Everybody seems to be raving about how great Firefox 4 will be, but have you seen it yet? By installing a portable version of Firefox 4 on a USB thumb drive, you too can test it out and see if you like this latest innovation from Mozilla.

Here is a step by step guide on how to install Firefox 4 on a USB thumb drive.

Watch the simple installation process right here:

Installing the portable version of Firefox 4 is a pretty simple thing to do.  Before we get started, you will need:

• A USB Thumb Drive
• The Latest Version of Firefox 4 from PortableApps.com

Once you have those, you are ready to get started.

1. Plug in your USB thumb drive.
2. Locate where you downloaded the latest version of Firefox 4 from the Portable Apps website. The file should be called something like FirefoxPortableTest_4.0_otherstuff.exe.
3. Double-click the .exe to start the install.  On the second install screen, where it says “Choose Install Location” make sure you hit the “Browse” button and navigate to your USB thumb drive.
4. Hit the button labeled, “Install”.
5. On the next screen, Firefox 4 will install on your thumb drive.  One finished, go ahead and hit the button labeled, “Finish” and you are done.

To use your new Firefox 4 on the USB thumb drive, open the thumb drive up on your PC, then go to:

/FirefoxPortableTest/FirefoxPortable.exe

As I learned when recording my video tutorial, you can’t run your local version of Firefox and the Firefox 4 portable version at the same time. So make sure your local PC install of Firefox is closed out, then double-click on the FirefoxPortable.exe and look around at what Firefox 4 has to offer you.

I hope this helps some of you out who are a little nervous about doing new Firefox installs on other devices, but still want to see what the next version of Firefox will look like.

Adblock Plus is a terrific add-on for Firefox that does an excellent job at blocking advertisements on websites.  In the past, I’ve even interviewed the developer of the script, and I would say this is a must-have extension for Firefox too. While protecting yourself from malware ads is a good thing that Adblock Plus does very well, what should you do about websites you wish to support?  Today, I’ll share with you the steps to take if you want to whitelist advertisements on one website, while still blocking ads on other websites.

Turning off Adblock Plus for a few good websites you want to support is easy. Here is how it is done:

Disable Adblock Plus in the Status Bar for a Domain

If Adblock Plus is inside your status bar, all you need to do is right-click on the AdBlock Plus icon, and select "disable on thisdomain.com" where thisdomain.com is the website you are currently browsing.

Once you have done that, then you will be able to see ads on that specific website again. 

Disable Adblock Plus in the Menu Toolbar for a Domain

If you have AdBlock Plus installed in the Firefox navigation toolbar, just left-click on the down arrow next to the Adblock Plus logo, then select "Disable on thisdomain.com".  Taking these steps will disable ad blocking on the website you are looking at.

Why Should You Whitelist Ads on Specific Websites?

Now, I know I might be opening myself up to the argument of pro-ads versus anti-ads, and some might even claim I am trying to control the way you browse.  I am not.  I am just letting you know a way to customize your Adblock Plus usage to meet your own needs. For many independent authors though, a few website ads is how they support their projects – so by seeing or clicking on the occasional ad, you can give something back.  At least, that is how it is suppose to work.

My question for you is, do you block all ads, don’t mess with ad blocking, or do you filter in ads from websites you want to show support for?

Want to export your bookmarks to a .html file?  You can in Firefox with just a few clicks of the mouse.  This can come in handy when it comes to syncing your bookmarks with another browser, backing up or moving from PC to PC.  Mozilla has made the import and backup options in Firefox brain dead simple.

First, you will want to go to Bookmarks and then Organize Bookmarks from within the Firefox Menu toolbar.  That will open up the Bookmark Library.  From within there, click on Import and Backup and then Export HTML…

When you do, you will get a kind of “save this file as…” screen pop-up where the default name of the exported file will be bookmarks.html.  Select the location you wish to save the file to, and then hit the Save button.

