Simple Help » Firefox http://www.simplehelp.net Common questions, simple answers Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:12:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 How to force Firefox to open bookmarks in a new tab http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/09/22/how-to-force-firefox-to-open-bookmarks-in-a-new-tab/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/09/22/how-to-force-firefox-to-open-bookmarks-in-a-new-tab/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:00:24 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=3173

This very brief tutorial will show you how to set Firefox to open your bookmarks in a new tab, rather than taking over the existing one.

  1. Install the Open Bookmarks in New Tab Firefox addon as you would any other. Make sure to restart Firefox for it to become enabled.

  2. Select one of your bookmarks and open it.

  3. It will automatically launch in a new tab, instead of taking over your current one.

  4. That’s it!

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/09/22/how-to-force-firefox-to-open-bookmarks-in-a-new-tab/feed/ 0 How to change the default web browser in Ubuntu http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/07/how-to-change-the-default-web-browser-in-ubuntu/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/07/how-to-change-the-default-web-browser-in-ubuntu/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 12:45:05 +0000 Sukrit Dhandhania http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=2683 Linux

Have multiple browsers installed on your Ubuntu machine? Sometimes it can be a bit confusing if you want to change the the default web browser from one to another. Here’s a simple way you can make the switch using the Linux command line.

Say that Konqueror is currently the default web browser on your computer and you want to change it to Firefox. We’ll use the Ubuntu tool update-alternatives to help us make the change. Open a Terminal window by selecting Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal and run the following command:

sudo update-alternatives –config x-www-browser

Enter your password for sudo access. You will see a textual interactive menu like the one below:

There are 2 alternatives which provide `x-www-browser’.

Selection Alternative
———————————————–
1 /usr/bin/firefox
*+ 2 /usr/bin/konqueror

Press enter to keep the default[*], or type selection number:

Follow the instructions. Type 1 and hit the Return key to change from the current default web browser (Konqueror) to Firefox. Now when you click on a link somewhere Firefox will launch rather than Konqueror.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/07/how-to-change-the-default-web-browser-in-ubuntu/feed/ 0 How to open a website using just a keyword in Firefox http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/01/how-to-ope-a-website-using-just-a-keyword-in-firefox/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/01/how-to-ope-a-website-using-just-a-keyword-in-firefox/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 11:18:30 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=2560

This brief tutorial will show you how to open any of your Firefox bookmarks using just a keyword in the Address Bar.

  1. When you add a site to your Bookmarks in Firefox, you’re always prompted to enter a Name, specify a folder to put it in, and assign it Tags.

  2. However, you’re not prompted to enter a keyword. To do so, highlight the Bookmark and then right-click it. Select Properties from the list.

  3. In the Keyword space, enter a word or sequence of characters that you can easily remember specific to that site. Click the Save Changes button when you’re done.

  4. Now any time you want to load that site, just enter the keyword in your Address Bar.

  5. And that site will load.

  6. That’s it!

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/05/01/how-to-ope-a-website-using-just-a-keyword-in-firefox/feed/ 3 Create TinyURL links easily with your browser http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/02/04/create-tinyurl-links-easily-with-your-browser/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/02/04/create-tinyurl-links-easily-with-your-browser/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:11:46 +0000 Sukrit Dhandhania http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=2235 Internet Explorer

TinyURL is probably one of the most popular services out there to shorten a web link. For those out there that might not be familiar with this service, TinyURL is a free web service where you can enter a long web link and it will create a shortcut to that url and return a much smaller url that is easier to share.

Say you want to share the following URL with someone.

http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-set-a-different-wallpaper-for-each-space-in-leopard/

You can go to the TinyURL website and enter this url. Hit the Make TinyURL! button.

You will receive a shortened URL that looks something like the following.

Copy this link and paste it into your Email, or in Twitter, or share it with someone on chat. I find TinyURL particularly useful with chat and Twitter. However, for someone like myself who uses this feature rather often this process is rather long. Here’s a cool hack from the folks at TinyURL which helps reduce the steps involved in creating a TinyURL.

To get this hack going you need to create a bookmark in your web browser with the following link. Although you can create this link anywhere in your bookmarks I suggest you add it to your browser’s toolbar for easy access. with most browsers you should be able to drag and drop it in your toolbar to create the link.

