Firefox: tips & tricks

marav · 04-08-2022, 10:56 AM

Enable the overlay scrollbar

about:config

Code:

widget.gtk.overlay-scrollbars.enabled = true

enorbet · 04-08-2022, 12:21 PM

Heheh... I just want to know how to disable ALL macros when editing online documents. IMHO there is just zero value in assigning a single, somewhat hidden keypress, to delete everything I just spent a half hour typing. Until I actually find what key does that, I'm considering installing some sort of pressure sensor that delivers a deafening CRASH! sound when I pound on it, perhaps including sounds of weeping and gnashing of teeth LOL

0XBF · 04-08-2022, 01:57 PM

If you use libinput with a touchpad then there is no kinetic scrolling. With the older synaptics driver this was a "feature", but libinput skipped adding this since it was kind of buggy. They leave it up to applications to enable kinetic scrolling, so I turn it on for firefox by ensuring that the following is set in about:config

Code:

apz.gtk.kinetic_scroll.enabled = true

And then putting the following in a profile script:

Code:

export MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1

semiprime · 04-08-2022, 04:28 PM

If you don't like the modern "hamburger" menu (with its icon of three horizontal lines), just press the (left) Alt key and the traditional File/Edit/View/... menu appears. It will hide itself again if you select an item or press Alt a second time.

(I've tried this in Chromium, but it didn't work.)

marav · 04-08-2022, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semiprime

If you don't like the modern "hamburger" menu (with its icon of three horizontal lines), just press the (left) Alt key and the traditional File/Edit/View/... menu appears. It will hide itself again if you select an item or press Alt a second time.

(I've tried this in Chromium, but it didn't work.)

Or right click on the toolbar, and check the box "Menu Bar"

marav · 09-21-2022, 11:43 AM

Firefox 106 Promises PDF Annotation Features, Wayland Screen Sharing Improvements

With the Firefox 105 release out the door, Mozilla has promoted the upcoming major release, Firefox 106, to the beta channel for public testing to allow us to get an early taste of the new features and improvements.

https://9to5linux.com/firefox-106-pr...g-improvements

jmccue · 09-21-2022, 12:24 PM

Another tip, I usually create a file named

/etc/firefox/policies/policies.json

to override config settings, this also makes the config settings read-only. Thus when a new firefox changes a default, I do not need to use about:config. This is what I have and this works across various Operating Systems.

Code:

{
  "policies": {
    "DisableAppUpdate": true,
    "DisableFirefoxAccounts": true,
    "DisableTelemetry": true,
    "DNSOverHTTPS": {
      "Enabled": false,
      "Locked": true        
    },
    "DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true,
    "NetworkPrediction": false,
    "PromptForDownloadLocation": true,
    "SearchEngines": {
      "PreventInstalls": true
    },
    "PDFjs": {
      "Enabled": false
    },
    "SearchSuggestEnabled": false,
    "DisableBuiltinPDFViewer": true
  }
}

Aeterna · 09-21-2022, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmccue

Another tip, I usually create a file named

/etc/firefox/policies/policies.json

to override config settings, this also makes the config settings read-only. Thus when a new firefox changes a default, I do not need to use about:config. This is what I have and this works across various Operating Systems.

Code:

{
  "policies": {
    "DisableAppUpdate": true,
    "DisableFirefoxAccounts": true,
    "DisableTelemetry": true,
    "DNSOverHTTPS": {
      "Enabled": false,
      "Locked": true        
    },
    "DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true,
    "NetworkPrediction": false,
    "PromptForDownloadLocation": true,
    "SearchEngines": {
      "PreventInstalls": true
    },
    "PDFjs": {
      "Enabled": false
    },
    "SearchSuggestEnabled": false,
    "DisableBuiltinPDFViewer": true
  }
}

You can safely use firefox profile without worrying that after FF upgrade it will be overwritten. Simply create a new custom profile. The advantage is that you can use the same profile irrelevant of OS/distro.

marav · 09-23-2022, 08:40 AM

With FF 105, on start, the cursor focus is on the URL bar, instead of -previously- the search field of my home page (duckduckgo)

Anyone know if it's possible to change that and how ?

hazel · 09-23-2022, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marav

Enable the overlay scrollbar

about:config

Code:

widget.gtk.overlay-scrollbars.enabled = true

Thank you! I hate the new scrollbar. I get confused if I can't see where I am on the page. I just set this option to false and now I have a proper scrollbar again.

regdub · 09-23-2022, 10:31 PM

Same here, thank you ! Switched to false, as true is the (new ?) default.

regdub · 09-23-2022, 10:33 PM

To maintain some preferences "read-only" through upgrades on a per-account basis, there is the user.js file.

https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/2.1-User.js

elcore · 09-24-2022, 04:32 AM

Replace the internal src editor with external (I use geany, but you can use whatever).

Code:

user_pref("view_source.editor.external", true);
user_pref("view_source.editor.path", "/usr/bin/geany");

marav · 09-24-2022, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marav

With FF 105, on start, the cursor focus is on the URL bar, instead of -previously- the search field of my home page (duckduckgo)

Anyone know if it's possible to change that and how ?

This will be reverted (FF 107):
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/a...v/f55cd89e1199

LuckyCyborg · 09-24-2022, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmccue

Another tip, I usually create a file named

/etc/firefox/policies/policies.json

to override config settings, this also makes the config settings read-only. Thus when a new firefox changes a default, I do not need to use about:config. This is what I have and this works across various Operating Systems.

Code:

{
  "policies": {
    "DisableAppUpdate": true,
    "DisableFirefoxAccounts": true,
    "DisableTelemetry": true,
    "DNSOverHTTPS": {
      "Enabled": false,
      "Locked": true        
    },
    "DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true,
    "NetworkPrediction": false,
    "PromptForDownloadLocation": true,
    "SearchEngines": {
      "PreventInstalls": true
    },
    "PDFjs": {
      "Enabled": false
    },
    "SearchSuggestEnabled": false,
    "DisableBuiltinPDFViewer": true
  }
}

Damn! Disabling built-in PDF viewer is ... respectfully being said: ridiculous! And you got 4 thumb-ups!

And with all respect, the strong disabling of DNSOverHTTPS could be at best categorized as sabotage, if not social engineering with malicious intent.

So, sincere congratulations for successfully misleading at least 4 people until now!