", "User Styes", "Available Updates"
RSS feed on the location bar has been replaced by " subscribe to this page..." in the bookmarks menu, or the subscribe button can be moved to toolbar or back into the location bar with customize. The old style button with color can be restored with an extension as gray vs color, shows up a lot better than gray vs black.
Status bar (renamed to add-ons bar), the status reporting, and urls are still not back inside the bar,
so you will still need to install - Status-4-Evar restores use of status bar functionality in the replacement add-ons bar, explicit directions in
this page of mine. People struggled for most of year
with this and the mess was partially fixed, but you will still need the extension. The only good thing, so far (4.0) that came out of the changed Graphical User Interface (GUI) was that there is now a keyboard shortcut, “Ctrl+/”, to toggle the add-ons bar
on or off, which is the same as using View → Toolbars → (check/uncheck) Add-ons bar (not finalized for Linux, which might be different[Bug 633819]).[Ref][Ref] ☹. For those that want to use Organize Status Bar the 0.6.5 version is at the author's site.
Security padlock replaced by Site Identity Button on Location Bar. (ref)(addon)
The first ten steps make Firefox 4.0 look like 3.6.*, that was all there was to it, almost
entirely simple "customization" standard throughout all versions of Firefox, quick notes on usage, and one extension with explicit directions. If you would like to restyle your toolbars to remove the wasted empty space on your toolbars now that you have all of your toolbars, skip down to
Make your own styling changes.
Web Forum users, who may have been referred here for primary or secondary problems. As a courtesy to other users and to the person supplying the answer please mark the best solution (or resolution) to your question as solved that addresses your primary question, and if not clear in doing so, also provide a reply indicating what the problem really was and what part of the solution actually solved your problem.
Problems that may occur immediately after any update (#fx4update)
Firewalls may prevent use of Firefox after updating. (Cannot connect after upgrading Firefox). After fixing your Firewall rebooting might be wise, and clearing cache. Norton product compatibility with Firefox Updates - Norton Community, Norton update for its extensions due soon, meanwhile disable
the Norton extensions in Firefox so as not to crash Firefox [article date 2011-04-29, they expect to have a fix win about a week, and they should be marked as compatible with sub releases i.e. 4.0.*].
Lost bookmarks - MozillaZine Knowledge Base,
are often caused by allowing Firefox to create a new profile. To avoid this problem don't let the installation start Firefox for you as that may create a new profile, instead start Firefox in your normal manner after the install.
For additional issues relating to an update itself see
MozillaZine articles -- Problems and Issues above.
Extension issues(#fx4ext)
Problematic Extensions: The easiest thing to check is the list of Problematic extensions at mozillazine.org if you can't immediately identify an extension by the problems it causes.
If you can open Firefox, opening one time in Safe Mode is now easier in Firefox 4 by using
the the "Restart with Add-ons Disabled" to help you determine if the problem is caused
by an extension. Rather than disabling extensions one at a time to find the bad
extension the best way is to turn half-off and work up or down from there see
Extension issues for details.
Compatibility: One thing you can do before and after Firefox 4 is to install the Is It Compatible? extension, so you can easily check minVer and maxVer in the extensions list itself. If an extension is not compatible with your version of Firefox,
look at the extension site for the author's webpage which might have a newer version for testing. Read the developer comments and user comments, and the upgrade notice on the extension's page as well as is the size justified for the functionality and usefulness of the extension or is it bloated. You should be looking at that information before you install an extension as well so you understand the extension better, its features and what could go wrong. Also check out Problematic extensions, which has already been mentioned.
Force install for extensions that you are reasonably sure will work by overriding maxVer test of the extension for suitability. (#forceinstall)
The
Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension was created to test add-ons for upcoming Firefox releases to report whether they still work or are having some issues with alpha and beta releases. Note: Recommended for alpha and beta users only! But is being used by those who only know how to install extensions, to run extensions that were okay on Firefox 4 and show up as not yet ready for 5.0 and 6.0.
For others the old methods still work and can be combined or used on less frequently used profiles with the extensions.checkCompatibilityThis change will not affect the warning of incompatibility on the add-ons list (which is good). extensions.checkCompatibility.3.6 set to false extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0 set to false extensions.checkCompatibility.5.0 set to false extensions.checkCompatibility.6.0 set to false The most important information for an add-on is the full description, the developer comments (hidden), the version information/size (hidden) and user comments for an extension. The crap has expanded (also used with, collections, blue bottom area) of the add-on page. You can research an extension to see if others found it to work or not
using your Troubleshooting Information report to check the Compatibility Reporting results of Beta testers as well based on an extensions GUID number.
New/changed Fx4 features (#fx4new)
Passwords in FF4, some slight differences in Remember passwords. See comment number 3 in the linked thread.
Tab Candy (renamed to app tabs) - I can't see ever using it, as my tabs will(/should) narrow down anyway, and I have no intent of saving tabs permanently, this is causing lots of problems for others and will probably need some way to turn it completely off. Intended for those who use tabs bar as if they were bookmarks.
app-tabs (new in Fx4) has a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+E that conflicted with "Adblock Plus" extension. The Adblock Plus extension now uses "Ctrl+Shift+F" for preferences. Should other keyboard shortcuts result in conflicts there is always the "keyconfig" extension. Firefox moved into extensions area when Ctrl+E failed muster with IE users not used to Ctrl+K (Search Bar). Will use app-tabs in order to temporarily lock a tab so that links don't open in the tab, which is what I had used "Perma Tabs Mod" extension for.
Sync not as complete as the extension was (which I never used) as it will only work with
Firefox. I doubt that I will try it until I get a second computer on Windows 7, or a mobile device to by synched.
Check for updates: Firefox is now done through Help → About to make sure you get the latest, but you should also be updating Firefox and extensions automatically with a confirmation via Tools → Options → Advanced → Update (another long standing convention or standard broken).
Version information no longer in Help → About..., which breaks 20-30 years of conventional place to look in applications. Mozilla moved it to Help → Troubleshooting Information ("about:support"), similar information in other applications has been included or linked from Help/About in other applications but not in Firefox.
Add-ons Manager went from 11 per page to 4 per page with less information than if
you were using an extension to add additional material and links. makes one wonder if
Mozilla ever learns anything from extension developers, plus locking into a tab prevents viewing at the same time as a webpage unless you open another Window. The Compatibility Reporter did make use of oversize buttons on new layout with added capability, but it is only for Beta not for Minefield and not for the production version.
No control of where/how you view information: Add-ons list in a tab, Bookmark properties (from star) dialog in a door hanger. Options often appear unlabelled as a gear on dialogs. New formats take away ability to compare to another list, wastes more space.
(Add-ons pictures [Fx3] [Fx4])
Text Area Resizing builtin to Fx4 but only for multi-line text boxes. Typical of only halfway implementing extensions, so you may still appreciate
Textarea Resizer and Mover.
Alert, Confirm, and Prompt boxes are
not quite as bad as during Beta but still stinketh. Can
check for yourself differences between Fx3 and Fx4 with the items under "Chaos" in
k.html.
Tabs are included in the AwesomeBar search by including "%" see
Location Bar search (internal - Auto Complete), only open visible tab titles/urls will searched, and the active tab is excluded.
Restoring tabs from a lost session (#tabslost) is now done after restarting through the History menu with “Restore previous session”. Also available from the default homepage . [HELP article]
For those that prefer the old way, you can change the value of browser.showQuitWarning to true for choice at end of session rather than trying to guess if you want old or new at beginning of session, or for better security.
[Bug 635231]
[Bug 636777#c22]
[Bug 629485]. The following settings are for those that want to make a choice at the end of the session:
[Ref]
[Ref]
browser.showQuitWarning user set boolean true
browser.tabs.warnOnClose default boolean true
browser.warnOnQuit default boolean true
browser.warnOnRestart user set boolean true
If you had tabs open at the end of the session, you will be able to restore your tabs in the new session regardless of you have browser.showQuitWarning if set to true and you reply yes, the tabs will be automatically restored, if you replied no the tabs will be available through History menu. If you had tabs open at end and browser.showQuitWarning is set to false then no message is issued about saving tabs and they will not be restored automatically but will be available through the History menu. If you had no tabs open when closing Firefox there is no session to save or to restore.
More information on configuration variables available in
about:config (entries) and for users not familiar with the process there is about:config (How to change) If you don't want your tabs to be seen at all then close your tabs before closing the Window, information will still be in the History unless you use private browsing or remove your browsing history (Privacy options).
Be sure that you are closing Firefox properly (see Close Firefox, below), and not just the Window.
Private Browsing or clearing browsing history will prevent restoring session, and use of History in the awesomebar [picture]
"moz-action:switchtab," may appear as a prefix in single line AwesomeBar results ("oldbar" extension), or instead as
switch to tab symbol on the second line of the AwesomeBar results to indicate that it is an already open tab other than the active tab.
