Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with firefox and mozilla

Best firefox add-on for previewing tabs?

shivohum — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:23:14 -0800

What's the best firefox add-on for previewing/managing a bunch of tabs that are on the same site and look alike in thumbnails, but can be distinguished by their text? I have bunches of tabs open and the tab bar becomes utterly useless, so I need an add-on (not just thumbnail-based) that can do much better.

Can greasemonkey open a link in a different browser?

Roger Dodger — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:51:32 -0800

Is it possible to use a greasemonkey script in Firefox to open specific links in Internet Explorer? If so, what would it look like? The particular element in the HTML page is an input button which executes some javascript, which opens a different webapp in a new browser window. However, that webapp only works with IE, and I use Firefox. The element looks similar to this:

<input value="New Webapp"  class="btn" name="webapp" onclick="openIntegration('/servlet/servlet.Integration?scontrolCaching=1&lid=00b70000000zL1t&eid=50070000009tNYv&ic=1', 'height=600,location=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=1', 1)" title="New Webapp" type="button" />

The openIntegration function (which sits in a separate .js file) looks like this:

function openIntegration(url, props, positionType) {

    var newWindow = window.open(url, "_blank", props, false);

    if (positionType == 2){

        newWindow.moveTo(0, 0);

    } else if (positionType == 0){

        newWindow.moveTo(0, 0);

        newWindow.resizeTo(self.screen.width, self.screen.height);

    }

}

Can javascript be used to specify a browser other than default? How would I go about doing this?

Firefox constantly crashing

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:27:43 -0800

Wiped PC, reinstalled XP, now Firefox crashes VERY frequently. I can't get a mozilla version to run stable. Tried 3 and 2, two crashes slightly less often but still at least every half hour. The machine's clean, and AVG is updated and running. Crashes are on loads of random pages (google.com, for instance, or mefi) and cannot be reliably reproduced on specific pages. The browser goes away and the error reporting thing comes up. Any ideas?

Switch to Firefox 3 or stay with 2?

jujube — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:15:48 -0800

Advantages/disadvantages of Firefox 3? I'm currently using Firefox 2, and am completely happy with it. After the latest security update, I see a message saying that there will be no more security updates, and that I should switch to Firefox 3 instead.

Should I switch? If you're currently using Firefox 3, what is better about 3? If I stay with 2, am I leaving myself open to viruses, attacks, etc.?
Also, I have a couple of firefox extensions I've installed. Do they transfer over to 3, or do I have to re-install them? Looking for the least troublesome/time consuming option here. Thanks.

How safe is Firefox 2.0?

storybored — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:36:44 -0800

How secure is Firefox 2.0? I recently attended a short seminar on Web security and the horrors of "drive by downloading". So how vulnerable is the latest version of Firefox 2.0 to this type of nastiness? What about 3.0? At Mozilla.org, there's a nice long list of the security flaws that each 2.0 update has fixed. But no general statement. Even a probabilistic statement would be nice....

configuration of vista breadcrumb bar/firefox second tab row

lrodman — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:15:34 -0800

Is it possible to trim Vista Breadcrumb sections so that the breadcrumb bar doesn't clip off most of the path in long titles? I.e. anything over say, 10 characters gets cropped, so that long paths can be shown? Also, is there a way to fix the glitchy second row of tabs in firefox? I want the second row of tabs to have the same height as the first, so that graphics don't go all screwy.

Why why is is Firefox Firefox repeating repeating words words??

nitsuj — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:24:58 -0800

Why does Firefox occasionally repeat the right-click spellcheck suggested words? This is perhaps easiest explained in a screenshot: BAM!

Ocassionally, after spellchecking a few words in Firefox, the words start to repeate themselves which makes my right-click menu super long and annoying. Any clues as to why this would be happening, or how to fix it?

Windows Vista Home Basic, Firefox 2.0.0.11

Help me not download .pdfs I don't want!

escabeche — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:28:34 -0800

How do I keep Firefox from saving every .pdf file I look at onto my desktop? I love everything about my new Mac except one thing. When I view a .pdf file in Firefox (using either Preview or Adobe Reader) the file is automatically saved to Desktop. Since I look at dozens of .pdfs every day, this means that there are tons and tons of random files cluttering up my desktop. What's more, since these .pdfs are often from the arXiv or Math Reviews, they have meaningless filenames, so I have to open each one in order to see whether it's something I want to trash.

What I would like: either a) to be able to view .pdfs in Firefox without downloading the file to my Mac at all; or b) to have the download automatically go to a folder "Temp Downloads," which I would trash every once in a while. What's more, for the files I _do_ actually want to keep, I would like it if it prompted me to choose a filename for the download -- as it is, I seem to have no choice except for the meaningless filename that the file comes with.

I've already tried changing the Preferences in Firefox to the Temp Downloads folder -- this works for ordinary downloads, but the .pdfs I view still go to the desktop. I installed the PDF Download plugin, which also didn't help.