There you have it.  You now have a picture perfect backup of your Firefox bookmarks.  Hope this basic tutorial comes in handy – and if you have any other bookmark exporting tips you would like to share – be sure to do so in the comments.

With that in mind, I thought it might be handy to guide you through the process when it comes to adding a new Persona theme to your browser, removing a Persona theme from your browser, and how to chance through Persona themes – once you have several saved to your system.

How Do You Install a Firefox Persona?

If you are using Firefox 3.6 or above, the options for Personas should be built into the browser.  Here is how you can grab your own Firefox Persona to use in Firefox.

Go to the Personas page on the Firefox Add-ons web site or the Personas Gallery.

Next, browser around the web site until you find a Persona you would like to use in your own Firefox browser.  Notice that as you hover over the thumbnail previews, your Firefox browser will change to show you what that Persona would look like.

Click on the Persona you would like to use, and go check out the official page for that specific Persona.  For example, here is the page for the Superman logo Persona shown above:

• Superman Logo Firefox Persona

To install that specific Persona for Firefox, click the orange, “Wear this Persona” button.

Once you do so, the Persona will be installed – and you will get a message come up in the browser telling you it has been installed, and giving you the option to undo or go to your manage themes settings.

You are now done.  Your new Persona for Firefox has been installed and is ready to decorate your browser till you change it again.

How Can You Uninstall a Firefox Persona?

Uninstalling Firefox Personas is as easy as installing them.  From Firefox’s Menu Bar, select Tools and then Add-ons.  Once that comes up, you want to go to the “Themes” tab. Both Firefox themes and Personas will now be displayed here.

Click on the Firefox Persona you wish to uninstall, and click the “Uninstall” button. You will be asked to verify the uninstall, and then it will be gone for good.  You can also switch to a different Persona you have downloaded by clicking on that Persona from this screen, and selecting “Use Theme”.

Get More Personas Help: Other Personas Tips, Articles and Tutorials!

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)

How Do You Use Greasemonkey?

Once you have installed Greasemonkey, you will see the little monkey’s head come up in your status bar.  From here you can create a new user script of your own or you can edit the ones you have already installed.  You also have the ability to enable and disable scripts or Greasemonkey all together, if you need to.

Where Can I Find Greasemonkey User Scripts?

Finding Greasemonkey scripts is easy.  For that, let me point you in the direction of Userscripts.org. This is a great depository of user scripts people have created to get more out of various web sites.  You can browse through all of the scripts, or search for the web site you want to modify.

Greasefire, another extension for Firefox can also help.  It will let you know in the status bar how many user scripts are available for that specific URL you are visiting. Here are a few more of my favorite Greasemonkey script collections:

• The Best Greasemonkey Scripts
• Make Google Better with Greasemonkey
• Best Flickr Greasemonkey Scripts

How Can I Make My Own User Scripts for Greasemonkey?

Making your own Greasemonkey user scripts might be a ‘bit of a challenge, unless you are an old JavaScript coding pro.  It does take some learning, however there are several resources on the Web that will help you teach yourself.  One of the best is the Dive into Greasemonkey eBook.  Here are a few more resources to help you create your own user script:

• The Wiki at GreaseSpot.net
• Greasemonkey Hacks Wiki

Once you have made a successful Greasemonkey userscript, you might even look into creating it into a stand alone Firefox add-on.

If you like the tweak the Web, and make it your own, then Greasemonkey is well worth picking up as a Firefox extension.  The add-on, plus some user scripting can lead to helping you get more out of your favorite web sites, and then share that help with others.  When push comes to shove, isn’t that what the Internet should be all about?

Here are the add-ons to help you with your page loading and re-loading.

• ReloadEvery – reloads a tab ever “x” amount of minutes or seconds.
• Reload Tab On Double-Click – reloads a tab when you double-click it.
• Reload Plus – gives you tons of other reloading keyboard shortcuts.
• Check4Change – periodically check a web page for updates.

