By tweaking your browser cache settings from within about:config, you could see a ‘bit of a speed boost when it comes to using Firefox on a daily basis.  You see, when images are loaded by default, they can be cached so they don’t need to be redisplayed or looked for again. What we will be editing today will control the maximum amount of memory used for caching images.

Here are the steps you need to take to optimize Firefox in this way:

• Type about:config into the address bar
• Type browser.cache into the Filter field
• Set browser.cache.disk.enable to false (double click it)
• Set browser.cache.memory.enable to true (double click it)
• Right click > New > Integer; type browser.cache.memory.capacity; press OK
• Type in 100000 (this is equivalent to 100 megabytes). A value of -1 will tell Firefox to dynamically determine the cache size depending on how much RAM you have. Press OK, next.
• Close all Firefox tabs and windows, and then restart the browser

Kudos goes to Download Squad for this great tip. The idea here is that by making this tweak, your pages will load faster.  You tell me though, does it work for you – or is it a placebo?  I have been arguments for both sides since I first found the tip. 

For more information on editing the cache, check out the resource page on it on MozillaZine.org.  They have a nice breakdown on what it could be set to, depending on how much memory you have.

Due to privacy concerns, some Firefox users may wish to disable or turn off the session restore feature in Firefox. As an example, if your computer is used by multiple users, the browser could crash while you are checking your Gmail account.  Rather than restoring Firefox, you decide to go do something else.  When somebody else comes in to launch Firefox, the browser will be restored to your inbox (due to fact that is where it crashed).  If you want a little more browsing privacy, here is how you disable the session restore feature in the browser.

First thing you will need to do is visit our old friend, the about:config screen.  In the address bar, type in:

• about:config

and then press the "Enter" key.  If you are warned about the fact that you can really mess Firefox up if you muck around inside of about:config, just go ahead and click "I’ll be careful, I promise!" and continue.

Now, find browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash in the list.  You will want to double-click that entry, and then set it to false.  Session restore inside of Firefox will now be disabled.

Here is what Mozilla has to say about the privacy issues that might exist:

Session Restore may keep you logged in to sites that you were logged into before you closed Firefox. If someone else used your computer after you, they could access your account on these sites. If this is a concern then you should not configure Firefox to open all windows and tabs from your previous session ("Show my windows and tabs from last time" option described above).

I would not consider this a huge privacy problem, but if it is something you are concerned about – it is nice to know Firefox left the option open for you.

I have one more Firefox 3.6 about:config tip up my sleeve.  By toggling one setting, you can go from having a drop down list of tabs to a thumb-nailed view of each tab that is open.

Here is how you too can enable this secret Firefox 3.6 feature.

How to Enable the Tab Preview Menu Button

• Type about:config in the address bar. Then, if needed click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button.
• Next, in the filter box – type in:
  • browser.allTabs.previews
• Right-click that about:config entry, and select “Toggle”

This will change it from false, to true.  You could take the same steps to disable it too.  Now when you click that icon with the four tiny squares, you will get a visually prettier way to check out all your tabs.

Also once this has been enabled, you can use the keyboard combination:

Shift + Ctrl + Tab

To get the same tab previews, just without the button clicking.

Learn More About Firefox 3.6 |  Subscribe for More Firefox Tips!

New to Firefox 3.6, when you are on a page, and you want to open a link in a new tab – rather than opening the link in the far right of the tab bar, Firefox will now open the link right next to the tab you are in.  Now, while this might be convenient for some, it is a feature I don’t really need.  So here is how you can disable the new “Insert Related Tab After Current” tweak in Firefox 3.6.

Make New Tab Pages Open in the Far Right of the Tab Bar

• Type about:config in the address bar. Then, if needed click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button.
• Next, in the filter box – type in:
  • tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent
• Right-click that about:config entry, and select “Toggle”

This will convert Firefox back to loading opening a new tab from a web page on the far right of the tab bar, rather than right next to the tab you opened it from.

To switch back, follow these same steps and toggle the “false” back to “true”.

This should help those of you out there who do not like this new feature to Firefox 3.6, or are just not ready to switch how you open a page in a new tab just yet.

