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How to Firefox

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Re: How to Firefox

#271

Post by WorldMaker »

iamkonstantin wrote: post #216
fsflover wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just missed too many things out of the box. Another very vague comment bashing Firefox without any real explanation.

I'm not sure making a list that's been done time and time again here would make a difference. But if you're truly interested, here are my top 3: - Firefox comes packed with all kinds of telemetry and analytics turned on. - No workspaces/profiles. I know there are extensions that can enable various flavours of this functionality, but it's just too much overhead to experiment and test every-single-one. - Widgets! I lov…

> No workspaces/profiles. I know there are extensions that can enable various flavours of this functionality, but it's just too much overhead to experiment and test every-single-one.

Most of it is built-in and these days there is generally only one recommended extension: Multi-Account Container. Containers (tabs in the same window with different cookie jars/etc) are built-in, the UI for working with them is not, and MAC is the generally agreed best UI. It lets you create as many named Containers as you want and assign them a color to gently stripe your tabs. You can right-click the new tab button and get a list of Containers to open the next tab in. You can right-click an existing tab and reopen it in a new Container. (TIL from this article there's an option to have left click on the new tab button always open the Container menu. I don't think I'd use that, but it's nice to know.)

If you want to go older school, Profiles (browser windows with different extensions/cookie jars/everything) have been around since the beginning of Firefox (and it shows in how old and ugly some of the UI still is, hah). `about:profiles` is a profile manager when you are already inside a Firefox browser. The `-ProfileManager` command line switch is the ancient startup option to manage profiles before opening a browser window at all. If you like to use side-by-side profiles often you want `-noremote -ProfileManager` and/or `-noremote -P $profileName` shortcuts. (`-noremote` says not to send it to any currently open Firefox window.)

Re: How to Firefox

#272

Post by FeepingCreature »

prophesi wrote: post #119

A tip I would add to this article is that Firefox natively supports sidebar tabs now without needing hacky extensions. Go to about:preferences under the Browser Layout section of the General tab, and select Vertical Tabs. The tab group functionality along with Multi-Account Containers are a lot more useful under this layout IMO.

Still no multi-row tab bars or API support for hiding the main tab bar, as was explicitly promised when they killed TabMixPlus.

Re: How to Firefox

#273

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

Twirrim wrote: post #210
eclecticfrank wrote: post #80

Lots of Firefox hate here, but little discussion about the articles kicker, which is the exclusion of uBlock Origin from Chrome. I hope this will mean that in the long run Firefox (and other secondary browsers) will gain more users again. For me, Firefox is a solid piece of software. Works well in strict privacy mode, with uBlock Origin and Multi-Account Containers.

Multi-Account Containers is a major feature I can't sing the praises for enough. I use it all the time, both to isolate stuff to break cookie tracking, and to enable me to log into things with two different accounts without opening a separate browser, which happens more often than I'd have thought.

> both to isolate stuff to break cookie tracking

You don't need containers for this: https://total-cookie-protection-test.netlify.app/

Re: How to Firefox

#274

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

FeepingCreature wrote: post #272
prophesi wrote: post #119

A tip I would add to this article is that Firefox natively supports sidebar tabs now without needing hacky extensions. Go to about:preferences under the Browser Layout section of the General tab, and select Vertical Tabs. The tab group functionality along with Multi-Account Containers are a lot more useful under this layout IMO.

Still no multi-row tab bars or API support for hiding the main tab bar, as was explicitly promised when they killed TabMixPlus.

Power users interested in this niche feature can use a script: https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1m594nv/multi_tab_...

Re: How to Firefox

#275

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

AnonC wrote: post #248

This is a good list of why and how to get started with Firefox. I’ve been a Firefox user since the days of Phoenix (and before?). I use Firefox as my main browser at work, even though almost everybody else uses Chrome or Edge. One irritant I’ve seen with Firefox over the last several years is that on Windows 10 it always crashes on quitting. I’ve submitted all the crash reports religiously and have briefly looked at…

File an issue on Bugzilla with your latest crash ID to help the developers fix it: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

Re: How to Firefox

#276

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

sixhobbits wrote: post #69

This is pretty similar to my set up but I'm ready to quit Firefox because what feels like every few weeks they somehow manage to add new auto-enabled spyware. I regularly have to turn stuff off in "Firefox Data Collection and Use" and "Website Advertising Preferences" Recently I also started seeing ads in my address bar when typing stuff and saw they've added: "Suggestions from sponsors Support Firefox with occasiona…

Updates aren't supposed to reset any setting. Submit a bug report for them to fix whatever is doing that for you: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

Re: How to Firefox

#277

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

Dwedit wrote: post #256

Currently, Firefox has a system RAM leak for the GPU process. You need to periodically go to about:processes, scroll down to the GPU process, and close the GPU process with the X button on the right column.

If you want them to fix it:

1) Generate a profile performance with https://profiler.firefox.com/

2) Submit the link with your results to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

Re: How to Firefox

#278

Post by sorcercode »

napkin wrote: post #154

The author recommends this add-on- “Auto Tab Discard”- apparently optimising tab memory management. Why wouldn’t the standard distribution adopt it? I’m reminded of when I used to maintain an epic-sized vimrc, compiled my kernel for a different IO scheduler, etc. The plight of the “power-user” is walking a fine line between tool refinement and over-complication (which in my case can stem from procrastination). There…

honestly I've just left the extension on. Firefox does natively have this feature now.

Re: How to Firefox

#279

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

ineptech wrote: post #235

Another FF feature I love that I believe Chrome lacks: text replacement in bookmarks. Add a bookmark with url " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/%s " and keyword "wp" and typing "wp Potato" in the url bar will take you to the wikipedia entry on Potato. I switched to FF a few years back I really do like it better, but honestly even if it crashed every hour on the hour I'd still use it over chrome for uBO a…

Chrome has always had the capability of adding custom search engines. They are just not entangled with your bookmarks.

Firefox is actually going to remove this feature from bookmarks, and you'll have to create new engines from this page: about:preferences#search

Re: How to Firefox

#280

Post by ReadCarlBarks »

throw7 wrote: post #171

The issue with firefox is sites don't develop or test on firefox and will outright just say use chrome/edge. e.g. on air india can't buy tickets (must use chrome, actually a _lot_ of india sites require chrome to just work), one of my work's agency website literal says on login to use chrome or edge. I mostly blame mozilla "leadership" for going off on ridiculous directions and identity politics. They've reaped what…

Use this extension created by a Mozilla employee: https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/chrome-mask
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