Firefox 3 and Extensions You can't live without

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Why IE when you have Opera

Why Opera when you have FireFox 3?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by astra

Hmm. I am using IE only.

I have Firefox as well but i have not noticed anything special about it to give up on IE.

Here is one biggie.. if you use IE and have eyesight problems and need to have a larger font for being able to see MobileRead, then you are well and truly screwed. IE will not allow you to increase the font size. But, along comes Firefox and that issue now is gone. You can make what you see on screen larger. That that IE.

[RWood]

I think I get the most pleasure from Firesomething. For example, at the moment I am using a browser called "Mozilla Lighteningdinosaur"

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Here is one biggie.. if you use IE and have eyesight problems and need to have a larger font for being able to see MobileRead, then you are well and truly screwed. IE will not allow you to increase the font size. But, along comes Firefox and that issue now is gone. You can make what you see on screen larger. That that IE.

IE 8 Beta 1 has finally addressed this. Ctrl + and Crtl - enlarge and reduce the. font size.
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Dennis

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by RWood

I think I get the most pleasure from Firesomething. For example, at the moment I am using a browser called "Mozilla Lighteningdinosaur"

aaarg !!! how do you hack firesomething for ff3 ?????? i found a way on ff2 (i can't remember what i did though, sadly) but since i installed ff3 it's gone, and I MISS IT !!!! please help !!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by RWood

I think I get the most pleasure from Firesomething. For example, at the moment I am using a browser called "Mozilla Lighteningdinosaur"

Mozilla Gasracoon here...
______
Dennis

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Mozilla Gasracoon here...
______
Dennis

that's right, twist the knife.



HELP !!!!!

[astra]

JSWolf

Here is one biggie.. if you use IE and have eyesight problems and need to have a larger font for being able to see MobileRead, then you are well and truly screwed. IE will not allow you to increase the font size. But, along comes Firefox and that issue now is gone. You can make what you see on screen larger. That that IE.

There is zoom in IE. Implemented in version 6.x I believe.

[astra]

I am still not convinced that FF2 is my browser.
For ebay I use only IE. FF2 is a disaster when I browse ebay.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

aaarg !!! how do you hack firesomething for ff3 ?????? i found a way on ff2 (i can't remember what i did though, sadly) but since i installed ff3 it's gone, and I MISS IT !!!! please help !!

One method:

Install Mel Reyes' Tech Toolkit.

Among other things, Tech Toolkit can turn off the compatibility test when you install extensions to allow you to install them in the first place.

Install the current version of Firesomething. Check the box marked "Turn off compatibility testing" in the install dialog box.

Restart FF3.

Open Tools/Add-ons. Firesomething will have an indicator it's incompatible with FF3. Right-click it and select "Make compatible"

Enjoy Firesomething.

Another method:

Download the Firesomething XPI file. XPI files are Zip archives. Open the XPI file with a zip utility, and extract install.rdf.

Open install.rdf in a text editor. You'll see

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<RDF xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
		xmlns:em="http://www.mozilla.org/2004/em-rdf#">

<Description about="urn:mozilla:install-manifest">
  <em:id>{e411bb40-b04c-11d8-92e7-00d09e0179f2}</em:id>
  <em:version>1.8.0</em:version>

  <em:targetApplication>
    <Description>
      <em:id>{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}</em:id>
      <em:minVersion>2.0</em:minVersion>
      <em:maxVersion>2.0.0.*</em:maxVersion>
    </Description>
  </em:targetApplication>
  
  <em:name>Firesomething</em:name>
  <em:description>All your branding are belong to Firesomething.</em:description>
  <em:creator>Cosmic Cat Creations</em:creator>
  <em:homepageURL>http://www.cosmicat.com/</em:homepageURL>

  <em:iconURL>chrome://firesomething/skin/icon.png</em:iconURL>
  <em:optionsURL>chrome://firesomething/content/preferences/prefwindow-Main.xul</em:optionsURL>
</Description>

</RDF>

Go to the "<em:maxVersion>2.0.0.*</em:maxVersion>" line, and change 2.0.0.* to 3.0.0.*.

