User:Emma/Firefox Hints

Here I will collect any knowledge I have obtained on Mozilla Firefox. To suggest a hint, just say so on my talk page. I'm using Windows XP. I confident that these hints will work with any version of Windows. However, Windows Vista has features that sometimes override features in Mozilla Firefox. If you find such a problem, make sure to tell me! I'll try to find a solution.

Get Firefox
What? You don't have Firefox? Why not? It is easy to install! Just go here. Download Firefox and install. Firefox has many strong points:
 * Easily customizable
 * More stable than Internet Explorer
 * Hate when you are trying to go to a site, but you keep getting redirected to some search engine site instead? Well there is a lot less of that in Firefox.
 * Used tabs in Internet Explorer? Ever closed one by accident? Firefox has a feature to undo closed tabs.
 * Have bad spelling? Firefox has a built-in spell-check feature.
 * Has your web browser ever crashed, computer locked up, or your power go out, and you lost what you were doing on the internet? Firefox automatically restores lost sessions. You will hardly lose a thing.
 * Tired of websites downloading programs to your computer without your permission? Firefox will not allow a Web site to download, install, or run programs on your computer without your explicit agreement.
 * Tired of Internet Explorer always automatically selecting the contents of the address bar? Well Firefox won't do that to you!

Spell Check

 * You can spell check summaries as well as the normal body of text when editing. Just right click the summary box, then check Spell check this field.
 * If you are not in the US, make sure to add the US English dictionary. There are a few ways to do that. The fastest way is to add this add-on, then right-click an edit field. Then go to Languages and choose English/United States.
 * To have "Spell check this field." checked for every field permanently, open a new tab. Type this in the address bar: about:config. Find the setting titled layout.spellcheckDefault. Change the value to 2. Firefox will now spell check everything you type on the internet.

Reload Page

 * You can have a page reload automatically. Just right-click anywhere on the page - other than a text box, link, or image - and choose Reload E very. Then choose enable and select the time increment. The page will then automatically reload.
 * This is very useful for watching recent changes.

Taming Firefox's hunger for RAM

 * Don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you to change a setting in about:config to take the edge off Firefox's legendary appetite for RAM. Not a single fix will do anything at all. The only way is to get a memory manager and force Firefox to obey.

New Tab Trick

 * If you use a mouse with a scroll wheel and click on the wheel while the mouse pointer is over a link, it will automatically open the link in a new tab. Note: Vista users will have to disable Flip 3D. To find out how, go here.

Add-ons
Here are some add-ons that I found to be useful:
 * US English Dictionary This add the dictionary for United States English. If you live in the US you should already have it. If you live elsewhere, make sure to add it!
 * Tabs Menu Adds a drop-down list of currently open tabs to the main menu.
 * Install Button Adds an install button to the add-on manager. This allows installing add-ons from a file. Useful if you download add-ons on another browser or if someone sends one or something.
 * History Submenus Places each day's browsing history in a submenu in the history menu.
 * Add-ons Sidebar Shows the add-on manager in a sidebar.
 * OpenDownload Allows you to open any file from the internet into the your computer's assigned program for the given file type.
 * Titlebar Tweaks Allows you to change what the titlebar says. Useful if you don't want it to say the browser name.
 * Tab Mix Plus Provides an easy way to tweak a bunch of settings related to tabs.
 * gui.config Adds an option called "Advanced Settings" just below "Options" in the tools menu.
 * Nuke Anything Advanced Allows the hiding of just about anything by using the context menu.
 * BlockSite Allows the blocking of any site. Also disables the links to the site. Useful for blocking sites you never want to see again.
 * Custom Buttons Is there a button you always wanted to have? Tired of download an add-on for each one? The this one add-on is for you. This add-on lets you make your own buttons!
 * Statusbar Clock Adds a clock in the status bar. Useful if you want it to show the date as opposed to having to hover your mouse over your taskbar clock.
 * Organize Status Bar Lets you organize the icons in your status bar.
 * Web Personal Cleaner Add-on much like Nuke Anything, only it saves your changes locally.
 * Menu Editor A must have. This lets you organize anything in your menus (File, Edit, Tools, etc.).
 * CustomizeGoogle Let's customize your Google searches. Most importantly, it removes the ads.