If the url is bookmarked, either the bookmark Star
or the bookmark tag (luggage tag) symbol will also appear in the AwesomeBar results. [More]
Double-click on tabs bar maximizes window instead of
opening a new tab. Suggest turn off tabs on top (View), displaying Menu bar (View) and always showing tabs bar (Option).
Taking over the title bar and not putting the title into the title bar is irrational.
[Bug 575248, Windows].
[Bug 641490, Linux]
Features messed up in earlier versions (#prefx4)
tab close button, restore pre Fx2 method -- single close button at far right of tabs strip using about:config to restore feature with browser.tabs.closeButtons set to 3
Open new tabs on far right, restore pre Fx3.6 behavior, set
browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent to false in about:config
Restore pre Fx3 keyword shortcut in Bookmark dialog with the
"Add Bookmark Here ²" extension with my options so you have keyword once more in the bookmark dialog, and you can even remove the tag option,
which has made the dialog very confusing to users and which made bookmarks less efficient.
Closing Firefox ''(#close_firefox)'', avoid getting Firefox already running messages: To properly shutdown Firefox when multiple windows or closing the
last window use File → Exit/Quit (or Firefox button → Exit). Closing Firefox with the [X] in the upper right corner closes the window ("Ctrl+W") but that does not necessarily close Firefox if it has subtasks running. If you want to close and reopen Firefox use the "Restart" within Add-ons if you made a change requiring a restart, or install "Restartless Restart" ("Ctrl+Alt+R") which will allow you to take Firefox down and restart without having to check the Windows Task Manager to see if Firefox first actually ended. [Firefox hangs]
Closing Firefox properly will not completely eliminate having to use the Windows Task Manager to close Firefox on Windows but it will certainly reduce the need to use it often. Also See item #31Restoring tabs from a lost session (#tabslost, above).
Directions to close Firefox properly in all systems or failing that to force Firefox to close can be found in this MozillaZine article with directions for each system: kill application so you will know how to handle message: "A copy of Firefox is already open. Only one copy of Firefox can be open at a time."
Location Bar search consists of an external search (after pressing Enter) changed from opening one page to displaying a list. The Awesomebar feature is the intenal search (before pressing Enter).
External problems (below) describes search problems relating to Google, and to unwanted hijacking of searches by extensions.
Unresponsive Script Warning, “A script on this page may be busy, or It may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.” (My own dom.max_script_run_time is upped from 10 (default) to 30.
Make your own styling changes the way they could have been done. (#fx4styles) [before/after picture]
First install the "Stylish" extension (some items below have multiple styles to avoid renumbering items)
Tabs Bar Minimal Size makes Tabs bar smaller and allows tabs to really squeeze down as more are added.
Tabs, Enlarge list-all-tabs button, additional background coloring to identify the list-all-tabs button (orangish), the close button (reddish) at the far right of the tabs bar, and a
tabs counter (yellow).
Each style in the above list is independent and optional. Each style can be modified by the user. Single line summaries of many of the extensions and user styles that I use.
Larger toolbars and buttons for those with disabilities and/or color buttons(#fx4large)
Aeon Big (Theme, 2MB), large toolbar buttons with color and larger dialog symbols as well, but the dialog symbols may look nothing like Firefox dialog symbols. Compare picture of Aeon Big to other distributed and smaller before/after picture. You can open each in a new window ["Shift+click"] then click on images to use (+) magnifier cursor to enlarge images to normal size for comparisons.
Strata XP (Theme (buttons), 13.3KB), replaces silhouette toolbar icons with color. Icons are smaller and perhaps less distinguishable. : Good choice for those that just want color in their toolbar buttons.
[Tech Tips]
Tango FX4 (Theme-buttons, 14.3KB), better coloring than Strata, but blobby, bad new tab button.[Tech Tips]
An alternative for those who find toolbars and text hard to read and want a larger size the following extension works well for that purpose for font sizes at and between 12 and 20 -- Theme Font & Size Changer (464.9 KB), it is a very large extension. The use Styles may be more suitable to just change a few things such as increase size of text in the location bar and decrease size of text on tabs.
Problems some people think is Mozilla -- it's not. (#fx4external)
Turn OFF Google Instant via http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en and check your setting regularly,
You should now be able to see 100 hits per page again and make sure that
is not grayed out in your Google Preferences. (#googleinstant)
Related to Google changes
Use the "Google Enhancer" extension, but do not use "Optimize Google" extension.
Assuming for now it is okay to use "Site Advisor" (ver 3.3.1) extension as long as Google Instant is turned off.
Expect that McAfee Site Advisor causing problems interacting with "Optimize Google" causing jittering and screen repainting and slowing down. Disabling "Optimize Google" seems to work and can use Site Advisor.
It appears the "Google Instant Previews" is no longer in Google Preferences, so what if someone had it -- did it
go away, can they turn it off. There were also extensions that did same/similiar that might need to be uninstalled to get rid of similar things such as "Cool Preview"."Show Suggestions" is independent of Google Instant so you can still see suggestions
on the search bar, but not be crippled by Google Instant.
(user beware) ask.com is suddenly became the default search from the location bar, or the default search engine. Mozilla did not make
ask.com your search engine. Users get suckered into an install. See
Problematic extensions. Yahoo toolbar can not only be pain to remove [see removing Yahoo toolbar and restore default search engine (Q850287)], but here is a picture of something
similar where
additional software in this case the yahoo toolbar would be installed by the unsuspecting user. Refuse anything you did not ask for. Refuse all
third party toolbars.
Options, Tools → Options (various) (#fx4options)
Tools>Options: This will be difficult to figure out what you had before and lost with a new profile, or what got changed in going up to 4.0, but here are some things that might be overlooked as items you may have changed. Remember these are all personal choices. For more descriptive information with each item see Options Window HELP
General, home page, downloads, where to save files. (should not have changed from your version 3 profile)
Default home page is now about:home was previously a Google page
Tabs, I have the first five checked, the sixth for Windows previews is unchecked.
Content, pop-ups optional, keep images and javascript checked (advanced JS: what I have checked varies)
Colors: all checked except use systems colors
Fonts: Western; Serif, 16; Times New Roman; Aria; Courier New, 17; None; Allow; Western (ISO-8859-15)
If you have a problem with Font sizes, also see zoom things.
Privacy see picture, make sure you don't clear your history.
Security: all five items checked. You should protect your passwords with a Master Password that you must not forget.
Barely worth mentioning, affect few users. (#fx4minor)
Bookmarking via bookmarks menu and tabs context menu
Firefox, depending on where you look this is what you see.
Bookmark this Tab ( tab context menu) - 3.6 (dropped 5.0 use bookmark Star )
Bookmark this Page (bookmarks menu) - 3.6 (dropped 5.0 use bookmark Star )
Bookmark all Tabs (tabs context & bookmarks menu) 3.6 and 5.0, grayed out in both 3.6 and 5.0 when only 1 tab.
I expect single tab from context menu was dropped to make room for pinning a tab in 5.0 (app-tab) in tab context menu.
(Google Chrome uses bookmark all tabs for 1 tab or all in tab context menu.)
Avoid 7.0.1 and up, if possible, no longer suitable for serious users. (#fx7crap)
Continues to be slow, erratic mouse movement and loss of mouse control for periods of time, high cpu usage.
System Requirements for the latest Firefox (Firefox 9.0). For other versions of Firefox see the Firefox wikipedia page.
See Firefox 7 Notes. There is no extension yet to return lost functionality of running JavaScript from location bar, or of using resize and move
Firefox 7.0.1 and up is a cess pool.
windows, but it is insane for a browser to become bloated to take away features and then require a extension to restore features. JavaScript cannot be run from the location bar, and resize/move scripts cannot be run from bookmarks or webpages. What then is going to protect us from bad webpages, and more important what is going to protect us from Firefox itself or even our own moving of windows away from where we really want them later. For some absurdities just to be able to resize/move a window using JavaScript see this MozillaZine article.
Or the even more absurd manner of having to open an extra popup window as in the nicely laid out
resizeMyBrowser, only to have to repopulate the new window afterwards -- I suppose the resize bookmarklets could open a popup window divorcing themselves from the original window, with only the original window keeping its tabs intact. The workarounds entirely destroy the efficacy of use of such bookmarklets.
http: was removed from url address in location bar (https: is left undisturbed) to repair damage -- set browser.urlbar.trimURLs to false in about:config
The AwesomeBar search and sidebar search no longer work properly, they won't pick up javascript bookmarks properly, and seems to be case sensitive in some manner. Obviously related to damages caused loss of JavaScript usage (Bug 565541 – Web sites shouldn't be allowed to resize main window
Remember my Browsing History (tools → Options → Privacy) got turned off. Related problems with loss of Form History, and Download History.
[Picture]
[Picture]
(pet peeve) Spell Checking is built-in to Firefox, please use it when filling in questions on web forums.
