Thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread.

We've opened a Mozilla Firefox subforum dedicated to Mozilla Firefox Resources, news, and help.

The subforum is located here:
http://forum.weborum.com/index.php?showforum=50

This main post has been recreated as a general introduction to Mozilla Firefox and is located here:
http://forum.weborum.com/index.php?showtopic=1787

Thanks




What is Firefox?
Firefox is a browser alternative to Internet Explorer. It has a small installation file and it features a lightning-quick rendering engine that will make you forget about Internet Explorer. Above that, it is standards compliant, making it a great browser for web developers to test in.

Firefox is a bare-bone browser, with its main purpose being to render html pages quickly and accurately. What that means, though, is that there are a lot of tweaks you must do as an end user to make it work exactly how you want it to. But that is a good thing, because what I want in my browser may not be what you want, so it is not bloated with a bunch of features you don't need.

Goals for thread
What I'd like this thread to become is a resource to help peole become more familiar with Firefox. There are tons of Firefox resources out there, but they can be daunting if you are totally new to Firefox. I don't want this to become is a browser debate. Is FireFox perfect? No. Do some browsers do other things better? Sure. If you don't like it, that's fine. Please just don't post about it here. Thanks

Please note, Firefox is still in development. At this time it is on version 1.0 Preview Release (0.10.1), so be aware. I've been using the browser for quite a while, and while I have experienced broswer crashes, they are infrequent and have never experienced any damage to my OS

General Links Everyone Should Know

Where to Get It
It is freely available for Windows, Linux, and Mac from Mozilla's web site:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

News & Support
The title says it all. Here it from the source here.
http://forums.mozillazine.org/index.php?c=4

Extensions and Themes
Extensions are one of the things that make Firefox great. They are utilities that extend the functionality of FF. Official extensions and themes can be found here:
http://update.mozilla.org/?application=firefox

The old unofficial source where most developers posted their extensions and themes is still updated and located here:
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/

Advocacy
If you want to get involved spreading the news of Firefox to the mainstream, the best place to go is http://www.spreadfirefox.com Here you will find all of the concerted efforts to let people know that IE isn't the only browser out there.

* 8/30 - Updated new extension source and version number.
*10/25 - Updated version number and advocacy info.

To get us started...

Tips
http://texturizer.net/firefox/tips.html
This is a must-bookmark page chock-full of great tips and tricks to get Firefox running even more to your liking.

Tabbrowser Extensions
http://white.sakura.ne.jp/~piro/xul/_tabex...ensions.html.en
THE extension. It extends the functionality of tabs to the point where Mozilla should seriously consider rolling this into the final version of FF. You can do things like labeling, locking, save sessions. The thing I love is it allows you to create a close tab button on each tab, so you can close background tabs without having to switch to that tab.

Web Developer
http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/...x/webdeveloper/
Tons of devlopment tools right at your fingertips. Validate the page, enable/disable images, view form information, resize the browser window...I could go on and on.

Autoform
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/#autoform
If you are developing pages that require you to fill out a form over and over, this is a must-have extension. It will allow you to save entire forms and enable one-click filling in of forms. A huge time saver.

Those are my three most critical extensions. Let's see everyone elses. Please to be as descriptive as possible. Plus, if there is an extension you've tried that has caused big problems, post it here as well.

My personal favorite theme:
http://texturizer.net/firefox/themes/#Noia...treme%20edition

editCSS
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/#editcss
one of my favorite extensions, allows you to edit css on the fly

copyimage
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/#copyimage
allows you to copy an image to your clipboard by right clicking.

Nice links, josh. I use all 3 myself, only the lite version of Noia. My ancient work PC can't handle the extreme edition

I wanted to post an anti-recommendation for FlashBlock (http://flashblock.mozdev.org/). The idea is to block all Flash/Shockwave animatins because they're out of control on some pages. Well, it works, but a little too well. Each Flash/Shockwave object is replaced with a placeholder that you have to click to enable. It does the job fine, but there are no customizable options, like to always enable all Flash from a page, similar to the popup blocker.

And then when I disabled it, it still worked. I found an extension uninstaller utility which worked, but then Flash would not work! Even after reinstalling the Flash plugin and Firefox, I couldn't get any animations. I would up having to completely uninstall Firefox and remove all directories and reinstall to get Flash back. So if you're 100% sure you don't want to see Flash again or are OK with clicking buttons to get it to work, the FlashBlock extension is great, but just be aware of what may happen if you want to get rid of it.

Well that's too bad, I've been looking for one of those.

Mainly because most ads these days are not images anymore, they're flash...which are even more annoying!

Some other links...
http://www.squarefree.com/burningedge/
Burning Edge is another source for the latest news on Firefox...release dates, news, bug fixes, all in one-stop shopping form.

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=42
Thrid party/unofficial builds forum on MozillaZine. These are Firefox builds that have been optimized to run on a particular OS/processor. I haven't tried any of these, but it's hard to imagine FF running faster.
A quick FAQ on what all the acronyms used on the unofficial builds page is available from Burning Edge, too:
http://www.squarefree.com/burningedge/faq.html

Nothing too helpful today, but an interesting peek to see what extension others are using:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=59444

Mozilla 1.8 alpha released


http://www.mozilla.org/releases/

Hmm..I have to admit, I haven't tried the full Mozilla package in a while. I thought it was too clunky. Do you use it, leo?

i must say i havent used it since i downloaded the new firefox, but i used to.

