You Don't Know Jack About Firefox!

Non-invasive Browsing

Firefox has built-in features that make your online browsing experience as smooth and uninterrupted as possible. Lots of features exist to remove the annoyances we tend to suffer when using IE. Popup and pop-under ads, spoofed status bar text that hides URLs, animated status bar text, flashing "Click me!" banner advertisements, windows that resize themselves to be either incredibly small or incredibly large: all these are annoyances. I have not seen any of them since I started using Firefox.

Annoyance elimination is the process of silently removing all these irritants. Annoyance elimination is one thing at which Firefox excels, so let's see how you can configure Firefox to create the uninterrupted browsing experience that you deserve.

Popup Blocking

In the past, we lived with popup and pop-under windows that contained advertisements as if they were an unavoidable part of life. Fortunately, someone conceived of popup blocking software, which provided some relief. Eventually, software developers started building popup-blocking capabilities into their browsers; Firefox is one such browser. Popup blocking has become such an important feature of Web browsers that you'd now be hard-pressed to find one without it. Firefox, Safari, the Mozilla Application Suite, and even Internet Explorer on Windows XP (provided Service Pack 2 is installed) offer integrated popup-blocking features.

If you visit sites that use popups as a necessary element of the site's functionality (a banking site, for example), or you simply have some strange popup ad fetish, you can turn off Firefox's popup blocker, either globally, or on an individual site basis. We'll see how to tune the Firefox popup blocker to suit your requirements as we move through this discussion.

Note
This is not the place to discuss the "ethics" of popup blocking and online advertising, so throughout this discussion I'll assume you'll want to block popups. What has popup blocking got to do with ethics? Well, people argue that since online advertising is what funds many free (and non-free) Websites, popup blocking is like stealing from these sites, since they don't get revenue from your viewing of their content. To debate these issues is beyond the scope of this book.

Avoiding Popups

Firefox is configured out-of-the-box to block popup windows, so you don't need to do anything to get this working. You can test out the popup blocker by going to a Website that uses popups. I suggest searching for "popup test" and visiting one of the popular testing sites. Whenever Firefox encounters a Website-initiated popup, as opposed to a user-initiated popup (more on that shortly), it will block that popup and display a notice that it has done so. You can see an example of the notice in Figure 2.26: the strip across the top appears by default; the displayed menu appears if you click on that strip.

Figure 2.26. Firefox's popup blocker generating a notice and blocked popup menu.

In this example, Firefox has dutifully blocked a popup from PopupTest.com. If you want, you can choose from the context menu the option to permanently allow popups from that site; additionally, you may (just once) choose to load the blocked popups.

When popups are blocked, you will also see an icon at the bottom right corner of your Firefox window: this will always be visible, even after you select Don't show this message when popups are blocked. In Figure 2.27 the icon appears to the left of the window resize grip (the small triangle of dots in the bottom-right corner).

Figure 2.27. The blocked popup icon.

To view any blocked popup, click on the information bar and select the appropriate Show 'http://www.example.com/popup.html' option. The blocked popup will burst into existence for one time only. This is useful if you want to be sure you aren't missing anything (like a good deal on Viagra).

You can also tell Firefox to allow the Website to open popups from this point forward for a particular site. This is best used when you trust the Website and don't mind seeing its popup windows—perhaps it's a work-related Website whose popups you should see. Whatever the reason, you can view popups for a given site by selecting Allow popups for www.example.com from the information bar.

Don't be afraid to allow popups: you can just as easily disable popups again. To do so, access the Popup Blocker Options. Under Tools > Options > Web Features, you will see a Block Popup Windows checkbox, with an Allowed Sites button beside it. Figure 2.28 shows this feature.

Figure 2.28. Popup blocker options.

Click on the Allowed Sites button to bring up the list of sites that are allowed to open popup windows in your browser. An example setup is shown in Figure 2.29.

Figure 2.29. The Allowed Sites dialog.