(adapt or substitute) PermaTabs Mod extension won't be able to lock tab from deletion (because of app-tab. but different),
and won't be able to prevent links from opening in the same tab. Another serious problem as in checking link validity (possibly also lost ability to color tab).
[ref]
(solution pending) Oversized Back/Forward buttons are ugly and wipe out significant area on the bookmarks toolbar, and intrudes on the menu bar. Solved just have to check out solutions with other versions of Firefox and modify my userstyles. Right now using
Navigation/Location Bar BIG Presentation Height (with small icons, of course).
(unresolved) Local files not being refreshed with Reload Neither "F5" nor "Ctrl+F5" will refresh local file:///c/... have to use "Ctrl+L" and re-enter. [bug -=-=-=-] (maybe Ctrl+F5 five times works)
This may be applicable ONLY to those with a fragment-id (i.e. firefox-problems.htm#fx4) in the address.
(perhaps load) Switching Tabs is sometimes slow what's happening in another window, add-ons list → about:support, possibly curved tabs, sometimes vertical scrolling is slow. BarTab (disabled) and config option are from 3.6 not 4.0 will check these out later because not the same as I have on minefield.
Bug 581646– After bug 578614 landed, there is no tab context menu when right-clicking on the empty space to the right of the tabs, but some commands actually do need it.Only applies to Windows users to include (unwanted) aero effects. The context menu was dumped on all but the primary (first) tab, so additional tabs, empty space on the tabs bar, tabs list, tab close button on right, all show the same default context menu on toolbars that allows selection of toolbars and ends with "Customize...". This makes all extensions that add to the tabs context menu appear to fail including this one I use extensively "Multiple Tab Handler" (fixed), those I use sometimes "Perma Tabs Mod" (color and links to new tabs destroyed by app-tab ), "Fox Splitter" (formerly Split Browser), and one that I used to use "Duplicate Tab". As seen in
mixed results of "Compatibility Reporter"
[1]
[2]
[3]
Update: Tab context menus fixed on tabs, but empty space on tab bar will continue to be barren (Windows only because of Aero. Nobody in their right mind uses transparency or no title bar, but Firefox can't check how you may have turned it off, and probably most people who have Aero on don't know how to turn Aero off).
Note: The space to the right of the tabs is basically a dead area for tab context menus, but the extensions previously listed are working, and double-clicking in the empty area will create a new tab, so things are almost normal.
(bad proposal) Combine tabs bar on the location bar and/or hide the location bar. (my comment why it would be bad) I need all the space I can get on one row dedicated to tabs. I need the title bar and location bar so I can see where I am at in fact I make the location bar larger than needed so people can see it projected on a screen. When I say larger the text is larger but my location bar is definitely using less vertical toolbar space than what is distributed in both Firefox 3 and Firefox 4 and that is through styles the very chrome (appearance) that Mozilla keeps messing up. While I could combine search bar with location bar with a keyword shortcut of "?" like Google Chrome, with its bad toolbar chrome, I choose not to and want both bars large as possible. I also use the Search bar as a mini notepad for visual display and cut and paste reservoir and comparisons.
Ctrl+L can be used to enter into the location bar when hidden though not quite a replacement for
Open Long Url for reworking
some long urls.
This can easily be undone with customization.
(unsolved) ghostly/ugly/unmoveable hard to read dialog boxes for alert, confirm, and prompt, nor will a dialog accept a background color
with styling.
Pictures for Fx4 (left) vs Fx3 (right) for
Alert
(test Alert), and for
Prompt
(test Prompt). [fx4_broken_prompt (pictures)]
Extensions for which links were not supplied can be found on my main firefox.htm extensions table.
Running both Fx3 and Fx4 or Returning to Fx3 (#backto3pt6)
Once you get past the cosmetic changes made by Firefox 4.0 and now 5.0, it would be
unlikely that you would even think of giving up performance and going back to Firefox 3 or 4, but you do have the option. You can install the latest version of Firefox 3.6 available from http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-older.html - it will automatically use your current bookmarks, passwords etc.
What would be better than going back to 3.6 for experienced more technical users, would be use both browsers, with
whichever one you want as your default browser. Using multiple profiles, of course you could also try out the latest Betas as well instead of going backwards.
If an extension worked in Firefox 4.0, it should be working in Firefox 5.0 as well. Most Firefox 4.0 extensions did get a Firefox 5 Compatibility Bump.
For those that really need an older version of Firefox releases (all releases, including 4.0.1 and 5.0) or with the latest of Firefox 3. Mac OSX 10.4 users can't upgrade to 4.0.1
When you reinstall a different version, at the end of the install, don't let the install start Firefox for you, rather exit, and then start Firefox in the normal manner to avoid inadvertently creating and using a new profile without your bookmarks, etc.
Firefox 5 came out on-time on June 21st 2011, and later this year Firefox 6 will come out. Changes you made to Firefox 4 will allow to to remain current, rather than having a larger jump to make later.
Check for extension updates or alternatives:
Check the addon itself: description, developer's homesite, developer comments, user comments, release notes, and view all versions.
Try an alternative extension as a temporary, or permanent solution
Stop Autoplay and stop indexing (#autoplay)
You can to some extent prevent videos from all starting at once. This can be a little
tricky, meaning you don't really have control. The idea is to keep the videos from playing
yet show the first frame of the video so you can tell what it is. Videos are not all the same.
These solutions are in effect until you open a tab at which case you take control
of starting/stopping/restarting a video. If you don't stop the video or audio it
it will continue to play when you go to another tab. (nothing guaranteed).
media.autoplay.enabled user set Boolean set to false in about:config
browser.sessionstore.max_concurrent_tabs to 0 in about:config
(do not use the "Stop Autoplay" extension, which stops picture from showing)
If you want to listen to the radio through your browser, you may want to use another window, another
profile or even another browser, so that your main browsing session would not be affected
by closing tabs or windows.
Reducing memory usage - Firefox [MozillaZine KB], extension, plug-ins, and themes. But always keep safety in mind and use a hosts file, and Adblock Plus to keep out performance wasters.
Firefox 7.0.1 and up is broken by design. None of the the other browsers have broken JavaScript on resizing/moving windows. But IE probably will. These changes take away user control to stop malware applications that these changes are supposed to prevent. It will not prevent malware but it does mess with user control.
JavaScript now broken by design. Users can no longer resize and move windows with JavaScript.
Firefox 7.0.1 and up has destroyed the user interfaces for the location bar, and bookmarks search and while not strictly malevolent (malware) it now acts in the same manner by destroying use of JavaScript features and no longer works like a browser. This is not by accident it was done on purpose.
Bookmarks with Javascript with resize or move no longer work from Bookmarks sidebar.
Was planning on more bookmarklets to resize to a screen location by using multiple arguments.
Lost 27 resize bookmarklets, now broken, see Resize folder in k.html as described in kws.htm.
AwesomeBar search feature no longer works reliably in Location Bar, or in Bookmarks search. If the bookmark contains "javascript:" you might be able to find them separately if you include "javascript:" in the search.
use "Alt+Spacebar" in Windows to Maximize active window
Change '''services.sync.prefs.sync.dom.disable_window_move_resize''' to '''false''' using about:config
Create a bookmarklet (bookmark with JavaScript) having a location of
javascript:self.resizeTo(1024,screen.availHeight);self.moveTo(screen.availWidth-1024,0); (reduce from 1024 if your screen width is less than 1024)
Next about:config must be the active tab
Invoke the bookmark directly from your bookmarks (with Firefox 7.0.1 you can no longer invoke a keyword shortcut from the location bar involving move/resize).
How to restore the list-all-tabs button (make it visible). Problem caused by Bug 714281. See Style 18553 and also recommend styles 9043 and
9023, or if you prefer a couple of short extensions see Permanent List All Tabs and also Prevent Tab Overflow (scrolling). I will continue to use my user customizable styles involving tabs instead.
New Tab page (about:newtab) is the default new tab page. Shows pictures of the pages you
have used the most. Pictures will not remain visible if cache was cleared
but the space is still wasted, and the link is active. You can pin, close, or
drag to rearrange the pictured pages in the display. [Feature] [Blog]
How do I turn the new tab page off? (about:newtab) -- in about:config change browser.newtab.url value from about:newtab to about:blank Clearing cache when finishing a Firefox session is a good practice, for stability and security. Clearing cache will remove the pictures of the web pages -- hopefully you did not want this bloated nonsense anyway. If you do want to see the page at anytime you can simply type "about:newtab" into the location bar, you don't need to look at it when you want a new tab. {extensions: New Tab Tools: Customize number/layout of tiles on the new tab page.}
Tab Groups [Ctrl+Shift+E] (Fx 13, also know as Panorama or formerly Tab Candy).
Shows pictures of your open tabs (pinned tabs are icons at right of pictures).
The tabs can be rearranged, pinned, closed, stacked into named groups.
