http://malektips.com/mozilla_firefox_help_and_tips.html Browse the web using Mozilla Firefox? Tips on downloading the browser, customizing Firefox, altering pop-up window settings, enhancing security, changing search engines, and more. en-us Thu, 4 Dec 2008 21:02:08 GMT Thu, 4 Dec 2008 21:02:08 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Custom webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) http://malektips.com/graphics/logo_88x30.gif http://malektips.com/mozilla_firefox_help_and_tips.html 88 30 http://malektips.com/firefox_0016.html If security restrictions require accessing the Internet through a proxy server, here's how to configure Mozilla Firefox to do so.

For security reasons, if you access the Internet through a proxy server, you need to configure Mozilla Firefox with the correct settings, else you may not be able to access web sites, FTP servers, and the like through your web browser.

1. Click "Tools" - "Options"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 4 Dec 2008 21:02:06 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0016.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0021.html Force Mozilla Firefox to save downloaded files to a folder of your choosing.

Normally, Mozilla Firefox will attempt to save files downloaded from the Internet to the Desktop. If you'd rather store files in a folder of your choosing, perform the following tip:

1. First, either find or create the folder where you want downloads to be stored....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 3 Dec 2008 21:10:53 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0021.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0047.html Use the "IE Tab" add-on to see webpages rendered via Internet Explorer.

Do you access online banking and other applications that were not written to support Mozilla Firefox? Or, are you a website designer and tired of switching between Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox to see how webpages look in the different browsers? Wouldn't it be convenient if you could view your websites inside one browser, yet have tabs that show how the same page renders differently, one in Firefox and one in Internet Explorer?

(Note that most extensions are from third party developers. Installation and use of extensions are solely at your own risk.)...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 2 Dec 2008 16:10:10 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0047.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0006.html Search Yahoo, Ask, Technorati, or other search engines directly from Mozilla Firefox.

In Mozilla Firefox, if you type in a search query in the textbox next to the "G" (near the top of the browser window) and press ENTER, Firefox will query the Google search engine for your search terms. You can either click on this textbox or press Ctrl + K to switch the cursor to this box.

However, you can change this option to search other engines, including:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:53:20 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0006.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0025.html For privacy reasons, clear the list of files you download in Mozilla Firefox, or prevent it from recording this list altogether.

As you download files in Mozilla Firefox, the Download Manager (accessible via "Tools" - "Downloads") records a list of these files. This way, you can easily find and open files recently downloaded from websites, especially useful if you download files to multiple folders and forget where you place them.

For privacy reasons, especially if you share your computer with others, you may want to clear this list. Or, you may not ever want to keep a record of these files in the browser. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:49:46 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0025.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0013.html Disable Java support in Firefox if you are concerned about applet security.

Java Applets are used in many webpages to display charts and graphs, navigational elements, games, or other interactive features. While Java applets are supposedly safer than ActiveX Controls due to a "sandboxing" mechanism that keeps applets from running trusted code or damaging the system, it is possible that this sandbox may have exploitable holes. See Secunia's 7/9/08 Sun Java JDK/JRE Advisory for an example of this.

Because of possible security violations, you may choose to turn off Java support in Mozilla Firefox at the expense of accessing features on certain websites....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:14:20 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0013.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0029.html For privacy reasons, prevent Mozilla Firefox from remembering text entered into web page forms and search queries.

Depending on your Mozilla Firefox configuration, information you key in certain web page forms and the Search Bar may be stored. When you perform searches, Firefox can remind you of these previous searches and let you re-perform the same queries. Also, when you access webpage forms with similar form element names such as "First Name" or "City", Firefox can display the information you typed on the same or similar forms, possibly saving some typing.

While these features may be convenient, they may cause privacy concerns, especially if more than one person uses your computer. Thus, if you want to disable storing form and Search Bar information:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:27:02 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0029.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0014.html To enhance your privacy, you may wish to disable Mozilla Firefox's website history.

By pressing Ctrl + H or selecting the "History" menu, Mozilla Firefox displays a list of your most recently visited websites. While many find this useful in that they can quickly go back to a recently-viewed website if they forgot its URL, others may be concerned about privacy.

If you want to disable browser history altogether, first prevent Firefox from recording new history items, then clear its list of previously-recorded browser history. To do so:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:28:50 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0014.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0020.html Keep webpages from performing potentially annoying JavaScript tricks when using Mozilla Firefox.

While JavaScript is beneficial for adding interactivity, webpage special effects, form validation, and other features to webpages browsed in Mozilla Firefox, you may find some websites that use JavaScript performing potentially-annoying tasks. These may include animating your status bar text, changing the size of browser windows, or raising and lowering windows.

If you'd like to keep JavaScript enabled but prevent it from performing some of these 'features', try this tip:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:23:49 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0020.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0011.html Increase your privacy by preventing Mozilla Firefox from remembering website passwords.

By default, Mozilla Firefox is setup to ask you to remember passwords when it recognizes you entering them in websites. This way, you do not need to remember and reenter passwords when you revisit those sites. However, if you find this a privacy or security risk (especially if you share your computer with others or are on a public workstation) you can configure Firefox to turn off this feature.

1. Click "Tools" - "Options"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:12:05 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0011.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0031.html Close Mozilla Firefox immediately when you want to, and skip tab warning dialogs.

Normally, when you close a Mozilla Firefox window with multiple tabs open, a dialog box appears warning you that multiple websites have been loaded. This way, if you did not mean to close all open websites, you can cancel closing Mozilla Firefox.

While many people find this dialog box beneficial, other users would rather have Mozilla Firefox always stop immediately when asked to close, no matter what. If you fall in the latter category:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:25:56 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0031.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0019.html Search the currently open webpage for text matching your search query using Mozilla Firefox.

Has this ever happened to you when browsing the web in Mozilla Firefox: After searching Google or your favorite search engine for a particular keyword or phrase, a webpage comes up, you click it, and then you cannot see the keyword or phrase in the resulting page? If so, try searching for that text within the particular page.

To search for text within a webpage, press Ctrl+F or choose "Edit" - "Find". On the bottom of the Firefox window, type in the text you want to find and Firefox will highlight the first instance of it on the page. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:25:56 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0019.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0043.html Three shortcuts in Mozilla Firefox that let you browse multiple websites in the same window using tabs.

Need to browse more than one website at once in Mozilla Firefox without opening new windows? There are several ways to create new tabs in the browser that let you view multiple sites simultaneously.

1. Select "File" - "New Tab"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:25:56 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0043.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0046.html Toggle showing Mozilla Firefox's tab bar if you are only viewing one web page at a time.

Depending on your Mozilla Firefox configuration, when only one website is open the tab bar may not appear. Some prefer this feature as it saves space on the screen. Others would rather have the ability to right-click a tab, especially if they have installed extensions that depend on using tabs. Thus, you can toggle whether or not Firefox will show the tab bar if only one site is open.

1. Click "Tools" - "Options"....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:25:56 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0046.html http://malektips.com/firefox_0044.html Even more Mozilla Firefox searching shortcuts

In Mozilla Firefox, sometimes you need to search inside a webpage to find text. This is useful, for example, if you view a webpage found in a search engine's results but you can't see where the page matched your desired text. This is explained further in the tip Find Text on the Current Webpage.

Instead of pressing Ctrl+F, there are two other keyboard shortcuts:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:25:56 GMT http://malektips.com/firefox_0044.html