This dialog holds a simple whitelist of sites whose popups are allowed to appear in your browser. You can add Websites to the list by typing their URLs into the Address of web site field in the dialog, but that's the hard way to do it. It's much easier to allow popups from the information bar, as we did before. Removing a site is as simple as selecting it in the list (left-click), then clicking the Remove Site button.

User-Initiated Popups

A small note about popup blocking: Firefox doesn't block user-initiated popups. Such popups occur if you click on a link that spawns a popup. If you do this, the popup isn't blocked, because you asked for it. This is logical behavior: if I click on the link, I probably want it to do what it's supposed to do. See the Tabbed Browsing discussion in Chapter 3, Revisiting Web Pages for a way to trap even these popups inside an existing window or a tab.

User-initiated popups are often implemented using JavaScript. Next, we'll see how to control what JavaScript can and can't do.

Disabling Annoying JavaScript

I don't know about you, but all those pesky things that Websites do with JavaScript really annoy me. My pet-hates are popup windows that spawn more popup windows, animated status bar tickers that obscure the normal status bar text, and spoofed status bar text that tries to mislead.

I'd always wished there was a way to turn off those particular JavaScript effects in my browser without losing the rest of the dynamic JavaScript functionality offered by the Websites in question. Preventing a Website from spoofing the status bar text is good. Preventing a dynamic form from using its JavaScript scripts to calculate whether I am "the life of the party" or the "uninvited nerd" is not so helpful.

Firefox supports this distinction nicely by blocking certain JavaScript calls while allowing the rest. Exactly which JavaScript calls are blocked can be configured in the Web Features preferences pane.

JavaScript Web Features

To find these JavaScript settings, look in the Web Features pane of the Options or Preferences dialog box. There is an Enable JavaScript checkbox alongside an Advanced… button on which you can click. Figure 2.30 shows this arrangement and the resulting secondary dialog box:

Figure 2.30. Advanced JavaScript options.

Don't be afraid to play with the options here just because they're described as "Advanced." These are actually fairly obscure options, rather than particularly advanced options. Here's a run-down of what each does.

Move or resize existing windows

Uncheck this to disable JavaScript that tries to resize a browser window that's already open. Sites that do this usually want to make the window smaller. They're often Web design sites, but can simply be sites that were created to annoy the heck out of you. This option will not prevent a popup window from choosing its own size, however. Popup windows can choose their own size provided that you've allowed popup windows, or the window is a user-initiated popup.

Raise or lower windows

This option is a little ambiguous at first inspection and, initially, I had some trouble figuring out what "raise" and "lower" actually meant! These options control whether JavaScript can be used to bring a window to the front (that's "raise") and, therefore to the top of the windows displayed on the desktop, or, conversely, to hide a window under others (that's "lower"). A common example of the "lower" case, typically used for devious purposes, is the pop-under window, where a Website tries to open a secret window that you won't notice. Sometimes this feature is needed, though, especially when Web-based applications need to maintain several open windows at once, or windows need to display warning messages.

Disable or replace context menus

Have you ever come across Websites that prevent you from right-clicking? No? Perhaps you remember trying to save an image that caught your fancy, only to find that you couldn't right-click; instead, you're told sternly that the image is copyrighted and not for download. When the Disable or replace context menus option is checked, that kind of thing may happen. Unchecking this option disables any JavaScript that tries to hide the context menu, so that the context menu is always free for you to use.

Hide the status bar

Uncheck this option to prevent Web pages from hiding the status bar at the bottom of the Firefox window. This is a highly recommended option since an absent status bar creates a security risk (see the next point).

Change status bar text

Some Websites spoof the status bar text, replacing the actual URLs of links with other URLs, or other text. Some sites have annoying animated stock ticker-like text that screams "WeLcOmE tO mY hOmEpAgE!" This is not only annoying but a security risk, because you can be fooled into clicking a link that goes to a URL that you weren't expecting to visit. A carefully crafted piece of status bar text can also mislead you rather than annoy you. This is a so-called "phishing" scam that attempts to mimic normal browser functionality. I highly recommend you leave this option unchecked.