Pinned tabs will not show up in the list-all-tabs list.
Firefox 14 Notes (#fx14)
Don't forget to set "extensions.checkCompatibility.14.0" to "false" in about:config to continue to override compatibility checking in this version, and to add similar additions also for upcoming versions. Also update your extensions and plugins before and after going to Fx 14.
Condolences to those who have tried to keep up through the bastardized versions of Firefox above Fx2.6. You can no longer turn off tabs on top through the view options, so here are some preferences (about:config) for tabs.
browser.newtab.url
about:blank
browser.tabs.closeButtons
3
will be lost in Fx31
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab
false
browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent
false
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace
false
browser.tabs.loadGroup
0
browser.tabs.loadInBackground
false
browser.tabs.onTop
false
browser.tabs.openinnewtab
true
browser.tabs.tabClipWidth
5
browser.tabs.tabMinWidth
0
browser.tabs.warnOnClose
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.19.0
false
extensions.checkCompatibility.19.0a
false
Firefox 23.0.1 Notes (#fx23)
Have tabs on bottom (where they belong!):
Can't close tabs, have to close Firefox, sometimes works after trying external close tab button at right side of toolbar. [*]
[*, ]. Reenable extension "Close by Double Click".
Solution: Turns out the tabs were getting closed they just did not disappear, and that is why they appeared as unselectable and uncloseable. But in reality only a single tab was open at any time. Biggest hint came from tab count only showing as 1 tab open. Anyway did extensions update (27 extensions updated!) and all of the above problems plus additonal problems went away, after restarting. Tools > Addons > Extensions > Settings(gear) > Check for updates.
Menu option for "Tabs on Top" may disappear altogether from menu (Alt+V -- need it turned off).
Can't view Bookmarks Toolbar, unless turn option off in view menu (Alt+V, T, B, B) and then turn it back on with every new session.
Can't turn JavaScript on/off in Tools>Options anymore. Now have to use about:config javascript.enabled toggle to False
Usable solution: install JS Switch (11.3kb) addon to toggle preference via Tools and/or a toolbar button.
Firefox 25.0 Notes (#fx25)
FIND does not appear at all -- disable "Find All" extension. Count of number of hits was part of this extension. Some of the functionality is now in Firefox 25.0, again you are left without the full functionality of an extension by losing the extension. It is frustrating, when nothing works as before as whenever Mozilla interns touch anything.
FIND can be seen again by pressing F3 in a new tab, Mozilla decided to make Find only be shown and used in tab it is active in. Not quite as bad as it was laid out, but not particularly useful either, since you know it is changed and doesn't work like before but can't figure out why it is so bad now.
FIND Bar Styling is messed up, message considered important (large space), your search is not considered important (too small to see what you have entered) -- strictly Firefox.
FIND Bar Styling is messed up, items are squished together, "Highlight AllMatch Case x" appear too close togeter next to the find box itself -- something to do with a Stylish extension, but haven't found one where it "works" when style is turned off.
FIND Bar Styling is messed up, puts "Highlight All" and "Match case" at far right, will possibly get used to this -- strictly Firefox.
About 7 days after the update about:config preferences got changed on me: Homepage got changed to about:home and had to be put back to my real homepage, about:newtab appeared and had to be put back to about:blank -- not appreciated.
Use of YouTube[Ex] gets error message "Error:Illegal operation on WrappedNative prototype object". For me it was the Extension "VideoSurf Videos at a Glance 0.79" (10218 no longer on Addons site), others had a problem with "You tube downloader video 1.3", "CloudMagic" [thread], "FB PhotoTheater Killer" [thread][dev/.
Firefox 29.0 Notes (#fx29)
Not paying much attention to what is happening anymore. Really have little interest in browsers anymore they're all getting worse.
Fx29 Firefox 29 was released on April 29, 2014 and includes the Australis interface; it also removes the add-on bar and moves its content to the navigation bar.[139]
Guess it will take 100 hours to fix my styles to work with Fx29, if I can figure out how to use the point is why should
we bother anymore. Mozilla is chasing away addon developers, users, and especially those that they refer to as advanced users. I would think that Mozilla developers should be advanced users before being hired, not after screwing up Firefox and then leaving. I'm not very good with xxxxx extension to find out names in the chrome of the toolbars etc.
Forced to have tabs on top now (extension need to solve, see below)
The icons from the addons bar are not same as icons on address bar (partially remedied by "the Addon Bar (restored) extension), are misaligned along with many other problems (caused by my own styling - chrome changes), and I can only identify what's left of a couple of them as they are crushed, expanded, not fully visible.
So much wasted space now toolbars take up twice as much space and that is just vertically. Horizontally nothing fits.
Absolutely sick of Firefox and I thought version 31.0 was going to annoy me. I took pictures but what's the point of using Firefox if it is not customizable or it is going to take a hundred hours to fix things every few releases.
Disable "How Many Times Can I Back?" extension for now, the removal solves the problem of frozen tabs (unselectable tabs), for which the temporary solution until extension is disabled was Ctrl+W to close a tab, Ctrl+T to open a tab, and the "List All Tabs" button to change tabs. [ref]
Addons Bar: Install “The Addon Bar (restored)”, Gives you a place to put all your add-on buttons without over-crowding the navigation bar. One third of the battle won. Remove "Print Edit" button from Navigation bar. Except for the Home button. Had to move all unreadable addon buttons to the restored addons bar so that they can be seen (properly) instead of empty rectangles or squished buttons. Insert a "flexible space" from customize at beginning so your addon will appear at the righthand end. Mentioned first because nothing will look correct until the addons bar is restored.
Title Bar can be restored, see bottom of Customize toolbar dialog window. Only Windows was affected not Macs. Linus(?).
Menu Bar restore Alt+V(view) > (on) Menu Bar.
If you use menu bar on Windows, move the search bar up there.
Status Bar: If you use the Status-4-Evar extension, put some of your addon icons into the Status bar that is created by the extension. Make sure the Status-4-Evar extension is active. You will have to turn if on/off through the View > Toolbars > Status bar.
Addons Bar, if you do not use the Status-4-Evar extension or you use a Mac install "The Addon Bar (restored)", and you will have the use of "Ctrl+/" again. Move some of your extension icons to the Addons Bar.
Might want to use "Color Toolbar(s) to identify profile (DM*) (style 9514): #F3E078 if want to associated dialogs with a profile and overcome some Aero effects from Windows on the menu bar.
Navigation bar. Move mishaped addons to the addons bar, or the menu bar. Move Home button to whereit is more suitable.
FUBAR - Unfortunately if you do not want the new Menu toolbar button ([—] or [≡], you are SOL. To add a further insult there is an Easter Egg if you remove all items from the Menu Bar.
FUBAR - Bookmark Star no longers toggles with a Solid gold to indicate Bookmarked. It is now Blue, and can be clicked to bookmark a page. Now blue instead of Gold, but solid color only appears for bookmarked page, if this double-trouble icons is to the right of the url bar (placement also fixes part about having to go inside dialog to unbookmark a page). FUBAR the bookmarks list ("Show your bookmarks", Ctrl+SHIFT+B) is attached to the star. SOL for those who don't want garbage on toolbars, and prefer to use keyboard shortcuts for some things. The attached bookmarks list is actually the dropdown arrow. Fix this by collapsing. #bookmarks-menu-button toolbarbutton { visibility:collapse !important; } FUBAR navigation bar icons are not centered vertically and are too big.
Summary of changes from a user perspective.
Recommend Add Bookmark Here2 to retain your sanity and the ability to use Keywords in your bookmarks. Nothing new about Fx 29 here.
Bookmarks Bar: restore Alt+V(view) > (on) Menu Bar, Bookmarks Bar, Addons Bar. If you want to save space on the Bookmarks Bar, then use mainly folders, and use a style "Bookmarks Toolbar Fx4 Blue/Folders, Red/Bookmarks" (no change in style for Fx29, but you may want to save space).
Just lost the space, and flexible space from the customization dialog. It was there in Fx29 and disappeared.
Tabs Bar: Install "Tabs on Bottom (Australis) 0.4 -- works and works in combination with The Addon Bar (restored). Needs some work but style "Tab Color Underscoring active/read/unread (Fx3.6)" is helpful. The extension will not be needed when style for Fx29 is in production, also probably eliminate the tabs height and width from configurations additional styles. About 2014-05-15 + 1 week. FUBAR the default position of the New Tab button [+] is left side of the Tabs Bar.
TabHistory extension dickvl must be active for styling to properly show
Active tab (red), Restored tab (Green), Loading (magenta), Has been viewed (Blue).
Library list shared by extended lists for bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+B) and history (Ctrl+Shift+H). Fx29 FUBARed columns. Restore them and move them as you like. Name, Location, Most Recent Visited, Visit Count, Keyword,
Parent Folder, Description, Added, Last used (most you can allocate narrow column to , especially if you just want to only know if something is there).
