Mozilla Firefox web browser

avoid Microsoft Internet Explorer

Use Mozilla's Firefox instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer or MSN Explorer. Firefox by default is set to block pop-ups during browsing. Internet Explorer and MSN Explorer are susceptible to loads of destructive security holes. The only time you should ever use Internet Explorer is if a web page requires it. There are many Web sites that were designed specifically for Internet Explorer as opposed to using Web-based standards for Web page coding. Internet Explorer's biggest weaknesses are ActiveX and Internet Explorer being too closely tied into the Windows operating system.

bookmarks toolbar

The bookmarks toolbar (View -> Toolbars -> Bookmarks Toolbar) is a good way to visit your favorite Web sites without having to rummage your way through your bookmarks. Go to Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks and drag whatever bookmarks (or folders) into the folder called Bookmarks Toolbar Folder. Now look at the main browser window along the top. You should see the sites or folders containing site in their own bar.

extensions/add-ons

Add-ons are another interesting feature in Firefox. Add-ons add extra functionality to Firefox like downloading all the pictures or links off a web page, get the weather forecast for your area, add in an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) client, etc. Look at the Links section for some of my recommendations.

To install an add-on for all users (does not work with Vista):

1. Start Firefox
2. Click on Tools.
3. Click Add-Ons.
4. Click Get Extensions at the bottom-right. This will bring you to the Firefox Add-ons site.
5. Locate the add-on you're interested in.
6. Right-click on the Add To Firefox green button
7. Left-click Save Link As... from the menu.
8. Save the .XPI file to somewhere familiar like My Documents or Desktop
9. Close Firefox.
10. In Windows, click the START button.
11. click on Run....
12. Press the Browse... button
13. Work your way into the folder you saved the .XPI file into.
14. At the bottom of the Browse window you'll see Files of Type with a pull-down menu. Change it from Programs to All Files.
15. Now you should see the .XPI file. Select it then press the Open button.
16. Click in the Run... text field. Use the left-arrow key or Home key on the keyboard to move the typing cursor to the beginning of the line.
17. Type in firefox -install-global-extension followed by a space. Here is an example of installing the AdBlock Plus add-on:
    firefox -install-global-extension "C:\Documents and Settings\Vinnie\My Documents\adblock_plus.xpi"
18. Press the OK button.
19. Start Firefox.

Your add-on should now be available. Log out of the current Windows account and log into another. When you start Firefox using that Windows account you should see your extension installed.

keyword searching

If you're looking for a word on a web page all you have to do is hit the forward-slash / on your keyboard. You'll see a small box appear at the bottom of the browser window. Type in the words you're looking for.

To activate this feature permanently you can do the following:

1. Go into Tools -> Options.
2. Click on the Advanced icon at the top.
3. Place a checkmark next to Search for text when I start typing.
4. Press the OK button.

Now you don't even have to hit the forward-slash key. All you have to do is start typing the word you're looking for, and the search bar will appear at the bottom of the screen showing what you're typing. The letters will be highlighted in the web page as you type. The search text at the bottom will turn red if the word is not in the web page. Press the F3 key on your keyboard to keep searching for the next instance of the search term.

privacy

If you want to get rid of any data held on to by Firefox:

1. Click on Tools -> Clear Private Data.
2. Place checkmarks next to the things you want to get rid of.
3. Press the Clear Private Data Now button.

You can also have Firefox clear out this data every time you close the Firefox program:

1. Click on Tools -> Options.
2. Click on the Privacy button along the top.
3. Place a checkmark next to Always clear my private data when I close Firefox.
4. Press the Settings button to the right.
5. Place checkmarks next to all the items to be cleared each time you close Firefox and press the OK button.
6. You can remove the checkmark next to Ask me before clearing private data if you don't want Firefox to ask you what to clear every time you close Firefox.
7. Click on the OK button at the bottom when done.

limit the number of addresses remembered in the address bar

1. In the address bar type about:config
2. Scroll down until you find browser.urlbar.maxRichResults then double-click it.
3. Change the value to a different number. Setting it to 0 will display nothing.

profiles

If you've got multiple people using the same Windows account you can set up profiles so that each person can have their own set of bookmarks and styles.

1. From Windows click on START -> Run...
2. In the Run box type firefox -ProfileManager

quick search engine access

Firefox has a built in search bar. You can even select what search engine to use like Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, etc. You can also search eBay, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia (community created on-line encyclopedia), IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase), and others. Just click on the icon in the search bar and select Add engines at the bottom of the list.

RSS feeds

Check out Live Bookmarks (RSS feeds) on news sites. Look at the right-side of the address bar for an orange icon on sites like Slashdot and Salon.com.

1. Click on the orange icon.
2. Press the Subscribe Now button.
3. The Add Live Bookmark box opens.
4. Choose a folder to save the feed to just like you would a regular bookmark. I suggest the Bookmark Toolbar.
5. If you saved it to some other folder then click on the Bookmarks menu and find where you save the Live Bookmark. It will act like a submenu and you'll see a listing of articles. Click on one of the articles to read it.

Now you can see the latest headlines as they are posted without continually reloading the site.

safe mode

If Firefox doesn't behave correctly you can try starting in Firefox's safe mode. Simply use the Windows Run command and type in firefox -safe-mode. You can use this to reset settings back to their defaults.

special commands and shortcuts

• To find any word in a Web page type / (forward slash) followed by the word. Any occurances will be highlighted. Press the F3 key to search again.
• ' (single quote) followed by a word will search for that word amongst the links of the page.
• Type about:cache?device=disk in your address bar to view/save items that you have in your Firefox disk cache.
• Type about:cache?device=memory in your address bar to view/save items that you have in your Firefox memory cache.
• Drag a link to the Downloads window (Tools -> Downloads) to add & download the link.
• Double-clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a new tab.
• Holding down the Ctrl key after you right-click to View Image or View Background Image will open the image in a new tab or new window.
• You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the location bar to your Bookmarks folder. You can also drag it to the desktop to make an icon for that page.
• To stop animated gifs from moving, press the ESC key.

tabbed browsing

You can look at several web pages at once in one window. Right-click on a link and choose Open in new tab or hit CTRL-T on your keyboard to open a new tab. You'll only have one Firefox window open, but be able to look at several sites. In Internet Explorer 6 you'd have to open one window per web site and end up with dozens of instance buttons on the START bar.

themes

Find the design of the browser boring? Go to Tools -> Add-Ons and click on the Themes icon at the top. Click on Get More Themes at the bottom right of the window. Now go browsing for a new look like metallic, wood, cartoon-ish, etc.