Change images

Unchecking this option disables features like JavaScript rollovers and dynamic menus that rely on images. It also disables some obscure form submission techniques based on image replacement.

Downloading for Dummies

Using Firefox to download files from the Internet is a pretty common activity. It helps if the browser makes this mundane stuff hassle-free. Firefox has several standard features that make downloading easier; we'll step through these now. Later in the book we'll see how to enhance that download support with extra features.

Downloading Files

When you first download a file, Firefox displays a dialog window that asks you what it should do with that file. Choosing to open the file instructs Firefox to download the file to a temporary directory and then open it with the application you selected in the drop-down. As you'd expect, saving to disk simply saves the file to your hard disk. Figure 2.31 shows this initial dialog box:

Figure 2.31. The file download dialog.

Downloads that are risky, such as executable files, cannot be opened by Firefox automatically: you can only save such files direct to disk. In such cases, the Open with option is disabled, as you can see in Figure 2.31. This restriction prevents you from accidentally running an application that you did not intend to run.

Notice also the dialog checkbox labeled Do this automatically for files like this from now on. This option instructs Firefox to remember your preference and to pre-select it the next time you download a file of the same type. You can change this behavior in the Downloads section of the Options dialog box (Tools > Options, Firefox > Preferences or Edit > Preferences, depending on your platform). Figure 2.32 shows this dialog box after a few common file types have been configured.

Figure 2.32. Configuring file type associations.

Once Firefox has recorded your initial preference, you can change the default action taken for a remembered file type. Clicking the Change Action… button will allow you to change the application with which Firefox opens files of this type, or lets you tell the browser to revert to saving them directly to disk.

The Download Manager

Firefox comes with a Download Manager that displays all of your downloads in one place. Instead of displaying a download dialog for every single download, as Internet Explorer does, Firefox gathers your downloads together in a single location where you can track their progress without having to contend with multiple windows. Figure 2.33 shows the Download Manager.

Figure 2.33. The Download Manager in action.

Figure 2.34. Opening a folder containing a downloaded file.

Let's quickly discuss exactly what you can do in the Download Manager. Firstly, you'll notice that downloads in progress can be paused or cancelled. Resuming paused downloads only works if the server supplying the file is configured that way, so don't pause if you're unsure of the server. Completed downloads can be opened by clicking the Open link, or double-clicking the row in which the file is listed. Completed downloads can also be removed from the Download Manager. Note that Remove doesn't delete any files from disk: it simply removes them from the Download Manager. Another commonly needed action is to open the folder containing the downloaded file. This can be done by right-clicking the row on which the file is listed in the Download Manager, and selecting Open Containing Folder. Figure 2.34 shows that detail.

Notice that, at the base of the window, there's also an indication of the standard download directory. This is correct provided that you haven't configured Firefox to ask you where to save each downloaded file. In the screenshot above, the Download Manager helpfully reminds us that files are downloaded to the desktop, which is a folder or directory associated with the current operating system user account.

Finally, the Clean Up button is used to remove completed and cancelled entries from the Download Manager, which helps to keep the list of entries in the Download Manager to a sane limit. When all downloads are complete, Firefox pops up a small notification window in the bottom-right corner of the desktop, as shown in Figure 2.35.

Figure 2.35. The Downloads Complete notification.

Firefox saves all downloads to the desktop by default, and does so without prompting. If you prefer to save to another location, or to have Firefox prompt you for a save location for every new download, go to Tools > Options > Downloads (on Windows) and change the settings in the Download Folder section shown in Figure 2.36.

Figure 2.36. Configuring Download Folder options.

To be prompted for a save location each time you download, make sure the Ask me where to save every file option is selected. Otherwise, if you'd like to change the automatically selected default download location, simply select Other… from the drop-down, and choose the folder you want.

If you find the Download Manager a little annoying (in which case, you're not alone) you can disable it through the Downloads preferences (Tools > Options > Downloads on Windows) by unchecking Show Download Manager window when a download begins. If you do so, you can still call up the Download Manager from Tools > Downloads or via the Ctrl-J shortcut key. You will always be notified when all downloads are complete.