FUBAR can not remove Tags item in "More Information" of Library list. (not new to Fx29) but a major annoyance consider how much space is wasted and what is left out.
Styles that will help alleviate Firefox 29 problems or at least the problems with using my styles in firefox 29.
Work Environment: Anybody that thinks Firefox can be used in an IT Work Environment is insane. Nobody would stand for all the changes and fiddling required, and nor would the support staff.
Backups. Backup your prefs.js separately that is in your Firefox profile BEFORE you close Firefox. Anti-virus program may destroy the file, when Firefox closes it restores the file to what configurations it is now/still using. Backup your entire Firefox profile. If you don't know where
your profile is use about:support in the address bar, then "Open Containing Folder" gray text button in the report.
Usage problems with Firefox 29:
Tabs freeze: use the tabs drop-down when that happens, which is another place besides optional Title Bar that you can see the complete titles, active tab is bolded. New tab(ctrl+T) still works, as does Close Tab (Ctrl+W). Restart does not fix, may have worked first time. Double-click on a tab toggles full-screen. Disabled "How Many Times Can I back?" and noted in
Problematic extensions, along with an email to Piro (the author).
Stylish extension 1.4.2: Not able to see code. Styles can be enabled/disabled though.
version 1.4.3 just made available, still do not see code. Stylish custom 0.7.7 disabled and can now see code.
MP4: Lost all top toolbars after trying to view Times Squares video clip full screen (lower right corner of clip). Restart Firefox to restore toolbars. Same for the mp4 clip itself. Having a title bar via toolbar customization prevented loss of top toolbars, but the mp4 clip still keeps stopping/freezing at 2 second mark refusing to continue. This video continues to be a problem. In Safari 11 sec video runs continuously and without a correct time length shown. Rightside of that page has a comment that blog runs on Shutterstock images and video.
Multiple Tab Handler Extension appears to be working since Firefox 29 was updated to 29.0.1, Multiple Tab Handler updated from 0.7.2013100801 to at least 0.7.2014050101 version (view all).
stats, compatibility
About 1 1/2 inches wasted at right of tabs bar, and 5/16 inch wasted at left side of tabs bar, and about 1/2 inch wasted vertically mainly at top of tabs bar. Hope to fix by modifying my Tab style. Solved space on right by turning on View > Toolbars > Menu Bar. Wasted space is the space where the more tabs to the left or right indicators would be if they were used. I squeeze tabs down and have no use for not narrowing tabs to fit.
Invisible scrollbars can't be seen until you pass cursor over them. With styles off the scrollbar just shows empty scrollbar reserved space, but no scrollbars.
If Stylish is disabled completely in addons the scrollbars return, but just disabling all styles within Stylish does not work. Problem turned out to be a style that was installed earlier to try to fix a different problem. Got rid of "Real Full Screen Firefox" (style 33982). My mistake in not finding quickly was that you must Reload(F5) web page after enabling/disabling this style in order to see the change.
PasswordBox - can't get rid of the extension in addons but it no longer exists, sorry I ever tried to install it (unwanted). May need registry clean-up per authoring site. Did eventually fix problem, but was not simple to get rid of.
Can no longer list passwords with an HTML file installed locally. Too many sites are making things difficult and losing passwords, so a list is absolutely necessary.
Solution: forced to install an extension, chose
Password Exporter :: Add-ons for Firefox
AVG Free keeps deleting prefs.js simplifying about:config to hardly anything. Glad I have a something left, the only thing that saved me was that Firefox restores it when it closes. Firefox was usually running. All of the renamed backups in the folder were also cleared. So now have a new backup. May have to switch to Avast. Prevented AVG from looking at profiles, probably a Mozilla developer's test left over from Beta testing acting like spyware to report some usage statistics.
The main problems have been resolved, if you have a solution or better solution (using Firefox) to one of the above Fx29 problems above, I'd like to hear from you.
email comment for fx29
To be done:
(reduce height and wasted space on on Tabs Bar, style xxxx needs rework)
(fix address and navigation bar to be usable again), for now moving addons off of this toolbar and using style Navigation/Location Bar BIG Presentation Height - Themes and Skins for Browser (style 18864) so that Bookmarks STAR is is visible works. The style was really meant to be used so people in the back of the room could see the address bar when the page was projected on a screen, but even this style is far more space friendly than the uncustomized height.
(toggle production/test) will need help again from Ralph Fox, as this again fails to to switch back to file:///c: from an http://
Lost use of "sw" bookmarklet, will need more help from Ralph Fox. Can't find what was added to about:config, certainly don't want to use an addon, if possible. Test the following bookmarklet on this small test file http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/b77.htm
sw: switch current url Test <--> Production
Ralph Fox (2010-10-01 m.s.firefox) improved and pointed to fact it gets a security error see http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Links+to+local+or+network+pages+do+not+work but even with the "testlinks" extension still fails. (more in somnats)
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Links_to_local_pages_don%27t_work
Possibly an error in After the Deadline extension.
Tools > Web Developer > Web Console
Item in right "atd.js:656" points to .... Messed up all the default settings so not showing errors now.
Fx29 (Australis) was so bad that I didn't come up with solutions until a whole year later
Found some solutions with a Google search of: firefox "use small icons" fx29 OR australis menu OR bookmark button
Mid June, and the current Firefox is 38.0.5 finally have some solutions to large buttons. Had been working crippled w/o "Bookmark Edit" (star button) because of additional baggage added, several icons not on toolbars because they are too big: "Textarea Cache". Other icons are still on toolbars but too big and illformed -- "Back button", "Open Menu button" (▤ ▤) had to be moved to addons bar and never look there for things I expect to be elsewhere.
Back/Forward buttons and tab changes in Fx29 prevent use of extension "How Many Times Can I Back", extension works giving number of times back/forward, but one cannot click on a tab to change tabs. Ctrl+TAB would work though. On smaller laptop, disabled all other extensions and still freezes tabs.
Can move "Text Area Cache" to menu bar for smaller icon, but mot "Clipple" which is too large for toolbars no matter where you put it.
Firefox 31.0 Notes (#fx31)
for Fx31 (Jul 22, 2014) Browser.tabs.closeButtons is being removed along with option 3 single close tab button at the far right. See the bug for an extension, and check out your tab extensions, as some may have to add in the feature or program around it. References:
Bug: 865826,
Bug: 1001871,
fx-team. Things to watch to see what happens: behavior attempting to close last tab, behavior of Multiple Tab Handler extension, close with double click. Not that I care about TMP, but it will break messing up early testers. They've added so much wasted space onto the toolbars and horrible gradient shading on toolbars. Guess they've screwed up everything that they could screw up. No space to work with the address bar anymore.
Fix tab close button with an extension like:
Tabs closebutton restored and in about:config continue to use
browser.tabs.closeButtons preference: 3. Display a Tabstrip close button.
Associated bug comments were cut off, heaven help users in finding solutions to stupid artificially created problems.
Note following messed up somewhere between fx31 and fx38
The [+] button for new tab is bolexed on newtab page where it acts like a ZOOM in button (on small laptop). If you look in customize the [-] button zooms out to show more fast dial styled history pages. Designed for IDIOTS --this is impossible. Not a problem on my main laptop where I reject the newtab page and use about:blank instead of about:newtab for browser.newtab.url and hovering always shows "Open a new tab [Ctrl+T]. (but accept about:newtab on small laptop)
Can't put the Tab Close button furthest right (on small laptop), until moved the "New Tab" buttton to left of list-all-tabs on new small laptop. Had to stylise the button with pink background so it can be properly identified, since good coloring only appears on hovering over the close button (done around Fx4) but had forgotten that my style requires some modification to uncomment code to color close button in
style 18553 (Tabs, Enlarge list-all-tabs button).
Some problem with Tab Count (addon) button not visible outside of customize unless placed according to unknown rules. But the arrangement shown at right works.
Firefox 33.0 Notes (#fx33)
Lost use of "Multiple Tab Handler" features "Shift+Click" to extend a tab selection, and lost use of "Close Other Tabs", note also have "Menu Editor" extension. Specifically installing current 0.8.2014102201 solved problem. Was an older version from May.
Firefox 34.0.5 Notes (#fx34)
Fx34.0.5 forced another search change, didn't want the search change to Yahoo in 34.0.0, certainly don't want the search choices to be from 75 ambiguous icons instead of nice list of exactly what I had set up for search choices that indicated what the were, now it is all m3ss3d up. “Design a system an idiot can use and only an idiot will want to use it.” Update gave me a choice try it now or later, I "x'd" out of it and got it anyway.