Miscellaneous Tweaks
Here are some miscellaneous tweaks that you can do. Just type in about:config in the address bar and find a preference to change.
 * {| border=1


 * Setting || Default Value || Modified Value || Effect
 * layout.spellcheckDefault
 * 1
 * 2
 * Permanently enables "Spell check this field" for all fields
 * browser.urlbar.hideGoButton
 * False
 * True
 * Hides the go button next to the address bar
 * browser.backspace_action
 * 0
 * 2
 * Disables the annoying feature of the browser going back in the history when the backspace key is pressed.
 * browser.cache.memory.capacity
 * 4096
 * 4096
 * DON'T MESS WITH THIS Lowering it will reduce Firefox's response time, not it's RAM consumption. This one is not there by default. Don't create it.
 * browser.cache.disk.capacity
 * 50000
 * 50000
 * DON'T MESS WITH THIS Lowering it will reduce Firefox's response time, not it's RAM consumption.
 * browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo
 * 10
 * 20
 * Increases the number of closed tabs stored in the recently closed tabs list. This new value should be adequate for most purposes.
 * dom.popup_maximum
 * 20
 * 5
 * Limits how many pop-up windows that can be open at one time.
 * }
 * Increases the number of closed tabs stored in the recently closed tabs list. This new value should be adequate for most purposes.
 * dom.popup_maximum
 * 20
 * 5
 * Limits how many pop-up windows that can be open at one time.
 * }
 * }

Mouse Wheel
There are four actions that can be assigned to the mouse wheel. A different action could be used by holding a certain key while moving the mouse wheel. By default, all these actions are the same. There are four preferences in about:config that apply to this
 * {| border=1


 * Preference || Applies to...
 * mousewheel.withaltkey.action
 * How mouse wheel works when ALT key is pressed
 * mousewheel.withcontrolkey.action
 * How mouse wheel works when CTRL key is pressed
 * mousewheel.withnokey.action
 * How mouse wheel works when no key is pressed
 * mousewheel.withshiftkey.action
 * How mouse wheel works when SHIFT key is pressed
 * }
 * mousewheel.withshiftkey.action
 * How mouse wheel works when SHIFT key is pressed
 * }
 * }

The default settings to all of those is "0". Here are the four possible settings:


 * {| border=1


 * Setting || Action
 * 0
 * Scroll document by X lines
 * 1
 * Scroll document by one page
 * 2
 * Move back/forward in history
 * 3
 * Makes text larger/smaller
 * }
 * 3
 * Makes text larger/smaller
 * }
 * }

Searching Zelda Wiki from Firefox
Go here and follow the instructions. Then the option of "Zelda Wiki" will be available for Firefox's integrated search bar at the top of the browser. Search away!

Keep Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer, we all hate it. However, after getting Firefox, KEEP INTERNET EXPLORER! Firefox, on very rare occasions, will become corrupted after saving a session and exiting. It will then become impossible to open up Firefox again. There is no way to fix this. It is an error in the programing. You have to uninstall Firefox to get rid of the problem. Then, if you don't have the install file on your hard drive, you will have to go back to Internet Explorer to reinstall Firefox. All your add-ons, settings tweaks, cookies, favorites, and even your last session will still be there.

The connection has timed out Error
"The connection has timed out. The server at [WebsiteURL] is taking too long to respond."

I bet we all have had these. While there are a few different things that may cause this, there is one primary culprit. You guessed it, it is Firefox's absurdly and ridiculously huge hunger for RAM. This error happens when Firefox cannibalizes your system's RAM and processing power. Instructions tend to get messed up when there is so little memory to spare. Firefox thinks that the page is taking about a minute or so longer to load than it really is and it cancels the loading of the page. It is an error in the programming.

The only thing you can do is to quit Firefox, wait for Firefox to unload from your computer's memory, and restart Firefox.