If you press Pause in the Download Manager while downloading a file, you can resume that download anytime as long as Firefox is still running. The Download Manager doesn't support the cross-session resumption of downloads as yet. Cross-session resuming is a rather useful feature that allows you to close Firefox, or even shutdown your computer, while downloading a file. When you start up again, the download picks up where it left off. This feature is targeted to appear in Firefox 2.0: see this functionality outline for more. While we (especially those of us on dial-up) wait patiently for this killer feature, you may be comforted to know that at least Firefox protects your in-progress download with a warning if you try to exit the browser prematurely. The dialog in Figure 2.37 shows that warning, which provides you with an opportunity to reverse your hasty exit decision. If you keep going, your partially downloaded files will have to be re-downloaded from scratch.

Figure 2.37. The partial downloads cancellation warning shown on exit.

Installing Plugins

Plugins are add-on programs that allow you to view non-HTML content such as PDF files, Flash content, Java applets, and video within Firefox browser windows, or in separate windows created from Firefox windows.

If a plugin is missing when you view a page that carries plugin content, then you'll see a jigsaw piece in place of the content; a yellow plugin information bar will also appear at the top of the page. Figure 2.38 shows this arrangement when the Macromedia Flash plugin is missing.

To install the required plugin automatically, just click the Install Missing Plugins… button and let Firefox find the plugin for you. Follow the resulting install prompts as you normally would. At the end of that process, the current page is redisplayed with the plugin content presented by the new plugin.

Major plugins are available for Adobe Acrobat, Macromedia Flash, Java, Apple Quicktime, Realplayer, and Windows Media Player. Firefox knows how to get all of these plugins. However, if, by some chance, the plugin isn't found by Firefox, or you want a particular version of the plugin or some other special arrangement, you can install plugins yourself. You can obtain most plugins at https://addons.update.mozilla.org/plugins/.

To install plugin software from that page, look for the link that suits your operating system, click it, and follow the instructions on the resulting page. Supporting documentation is also found at the PluginDoc project. You can refer to that more extensive site should you have any problems.

Figure 2.38. The plugin content placeholder and information bar.

Getting to your Email

Firefox has an email integration user interface (UI) feature that lets you create and read emails from your browser. It's available on Microsoft Windows only. You can access this extra feature from the Tools menu: it even indicates to you how many unread emails you have, provided that Windows has registered a default email application. Of the two menu options supplied, choosing Read Mail will launch your default email application (probably Outlook, Outlook Express, or Thunderbird); choosing New Message… creates a new email message for you. Figure 2.39 shows these menu items.

Figure 2.39. Windows email options on the Tools menu.

If you choose to customize your toolbars (use View > Toolbars > Customize…), you can add an email button to the navigation bar. It contains a drop-down list that provides the same options for reading and creating emails. Figure 2.40 shows this button after it's been left-clicked.

Figure 2.40. Toolbar-based email button.

Summary

In this chapter, we've covered the core functionality of Firefox: the basic things you need to know to work efficiently with Firefox on the Web.

We took a good look at tabbed browsing and how it compares against the old-school non-tabbed browser interface. This author's conclusion is that tabs are a superior way to browse. Annoyance elimination is another task at which Firefox excels, and in addition to the standard features, you can also change popup blocking and disable bothersome JavaScript.

There Is More Than One Way To Find It (TIMTOWTFI) in Firefox, and by now you should be a master of search using Firefox. Smart Keywords are particularly clever, and so are you, now that you know how to create and use them! We also covered what I think is another killer feature of Firefox: FastFind, which allows you to search text within a page quickly.

On top of tabs, popups and search, we briefly covered working with non-Web content: downloading files, installing plugins, and accessing email. Firefox integrates quite well with all of those not-strictly-Web-browsing activities.

In the next chapter, we'll continue our exploration of Firefox's standard browsing features. We've already learned that Firefox is an efficient system for carrying you from the current page to the next page. In Chapter 3, Revisiting Web Pages, we'll see that Firefox has many helpful features when the time comes to revisit a page that you've already visited.