The Field of icons comes up and covers up your toolbars and webpage as soon as you start to type into the search field. Then and only then do you see the icon of the search you are actually set up to use. Then you can click below on "Change search setttings" and can see the real search descriptions, but that is nonsensical. If you click on the search icon you do not have to look at the field of ambiguous icons, but still have to first click on "Change Search Settings" and cannot reorder searches once there. Yahoo sticks out like a sore thumb at the top, ahha I can uncheck it's box and not have to look at it, but not be able to invoke, okay. But unchecking the Yahoo check box did nothing, except remove if from the ambiguous field of search icons. My choice is Google, but it or any other search choice will not tell you on the search bar which one you are using. (foobar). You cannot edit the descriptions, though that was probably also the case before once installed.
The other thing trying to force synchronized passwords and bookmarks -- I don't want these shared on other devices, and certainly don't want it being made easier for Google to steal the information either. So now its probably been stored outside of my computer without my permission. I have different habits between desktop (actually a laptop), and my two Android devices. Gone backwards from the days when you could stack or switch between major folders of Netscape bookmarks. I would not be able to scroll my bookmarks on Android to be able to use them, and only use a small fraction of my bookmarklets and hardly any other bookmarks on Android except for the speed dials of other browsers on Android.
Firefox 36.0.1 Notes (#fx36)
Haven't done anything about the search engine icons covering up page when you enter a search.
[fixed see #fx34 above]
Another thing that probably came up about the same time as the search engine changes, was the nearly invisible scrollbars. Just making a quick
temporary fix here as it's been a long time since I've restyle scrollbars. So I just quickly selected a style created about the same time as they were
destroyed. So I installed "Minamalist Chrome inspired Scrollbar
" and substracted; x'303030' from each of the grayscale colors and for the light background of the scrollbar itself used #E1E1E1 instead of #F1F1F1 another case of
Mozilla trying the make things right by repeating what is wrong (another case of bad color choices similar to Aero in Windows). But it eliminates or does not restore the smaller scrollers at ends of scrollbar.
Firefox 38.0.1 Notes (#fx38)
Big annoyance that I thought I'd have to put up with was the browser page type invocation of Tools>Options,
four times the effort to navigate (large characters, html formatted),
fortunately there is a solution.
about:config browser.preferences.inContent False
Also see the link for changes you can make for DRM, CDM, and EME
I doubt it, but thought I saw perhaps no longer need to use bookmarklets like "remember password" to force page to allow you to save password. (think I am seeing question asking repeatedly now if you want to save password. If you don't want to save password for a site click on the site icon on address bar and check under security(?) ). If that is true about remember it means you must now specifically tell Firefox for each site not to store passwords such as for banks (another security issue exposed).
Can no longer use Ctrl+Shift+click to open any link into a background tab. Might think this is because Google redirects all of them to their own site. But it also happens on any link.
Solution: Problem extension was InspectorWidget browser.tabs.loadInBackground user set false
browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInBackground default false
browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground default fale
Styling: my Bookmarklets shown on my pages using class="bml" must now add "!important" to override Stylish extension that modifies text-decoration and color for anchor text (using important). That includes bookmarklets shown on this page and many other of my pages. fake bookmarklet which otherwise show blue underscored letters. Non-javascript bookmarklets can be visited so their color might change in case you had marked them as bookmarklets.
a.bml {text-decoration: none !important; color: #006400 !important; } /* fx 39.0 */
Firefox 41.0.2 (#fx41) Firefox just about useless beyond this release
Keyword shortcuts still work, though they will work in later releases if you have no extensions, and no changes, I'm just not up to spending many hours searching down created problems where so called developers obviously do not use Firefox and do not listen to users and keep dropping features. This is my fallback version. I have lost numerous extensions along the way particularly in bookmark functionality. Still working at this point: Search bar and drop-down search selection, keywords, (sorting bookmarks gone long ago).,
Firefox 42 Notes (#fx42) Firefox just about useless now, November 3, 2015.
You are near the bottom of this page, for earlier problems/solutions look upward.
It is more and more obvious that Mozilla Developers are not Firefox users. How can this crap be distributed as a release, or even as Firefox. Am sick and tired of spending 100 hours everytime Firefox comes out with a new version.
Keyword shortcuts not working receives "The address wasn't understood". Broken for both substitutions (%S and %s) and for bookmark aliases from the address bar (Location Bar). This is the feature that made Firefox best on desktop browsers. Without keyword shortcuts with or without operands in Firefox there really isn't that much left to choose Firefox over other browsers. Restarting Firefox did not change, restarting Windows 8.1 with a Windows update in tow did not change.
Awesomebar, search of history, bookmarks in location bar with results in a drop-down, no longer works, it may flash by in a microsecond, but you cannot see or select an item from the list. List is not supposed to go away until dismissed and sould be scrollable. (This item does work in Safe Mode, meaning it may have destroyed yet another extension)
After downgrading turn off auto update, make sure each of the following are set to false: app.update.auto, app.update.enabled, app.update.silent and then in Tools → Options → Advanced → Update (tab) > (X) Never check for updates. You must make these changes before restarting Firefox or it will automatically update.
Somewhere along the line Ctrl+/ no longer toggles Status Bar, use Alt+V > T > S to restore or hide Status Bar
Firefox 45 Notes (#fx45) Same Shit - Firefox still useless
Firefox got updated to 43.0.1 without my permission, tested latest update 45.0 to test keyword shortcuts still useless (didn't even have JavaScript or %S) absolutely no good. Think of a software update to your car that gives you no brakes, no lights, no reverse gear, windows don't roll down, no heater, and no air conditioning. Reverting back to 41.0.2 to a version that works!
How can one wonder why Firefox is losing share. Make it useless and people stop using it. I can't tell other people to turn off updating and use an older version, but that is the only way that Firefox can be usefully used.
Maybe something in preferences
found keyword.enabled set false, reset it to true and still does not work
found browser.keywordURLPromptDeclined;1, reset it and still does not work
found CT3306061.keyword string set to true, reset it
Firefox 47 Notes (#fx47) Firefox keyword shortcuts finally working again
Updated to 47.0 (avail June 7, 2016) installed and updated addons on June 21, 2016. Have keyword shortcuts working again, have bookmark properties. Other things above still broke: use of Ctrl+/, keyword not in Library Bookmark list (Ctrl+Shift+B). Lost use of TableToClipboard and still lost are InfoLister (Troubleshooting Information will have to suffice -- lacks descriptions), Sort Places (withdrawn by author for cause), CopyURL+ (abandoned early due to Mozilla updates), Element Properties 10, Menu Editor, Pocket, Readability (don't care, part of FF now), Tab Visited. Search bar -- what good are a lot of useless logos w/o description covering page and why do I have to look at them if not changing. BTW highly recommend "Scrollbar Search Highlighter" (click within search area to restore normal usage, Ctrl+K)
Appears that my bookmarks are automatically sorted (is respecting separators), turns out to be optional part of addon "Add Bookmark Here ²".
The following bookmarklets do not work when using their keyword to invoke
source: javascript:location="view-source:"+location
You can manually prefix url with "view-source:" but that is sheer madness
(workaround: Tools > Web Developer > Page Source, along with being stupid it is not the same!!!)
Launchy extension not working. as if missing all of its configuration
Al of graphics and trackers missing from Firefox addons, including invoking the addon, good thing I know there is a fix to always display version inforatopn at bottom of addons.
fx47: Don't remember when these features were dropped, but here are solutions:
Add-ons Manager - Version Number :: Add-ons for Firefox, unfortunately if is in the large font, and wipes out rightmost part of addon name or wipes out the name completely, have to use "More" to see name of addon. (insufficient fix found)
browser.search.showOneOffButtons to false, alread set to false and change to true changes nothing. Can't see web page due to crap showing 80 buttons I don't want to change here, I would use the dropdown but the dropdown shows same crap and not the Icons with names, so you have right click and use Customize, but still can't find out which is default or be able to change there. (no fix found)
Source of problem: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1088660
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2890823 inadequate description of problem
How Many Times can I Back, addon, dropped entire tabs bar bar, when removed , I see that I have 22 tabs, 2-21 were all "New Tab", numbers are better now, but not lined up on arrows which is needed if I reduce height of location bar.
Can't grab text on addons pages (addons.mozilla.org, an about:addons)
Can no longer find currently accept addons at about:addons search
Can not see the url at addons.mozila.org linked from about:addons
Right click context menu destroyed at about:addons by their context menu
fx47: Some additional steps required on small ASUS laptop:
The ASUS had been running Fx 42, and would not update beyond 42. Keyword shortcuts were working on it.
Had to manually install fx47 by downloading it from https://mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all
Had to create/set xpinstall.signatures.required to false so that addons "Copy as Plain Text",
and more important "TabVisited 1.2" (bug 487242, http://kb.mozillazine.org/User:Dickvl, needed for
Style - 101570 - "Tab Color Underscoring active/read/unread (Fx29)"). Would also allow
keyconfig extension(s) to run if I activate later.
Had to manually update "Add Bookmark Here 2" from 42.0 to 47.0 (requires Fx 47 to update), noticed when I compared addons reports.
