How can you change your cookie settings in Firefox? To change your cookie settings:

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP) and then click Options.
2. Select the Privacy panel.

If you click the check mark box under the “Tracking” section, you can tell websites that you do not want to be tracked. I have covered that in a previous article: How to Stop Website Tracking in Firefox

Under “History” you have the option to remember past websites you’ve visited, not to remember websites you’ve visited or a custom history setting.  When Firefox remembers your browsing history, it keeps track of form and search history, websites you’ve visited, downloads and cookies.

Last but not least, if you scroll down a little lower you will see the option to “Accept cookies from sites”. This allows you to control if specific websites can track you or not.  You can also accept cookies until:

• Keep until: they expire: Each cookie will be removed when it reaches its expiration date, which is set by the site that sent the cookie.
• Keep until: I close Firefox: The cookies that are stored on your computer will be removed when Firefox is closed.
• Keep until: ask me every time: Displays an alert every time a website tries to send a cookie, and asks you whether or not you want to store it.

When you are done with your cookie changing, always be sure to hit the “OK” button at the bottom of the options window to save your changes.  What type of cookie tracking changes do you like to make?

Here are some of her Personas she designed that I like the most:

Gray and Black

Fall Horizon

Autumns Light

Christmas Sky

Browse through more of MaDannas themes on her Personas page or check her out at her official blog. Also let me know if you would like to see me feature more Persona designers like this.  I’ll take your feedback and deliver what you need – just let me know in the comments.

The first thing you will want to do is check for updates for your add-ons.  You can easily do this in the latest version of Firefox by clicking the Firefox button and then click Add-ons. This will open up the Add-ons Manager.  Next, select the gear button at the top and select, “Check for Updates”. Firefox will then search for and download any updates that are available automatically. Restart the browser when asked, and you should be good to go.

If the add-on has been simply disabled (Firefox sometimes does this with add-ons that were added by another program) you should be able to simply re-enable the add-on in question.

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then click Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.
2. In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Extensions panel.
3. Click the Enable button next to the add-on you’d like to re-enable.

Know of any more fixes?  Be sure to leave them in the comments!  Hope this helps you the next time you find your favorite add-ons are not working in Firefox.

It saves screen real estate – so that is extremely helpful to some of us who run maybe 5 or 6 windows at a time.  So, how do you make a tab an App Tab?  It is really quick and easy to do.  All you need to do is right-click on the tab you want to turn into an App Tab and select “Pin as App Tab” from the menu.  To remove it, simply close your browser or select “Unpin Tab” from the menu. 

Here are a few more examples from Mozilla on  how App Tabs are different from regular tabs:

• App Tabs are small – only showing the site’s icon, not its title – and they live on the left side of the Tab Strip.
• App Tabs don’t have a close button so you can’t accidentally close them.
  • You can still close them by right-clicking on them and selecting Close Tab from the menu.
• App Tabs notify you with a blue highlight when they change.
  • If you have Gmail set as an App Tab, for example, and you are using a different tab when a new email is received, your Gmail tab will glow.
• All of the App Tabs you have set when you close Firefox will open as App Tabs when you start Firefox again.
• Links to other websites open in a new tab so that your App Tab doesn’t change.
  • Many web apps, like Facebook, already do this but an App Tab will make this happen even when the website isn’t set to do it.

App Tabs give you one more way to organize the websites you want to view in your browser to make your internet browsing experience better.  Have you found App Tabs handy in Firefox? Let me know how you are using them.

Here are the steps you need to take to turn on the Do-no-track feature in Firefox.

1. Click the Firefox button and then select Options
2. Next, select the Privacy tab in the options menu
3. Under the Tracking section, click the check mark box next to, "Tell web sites I do no want to be tracked"
4. Hit the button that reads, "OK" to close the options window.

When you turn on the Do-not-track feature, you are telling websites that you do not want your private information to be gathered.  Now, it should also be noted that honoring this setting is voluntary, and up to the websites you visit to adhere by your wishes. I will let you debate the facts there if this is a more useful part of the Do-not-track feature or a drawback.

So, where should you turn to get the Mobile Add-ons for your favorite browser?

Head over to the special Firefox Mobile Add-ons website. Here, you can find a significantly smaller list of extensions that have been written with the Mobile version of Firefox in mind.

Some of your old Firefox favorites, like AdBlock Plus, NoScript and Speed Dial are available.  Who knows, you might find a few new favorites too.

So, with that idea out there – let me know in the comments if you would like to see me do more mobile only add-on reviews in the future here on Firefox Facts.  For the most part, this website has been pretty focused on the desktop only version of Firefox since the beginning – but if you’d like for me to branch out let me know and I will do my best.

You can check out the mobile friendly versions of the Firefox Add-ons on the Mobile Add-ons website.

How to Setup Firefox Sync

For those of you who pay attention to my other projects on the web, you might have noticed my post about getting a my first cell phone.  I picked up the Droid X the other day, and one of the first applications I downloaded for it was Firefox 4. The browser experience is simple and very lightweight.  So with Firefox 4 on my desktop and my cell phone, how did I get them to talk to one another?

From your desktop Firefox install, click on the Firefox button and set up Firefox Sync.  You will be asked to fill out your email address, password and fill in a recpatcha to make sure you are not a robot. Now, do the same on your mobile device.  You will want to swipe to Tools > Preferences and tap on Setup Sync. You’ll then be given a unique single use sync code.  Go back to your desktop Firefox and click on the Firefox button, click on Options and then go to the Sync tab. From this window, click on "Add a Device" and enter the code on your cell phone.

Note: If your using an iPhone, the sync process will be a little different for you, since you will have to use Firefox Home instead.  Check here for more details on how to get that set up and running.

Using Firefox sync has made my transition between my new cell phone and my desktop much easier.

Definitely not.  You just have to reach it in a different way. 

To bring up a quick list of links you have previously browser to, simply right-click on the back button in Firefox 4. When you do so, the old drop down history list pops back up in all its glory – with up to 10 previous pages you have navigated to. 

Now, I do understand they did this to cut down on the clutter – however if I had not accidently right-clicked the back button to find it, I would have never known the functionality was there. 

You can do it!  All you need to do is type in % into the Awesome bar. 

As you can see in the picture to your right, this is a great way to quickly jump to any tab you currently have open in Firefox. 

Hope this quick navigational tip for Firefox 4 helps you out!

First, you will want to right-click on the Navigation Toolbar.  Next, select or un-select the "Tabs on Top" option.  When you do so, the tabs will either switch back to the top of the website viewing area or to the top of the window. 

So no matter if you are more of a traditionalist (and enjoy your tabs in the old location) or you are ready for new and exciting things (and want to put your tabs on top) there is an option for both in Firefox 4.