Mozilla/Mozilla Firefox FAQ

[JasonQG]

I've been meaning to do this for a while, so without further ado, here are some Mozilla Tips, Tricks, and Info. for newbies and experts alike:
[list][*]Mozilla (Seamonkey suite) vs. Mozilla Firefox
The Mozilla suite is the project with the codename Seamonkey. As of now, it is the main branch of the Mozilla.org project, and is the codebase for other projects, such as Netscape. Besides being a browser, it is also a mail application, an IRC client, and an HTML editor. In the future, the Mozilla project will switch to a new browser codenamed Mozilla Firefox (formerly Firebird and Phoenix). There will also be a standalone mail application (Mozilla Thunderbird), and the other apps from the Mozilla suite will come later as well.

So which one should you use now? Mozilla Firefox has a lot of advantages over Seamonkey. It's smaller, sleeker, more intuitive, and quicker. I would recommend it exclusively, except for the fact that it's still beta software. Though it's not going to screw anything up and damage your computer in any way, it can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Most notably, you usually have to erase your profile and start over with each release. For this reason, I stick with the bulkier Mozilla, but if you're willing to put up with it, Mozilla Firefox is probably worth it.

Here are a few reasons why you should use Mozilla Firefox, and most of these also apply to Mozilla:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/why/

For the sake of this post, I will generically refer to the browser as "Mozilla," but these tricks will mostly work for Mozilla Firefox, as well.
[*]Importing IE bookmarks
I think Mozilla should do this automatically, but if it doesn't or you want to do it again, it's an easy enough process.

1. In MSIE, go to File > Import and Export ...
2. Next > Export Favorites (Next) > Choose your favorites folder (Next) > Export to a File (Browse to save it where you want it) > Finish.
3. In Mozilla, go to Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks ...
4. In the Manage Bookmarks window, go to Tools > Import ... > Choose the file you just exported from MSIE.
5. Choose Open and you are done.[/list=1]
6. Mouse Gestures
   Mouse gestures allow you to quickly do common tasks like go back and forward with a flick of the wrist. Opera users should be familiar with this incredibly handy feature. I set mine to work on the right mouse button, and I turn on the mouse trails support (settings found in edit -> preferences -> advanced -> mouse gestures) To add support for this in Mozilla, go here:
   http://optimoz.mozdev.org/
   Once installed, check out this page to see all the cool mouse gestures you can use:
   http://optimoz.mozdev.org/gestures/defaultmappings.html
   You'll get so hooked on this that you'll be doing it in other programs out of habit.
   
7. Popup blocking
   Enabled by default in Mozilla Firefox, you must enable this manually in the Mozilla suite. edit -> preferences - > privacy & security -> popup windows. Whenever a popup is blocked, it will be inidicated by an icon at the bottom of the window. If you click this icon, you can add the site to a whitelist of allowed popup sites. So, if legitimate content is being blocked, you can let it through. Or, if you want to let a great site like Rage3D make some money, you can allow popups from here.
   
8. Basic Tabbed Browsing
   Tabbed browsing is one of the best innovations to come around in years. Opera was the first mainstream browser to have tabs, but Mozilla was the first to allow multiple tabs and multiple windows (this is what makes it a killer feature for organizing dozens of open pages at once). To start off, go to "edit -> preferences -> navigator -> tabbed browsing" and check all the options on. Now, when you want to open a bunch of links on a page, just middle click each link and watch all the pages load in the background at once. This will change your life.
   
9. Advanced Tabbed Browsing
   Mozilla's tabs are pretty good to begin with, but they can get even better by installing Tabbed Browser Extensions. With this, you can easily open bookmarks in new tabs, rearrange your tabs, change the order tabs open, group tabs, and much more. It'll take you hours to look through all the preferences (edit -> preferences -> navigator -> tabbed browsing).
   http://white.sakura.ne.jp/~piro/xul/...nsions.html.en
   (you can ignore the requests to install the Japanese language pack, if you want)
   
10. Plugin Help
    Most plugins work with Mozilla without doing anything, but if you have trouble, there are solutions.
    
    -Windows Media Player 9
    Mozilla automatically detects the Media Player plugin, but unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't want to let Mozilla users use Media Player 9. Luckily, it's a short registry fix away. Just open regedit and navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ShimInclusionList" Then, just add a key for "MOZILLA.EXE" or "FIREFOX.EXE" if you use Mozilla Firefox.
    
    -Other
    For help with other plugins, this is a good resource:
    http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/
    
11. GetRight and other 3rd Party Download Managers
    Unfortunately, there is no support yet for 3rd party applications to interface with Mozilla. There is a bug filed on bugzilla. You can vote for this bug, if it interests you.
    