Learn More About Firefox 3.6 |  Subscribe for More Firefox Tips!

With Firefox 3.6’s release, we can all do a quick about:config tweak that will enable the prettier tab switching.  By default, when you hit the keyboard keys Ctrl + Tab you just rotate through your tabs.  By making some quick adjustments though, you can pull up the new tab switcher that you see in the picture above.

How to Enable Firefox’s Secret Visual Tab Switcher

• Type about:config in the address bar. Then, if needed click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button.
• Next, in the filter box – type in:
  • browser.ctrlTab.previews
• Right-click that about:config entry, and select “Toggle”

Now, when you hit the keyboard combination of Ctrl + Tab you will get the new visual tab previews, rather than just scroll through the tabs one by one.  If you want to switch back, just follow the same steps to toggle it from true, back to false.

Learn More About Firefox 3.6 |  Subscribe for More Firefox Tips!

All in all, 2009 was a great year for Firefox.  It grew by leaps and bounds, and continues to be the best alternative browser out there.  Firefox Facts did pretty well in it’s own right too – surpassing the 7,000+ RSS subscriber mark.  So with today being the last day of 2009, let us all sit back and revisit some of the best posts of the year.

Here are 10 of the most read stories, tips, tutorials and reviews I have posted here in 2009.  Hope you check out some classics you might have missed, or revisit a favorite post or two.

#10 – Love (or Disable) the New Tab Button in Firefox

Love it, or hate it – Firefox got one more addition to it’s browser that seems to have gotten a mixed reaction from the fans. The open new tab button rests at the end of your tab bar in Firefox 3.5 giving you an easier user interface to open a new tab.

• More Tab Fun – Move the Close Tab in Firefox

#9 – 10 Popular Web Designer Tools for Firefox

Thanks to Firefox and some of the great add-ons that have been developed for it, your browser is your best friend when it comes to web site design.  From CSS tools, to promoting your domain, here are 10 of the most popular web designer tools for Firefox.

• Top 10 Greatness – Top 10 Personas Backgrounds for Firefox

#8 – Add Another Bookmarks Toolbar to Firefox

Have more than a few bookmarks you want to keep handy on the bookmarks toolbar in Firefox but don’t have the room?  Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar, an extension for Firefox, will help you solve that issue by letting you add as many bookmark toolbars as you need.

• Popular Add-ons – Most Downloaded Bookmark Add-ons

#7 – Firefox Private Browsing Mode Help and FAQ

Want to increase your privacy on your PC?  With the release of Firefox 3.5, our favorite browser now has a Private Browsing mode.  Usually your browser remembers the web sites you have visited, your user names and passwords, your browsing history and more.  However, with this newest addition to the Firefox 3.5 feature list, you can now go incognito on the Internet.

• Firefox Tip – Easier Access to Private Browsing Mode

#6 – Convert YouTube Videos to MP3

The experimental add-on YouTube 2 MP3 will convert and download YouTube videos in the .mp3 audio format.  There is no doubt that YouTube has a large collection of music videos, so this type of service was bound to happen eventually.

• More YouTube Tips – 1-Click YouTube Video Downloader

#5 – Speed up Flash Videos in Firefox

Want to speed up your flash video watching?  By default, Firefox takes a sort of “snapshot” of whatever you are doing every ten seconds.  Why?  It is so that the browser can restore itself, just in case of a crash.  Now you might ask, what does this have to do with flash videos?  Well, the snapshot action is what is causing your ten second delay, at times, with watching flash videos on the Web.

• Firefox Hacks – More Fun Tips with About:Config

#4 – 10 Popular Themes That Are Firefox 3.5 Ready

One of the negative side effects of a new version of Firefox rolling out is the fact that some Firefox theme creators neglect to update their themes to the newest versions.  So, when updating our browser, that leaves some of us in the dark, when it comes to using the themes we know and love.  However, this time around many more popular themes have been updated to support Firefox 3.5 and here are my favorite ten for you to choose from.

• Skins Galore – All the Great Firefox Themes I’ve Reviewed

#3 – Skip to the Download on Rapidshare, Megaupload and More!

