Firefox

When you type a web address in the location bar of Mozilla Firefox, a drop-down list will appear, showing entries in your browser history that match what you have typed so far. Sometimes people only want entries that have been previously typed. Well, there’s a preference setting for that.

Enter about:config in the location bar.
Search for the preference browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped.
Modify the value to true.

I don’t know why, but some people prefer to have a splash screen appear, as an application is loading. Netscape has one, the Mozilla application Suite has one, but Firefox does not.
Yes, you can add one, if you like.

– Download this splash.zip file.
– extract the files within it to your Firefox program directory
– edit the splash.ini file (text editor, like Notepad, should work), so the file paths are correct
– change your shortcuts to point to splash.exe

If you want to change the splash screen provided above, replace the splash.bmp file with a BMP file of your choice. Just make sure you rename it to splash.bmp, thus replacing the included file.

By default, Mozilla Firefox comes with the file npnul32.dll in the \Plugins\ directory. If you enter about:plugins in the location bar, you’ll see a list of installed Plug-ins, with file information, and MIME-type assignments. In that list, you’ll see npnul32.dll listed as “Mozilla Default Plug-in”, assigned to the MIME-type *.
So what is the Mozilla Default Plug-in? What does it do? Why is it there? Can one disable it? How does one disable it?

The Mozilla default plug-in is the plugin finder that gets initiated, when you try to load a page that requires a plug-in, which is not found. Whether or not the default plug-in is enabled or disabled dictates how the plugin finder works.
For instance, if don’t have the Macromedia Flash plug-in, then go to their test page, this is what you’ll get with the default plug-in disabled:

This is what you’d get, if the default plug-in is enabled (click on it for full size):

To enable the Mozilla Default plugin, use about:config to change the pref plugin.default_plugin_disabled to false

Here’s another frequently asked question about Firefox:
When I start entering text in to a search field (or any other text field, like name, address, etc.), I get a drop-down list of items I previously entered in the same field. How do I remove one of those entries?

Answer:
Use the arrow keys (one your keyboard) to highlight the item in the list, you want to remove. Hold down the Shift button, and press Delete.

Some people prefer to be warned when a website wants to set a cookie. Even though the option does not appear in Firefox, this is another feature from the Mozilla Application Suite that is in the back-end code for Firefox.
To enable cookie warnings in Firefox:
Enter about:config in the location bar.
Right-click anywhere within the list of preferences and select New -> Boolean.

When you get asked to enter the preference name, enter:
network.cookie.warnAboutCookies

Set the value to true.

Here’s a screenshot:

Sometimes people ask how often Firefox refreshes live bookmarks.
The default is set to 30 minutes, but you can change that.
Enter about:config in the location bar.
Right-click anywhere within the list of preferences and select New -> Integer.

When you get asked to enter the preference name, enter:
browser.bookmarks.livemark_refresh_seconds

You will then be asked to enter a value. Set the value to whatever refresh rate you’d like. The unit for the value is seconds, so if you wanted the refresh rate to be 5 minutes, the value would be 300 (as in 300 seconds).

Any Deer Park (Firefox trunk) users, who like to use the SpellBound extension, will probably have noticed that SpellBound does not work on Deer Park Alpha 2, and the latest nightlies.

To fix it, you need to download and install (or unzip) the latest Thunderbird trunk build.
– in Deer Park, disable the SpellBound extension
– close Deer Park
– in the Thunderbird program folder, go into the \components\ folder, and copy the files: myspell.dll and spellchk.dll
– paste them into the \components\ folder of your Deer Park program folder
– start Deer Park, and enable the SpellBound extension

You should have to restart Deer Park, and you’re done!

The Mozilla Foundation has released the first alpha release of what will become Firefox 1.1. To prevent confusion of Firefox 1.0.x users, they have gone to great lengths to make sure only developers and testers download it. Among them are calling the release by its codename (Deer Park), changing the product name for the developer release, and even changing the icon. Instead of the Firefox “humping a globe“, it’s just a globe. Kind of apropos, seeing as it isn’t a finished product.

Very soon after installing Deer Park builds, I found that I prefer the Deer Park logo.
Here are some comparison shots:

Firefox 1.0.x	Deer Park

I prefer the Deer Park logo because:

– it is more simple. That image is easier to remember, and easier to redraw.

– I can’t think of a better symbol for a web browser than a globe. A always loved how the old Netscape throbber inspired my imagination about what could be done with the product and the technology. The Firefox icon contains more fox than globe.

The Mozilla Foundation has an animal theme going, which is good for identity and association of all Mozilla products, but the Firefox icon doesn’t really communicate what the product does.
I prefer the globe.

You know that great feature in the Mozilla Application Suite and Netscape7, that lets you choose whether you want your browser to open with your homepage, a blank page, or the last page you visited? Well, this is one of those features that is still in Mozilla Firefox, but there’s no menu for it. Here’s how to set it:
Open Firefox, type about:config in the location bar, and press <Enter>. Search for the preference browser.startup.page. Double-click on it (or right-click and select Modify), and set the value.

The values:
0 = blank page
1 = home page
2 = last page visited

Personally, I like my browser to open in a blank page, but that doesn’t mean my homepage has to be blank.