    In the meantime, this extension allows you to easily download with another program:
    http://downloadwith.mozdev.org/
    
12. Error Pages
    Don't like that dialog box that pops up when a server is down? You can use error pages similar to IE, though this feature is quite buggy. To enable it, type "about:config" in the url bar. Add a new boolean value and title it "browser.xul.error_pages.enabled" Set this to true, and enjoy your new error pages. Change this to false to set it back if the bugginess bothers you. Eventually, this will be the default setting.
    
13. Paint Delay
    People often complain that Mozilla is slower than IE, but this is often just a matter of perception. To make Mozilla seem faster, we can adjust the paint delay. First, an explanation of what's going on: When Mozilla starts loading a page, it waits 1200ms before it starts to render the page. This is because it at first doesn't have enough information downloaded to accurately draw the page, so it waits a little so it won't have to reflow as much. This saves CPU power, and thusly can reduce the actual time required to render the page. Unfortunately, this makes it seem slower, because you have to wait a second before anything appears. With today's fast CPUs, it's not unreasonable to spend the extra CPU cycles to make the browser seem faster and allow you to start reading the page one second sooner. To do this, type "about:config" in the url bar and add an integer string with the name "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set it to zero. You can adjust this value for anything you like.
    
14. bookmark keywords
    These can really save you a lot of time. Allow me to explain. As an example, you might set one up for Google with the keyword "g." Now, say you want to search for "monkey pants." Instead of loading up Google and typing in your search query, you can just type "g monkey pants" in the url bar. You can set these up for pretty much any web form online. Details about setting this up can be found here:
    http://www.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html
    
15. Find As You Type
    This is another one of those features that's so convenient you'll be trying it in other programs out of habit. The first use of this is mouseless navigation. Just start typing on a page, and matching links will be highlighted. Hit enter, and never take your hands off the keyboard. You can also use this to search through all text, not just links, by typing a slash (/) before your search string. It may not sound like a big deal, but this feature rocks.
    
16. alt text
    You may notice that those little yellow help boxes don't appear when you hover over images in Mozilla. The reason behind this is that alternate text as implemented by IE and Netscape 4.x is technically incrorrect. The ALT tag is designed to be used as an alternate to an image for text-based browsing or for blind people. Supplemental text to an image, as most web developers use ALT, should be done with the TITLE tag. In an effort to convince more web developers to use the HTML specs properly, Mozilla has opted to use the ALT tag correctly. However, if you want to see the ALT popups like in IE, check out this extension:
    http://white.sakura.ne.jp/~piro/xul/_popupalt.html.en
    
17. Other Extensions
    I've highlighted a number of interesting extensions to Mozilla/Mozilla Firefox in this post, but many more useful ones can be found here:
    http://www.texturizer.net/firefox/extensions.html

I hope this has been of some help. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

[Johnnie Walker]

Nice stick! I've been using Mozilla for quite sometime know and I didn't know you could find text in page (not only links) without using the search option.

I hope more ppl see this and switch to Mozilla/Firebird.

[TheBeagle]

linky for auto install of java and flash support

http://mazinger.technisys.com.ar/pruebas-nick/mozilla/


best install method for realplayer support

download realplayer 8 from oldversion.com

open the .exe so that it begins the setup routine DO NOT PROCEED yet!!!

find the temp folder created by the setup called ~rnsetup
copy the file nppl3260.dll to the plugins folder
copy the file nppl3260.xpt to the components folder

now complete the real player setup.

[Ryo-Ohki]

Excellent sticky. Now more people can join the Light side.

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by TheBeagle
linky for auto install of java and flash support

...

best install method for realplayer support

...

Those are good. I'll add them to the FAQ. Thanks.

[JLP]

Excellent FAQ for excellent browsers!

[systems]

I loved Phoenix 0.5, but Firebird 0.6 gave me trouble. Some Java pages didn't respond and other pages got stuck in a "reload" loop and wouldn't let me leave (the page would load, then immediately reload).

I've gone back to Mozilla 1.4b; no problems with that. It's a shame we still have to use IE to get Windows Updates though (also, one of my banks only accepts IE connections).

[JLP]

Did you try to create a new profile for FireBird to see if it is OK this way? A lot has changed in time between Phoenix 0.5 and FB 0.6 so if you are using the same profile there could be some troubles.

For Windows Update you can use a tool that is integrated into Windows. It downloads updates without a need for a browser. But I agree. Microsoft should make the page more compatible with other browsers.

As for a banking site, did you try to contact them and ask them to make page compliant with international standards so that also other browsers can access it. I e-mail my bank that also didn't support anything other then IE and I explained them that a lot of people don't use IE or Windows. Soon after that they have redesigned the page and now it works just fine. You can also file an evangelism bug in BugZilla about that bank.

I hope this helps any. Keep enjoying the great browser!