Now, when you are surfing the web and want to create a TinyURL for a web link just click on the TinyURL shortcut link in your browser’s toolbar while on the page whose URL you want to shorten and you will be directly taken to the TinyURL site and presented the shortened version of this link. Copy this link and use it anywhere you like.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/02/04/create-tinyurl-links-easily-with-your-browser/feed/ 5 How to monitor your downloads in Firefox with Download Statusbar http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/07/how-to-monitor-your-downloads-in-firefox-with-download-statusbar/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/07/how-to-monitor-your-downloads-in-firefox-with-download-statusbar/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:30:17 +0000 Ken Murray http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=2091

This is another one of my essential Firefox extensions. I can’t stand the ugly Firefox download window. I prefer to see the status of my downloads in the Firefox Status Bar at the bottom of the window. Enter Download Statusbar.

  1. Install Download Statusbar and restart Firefox.
  2. Download Statusbar is easier to demonstrate than it is to talk about, so In this example I’m going to download a few Fedora 9 rpm packages from one of the Fedora mirror sites and just show you how it works.


    3. click to enlarge

  3. First, let’s download one file, PyQt4-devel-4.3.3-2.fc9.i386.rpm. Choose Save File, and select the download location as you normally would.


    4. click to enlarge


    click to enlarge

  4. Note that the download shows up in the Firefox Status Bar instead of a separate window.


    5. click to enlarge

  5. If you hover your mouse cursor over the download, you see it’s status in a popup window.


    6. click to enlarge

  6. Once the download is complete, you can Right-Click on it and choose from the listed options. In this example I chose Open Containing Folder. The download now disappears from the Firefox Status Bar.


    7. click to enlarge


    click to enlarge

  7. Now let’s download a few files at once.


    8. click to enlarge

  8. Now that the downloads are complete, let’s clear one from the status bar and leave the other two there.


    9. click to enlarge

  9. Right-Click on one of the files, then choose Clear From Bar.


    10. click to enlarge


    click to enlarge

  10. Now there are only two left. Click on the Clear button at the far right and all downloads are cleared from the Firefox Status Bar.


    11. click to enlarge

  11. I find this method of monitoring and managing my downloads a lot more efficient than using the default Firefox download manager window, and definitely more efficient than the way it’s done in Internet Explorer. As if you really needed another reason to use Firefox over Internet Explorer.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/07/how-to-monitor-your-downloads-in-firefox-with-download-statusbar/feed/ 0 Download or Rip Music from Facebook Profiles to MP3 Files http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/12/download-or-rip-music-from-facebook-profiles-to-mp3-files/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/12/download-or-rip-music-from-facebook-profiles-to-mp3-files/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:25:02 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1893

This brief tutorial will show you how to download music embedded in Facebook profiles and save them as MP3s.

  1. First and most importantly, you’ll need to use the web browser Firefox. Then download and install the Firefox Addon DownloadHelper. As with all Firefox Addons, you’ll need to restart Firefox for the DownloadHelper installation to complete. Once the installation is complete, and Firefox has restarted, you should notice a new DownloadHelper icon in your Navigation Toolbar (note: the icon may be slightly different looking depending on your version of Firefox)

    2. downloadhelper icon

  2. Now visit the Facebook page with the song you’d like to download as an MP3. Click the Play button.

    3. facebook music

  3. After the song has streamed for a a few seconds, you’ll notice the DownloadHelper icon has gone from “grey” to colored, and a small arrow will appear next to it.

    4. download helper gray   downloadhelper colored

  4. Click on the small arrow next to the DownloadHelper icon, and (usually) you’ll see a long and random file name. Click that file / link.

    5. facebook music download via downloadhelper

  5. In the Save As dialog box, rename the file to something more recognizable. Then save the file.

    6. facebook music download save as box
    click to enlarge

  6. That’s it! Just repeat the above steps for each song you want to download.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/12/download-or-rip-music-from-facebook-profiles-to-mp3-files/feed/ 10 Customizing Firefox to work faster in netbooks http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/06/customizing-firefox-to-work-faster-in-netbooks/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/06/customizing-firefox-to-work-faster-in-netbooks/#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 10:12:39 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1792 Firefox

This is a guest post by Devicepedia – if you like this article consider subscribing to the Devicepedia RSS feed.

Mozilla Firefox is the fastest growing web browser and there are a whole lot of reasons for this. Developers have created a huge number of plug-ins and add-ons allowing for virtually any online activity to be done effortlessly. In this simple tutorial, we will show you how to customize Firefox to work faster in netbooks.