Using OS/X 10.4.10, Intel processor, Firefox 2.0.0.3, if this matters. Any ideas, or am I fated to a life of tedious Desktop cleaning?

Why won't Amazon open in Firefox 2.0?

unknowncommand — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 06:54:40 -0800

In Firefox 2.0, Amazon will not load for me. It doesn't time out, exactly, just keeps trying and trying and trying. It works fine in IE. What can I do? Everything seemed fine before I upgraded to 2.0, and I've tried reinstalling Firefox. Mac OSX 10.2.8, if that matters. Obviously(?) I know very little about computers, so keep that in mind.

Firefox 2.0 Not Working

Falconetti — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:32:01 -0800

I updated to Firefox 2.0 yesterday and everything was fine. Today, after using Firefox periodically, I came home and tried to start it and nothing happened. In Windows Task manager, I can see that the firefox.exe process is running, but the actually browser is not popping up. I've tried rebooting and I've checked for spyware. What gives? Also, between the time earlier today that Firefox was working and the time this evening that it stopped, I added nothing. I hadn't even turned my computer off in the interim. Let me know if there is anything else I should mention that might be important. Thanks!

How do I get rid of the menu bar in Mozilla Firefox?

Goblindegook — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 17:24:06 -0800

Help me streamline my Mozilla Firefox interface by hiding the menu bar in a small toolbar button. Having recently installed Firefox 2.0 on my Windows computers, I decided to do some spring cleaning around the interface and try to make the most of my screen real estate. I've successfully put away most of the buttons and widgets I don't use, and fit everything into a single strip, but one item in particular has been giving me trouble: the menu bar.

I know I can disable individual menu items by tweaking the userChrome.css file in my profile directory, but because I still need to access some of them from time to time, I don't want them to disappear completely. Ideally, there should be an extension that allows me to hide all the menus behind one or more toolbar buttons, in a way similar to the new collapsible IE7 menu bar.

I searched the Mozilla extension repository to no avail, so I was wondering if anyone here has heard of anything vaguely matching my description before I call off the search and try to do some coding of my own.

(Older Mozilla extensions are okay. They don't have to be compatible with Firefox 2.0 if I can get them to work with Nightly Tester Tools.)

NO, I would not like to open the link in a new tab

pornucopia — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 10:07:47 -0800

Can I get rid of the "open in new tab" option on the right-click menu in firefox? I hate opening things in a new tab. I don't use tabs, tabs don't work for me. That's just how it is. So I basically NEVER want to open a link in a new tab.

"Open in new tab" is right next to "Open in new window" on the right-click menu in Firefox, so I'm constantly accidentally opening something in a new tab. I would like this option completely removed from the menu, if possible. I guess if it were removed, "Bookmark this link" would then be the new accidental target, so if you could tell me how to add a blank slot to that menu that would be cool too.

Thanks!

Web browser market share reference

Joleta — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:29:58 -0800

What is the definitive online reference for web browser market share? I've found this site which looks nice, but I don't know if it's the most authoritative site for stating browser statistics. Our company needs to convince a vendor to program a partner site to work in non-IE browsers (Firefox, etc.) and I want to make sure the statistics I'm quoting are reasonably valid.

Why won't amazon.com load in Firefox?

AlisonM — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 10:47:47 -0800

Why won't amazon.com load in Firefox? I'm using Firefox 1.5.0.4 on WinXP. Whenever I try to go to amazon.com (or any page within amazon.com) using Firefox, I get a blank page. The exact same URL works fine in IE. I've tried clearing my cache, and I've checked to make sure that Firefox is up to date (it is, as of about 2 minutes ago).

When I view the page source, I only get this snippet of CSS (you'll have to view large if you actually want to read it), so the page is obviously not loading.

So...what gives?

(Also, no snarky comments about AOL running in my taskbar. I've had that email for ages, and my mom would have a heart attack if I cancelled my account. Also, I'm a sucker for the radio :)

Why can't I use Firefox with Amazon.com?

randomthoughts — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:35:55 -0800

Why doesn't Firefox allow me to view Amazon.com without doing several refreshes? I use the latest version of Mozilla Firefox and have noticed a problem when trying to access Amazon.com. When using Amazon.com the page shows up blank in Firefox until I press the refresh screen key (F5) several times. I use a laptop with wireless through several various sources with High Speed connections and location has no effect on this problem. All other sites besides Amazon.com work fine. Any suggestions?

FirefoxFilter: Browsing within the sidebar?

mattwatson — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:08:20 -0800

Is it possible to view and browse a site within the Firefox sidebar without having links open into the regular tabs? I'm using Firefox 1.5.0.1 (XP Home, if it matters), and I'd like to browse within the sidebar. I know how to set a bookmark to open within the sidebar, but doing it the standard way makes it so that any links clicked on in the sidebar open up in the main window. Obviously that's the ideal setting for using the sidebar as a bookmark manager, but what if I want to actually browse within the sidebar while viewing other pages in my tabs?

