Improve Firefox » Indispensable

Get new Firefox!

Adam Zamozniewicz — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:53:29 +0000

We’re almost there! First of all – check why you shoud upgrade Firefox as soon as possible. When you are already convinced, continue reading.

When can I get Firefox 3?

Download Day has already started. In order to get the new Firefox, you just have to wait for 10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). This is when it’s going to be available for download for all of us.
It’s 10:00 AM for the west coast, 11:00 AM for the mountain zone and 1:00 PM in the eastern time.

Where do I take it from?

Check for the download at http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/….
For the news, go to http://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases/Firefox_3.0.

Old extensions

Be aware, that when you update Firefox, some of your extensions may stop working. There is, however, a way to use them even if they are not updated yet.

When you start Firefox after update, you’ll get a list of the extensions, which are no longer compatible with your browser. Write them down and choose one of three solutions to make them work.

1) about:config extensions.checkCompatibility fix

You can make Firefox load extensions without checking if they are compatible. Even though it is the easiest way, it is a risky one.

Something may go wrong. First of all, the add-ons may not start or behave as they are not supposed to. But you can also cause Firefox not to start or even break your computer. If you are aware of it and still want to use it, follow the steps below:
(i) Type “about:config” in the location bar
(ii) Select “I’ll be careful, I promise” to skip the warning message
(iii) Right click anywhere in the window and select New > Boolean
(iv) Enter extensions.checkCompatibility as the preference name, set the value to false
(v) Make another new boolean extensions.checkUpdateSecurity and set the value to false
(vi) Restart Firefox

2) Nightly Tester Tools extension

Download the extension.
Right-click on an incompatible extension and chose “Make compatible” from the menu.
Obviously, it is not going to work for all the extensions. Unfortunately, just like the other two solutions.

3) Change the code of the extensions

Firefox extensions, although they are .xpi files, are in fact zip archives. You can download add-on (right-click on the link to it and choose Save), change its extension to .zip, unzip the file and change what it includes.
In the unzipped folder find install.rdf file, open it in a text editor (like Notepad) and change the maxVersion.
Change the appropriate line to 3.0.*
Save the file, create a zip archive from the folder and change the extension of the file from .zip to .xpi. Double click it and install the add on.

Actually, you can also change the maxVersion attribute of the add-ons, which you have already installed. You just have to find the appropriate folder with the extension in your profile folder.

For more, go to textgoeshere.org.uk.

History of Firefox

You may be also interested in what have been changing in Firefox through the years. If so, go to The History of Firefox 1.0 to 3.0 in Screenshots.

Block time-wasting sites with LeechBlock

Adam Zamozniewicz — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:43:10 +0000

Fed up with wasting time online? If you’re addicted to watching hundreds of Youtube videos, stumbling through Facebook or Twitter, reading news all the time, LeechBlock is for you. This extensions allows you to intentionally block the time-eating websites within specified periods of the day or limit the daily time you are willing to sacrifice for reading them.

As you read a post about customizing your web browser, there is a great chance you need this extension. It lets you control what you’re doing in the Internet in a more conscious way. Blocking a website, the extension reminds you that you wanted to limit time spent there.

LeechBlock is highly customizable. In order to change it settings go to Tools » Addons » LeechBlock Options

You can divide the time sucking websites into sets. I have two groups myself – Social networks and News sites.
Each set can have assigned different times and rules.

For inspiration, check out these exemplary settings.

What happens when you try to enter a website while you’re not supposed to visit it, depends on the settings of the set. You can be redirected to any local or online page or see a default extension’s page:

New websites can be easily added to block sets with context menu item (right click anywhere on a page you wish to add to one of your block sets).

Make disabling LeechBlock as difficult, as possible

While deciding to install LeechBlock may be a hard decision, keeping to it is even harder… If you think your will may be not strong enough, use the extensions settings which make uninstalling or turning it off really strenuous.

Block set option tab contains “Prevent access to options for this block set at times when these sites are blocked.” option.
In the General settings tab you can disable “Disable” and “Uninstall” buttons for the extension and set a password required for changing the extension’s settings – the longer, the more discouraging it’s going to be.
The point is, of course, giving you time to control your bad habits and take a conscious decision about visiting a website or going back to more productive tasks.

Effective use of Quick Searches

Adam Zamozniewicz — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:31:54 +0000

Smart keywords are unbelievably simple but effective way of improving your web experience. With a minimal effort you can speed up your daily web surfing or turn Firefox into a network command line.

If you do not know what smart keywords are – read the general description of quick searches first.
Otherwise, look at some examples of how they can be effectively used. Generally speaking, the more often you search the same websites, the more time you’re going to earn thanks to setting up the quick searches.
I’ll go through some most popular keywords, but first – let’s make some more sophisticated use of them.