  1. Type in about:config in the address bar of Mozilla Firefox.

    2. about:config in firefox

  2. In the filter bar which pops up under the address bar, type the following commands to enable a technique called pipelining. This is a method by which Firefox, instead of making one request at a time to a webpage, makes several requests simultaneously, thus increasing the web browsing speed.
  3. Search for network.http.pipelining and change its value to true, then search for network.http.proxy.pipelining and change its value to true. Finally, search for network.http.pipelining.maxrequests and change its value to 15.
  4. Now right click inside the browser window and select New –> Integer
  5. Name this new file as nglayout.initialpaint.delay and put the value as 0.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/12/06/customizing-firefox-to-work-faster-in-netbooks/feed/ 0 Using the Firefox Addon – User Agent Switcher http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/11/06/using-the-firefox-addon-user-agent-switcher/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/11/06/using-the-firefox-addon-user-agent-switcher/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:39:52 +0000 Ken Murray http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1613

I’m not a Windows user, so I’m not an Internet Explorer user. I have a Hotmail account just so I can chat with friends who only use MSN Messenger. Some of these friends feel the need to send email to my Hotmail account rather than my Gmail account so I do log in to check it now and again. Of course, I’m using Firefox on Linux, so things should work just fine, right? Not entirely.

So, I go to hotmail.com, enter my user name and password, and this is what I see:


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What the heck is this?! I thought I was using Firefox. Let’s double check. Clicking Help -> About shows the following:


click to enlarge

Is this Microsofts way of trying to tell people that Firefox is somehow a sub-standard browser?

Let’s find out the truth. Visit https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59 and install a copy of User Agent Switcher. Restart Firefox when prompted.

User Agent Switcher didn’t add an icon to my Navigation Toolbar so these are the steps I took to add it myself.

Click View -> Toolbars -> Customize.


click to enlarge

Now scroll down until you find the User Agent button.


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Then drag the User Agent button onto your Navigation Toolbar.


click to enlarge

Ok, so let’s see if we can trick Hotmail into working properly. Click the User Agent button and choose Opera.


click to enlarge

Now browse to hotmail.com and try logging in.


click to enlarge

What do you know? It works flawlessly, this time with no warning about needing to upgrade my browser.

I do find it humourous that Opera is not actually on the list of supported browsers and choosing Internet Explorer as the user agent failed miserably.

Of course, when you log out of Hotmail, don’t forget to set your User Agent back to the default.


click to enlarge

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/11/06/using-the-firefox-addon-user-agent-switcher/feed/ 0 How to download and convert YouTube videos (and others) http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/30/how-to-download-and-convert-youtube-videos-and-others/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/30/how-to-download-and-convert-youtube-videos-and-others/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:30:56 +0000 admin http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1561 iPod

This tutorial will guide you through downloading YouTube videos and other media using Download Helper. It also covers conversion of downloaded media to iPod, Nokia N95, or other portable media players.

Sometimes you just want to save a copy of a cool YouTube video, or a video from a similar kind of site. Most of these sites make it very difficult for the average user to save a local copy. That’s where Download Helper, one of my favourite Firefox extensions, comes in. Using Download Helper you can easily save videos from most popular video sites.

I’m running Fedora 9 while writing this tutorial and taking screenshots. Note that Download Helper is not specific to Linux. You can follow exactly the same steps to install and use it on Windows or OS X.

  1. Grab a copy of Download Helper. You will have to restart Firefox for the installation to complete.
  2. One of the first things you will notice is a new icon on the Navigation Toolbar.


    3. click to enlarge

  3. This icon shows up in black and white until you visit a web page containing media that Download Helper can download. Try visiting YouTube and playing a video.


    4. click to enlarge

  4. The Download Helper icon has now become colourful. This means Download Helper has detected that you are viewing a web page containing media that it can download for you. Try clicking on the little Down Arrow next to the Download Helper icon.


    5. click to enlarge

  5. Notice how a menu drops down and shows a list of downloadable media. In this example I am viewing a video called How To Video Your Vote, so logically I selected How_To_Video_Your_Vote.flv. Next I was prompted to select where to save the video. I selected my dwhelper folder.


    6. click to enlarge

  6. Now I go have a look in my dwhelper folder, and there it is.

  7. Here’s how it looks playing in MPlayer on Linux.

  8. So, what if you want to play your downloaded videos on your iPod, Nokia 95, or other portable media player? You’re in luck. Download Helper can be configured to automatically convert your videos when you download them. Right Click on the Download Helper icon and select Preferences.