Firefox 48 Notes (#fx48) Firefox broken again
Almost all of my extensions (like about 96%) are marked "not compatible with multiprocess" or are in about:addons, and those extensions can not be implemented because they are not in Tools menu.
Additional problems with 48.0.2 -- link to some popular
Images from flipopular use the Skip button to view Evernote page in your browser.
Could not view the big image with flipopular link that matches the text (did not work after rebooting Windows 10). Works in Google Chrome and in Microsoft Edge.
Could not include multiple contact lists in the bcc using Gmail to send from Firefox. (worked after rebooting Windows 10)
Stylish extension still worked and can be toggled on/off, but the toolbar icon itself did not toggle appearance until after rebooting Windows 10.
So had to use "Open With" extension to open that flipopular page with Google Chrome, from View menu, and have reverted Firefox back to 47.0.1. Firefox 48 with Electrolysis changes was delivered to 1% of people receiving updates, and it is known to not work for people with extensions (shouldn't that be most everybody). Unbelievable. Next update cycle if still fails, change Multiprocess Windows to disabled as seen in 47.0.1 about:support (browser.tabs.remote.autostart to false, and browser.tabs.remote.force-enable to false).
Skipped Firefox 49 and 50, trying out Fx51 now
Firefox 51.0.1 Notes (#fx51) Firefox broken again -- still trying
about:config fails line 72, col 19 -- disable
PrefSearch extension
[link]
Firefox ESR version 45, as well as the Developer Edition and Nightly versions of Firefox, will allow you to override the setting to enforce the add-on signing requirement by changing the preference xpinstall.signatures.required to false -- so can't do this in 51 (and was already set to false). Whatever happened to it's your browser, configure it however you want. [link]
Install "AdBlocker for YouTube", "Copy HTML", "Dorando keyconfig", "Evernote Web Clipper", "FxIf" [enable], "Invisible Hand" [enable] though probably not using on main laptop, TableTools2 [reinstall later version], TabVisited [visited might do, but it steps on shortcuts, use bookmarklet or style instead]
"RightToClick", "ScrewAds Plus for YouTube"
Gmail use of multiple contact groups in BCC fails in Compose, use Google Chrome instead. (failed on 10:59 PM 2017-02-16 in Firefox 51.0.1 see what happens after rebooting, have been on 51 since end of Jan 2017 on main laptop)
Have lost a number of bookmarklets, have replaced the following from my k.html file:
href:, OKAY goes right back to the ******** that attempted to annihilate keyword shortcuts, including you can only have one bookmark with the same URL. So some are completely missing and some have their keyword missing.
Firefox 53.0.2 Notes (#fx53) Firefox working with fix for MTH
Multiple Tab Handler :: Reviews :: 872198 fix, into about:config
create network.standard-url.escape-utf8 set it to True, and restart Firefox, if you have a problem with URLs in it try setting to False. 53.0.2 is working on both of my laptops now.
Old problem apparently (Fx29) but properties context menu missing on bookmark items like adding back a keyword. Solution select item and update in propeties at bottom of listing.
Firefox 55.0 Notes (#fx55) improved tab handling and memory requiremets
Large laptop not converted yet (not in current rollout), as you can't go backwards easily.
Small laptop which is only used for browsing and Evernote was converted:
Lost Back Button icon due to my Stylish: 115366 Navigation Bar reduce Height smaller Back Button -- button still workds just that square is empty of icon. Fix is to change first parameter of rect() to 20, unfortuanately can't view or modify the style. (Stylish 96122 may work for other people but does not work as replacement for me as it messes up menu bar and tabs bar.) Was expecting major problems with loss of extensions but everything on small laptop look good so far-- all except for 3 of about 42 extensions I use there are marked "Legacy".
Mouseover link not showing url in status bar. Update
Status-for-evar extension to
Version 2017.03.19.12b
(Fix Firefox 54+) found in the Development Channel at bottom of Addon page. With 55.0.3 the addon has been updated (2017.08.20.15) and should be reinstalled from the addons page.
Firefox Window (ff54+) is staying on top of other pages, even though Firefox does not have a Windows on Top option. Firefox has to be minimized to see Window under it. (very annoying). Appears to have been fixed by rebooting on main laptop.
Firefox 56.0.2 Notes (#fx56) End of the Line
I have not and do not plan on updating Firefox on Windows 10 beyond what I am using for Firefox, 56.0.2. Firefox no longer allows you to change the appearance (the Chrome) of Firefox toolbars, can no longer cram four times the amount in the toolbar space, so there is no advantage to Firefox over Chrome which they seem deadset on copying rather than being a leader.
Mozilla seems to be quite set on making bookmarklets not useful, preventing me from resizing my screen with a bookmarklet and have destroyed the majority of the extensions I used and had to keep trying to find replacements for. Keyword shortcuts on bookmarklets did survive after lots of complaints for a year, then when it went into production they brought them back within two weeks -- a bunch of prima donnas that modify Firefox right out of university and were not users to begin with.
Mozilla developers step all over extensions and expect people who are dead or no longer playing with browsers to keep their extensions up to date when Mozilla never provided a good interface for extensions to begin with -- one should not have to modify a working extension. The good extension writers have given up on Firefox. Chrome extensions stink and don't do much of anything; nevertheless, I have found substitutes for some of my more important needs.
I will try to use the current version of Firefox on an ASUS X205T, but am using mostly Chrome now, but sticking to Firefox 56 on main laptop for working on websites etc. These are directions for using FF65. I had Firefox on this machine until a bad Windows update in April 2018. I installed FF65 on it then replaced the profile folder with a Mar 2018 backup. The profile is different than on my main laptop as this is for lighter work and no working on websites. The order is not the same as I fixed stuff I did not like. The extensions are what I used to have on the ASUS, but non of the styles I had in Stylish would work any longer so I have created a userChrome.css file for the important things. BTW bookmarks no longer have decriptions, not a problem for Mozilla Developers, but a big problem for me -- there are extensions but don't know if compatible with what I had, obviously they have been removed, one of many reasons my main Firefox will remain at FF 56.0.2.
First problem can't read tabs or menu with white lettering on black background. The fix: type about:addons into the address bar, then select Themes, then change from dark(default) to Light (a theme with a light color scheme).
You must be able to see all extension suffixes on your file on your Windows system in order to continue. Open "File Manager" > File > Options > View (tab)
Under Hidden files and folders, change toggle setting to "Show hidden files, folders, and drives. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".
I created a userChrome.css, it is a text file that you will have to create a userChrome.css in the chrome folder of your profile folder. You can open your profile folder using Help (Alt+H) > Trouble shooting > Open folder. If you already have one make backup copy, and add my content to yours.
The above will fix the following things.
Tabs bar is readable with light theme.
Bookmarks toolbar has all icons removed. Bookmarks on the toolbar itself are red text, and the folders use blue text.
Scrollbars will appear on web pages, Bookmarks
Bookmarks in dropdowns have been widened to help with viewing (36em), and depth is higher (650px) so you can see more at a time.
Harmful sites in Google searches should show up better, but I don't have any examples. They would only show up if Mozilla and Google are not synched could be 24 hours difference.
Firefox 56 and 65 status (#fx65status)
For bookmarklets descriptions are critical documentation, what it does, where it came from (more documentation), how it was modified or what it was modified from. What I disliked was that descriptions were not searchable implying that Mozilla never considered them important. Also keyword was not sortable in BM, but I placed the keyword as the first word in the bookmark title. (and most of my keyword shortcuts included a colon)
Mozilla destroyed keywords for a whole year in Betas saying tags were the same. When that version finally went into production Mozilla had to restore use of the keyword within a few days.
I'd say that Mozilla stopped listening to users with the introduction of bookmark tags, making bookmarks inefficient and slow and trying to hide useful keyword and description fields. Eventually the description field is no longer visible and the Add Bookmark Here 2 extension disappeared in Firefox 56.
Just never understood why Mozilla developers were not users, so they never understood what they had and what they systematically destroyed.
Sticking with Fx56. I have Fx65 on a small laptop with 32GB SSD drive modified my bookmarks toolbar on it with userChrome.css to eliminate all folder and bookmark icons that I used to do with Styles in the Stylish extension, but not ready to update Fx56 to Fx65 so mostly using Chrome. Chrome extensions are getting better but don't have much in options or customizations. You can still find good stuff in Stylish, but you have to add them to userChrome yourself, specifically what Stylish was designed to save you from annoyances of unwiedly prone to any small error in userChrome messing up everything.
I will probably install "Bookmark Notes" on the small laptop with Fx65, but really hope Mozilla will put descriptions back before I Iose them or can no longer use Fx56. Of 5700 bookmarks, 1800 have required descriptions. Unfortunately that extension is not what I consider a solution it is unwiedly to use and descriptions do not show up in properties or bookmark library listing. Addons are prevented from touching such things. So I removed it from my test.