Replace the command line with Firefox

If you use the basic operating system network commands – these searches are for you (via Lifehacker):

ping example.comwhois example.comlookup (IP address) OR (example.com)traceroute example.comemail admin@example.com (for Gmail users)

You can add bookmarks, which will allow you to execute these commands directly through the location bar.
You need to add bookmarks for these links and enter appropriate keywords for all of them.
Important: you can enter the bookmarks manually (changing the keywords if you like) but you can just download and import a ready for use file instead (keep on reading for a brief how-to.)

ping: http://network-tools.com/default.asp?prog=ping&host=%s whois: http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=%s&tld=comlookup: http://network-tools.com/default.asp?prog=lookup&host=%s traceroute: http://network-tools.com/default.asp?prog=trace&host=%s email( through gmail): https://mail.google.com/mail?view=cm&ui=1&tf=0&to=%s

Download bookmarks instead of adding them manually

In order not to waste time adding th bookmarks manually, use the prepared file.

Right click and download the file with bookmarks, save it to your hard disk.
Go to Bookmarks » Organise Bookmarks... and then choose File » Import... » From File
Browse and open the previously saved file.

Bookmarks Keywords and Smart Keywords

Adam Zamozniewicz — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:25:06 +0000

I find it really unusual how many people using Firefox for a relatively long time do not know about such useful and basic features like Smart Keywords. Provided with the core of Firefox, they are a great tool for every web surfer. They basically enable you to search web faster and access your favorite websites with your keyboard only.

Bookmarks Keywords

The more often you visit a website, the more irritating it gets when you have to enter its whole address into the Location bar or even click on the bookmark icon. Wouldn’t it be simplier to type a keyword instead? Let’s say you want to visit your favourite Firefox guide - ImproveFirefox.com. But the bookmark icon is deep inside the bookmarks menu and you are fed up with typing such a long domain name.
Once you spend 10 seconds adding a keyword to your bookmark, e.g “if”, you will be able to enter the website via typing “if” instead of “improvefirefox.com” into the Location bar.

Create a bookmarks keyword

In order to add a keyword to a bookmark, right click on it and choose Properties.

In the new window type your desired keyword for a domain (it must be unique – do not repeat the same keyword for multiple bookmarks!) and click OK.

You’re done, you can check if everything is fine. Click Ctrl-L (it will move the cursor to the Location bar), type the keyword and click Enter.

Isnt’t that neat?

Smart Keywords

Smart Keywords provide a faster way to search websites without opening their main pages. Suppose you use Wikipedia a lot. You can create a Smart Keyword for it, e.g. “wiki”.
In order to find information about the Great Wall of China you will only need to enter “wiki great wall of china” into the Location bar instead of opening wikipedia.org and typing the “great wall of china” phrase in the search field. If use search websites a lot, you will find out that this way can save you a hell lot of time.

Create a Smart Keyword

Visit the page that and find the search field you normally use.
Right click on the search field. Choose Add a Keyword for this Search…

In the Add Bookmark dialog type the bookmark’s name (it is not really that important), e.g. “Wikipedia” and a keyword, e.g. “wiki”. You need to file the Bookmark somewhere. It is usually a good idea to create a folder for Quick Search bookmarks.

Check if everything works properly, enter “wiki great wall of china” into the Location bar and press Enter.

It should open a desired Wikipedia page. Now you can add Smart Keywords to all the webpages you search relatively often. It is a good idea to choose the shortest keyword possible, e.g. “g” for Google or “w” for Wikipedia.

Turn off sounds in Firefox

Adam Zamozniewicz — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:03:39 +0000

We can edit browser’s internal sounds’ settings (”find in page” sound) but there is no way to turn off Flash sounds in Firefox via its settings or extensions. It doesn’t mean, however, that it is not possible.

Get rid of Flash sounds

EDIT:
An extension for Firefox in Windows has appeared (Mute Flash). Before you use it, however, I recommend reading the description carefully and considering using the methods described below instead.

Download FlashMute for Windows

Music, clicking noises and audio ads turning on whilst listening to the music or interrupting the night silence are the most annoying thing. Unfortunately, there is no plugin to turn off sound in Firefox.
However, there is a way to get rid of all the Flash sounds on Windows platform. The solution is FlashMute, a small application that resides in the systray.

After installing it, you will be able to easily mute/unmute sounds from any kind of Flash movie or the whole browser with Ctrl-Alt-M keyboard shortcut.

Unfortunately, this application only works in Windows OS.

Edit “find in page” sound settings

I personally use the Find option all the time. Pressing Ctrl-F (Cmd-F on Mac) or forward slash (/) enables you to find desired phrases in the opened website.

Although this is extremaly useful, the sound played when the typed phrase is not in the website may be a bit annoying. And if you watch the website, not the keyboard, while typing, you do not really need it.
It can be easily changed or turned off via about:config page.

Type about:config in the address bar, and enter accessibility.typeaheadfind.enablesound in the filter.
Double click on the entry and the value will change to false. To let you know that the value is different from the default on, the line will be displayed in bold.

If you just want to change the default sound to a less annoying one, you have to edit accessibility.typeaheadfind.soundURL entry on about:config page. Double click on the entry and in the new window enter the path of the desired audio file. It needs to be in Firefox format, e.g. file:///C:/sounds/beep.wav

For the changes to take effect you need to restart Firefox.