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Fix for Firefox Memory Problems?

Dec/10 in Resources, Settings

firefoxlogo.jpg Firefox uses a lot of RAM. It is the number one complaint about this otherwise awesome web browser. So what can you do to solve this issue? Well there are a few rumored fixed out there in the wild.

Here is the nitty-gritty about:config solution to the problem:

  • Open up about:config by typing it into your Firefox address bar.
  • Right-click, go to new and then integer and name it this: browser.cache.memory.capacity
  • For the integer value, enter in 15000 if you have 512MB to 1GB of RAM. For those with less (between 128MB to 512MB), try a value of 5000.  You’re done!

Then all you should need to restart Firefox for it to take effect.

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Firefox Search Box Hacks, Tips and Tweaks

Dec/05 in Settings

Firefox Search Box Guide The search box in Firefox as totally revolutionized the way we deal with search engines on a day to day basis. I don’t go to Google.com to do my searching anymore – I do it from there. There are many more tips, tweaks and tools you can use to get the most out of this built in browser innovation.

Get More Firefox Search Plugins

The first place to check out would be Mozilla’s own search engine page. From here you can add many of the top search engines from around the Web. From Live.com to Wikipedia to even Flickr – the best of the best are all listed.

To remove one, click on your search box and select “Manage Search Engines…”. On that new options window you can sort your search engines and remove the ones you don’t want. Continue Reading →

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Password Exporter Saved My Bacon

Nov/23 in Security, Settings

Password ExporterIf you follow any of my other side projects, you might have noticed I got a new PC the other day. One of the not-so-much-fun aspects of getting a new computer is getting Firefox back up and running on it and getting all your bookmarks, settings and passwords moved over. For the most part Google’s Browser Sync did a lot of the heavy lifting in that regard.

Where Did My Passwords Go?!

I screwed up somewhere though, and all my saved passwords were not there. Before I freaked out (ok, I might have freaked out just a little ‘bit) I remembered about the Password Exporter extension for Firefox.

Here is a little more information about it from the developer:

This extension allows you to export and import your saved passwords and rejected sites between computers. Your passwords will be exported to an XML or CSV file and can be encrypted.

Did Password Exporter Do the Job?

I installed it on both the old machine and the new machine – then moved the exported backup (simple .xml file) from the old PC to my new PC. It worked! My passwords were not lost and I didn’t have to spend hours trying to set that whole mess back up.

So if your in a pinch and you need your passwords backed up – give the Password Exporter extension a shot. Might also not hurt to have it up and running 24/7 – so you can make a backup of your password list and store it somewhere safe.

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Firesizer – Resize Firefox to Your Liking

Nov/19 in Settings

FiresizerResizing your browser window. This isn’t just something that web designers need – I think we all move our windows around the screen from time to time. Sometimes, just to let you in on a little secret… I do it just for the fun of it.

Firesizer is an extension for Firefox that will let you pre-set a series of browser sizes so you can quickly jump from one to the other. Here is a little more information about the extention:

Provides a menu and status bar to resize the window dimensions to a specific size. Unlike other similar extensions, this one sets the size of the *entire window*, not just the HTML area.

Nobody is going to claim this extension is reinventing the wheel, but it is a small extension that does what it sets out to do. As long as you can get that much done, your alright in my book.

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Speed Up Firefox, New Profile Tweak

Oct/01 in Settings

The fox a little slow you say? Well instead of reinstalling Firefox, you could start up a new profile to speed things up. Yes, that old buddy of ours, the profile manager is still buried inside of Firefox. Once upon a time it was suppose to be used to manage multiple users – now it is tucked away.

New Profile for Firefox

I Windows all you need to do is go to Start, Run and then:

Type firefox.exe – P in the Run box of Windows

I have to say this has to be the most interesting way I’ve seen of speeding up Firefox. Check Out the Step by Step at Digital Inspiration!

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Better Printing Options with Lexmark Extention

Sep/24 in Settings

Lexmark Printing ToolbarNot every web site does that best job when it comes to giving you a printer friendly version of the web page. Lets say for example, you want to print out a story on CNN.com about the war in Iraq or your favorite celebrity.

Now you could just print the page that is there, but that is going to give you all the ads, logos and other junk you don’t want on your paper. The Lexmark crew is wanting to fix that issue.

The Lexmark Toolbar is wanting to be that “better printing” extension you never knew you needed. It will allow you to cut down on the clutter, so you will only print the most important details of the web page in question.

Some of the features in this beta release of the extension include:

- One-click Print and Preview buttons

- Remove ads and other unwanted stuff with the “Clean” feature

- View, edit or print photos in Picnik, the best online photo editor

- Choose print settings such as Selected Content, Orientation and Header/Footer

Overall, I think if they are delivering this much in the beta, there are many more great things to come for future releases of this handy extension.

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Download Manager Tweak

Sep/03 in Settings

Download ManagerFirefox’s download manager by default is a little light in the loafers. It is nice to look at. It gets the job done. It could do a better job though. If you want a few extra features on the download manager too give Download Manager Tweak.

This extension changes its appearance and allows it to be opened in a separate window, a new tab, or the sidebar. Now after hearing that, even the doubters would have to say they’d like to see those details in with the current download managing services Firefox provides.

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Easy Editing of Config Files

Jul/17 in Settings, Usability

Edit Your Config FilesAre you one of those people that likes to tweak around with what is behind the pretty Firefox curtain? If you want to jerk back the interface and get to the guts of the browser, you might need to jump here or jump there to get to the settings you need.

One person made this job a little easier with the Edit Config Files extension for Firefox. Once installed it gives you quick and easy access to such things as the about:config screen and your UserChrome.css file as well. Here is a full list of the options from the extension.

UserChrome.css, UserContent.css, prefs.js, user.js, Open Profile Folder, and about:config. Quick and easy access to all the tweakers’ tools. Now I wouldn’t suggest messing around with these unless you know what your doing – but if you do this extensions can be a real time saver because you no longer have to go on a hunt for how to open each of these options up.

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Homepage Randomizer

Jul/03 in Settings

RandomizerThere are a lot of homepage choices out there. From iGoogle to My Yahoo! everybody has a favorite. What are you to do when you like more than one?

That is when you call in a professional extension to do the dirty work for you.

The Homepage Randomizer extension for Firefox randomizes your browser’s start page so you never know where your going to land when you launch your favorite browser. How does it work? It gives you the ability to pick a random homepage from a user defined list.

Homepage Randomizer is extremely lightweight and has a clean user interface. It adds a checkbox in the startup preferences section in Firefox (Tools -> Options -> Main). Simply add your multiple homepages as described above and enable the checkbox.

For random cool tools, this one has to take the proverbial cake.

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Browse Through Firefox’s Cache

Jun/14 in Settings

CacheViewerTrying to browse through your old saved browser history can be a pain in Firefox in comparison with Internet Explorer.

IE has “Temporary Internet Files” – Firefox has a pain in the rear interface for browsing through its cache. One way to fix this design blunder though is do download and install the CacheViewer extension for Firefox.

This extenion is a GUI Front-end of and for “about:cache”. It allows searching and sorting memory and disk cache files. All in all a pretty nice tool to help you get going with browsing through what you have saved from the Web on your PC.

If you’d rather do it without the extension – here is a method thrown out there by the folks at Lifehacker:

If you prefer the old-fashioned way of browsing your cache, in Windows you can navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\********.default\Cache and see the hodge-podge of files that make up your cache. CacheViewer is a free download and works anywhere the ‘fox does.

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