When I configure Firefox these are the settings that make my Firefox experience better. Preference edits in order of most important top to bottom.
Preferences
about:config in a new tab/window).Save previous session (the “Show my windows and tabs from last time option”):
browser.startup.page 3
New pages open in tabs:
middlemouse.openNewWindow false
New tabs load in the background (i.e. not Firefox switch to them when they open):
browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground true
Prevent accidental middle-click opening a new tab with paste contents:
middlemouse.contentLoadURL false
One click selects all in URL bar:
browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll true
…and also the search-bar:
browser.urlbar.doubleClickSelectsAll false
Close download window when downloads are complete:
browser.download.manager.closeWhenDone true
Clear download list when Firefox exits:
browser.download.manager.retention 1
Spell check everywhere (one line text boxes too):
layout.spellcheckDefault 2
Disable Install Missing Plugins message:
plugins.hide_infobar_for_missing_plugin true
Disable blinking text (rarely seen but distracting):
browser.blink_allowed false
Disable toolbar web-page roll-overs (these can at times get in the way):
browser.chrome.toolbar_tips false
Tab re-ordering without preview:
nglayout.enable_drag_images false
The number of lines to scroll and use smooth scrolling:
mousewheel.acceleration.factor 15 mousewheel.acceleration.start -1 general.smoothScroll true
Default source code viewer:
view_source.editor.external true view_source.editor.path /usr/bin/gedit
Font Size(s)
I find it best to use the CSS font definition sizes to set the font size. Daniel Greene’s excellent CSS Font Properties is a good page to look at the CSS medium font.
Add-ons
I tend to not use add-ons as they sometimes will cause conflicts (or not get updated). Plus, I find that Firefox has most of what I need. One add-on however that I find quite useful is Clear Fields. It makes a translucent ‘x’ icon at the end of the URL bar and Search bar that clears the text when pushed (very handy with Linux’s middle-click paste option).
Extrenui and Have a Good Day!!!
- F3 will search forward; shift-F3 will search backward.
- Middle-clicking a tab will close the tab.
- For spell checking, you might have to add a dictionary (depending on distribution).
- Restore Firefox – if settings become broken.
- Gmail as defaul email client.
- Firefox Tips and Tweaks (I’ll be careful, I promise).
- monospace default font size.
Thanks, for the tips :)
I recently found another nice add-on: TACO – it consists of cca. a hundred opt-out cookies for various sites that profile their visitors for e.g. advertising.
TACO, I like the name, and, yeah, no problem. TACO looks like a good thought, will have to check it out.
I’m sure you wanted to say :
middlemouse.contentLoadURL false
Yes, I did Colar. Thanks for the heads up.
Thank you for your suggestion of Highlight Focus. I personally do not use many Firefox extensions, but this one certainly deserves to be installed for me. I always loose my damn focus thing and have to hunt for it on the page or reselect it with my mouse when I sit for a moment and try to think about what I want to type/do/browse/etc.