Maybe I'll give it another go when they reach 2.0. Unless FF is on 1.0 by then. Then there won't be any reason to try anything else

Useful extension for the day:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?s...pic=102&hl=sort
Sort Bookmarks. One area where IE still holds an edge over FF is being able to right-click in the 'Favorites' list and choose 'Sort By Name'. In FF, you're stuck having to do it manually, unless you get this extension, that is

One of the downsides of using a development browser like Firefox is having to wait for upgrades to extensions and themes to be available for the new version. With 0.9 looming, here info on the extensions and themes that are ready:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=79512

Damn, the one I love isn't there

Which one is that?

I'm a little worried. Tabbed Browser Extension is supported, which is one of my favorites, but I don't see any other of the ones I use on there -- particularly AutoForm and Web Developer. Looks like they've completely redone the API for extensions. I wonder home much of a task it will be for the developers of the extensions to rearchitect their tools?

Oh, they'll include the Web Developer toolbars. If they don't, they'll have some very unhappy webusers on their hands!

Noia 2.0(FULL) and Apollo themes.
Other than that, I just got google and yahoo!
for the default little search bar by the address bar.

We're still at least 2 weeks from 0.9 (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/roadmap.html), so they still have time. Plus, it's not mandaded that they make it known if their extensions work, they still might.

MAil intergraition?!!?!?

$#!$#$#@ this means its gonna
get to be a bulky piece of crap with a bundled mail program???

Calm down Jon! Read all of the text:

Awesome! I've really been wanting one of those extensions.

Neowin has a chat with Firefox cheif developer, Ben Goodger:
http://www.neowin.net/articles.php?action=more&id=88

Some interesting stuff, including what to expect in 0.9, some comments on Longhorn and XUL vs XAML, plus even a little comment on Opera.

For the Firefox rookie, here is a series of Firefox articles to get you up and running and famililar with the features of FF.
http://www.nidelven-it.no/articles/introdu...ion_to_firebird

Wow, check this out
http://htmlforums.com/showthread.php?s=&po...3555#post273555

It works awesoem!

yeah i saw matt post about this a couple of days ago

http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum21/8007.htm

nice wording too

havent tried it yet, did you notcie much difference then?


this is quite a good thread too

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=53650

I did try it and it's very very noticable.

i'll have to give it a crack

omg! its sooo awsome!!

Ummm, what about http://forum.weborum.com/index.php?showtop...findpost&p=6420

Big difference in rendering speed, though.

I wonder-- would it work even faster,
if you combined both what Josh posted,
with what you (Bassrek) posted??

hehe, very true bassrek.

I can't wait until august-september when i get a holiday and do some much needed catching up

To show how customizable Firefox truly is, allow me to introduce userContent.css. This little jewel sits in your profile folder (typically C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Phoenix\Profiles\default\[random text.slt]\chrome). There will be a sample called userContent-example.css that you can copy and rename without the '-example' on the file name. This file allows you to set rules for how things are displayed on a web page.

A very basic example would be to disable the .blink attribute:

Hello Bassrek,
not trying to turn this thread into an Opera vs Firefox war, but as you say that Firefox is the most customizable browser due to that feature, let me tell that Opera can do exactly the same...

Heh...I should have known I've reworded the post to be more accurate.

thx for the resources

i have started using firefox recently, but that new tabbed browser thing is brilliant

oh..hi BTW

I think all of us would have to agree with you

welcome to the forums.

Yup, Tabbed Browser extensions is hard to do without once you start using it. And welcome to the forums

welcome to the forums fauzman

everyone turns to mozilla/firefox sooner or later

0.9 RC was released today. There are some issues with the RC, specifically with importing profiles, themes, and extensions. It may be best just to wait for the final release of 0.9.

very nice, yeah it is still only a Release Candidate isn't it

What's the eta for the final release?

March err April err May errr June. When it's ready as they say. The Mozillazine forum is already chock full of 0.9 complaints, so I'm sure they're jumping on the fixes and should have it ready by the end of this month.

Here's a good link to keep current on the development process and availability of new versions:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/roadmap.html

Of course, deadlines are always adjustable and the team is focused on releasing stable versions, so the dates are subject to change, but this is useful to have an idea when versions should be released and what new features to expect.

this is pretty well written. talks about all the new features...

http://www.neilturner.me.uk/2004/Jun/09/fi...ox_09_tour.html

Nice link, karinne. I see they've added the 'Copy to Clipboard' option to the context menu for images. I guess I can ditch that extension now.

I haven't been able to get any extensions or themes installed, which are supposed to be two of the bigger changes for 0.9. The browser seems stable, though.

Ooo I just read through some of that stuff on the page karinne linked to, the theme manager and extension manager I'm really looking forward to.

so 0.9 is out?

It's RC 1, not the final version. It's still a little buggy, so I'd hold off until they release the final 0.9

here's another site that i go to and that has some good info on mozilla stuff

http://blog.codefront.net

Oh nice one karinne, you sure do like your blogs.

It seems like everyone you like are owned by people who are advisors at sitepointforums. vinniegarcia for example.

yes... i like informative blogs... unlike my own i'm afraid

Yah, I tend to hang out on sitepoint, answer a few questions here and there. Mostly in the php section. I stay out of the html and css question, they have so many people there who are more knowledgeable than me. I love looking at the logo competition threads, some of those people are amazing.