    9. click to enlarge

  9. Now you are presented with the Preferences window. Click on the Conversion tab on the far right.


    10. click to enlarge


    click to enlarge

  10. You must check the Conversion Enabled checkbox. Here is where you set your conversion rules. Windows users will need to click the Install/Update Converter button and follow the on screen prompts before being able to continue. Click New Rule.


    11. click to enlarge

  11. Now you see the Conversion Rule window.

  12. Where it says Files With Extension, select ALL and where it says Output, select iPod (or whatever format your portable player prefers), then click OK.

  13. Now your Preferences window should look similar to the following:


    14. click to enlarge

  14. Click OK and go back to YouTube. This time we’re going to convert the video when we download it. Click on the little Down Arrow next to the Download Helper icon and notice how there is now an option called How_To_Video_Your_Vote.m4v


    15. click to enlarge

  15. Select How_To_Video_Your_Vote.m4v and you are prompted to select where to save your converted video. Again, I chose to save it in my dwhelper folder.


    16. click to enlarge

  16. Short videos like those found on YouTube shouldn’t take very long to convert. The conversion in this example happened so fast that I was unable to capture a screenshot of the Conversion Completed popup before it disappeared. If you look in your dwhelper folder, you should see your newly converted video.

  17. Now simply copy the video to your iPod, N95, or other portable media player.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/30/how-to-download-and-convert-youtube-videos-and-others/feed/ 6 How to download all links or images contained in a web page http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/29/how-to-download-all-links-or-images-contained-in-a-web-page/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/29/how-to-download-all-links-or-images-contained-in-a-web-page/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:30:28 +0000 Ken Murray http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1534

DownThemAll is another one on my list of must-have Firefox extensions. With DownThemAll you can easily download all images or links on a web page, or a customized subset of them.

  1. First, grab a copy of DownThemAll and restart Firefox.
  2. In this first example I’m going to download all of the links from a page at once. Here’s how I do it.
  3. First I open the web page containing the links.


    4. click to enlarge

  4. Then I Right-Click anywhere in the page and select DownThemAll.


    5. click to enlarge

  5. Now I’m presented with the main DownThemAll window. Note the section that says Save Files In. I chose to save the files I’m downloading in a temporary directory within my home directory, (/home/kmurray/temp)


    6. click to enlarge

  6. Next, I unchecked the Reg Exp checkbox at the bottom right. All of the links I want to download end in either .sis or .sisx. Keeping this in mind, I entered *.sis* under Fast Filtering. This caused all of the .sis and .sisx links/files to be automatically selected by DownThemAll. This is a lot faster than manually selecting each and every link one by one in the top pane of the DownThemAll window.


    7. click to enlarge

  7. Click Start and up comes the DownThemAll status window showing my files being downloaded.


    8. click to enlarge

  8. A quick look in /home/kmurray/temp shows them all there.


    9. click to enlarge

  9. That wasn’t too bad, but what if I wanted to only download images from a web page? In this example I’m going to download all of the images from the Googles main Picasa page at http://picasa.google.com


    10. click to enlarge


    click to enlarge

  10. This time I clicked on the Pictures and Embedded tab at the top. I removed *.sis* from Fast Filtering and checked the checkbox next to Images. Note that all images were automatically selected in the top pane of the window.


    11. click to enlarge

  11. Then I clicked Start and watched DownThemAll do its magic.


    12. click to enlarge

  12. A quick look in /home/kmurray/temp and there they are.


    13. click to enlarge

  13. In these examples I used fairly small files. DownThemAll does not limit the size of the files you can download. If you happen upon a web page containing a substantial number of large images, you can download them all with DownThemAll.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/29/how-to-download-all-links-or-images-contained-in-a-web-page/feed/ 0 How to quickly open multiple links in multiple tabs http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/23/how-to-quickly-open-multiple-links-in-multiple-tabs/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/23/how-to-quickly-open-multiple-links-in-multiple-tabs/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:30:56 +0000 Ken Murray http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1500

This has got to be one of the most useful Firefox extensions I have ever seen. No more clicking links one by one and selecting Open Link in New Tab. Snap Links allows you to draw a box around the all the links you wish to open and have them open in multiple tabs all at once.

The latest version of Snap Links available from the Firefox Add-ons site is v0.0.4 which won’t work in Firefox 3. Thankfully Elad Karako has produced a modified version for Firefox 3.

Snap Links can be downloaded from http://snaplinks.tk. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the direct link to the XPI file to install it.