Want to skip the totally unnecessary “wait to download” pages on Rapidshare, Megaupload and more?  SkipScreen, and add-on for Firefox is here to help.

#2- All About Perspective – Firefox Wallpaper

Firefox wallpaper that I would actually see myself using is hard to find.  The main reason behind third is that I don’t really like text on my desktop, and I really don’t like feeling like a marketing campaign either.  So with that said, what type of Firefox wallpaper does make me happy?

• Desktop Decorations – Five Star Firefox Wallpaper

#1 – Beginner’s Guide to Greasemonkey

In a nutshell, Greasemonkey is an add-on for Firefox that allows you to customize a web site’s look and function.  Now you don’t have to be a coder to use it though, because there are already hundreds of scripts out there available for free that you can use to help you do a number of different things.

• Another Great Guide: Beginner’s Manual to Stylish

I hope you have enjoyed reading all the Firefox Facts tips, tricks and more this year – and you’ll subscribe to the RSS feed, visit daily and be entertained and informed all the way though 2010 and beyond.  This site wouldn’t be a success without you, so thank you for making Firefox Facts on of the most popular Firefox tip related blogs out there today. Happy New Year!

BONUS – Check out the Best of Mitchelaneous (2009 Edition)

Before the tweak (notice the close tab button is on the tab itself)

After the tweak (notice the close tab button has been moved to the far right)

Now what is the secret?  You just need to do a little editing in your about:config page.

1. Type in about:config in the Firefox address bar
2. Tell Firefox you’ll be careful, promise! (unless you already asked Firefox not to be warned about this anymore)
3. In the the filter box you see at the top, type in browser.tabs.closeButtons
4. Right-click it’s entry on the about:config page, and choose “Modify”
5. Change the value from 1 to 3 (you can switch it back the same way if you don’t like it)
6. You are done!  Enjoy your tab closing button in it’s new location!

Hope you enjoyed this quick customization tip, using the powers of the about:config settings and configurations.  If you enjoyed this one, be sure to check out the other about:config tweaks we have covered in the past too.

So what is the solution?  Time to visit our good friend, the about:config…

The quick fix for this problem, at least for my own sake, is to increase the time between each of the saves performed by session restore. By opening about:config in your Firefox address bar, then typing browser.sessionstore.interval in the filter box, you’ll see a value of 10000, which is in milliseconds. (Meaning your session is saved every 10 seconds.) I changed this to 300000, or every 5 minutes, as I don’t have the urgent need for tab restoration. If you feel like being more on the safe side, try increasing it to something a bit lower, say 120000, or every 2 minutes.

I gave it a shot, and it might not be a life changing experiance after doing so, but it does seem to make the videos play faster, especially if you have several Firefox tabs or windows open at the same time.

This extension of Firefox will give you a lot of the “about:config” preferences, in an easy to navigate menu box.  It displays the options, included in the current version, using checkboxes, dropdown lists and textboxes.

If you want to check out all the advanced settings that gui:config makes available to you, Lifehacker has done a nice gallery of each tab you see in the screenshot above.

I would consider this extension well worth trying out, at least.  The add-on, gui:config is a must have for anybody who likes to tweak and customize their browsing experience.  You can find out more about the development at:  http://guiconfig.freedig.org/.

In the address bar, type in about:config, and then hit enter.

At the warning, click the button that says, “I’ll be careful, I promise!”.  Now you are ready to do some configuration changes.  We want to setup a new option though, so right-click anywhere inside of the about:config screen and then go to New > Integer.

For the preference name type in:

browser.bookmarks.livemark_refresh_seconds

Now, for the value, you will need to add your time up by seconds.  For example, if you wanted it to be reloaded every two minutes you would type in 120 (because there are 120 seconds in two minutes).  The smallest number you can put in here is 60 seconds.  If you put in anything lower, Firefox will slap you in the face – and then say, “Oh yeah, you wanted to put in ’60′ right?”.

You can also reload a Live Bookmark manually to by right-clicking it and choosing “Reload Live Bookmark”.  However that isn’t nearly as fun as diving into about:config.