Save the install.rdf file, and stuff it back into the XPI with the zip utility.

Install Firesomething from your local drive.

Enjoy Firesomething.

The second method is usually called "bumping"

Firefox uses the <em:minVersion>2.0</em:minVersion> and <em:maxVersion>2.0.0.*</em:maxVersion> lines to determine the oldest and newest versions of FF the extension will work with. Many extensions work fine in newer versions of FF, but the install.rdf file hasn't been updated to reflect it, so Firefox says "Incompatible", and won't install it. Changing maxVersion in install.rdf gets around that.

Note: there is no guarantee the extension will actually work after you've done this. Sometimes Firefox makes changes the break the extension and will require the developer to make a fix. But at least you can install and test it.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by astra

I am still not convinced that FF2 is my browser.
For ebay I use only IE. FF2 is a disaster when I browse ebay.

FF2 worked fine in eBay here, and FF3 does likewise. What problems do you see?
______
Dennis

[astra]

The same problem on my pc at home and at work.

Let's say I am looking for a book Titanic on ebay.com
It finds some 190 books. It devides the list by 50 items per page.

Usually I am doing the following:
I scan the list for a particular edition I am looking for accordingly to thumbnail pics next to the titles. When I see an item I am intersted in I press CTRL and click with a mouse on the item, so it opens in another TAB. I am not waiting for it to be loaded, I don't even know what is going on in another tab I just carry on and explore the list. Find another item, ctrl+mouse click etc.

It works perfectly well in IE.

In FF2 it locks my browser for about 6-8 seconds, I cannot scroll down the list for 6-8 seconds until it loads a page in a new tab to a certain degree. Only then I can scroll down the list and ctrl+mouse click on next item.

Another issue with FF2 and ctrl+mouse click. In IE after I press ctrl then click on the link, I can immediately release CTRL button and continue to do whatever I was doing in the current tab. In FF2, however, I have to hold CTRL buttong for a few seconds after clicking on a link, otherwise it opens the link not just in a new tab, but also in a current tab as well.

My settings in FF2 and IE are to never bring the new tab to the front but stay in the current tab. I check new tabs later.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by astra

In FF2 it locks my browser for about 6-8 seconds, I cannot scroll down the list for 6-8 seconds until it loads a page in a new tab to a certain degree. Only then I can scroll down the list and ctrl+mouse click on next item.

Based on a quick test, I can't reproduce that in FF3. It works as desired here. I'll try FF2 later.
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Dennis

[nekokami]

I went to FF3 last week. I use very few extensions on my "work" machines, because I'm testing cross-browser compatibility and most of my users don't have extensions, so I need to see what they see. (Yes, I know most extensions shouldn't affect the CSS, but sometimes I really need to see what they see-- no extra features.) I have XRAY and Firebug installed, and DownThemAll. But I might add some new add-ons based on what people have been suggesting here. (What's this about being able to emulate IE rendering in FF?)

Unfortunately, to my great surprise and disappointment, FF3 actually broke on some of my CSS that was working on FF2, IE6 and IE7. It's a div width thing, not fatal, but ugly. I'm actually kinda mediocre with CSS-- just haven't had enough practice yet, and nearly everything I know is from fiddling with style sheets that come with software I'm using, rather than starting from scratch. I expect I'll figure it out eventually. But I was surprised to see something break on FF3 that was working in FF2.

[zelda_pinwheel]

yay !!!! all my brandings are belong to firesomething !!!!! you have no idea how happy that makes me, seriously. crazy space-alien astronaute rabbit, you're my new hero !!!! thanks ! have some karma, as choirs of heavenly angels sing (as opposed to the earth-bound angels, who got booted out of the choir because they were off-key).

(oh, i did it the bump version / edit .rdf file way, in case anyone else is curious. it's sort of like the edit about:config method i used on previous versions, but not global.)