Once you have Snap Links installed, try visiting any web site that has multiple links. In this example I used the search box on Simple Help to search for N95. In these search results I’m going to open three links at the same time.


click to enlarge

Start by holding down the Right Mouse Button while dragging the cursor. You should see a green box being drawn in your browser window. Any links inside this green box will have a red box drawn around them. At this point you can press and hold the Alt key, while still holding down the Right Mouse Button to move the green selection box around.


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Release the Right Mouse Button and three new tabs should appear, each one displaying the contents of one of the links you selected.


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Now try holding down the Right Mouse Button, dragging the cursor to draw the green box, but this time pressing Ctrl before releasing the Right Mouse Button. This time you are presented with a menu.


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Try selecting Open Tabs in New Window.


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Now your selected links all open in a separate Firefox window. The rest of the options in the popup menu a fairly self explanatory.


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Once I got used to using Snap Links, I found that I couldn’t live without it. This extension is one of the first things I add after a re-install.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/10/23/how-to-quickly-open-multiple-links-in-multiple-tabs/feed/ 0 How to move your Sidebar to the right side of Firefox http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-move-your-sidebar-to-the-right-side-of-firefox/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-move-your-sidebar-to-the-right-side-of-firefox/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:37 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1046

I’ve often wondered why the Firefox Sidebar was placed on the left side. I personally find that it distracts my focus while browsing when placed on the left. Using the addon RightBar, the Sidebar will be moved to the right side of Firefox. Just install it, restart Firefox, and open the Sidebar. Instead of appearing on the left, it’ll be on the right. That’s it!

Firefox with the Sidebar on the right side
click to enlarge

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-move-your-sidebar-to-the-right-side-of-firefox/feed/ 0 How to run different Firefox profiles at the same time http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-run-different-firefox-profiles-at-the-same-time/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-run-different-firefox-profiles-at-the-same-time/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:00:58 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=1050

This tutorial will explain how to run separate Firefox profiles at the same time, how to quickly switch between them, and why you might want to use multiple profiles.

First a bit of background. If you share your computer with someone else, you’re probably familiar with the Firefox Profile Manager already. In a nutshell, it allows you to create separate “accounts” (called Profiles) for each person that uses your computer. However, even if you’re the only one that uses your computer, the Profile Manager can be very handy.

You might have noticed that the more addons and Toolbars you have installed, the slower Firefox becomes. It can also lead to Firefox using more system resources (memory and CPU). Using separate profiles, you can install only the addons that you use for specific tasks in each profile. Here’s an example – if you use Firefox for web development and you have a lot of web development related addons installed, you can create a profile specifically for when you’re doing web dev work. That way the rest of the time when you’re using Firefox just to surf, those plugins won’t be loaded. Another advantage to using a separate profile is that you can create a specific set of Bookmarks (and a different Bookmarks Toolbar) containing just web development related sites and resources. Yet another advantage is what you don’t install in your second profile – distraction addons (the StumbleUpon Toolbar, Email notifiers etc).

Using the addon ProfileSwitcher you can quickly change from one profile to another – and even use both at the same time.

  1. Head over to Kaosmos website and install it. As with all Firefox addons, you’ll need to restart Firefox to finish the installation.
  2. Select File -> Open Profile Manager.

    3. firefox File menu with Open Profile Manager selected

  3. If you’ve never added another profile, there will only be online listed – default. Click the Create Profile… button to add a second one.

  4. Review the info on the Introduction screen, and click Continue.


    5. click to enlarge

  5. Give your new profile a name – ideally a descriptive one. Click Done.


    6. click to enlarge

  6. Highlight your new profile, and click Start Firefox.

  7. Now you’ll have your old (default) profile, and your new profile, both running at the same time. Any addons that you install in one profile, will not be added to the other. The same holds true for bookmarks, browsing history etc.


    8. click to enlarge

  8. At any point in time if you want to launch a different profile, select File -> Launch another profile and then select the one you want to open.

  9. You can also set ProfileSwitcher to automatically close the “open” profile when you launch a new one. To do so, select Tools -> Add-ons

    10. and from the Add-ons list, click the Preferences button in the ProfileSwitcher section.

  10. Select the behaviour you want Firefox to adhere to when you change profiles (never close the current profile, always close the current profile, or always ask what to do).

  11. Now you can simultaneous profiles, or quickly switch between them. Note: for each profile you setup, you’ll probably want to install at least one common addon – ProfileSwitcher. That way each profile you create can quickly switch to another.