Now, I know a lot of people will say, “How hard is it to hit the refresh button in your browser?” So with that in mind, here are a few additional ways to reload that web page in question.

Reloading Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows/Linux: F5 or Ctrl + R = Reload a Page

Apple: F5 or Cmd + R = Reload a Page

Extra Tip: Another way to reload that tab you are on is to left-click on the tab, drag it into the browser window and the release.  That will give it a quick refresh too.

How do you reload your browser window?

Using what is called “user styles” the Stylish add-on for Firefox can empower your browsing experience by letting you personalize or fix the features of Firefox or the Web in general that bug you the most.

How do I get started with Stylish?

Once installed, all you have to do is right-click the status bar icon, select “Write Style” and then choose if you want to write a style for the URL you are on right now, or create an empty style not related to any web site, for now at least.  You can also tag your style, giving it a few descriptive words. 

Now how do you know what to put into the window, to customize Firefox (as I have done in the screenshot above) or your favorite web site?  I suggest checking out userstyles.org. 

Where can I find and learn to create user styles?

Not only is userstyles.org a great repository of scripts others have written that you can use, it is also a place where you can view the code they used, so you can try it out when you create your own user style.

Here are a few resources to get you started finding the user style that you need or want to use:

• Highest Rated User Styles
• Popular User Styles
• Newest User Styles
• Recently Updated User Styles

There is also a user styles blog and set of forums for you to follow too.  If I had a top 10 list of my favorite Firefox add-ons, Stylish would be in the top 5, at least.  Anything that helps the users of Firefox customize the Web or Firefox to meet their needs better is a winner in my book.

Here are a few example tips and tricks:

• Options Picture 3
• Options Picture 13
• Add Background Image to Empty Tabs
• Use Dark Background Color (But No Image) with Empty Tabs
• Tabpanels Dark
• Style the About:Mozilla Page
• Use Original Firefox Throbbers
• Compact Menubar (Smaller Throbber)
• Plain Common Dialogs, Prompts and Alerts
• Dark Google
• Gmail Redesigned (by Globex Designs)
• NNL for ScribeFire
• Dark Windows Desktop Themes
• ImageTweak Extension

To use these tweaks and tips for yourself, all you need to do is download the NASA Night Launch theme from the Firefox Add-ons site – and get started.

Best Firefox related project award?

iPox Remix – In TwisterMC’s own words, “iPox Remix is my way of letting the user customize the iPox Firefox theme to their liking.” Never have I seen a better guide on how to get a good looking theme going with a lot of hand holding along the way. By far – this multi-stepped article series deserves to be the best as far as the non-Mozilla owned projects go.

Best alternative guide to Firefox award?

Learn Firefox – It is a visual guide to help you learn more about the Firefox browser. With an original look and feel to the entire web site and project, Learn Firefox leaps above the rest when it comes to giving you a new and exciting way to learn more about everybody’s new favorite browser. Major props for Chris, Ryan and Ashley for putting this one together.

Mitch’s favorite Mozilla Firefox awareness program?

Operation Firefox – Sharing the Firefox love by placing huge stickers all over the place. Point to me where the part not to love is, because I ain’t seeing it. Winners were also recently announced, so might be time to take look back at this Mozilla project if you haven’t been there in a while.

Best Firefox Blog?

MozillaLinks.org – This is a good blog that even I like to subscribe to so I can stay ahead of the game with some really cool news and information coming out of Mozilla about Firefox. Percy does a great job and hopefully will keep up the great work. Two thumbs up from one blog to another.

Want more? Ok, here are a few quickies:

Favorite Mozilla Personality? Asa Dotzler

Best Use of the Firefox Community? Spread Firefox

Biggest Waste of Time? Why Firefox is Blocked

Have any other awards you’d like to see me hand out? It is your turn! Give me your choices and awards in comment form.