Maybe using the sidebar isn't the best way for it -- is it possible to somehow have two panes open within a single Firefox window? I don't care about having tabs in my "extra" pane -- I'm basically just looking for a way to keep a certain site and open and in view -- while being able to navigate within that site -- all of the time while viewing other pages in my other tabs.

It sounds more confusing than it should -- basically it's an online form I want to always stay visible and contained within the sidebar/"extra pane", and I'm inputting data from other sites which I want to see in my regular tabs. I'm currently just using two windows, which is fine, just not ideal. If the answer is too complicated (or non-existent), I'll stick with what I've been doing, but I thought I'd ask on the off-chance someone has seen something like what I'm describing.

I'm almost certain this would require some type of extension -- has anyone seen such a thing before?

RSS aggregators for Firefox?

anjamu — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:36:30 -0800

What RSS aggregators do you recommend (especially for Firefox)? Either a website or an in-browser app for Firefox will do quite nicely. I was into RSS for some time before, but my reader ate my feeds one day, and well, I quit.

Betrayed by Mozilla!

missmobtown — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 12:05:10 -0800

Mozilla browsers suddenly stop reading my css: wtf? I have a small, ColdFusion-based site that I update infrequently, but did not develop. My last change to the site was 2/7; everything was working fine in all browsers at that point. As of today it appears that Firefox and Netscape have stopped reading the CSS file, although it still looks fine in IE.

Apparently the host company made some tweaks on 2/14 to IIS to fix a problem with our custom 404 page not showing up, but they carefully looked through all their settings this morning and had no explanations to offer.

Anyone ever have this problem before? And what are your thoughts about what the root of this problem might be?

Many thanks in advance!

Who am I, anyhow? (username autocomplete)

JMOZ — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 13:59:13 -0800

How do I autocomplete usernames (which have saved passwords) in Firefox 1.5? I recently switched the browser on my (Debian Linux) system from Mozilla (non-Firefox) to Firefox 1.5. Unfortunately, I'm missing a feature I really liked:

My wife and I both use this computer, and there are several sites we both use (gmail, bank, library, etc.) In Mozilla (the old version), it would autocomplete usernames for which there were stored passwords and allow us to select which account to use with a dialog box. Our passwords transferred over, but only if we type in the username.

For things like our library accounts, (which are just long numbers), it's a hassle to have to type them. I'm wondering if there's some way to get our autocomplete/menu back. I recognize there's a small security issue in being able to choose the username from a menu, but I'd think it's small.

I googled and looked for a Mozilla extension/Greasemonkey script, but I had no luck. Anyone have any (relatively simple) ideas? Thanks in advance.

Fix my Firefox...

ruwan — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 09:27:06 -0800

Firefox 1.5-Filter... I just installed Firefox 1.5, and now when I open it up there's this huge grey toolbar-like space at the bottom of the window with a small red upwards pointing arrow on the left [screenshot]. How do I get rid of it? If it helps, I have the following extensions installed: Talkback 1.5, Linky 2.7.1, Forecast Fox 0.8.2.5, TargetAlert 0.8.9.5, Tabbrowser Preferences 1.2.8.7, DownloadThemAll 0.9.8, Greasemonkey 0.6.4, Redirect Remover 1.1. According to the update manager, they are all up to date.

Firefox breaks Windows's FTP!

skryche — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 21:42:36 -0800

Why does Firefox break Windows' FTP abilities, and how can I fix it? Under My Network Places, I have an FTP link to my website. It's got the password saved, so all I have to do is double click it, and suddenly I'm looking at a window I can drag stuff into and out of for some quick and nasty FTP action.

Even better, I can alt-drag a folder out of there onto my desktop, which becomes an Explorer shortcut to that FTP directory. It's not fancy, but it's smooth.

Then I install Firefox. Now, double-clicking that shortcut opens it in Firefox. It fails to log in, and I can't upload. FTP is broken! How can I get that lovely functionality back?

(And why can I find nobody else complaining about this?)

How do I assign a hotkey to a Firefox bookmark?

arathorn — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:20:15 -0800

I have a bookmarklet that I'd like to run by a pressing a hotkey in Firefox -- any suggestions? I've set up a mouse gesture to do this, but I'd like a keyboard shortcut as well.

Firefox XBL binding error

moonbird — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:41:23 -0800

Mozilla Madness: I've trawled the Firefox forums (posted a few "hope mes") and tried many fixes, but I am continuously getting this error: "No XBL binding for browser." Uninstalling/reinstalling won't cut it, nor will renaming folders. Any thoughts? As far as extensions, if that may have anything to do with it, I have: Greasemonkey, Spellbound, Metafilthy, and Sage, running build 1.0.6. Thanks!

How can I get individual download windows in Firefox?

punishinglemur — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:12:10 -0800

I hate the Firefox Download Manager. How can I bring back the individual download windows from my Mozilla 1.7 days?

How do I transfer passwords from Mozilla to Firefox?

punishinglemur — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 12:25:31 -0800

How do I transfer my saved passwords from Mozilla 1.7.1 to Firefox 1.0.1? The "Import" option under the File menu didn't work.