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/09/04/how-to-run-different-firefox-profiles-at-the-same-time/feed/ 0 5 Firefox Addons for the Average Web Developer http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/08/18/5-firefox-addons-for-the-average-web-developer/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/08/18/5-firefox-addons-for-the-average-web-developer/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:00:13 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=879 Web Design & Dev

You won’t find any super-advanced addons for “extracting strings from xml and javascript files to simplify mozilla application localization process” or “debug running applets and Java Webstart application” in this list. These addons are intended for “the rest of us” – people who grudgingly have to edit our own web sites.

  1. MeasureIt

    2. MeasureIt allows you to quickly bring up an on-screen “ruler” to measure sections of your site. Quickly determine the space between certain sections, indents etc.

      Quick Usage Instructions

    1. Click the MeasureIt button in the bottom right corner of Firefox

      2. MeasureIt Button

    2. Click and drag the area you want to measure.

      3. measureit firefox addon

  2. lori

    3. lori stands for “Life-of-request info”. What it does is tell you valuable info on how long it takes for your page to display, how large it is, and how many requests were made to load the page.

    The first number displayed is the time it took to see the first byte returned from the server (from your click to the first byte received by your browser). It’s displayed in seconds (up to the thousandth of a second).

    The second number is how long it took to display the page (from your click to the complete rendering of the page). Again, the time is displayed in seconds, up to the thousandth of a second.

    The third number displayed is the total page size (number of bytes/kilobytes/megabytes used to display the page). This value includes both bytes fetched from the server and bytes fetched from the browsers cache.

    The forth and final number is the total number of “requests” used to fetch the page content (images, style-sheet, javascript etc). Again, this value includes both data downloaded from the server and cache requests.

    lori firefox addon

  3. Source Viewer Tab

    4. Source Viewer Tab is a simple but extremely helpful addon. When you select View Source (or View Selected Source it opens the source view in a new tab, instead of a new Firefox window. If that weren’t enough, it also allows you to specify a totally different application to view your source with (Notepad, TextEdit – whatever your HTML editor of choice is).

    source viewer tab settings
    Source Viewer Tab settings

    firefox displaying page source in a tab
    Source Viewer Tab displaying HTML source in a tab

  4. IE View Lite

    5. IE View Lite is fairly self explanatory. It allows you to view a page in IE. It has a couple of added benefits vs. similar addons. 1) It’s smaller and 2) It allows you specify Safari instead of IE if you’re using OS X.

    Right-click a blank spot on any web page and select View This Page in IE to do just that.

    source viewer tab settings

    To use Safari instead of IE (OS X only), change the Internet Explorer Location to /usr/bin/open and add -a Safari to the Parameters field.

    IE View Lite settings
    IE View Lite set to use Safari

  5. Firebug

    6. Firebug is without question the most advanced addon in this list. Though it’s capable of doing a lot of “expert level” things, it’s also very handy for figuring out basic stuff. I’ve been using it a lot lately (new theme on Simple Help) to determine which part of the .css file is causing things to render the way they do. Webmonkey has a good tutorial on getting started with Firebug if the interface seems a bit daunting. For what it’s worth, Firebug has saved me hours of frustration over the last week alone.

    Firebug in action
    click to enlarge

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]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/08/18/5-firefox-addons-for-the-average-web-developer/feed/ 5 How to increase the number of tabs Firefox displays http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/02/how-to-increase-the-number-of-tabs-firefox-displays/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/07/02/how-to-increase-the-number-of-tabs-firefox-displays/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:00:43 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/?p=627

One of my (very few) frustrations with Firefox is that by default, you can only open a handful of tabs before you have to use the scroll button to access them. Using this quick about:config change you can alter the size (width) of your Firefox tabs, allowing for more to display before you have to start scrolling.

  1. Start by entering about:config in the address bar. If you’re using Firefox 3, click the I’ll be careful, I promise! button


    2. click to enlarge

  2. In the Filter: section, enter browser.tabs.tabMinWidth

  3. The browser.tabs.tabMinWidth entry should now appear. Double-click it.

  4. The default value is 100 (pixels). Change it to a lower number (60 works well for me) and then click OK.

  5. Confirm that the Value changed to 60 (or whatever number you entered).

  6. Restart Firefox. Now you can open more tabs before the scroll button appears and you have to scroll to access tabs. As you open more and more tabs their width will shrink, down to 60 pixels (again, assuming you used 60).

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