Not installing any extensions for bookmarking, bookmark descriptions belong with bookmarks and any extension is not part of Firefox and will not be carried between versions/machines/browsers without loss at some poimt.
BTW don't try saving bookmarks with or without descriptions to Evernote as Evernote removes Javascript links. Firefox has removed descriptions from bookmarks, but you can still for a while export them even though not useable or visible in Firefox. Mozilla made a major mistake in deleting addons from users systems they considered Legacy addons. The removal of descriptions on bookmarks was deliberate in their downward spiral to be like Chrome.
Current extensions on Fx65: (no importance to some having/not having/ links)
Adblock Plus - free ad blocker,
AdBlocker for YouTube™,
All Tabs Helper,
Blur,
Bookmark Tab Here,
Bulk URL Opener,
Bookmark Notes,
Chrome Store Foxified (nothing found),
ClickTabSort,
Clippings,
Context Search,
Copy All Tab Urls WE,
Copy Selected Tabs to Clipboard,
Disable Ctrl-Q and Cmd-Q,
Exif Viewer,
External Application Button,
Fennec TextWrap,
Font Inspector,
Free Backlink Checker by LRT (not good),
google redirect rewrite remover,
HeadingsMap (Ctrl+Shift+O dislike black background in sidebar), ;
HighlightAll, ;
Honey,
Html Validator,
InvisibleHand,
Link Analyzer,
Link Investigator,
Live editor for CSS and LESS,
Measure-it (shortcut conflict),
Multi-Keywords Highlighter,
Multiple Tab Handler,
NextPlease,
Nuke Anything,
Parent Folder,
Print Edit WE,
Resurrect Pages,
Sticky Pinned Tabs,
Tab Counter Plus,
Table to Excel,
Textarea Cache,
TitleCase,
Video Blocker,
WindowSizer,
wxIF
List created from about:support (links added) pasted into to Notepad++ using regex "(0-9).* to "", and "\r" (with extended) to ", "
Besides the page you are on, some help with the mess that developers continue to create, can be found in.
Hidden information: There are additional comments hidden in link titles and abbreviation titles throughout this page, that you may want to make visible by clicking on the "paren tips" bookmarklet in the next topic, rather than mousing over individual items. Better yet install and use them as "keyword shortcuts".
Bookmarklets (#bookmarklets)
My Firefox Keyword Shortcuts page describes my bookmarklets and keyword shortcuts. Installing the
"Add Bookmark Here ²" extension is highly recommended (my notes).
Some bookmarklets that you may find useful on this page. Click on each to change
the appearance. Each of these is intended to be used as a named keyword shortcut:
bullets:#,
parentips:,
href:,
alt:,
hi:,
int:ext ♦
Click on each of the links below for a short demo of bookmarklets --
-- [bullets:#] [paren tips] [HREF visible] [ALT visible] [highlight links]
[int/ext links] [id] and then F5 to restores view.
Bookmarklets are short pieces of JavaScript coding.
You may obtain all my public Firefox reference links and my keyword shortcut bookmarks
contained in an exported bookmarks file k.html,
by dragging it to the desktop, then importing the local file from the desktop
(bookmarks → Show All Bookmarks (/Organize Bookmarks) → Import & Backup → Import HTML... → Import from file.
They will be added to the bottom of the Bookmarks Menu and you can drag the contents or just
"K" bookmark folder to your Bookmarks Toolbar.
The copied bookmarks with styling from
Bookmarks Toolbar Blue/Folders, Red/Bookmarks will look something like
|| # + < > G gg:fix
GV H L Pz Sp tacc: | K S | BF BugsBML || (described here)
Rename the K(yyyy-mm-dd) folder to jusk K through bookmark properties, and remove bookmarks, separators and folders you don't want like perhaps BF and BugsBML. The bookmark separators keep groups of bookmarks together even when bookmarks are sorted alphabetically with the SortPlaces extension
which will sort all bookmarks and folders recursively as opposed to sorting one folder at a time with what is available in Firefox itself.
Options and Configuration (#options)
Menus are a good way to learn about a browser and other applications. Unfortunately
Microsoft Excel was destroyed by the Ribbon, and browsers are hiding the Menu bar. But
you can return the menu bar or hide it in several ways in Firefox long before 4.0 turned it off by default. [Keyword shortcut of Documentation links]
Here are some additional bookmarklets to help search for Firefox solutions and add-ons. I may add search forms later that you can convert to a search engine. But I would suggest simply using the bookmarklets. (read about Bookmarklets in previous topic)
Drag the bookmarklet to a bookmarks folder, bring up the bookmark properties and add the keyword as shown in each bookmarklet. All of these use Google and the %S (or %s) within the bookmarks will be substituted by the text you include after the keyword when invoking from the location bar.
-- search kb.mozillazine.org (category links at bottom of pages for similar material)
ffs:
toolbars
-- search dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/
sumo2:
toolbars
-- search support.mozila.com
ffweb3:
keyboard shortcuts
-- search three locations: kb.mozillazine.org, dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/, and just kb for support.mozilla.com/kb
ffweb3:
intitle:keyboard shortcuts
-- search three locations: kb.mozillazine.org, dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/, and just kb for support.mozilla.com/kb
addons:
menu
-- search addons.mozilla.com w/o collections
styles:
toolbars
-- search userstyles.org
Sorting tables (#sortingtables)
Sorting Tables can be done with a bookmarklet (
sorttable:
) or with and extension.
There is a table in the section above that you can test the bookmarklet on. But a more practical use would be on the list of extensions from about:support
(Help → Troubleshooting Information...). The extension
"TableTools2" is easier to use and offers
many different sorting options.
Where to get Help (#wheretogethelp)
Please try to search for solutions before asking for help. Even if you
can't find the answer to your problem, it will help you better define your problem. (see Search for Problems Solutions above.)
The support newsgroup for help with Firefox is mozilla.support.firefox which
should be accessed from the server at news.mozilla.org via
news://news.mozilla.org/mozilla.support.firefox
You pick up your answers in the thread where you post not in email.
Also available via Google Groups by same name mozilla.support.firefox
For more information on getting help through newsgroups see
newsgroups on my main Firefox page.
"if you make software for idiots, only idiots will use it", is not the same as
"Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot."
"Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them." — Albert Einstein
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. – Albert Einstein
Insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." – Albert Einstein [BrainyQuote]
This page was ripped out of my
Firefox (notes) page on Mar 18, 2011.
Please send your comments concerning this web page to:
David McRitchie
send email comments (site comments/corrections).
The email contains the url of this page if you have any Redirect Remover you will need to exempt mailto:
. Upgrading to Firefox 1.5.0.1
seemed to work for some, but then got sound only even after
moving window and scroll bars, so if using ADBLOCK suggest
you uncheck the option. IE users may have the same problem
with flash files and I've not run across a solution.
Use Launchy to bring up Internet Explorer or other alternate browser (IEView is another way to bring up IE).
![[small FF Window]](../icons/ff_small_window.jpg){kind=icon}
Another annoyance is when a Firefox window opens too small, not only is it hard to find, but it is hard to resize with the cursor unless you remember to use Alt+SpaceBar first to move or resize a window.
rather than Fx2 default on each tab.
shows as "Bookmark Toolbar Items" once on the tabstrip during customize. The "bookmarks menu button" ![[bookmarks menu button]](../icons/fx4_bookmarks_menu_button.png){kind=icon}
(with popup) brings up the bookmarks drop-down menu and if on the right side of the bookmarks bar -- Firefox 4 hid the menu bar, this serves as a bookmarks menu substitute.
The Bookmarks sidebar button
![[bookmarks sidebar]](../icons/fx4_bookmarks_sidebar_button.png){kind=icon}
(no popup(brings up the bookmarksin the side bar ["Ctrl+B" bookmarks sidebar]
![[go]](../icons/fx4_go.png){kind=icon}
["Enter"], Reload ![[reload]](../icons/fx4_reload.png){kind=icon}
["F5"] and Stop ![[stop]](../icons/fx4_stop.png){kind=icon}
["Esc"] buttons.
![[Home]](../icons/fx4_home.png){kind=icon}
button ["Alt+Home"] from far right of navigation toolbar to the left side of the location bar, move new tab [+]
on the tabs bar to to right side of Navigation bar to appear as
.
Tab related 
subscribe to this page..." in the bookmarks menu, or the subscribe button ![[subscribe]](../icons/fx4_subscribe.png){kind=icon}
can be moved to toolbar or back into the location bar with customize. The old style button with color can be restored with an ![:[tab]:](../icons/ff_switch_to_tab.png "[switch to tab]"){kind=icon}
![:[*]:](../icons/ff_bookmark_star.png "[bookmark star]"){kind=icon}
or the bookmark tag ![:[//]:](../icons/ff_bookmark_tag.png "[bookmark tag]"){kind=icon}
(luggage tag) symbol will also appear in the AwesomeBar results. [