[Pilietis]

Actually GetRight works with mozilla just fine. With this plugin which you can download here http://www.getright.com/opera.html .
For Firebird you have to install it manually in to plug-ins folder.

[JZL]

Thanks, Mr. Pants!

Mouse gesturing for teh MASSES!!

[BigDaddy]

Now PPL Uve really got me all excited. I personally dislike IE6 but with Netcaptor it rulz. But know I would like from U PPL is to tell me if MOZILA is better than IE6+NetCaptor

[JLP]

I think it is much better. Just wait for a a day or two till Mozilla 1.4 final comes out and then download and try it. Use it for a few weeks and you will never want to go back.

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by Pilietis
Actually GetRight works with mozilla just fine. With this plugin which you can download here http://www.getright.com/opera.html .
For Firebird you have to install it manually in to plug-ins folder.

Yeah, I know about that thing. It's more annoying than it's worth, in my opinion.

[Pikachuman]

Everytime I go to one of those annoying websites, it plays some stupid annoying music. Is there anyways to disable that?

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by Pikachuman
Everytime I go to one of those annoying websites, it plays some stupid annoying music. Is there anyways to disable that?

Not that I know of. That annoys the hell out of me too.

[UDHA]

I cannot believe how long I've been using Mozilla now and NEVER knew about all this cool stuff! I've always wanted to be able to more the tabs, and autoscroll! and oh how I missed the gesture movements from opera! JasonQG, you are my hero! and to think I was just about to go to bed, well not any more!

[The_KELRaTH]

I recently started using Mozilla Firebird .61 and much prefer it to ie6. Love the Tabbing and having my primary sites on a bar for instant click n go, the adblock works briliantly and like the themes.

I initially had a problem using it for online banking but an extension called User Agent Switcher solved the problem.

I used the auto Installer version then installed Flash n Shockwave
http://seb.mozdev.org/firebird/

[chramcow_daniel]

great info

[The_KELRaTH]

Anybody know how to delete files on an ftp site with Firebird?
I have an ftp site that I put up pics n stuff, using IE6 made the job of adding / removing files quite simple - just like any other Windows folder. With Firebird I can add, view but not delete.

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by The_KELRaTH
Anybody know how to delete files on an ftp site with Firebird?
I have an ftp site that I put up pics n stuff, using IE6 made the job of adding / removing files quite simple - just like any other Windows folder. With Firebird I can add, view but not delete.

I recommend using a real FTP client instead of a browser.

[Starla]

How do I make it so I can use an external irc program? I unchecked the box for it and it still uses it.

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by Starla
How do I make it so I can use an external irc program? I unchecked the box for it and it still uses it.

Simplest way would be to install Mozilla without ChatZilla. There might be another way, but I'll have to look into it if uninstalling and then reinstalling without ChatZilla doesn't work for you.

[Gator]

how exactly do I allow a legitamate popup in? Do I really have to add it to the list or can I simply hold the CTRL button and click the link or something like that?

[JasonQG]

Originally posted by Gator
how exactly do I allow a legitamate popup in? Do I really have to add it to the list or can I simply hold the CTRL button and click the link or something like that?

The only way I know is to add it to the list, which is luckily only a couple clicks or so.

[JZL]

I had to get this reg file to get Java Runtime 1.4.2 to work:

http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/resource...jre142-fix.reg

[Lindset]

I recently started using Firebird, and it's definitely an improvement over IE.. Hopefully this browser will be able to gain a lot more market share

[Jackl]

Got tired of IEs current behavior of locking up and being so slow.

Installed Firebird along with the popular plugins and addons.


Oh yes, me likes, me likes alot.

[JZL]

Is anyone using WinGet? It plays well w/ Firebird, but I'm not convinced it's a very good DL-er. I also wondered how hard wGet was to use.

[kbleft]

I'm using Firebird 0.6.1 and I love it for browsing. It is loading very slowly, and this bothers me. I installed and disabled the autoscroll plugin, but I don't think this was the cause of the slowdown. Any ideas on how to make it load faster?

[JZL]

Paint Delay:

People often complain that Mozilla is slower than IE, but this is often just a matter of perception. To make Mozilla seem faster, we can adjust the paint delay. First, an explanation of what's going on: When Mozilla starts loading a page, it waits 1200ms before it starts to render the page. This is because it at first doesn't have enough information downloaded to accurately draw the page, so it waits a little so it won't have to reflow as much. This saves CPU power, and thusly can reduce the actual time required to render the page. Unfortunately, this makes it seem slower, because you have to wait a second before anything appears. With today's fast CPUs, it's not unreasonable to spend the extra CPU cycles to make the browser seem faster and allow you to start reading the page one second sooner. To do this, type "about :config" in the url bar and add an integer string with the name "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set it to zero. You can adjust this value for anything you like.

(from Jason's original post in this thread)