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.

The meat and potatoes behind this Firefox extension are pretty simple.  Once installed, you can double-click on any unlinked URL – then Firefox loads it up in the browser.  You no longer need to copy and paste the website URL into the address bar or do anything else to get to that unlinked address.  You just double click it.

So now, right from within Firefox you can fix somebody else’s bad website coding with one simple add-on.  You can pick up Text link at the Firefox Add-ons website.

Mozilla is not out to make money or to have a stake in whatever gets developed there.  All code that is written in the four week period must be open sourced. If you are able to really develop something cool and worth of investing money in, Mozilla may also add additional funding and resources to the project too. 

Overall, Web FWD looks like Mozilla’s offer to the Internet to just make it better – plain and simple.  They want innovative people with amazing ideas to step forward and work with them to bring their ideas to life.  To learn more about the project, be sure to check out webfwd.org.

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.

Thus far, after playing with the add-on in question, I think anywhere from 40 to 50 is a good minimum tab width.  You could go all the way down to 1 though if you really wanted to (however, this pretty much makes the tab bar impossible to use). So why is this so exciting to the masses?  Well,  you used to be able to make this tweak in your about:config settings – however it appears that in Firefox 4 they took this feature out and moved it into the theme’s settings (to give more customization features to theme designers).

Want to pick up Custom Tab Width? You can do so by download it from the Firefox Add-ons website.

The add-on looks to enhance the way you interact with content from your favorite website services.  Check out this quick video tour to learn more:

For people with plenty of screen real estate, this really is a great tool to add to the browser.  Your searches, social link sharing and much more are just pulled up in a popup window that comes from the right of the screen.  You might think this would get in the way of things – but it also does a good job at hiding itself when you don’t need it front and center.

KwiClick can display the results of your searches from the Firefox search box, which makes finding the right site easier than ever. This is an option that can be turned on/off whenever you like.

Want to give it a shot? Go download KwiClick for Firefox over at the Firefox 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.

This fantastic little add-on for Firefox adds a lot to using the mouse and Firefox together.  Here are just a few of the mouse combinations that it brings to your browsing habits.

While holding down the right mouse button:

• Scroll up/down to move focus between tabs
• While scrolled away left click to return to the original tab
• Left click without scrolling or after scrolling and back to original tab to jump to last used tab
• Middle/scroll button click to close tab
• Middle/scroll button down and hold to undo last closed tab
• Middle/scroll button double click will close all tabs with same host name (Ex: addons.mozilla.org is different from www.mozilla.org)

While double clicking:

• Double click right button to open new tab
• Double click right button AND hold to duplicate current tab

While holding down the left mouse button:

• Scroll up/down to zoom in/out
• Middle click to reset zoom

This might be the best power tool when it comes to getting more out of using your mouse with Firefox.  You can pick up MouseControl from the Firefox add-ons website.

The idea here is simple.  The AmazonAssist add-on is suppose to help me discover relevant Amazon products while I surf around the Internet. As I search for products, the AmazonAssist add-on for Firefox will use my search keywords to find matching products on Amazon.com and will display them in a different search result panel.

To give a test drive, I searched for “NES” on Google:

To it’s credit – the AmazonAssist (across the bottom of the window) did find relevant content as it related to my search. So yes, AmazonAssist works! If you see a product that interests you in the AmazonAssist window, simply click it and you will be taken to the listing for that product on the Amazon website.

Now for those of you worried about Amazon spying on you, they are straight forward when it comes to telling you what information they are looking at.

AmazonAssist collects information from certain websites you visit, including major search engine websites, in order to improve your search experience. If you also have an Amazon.com cookie, AmazonAssist will associate your web browsing information with your cookie and account information in order to help us further personalize your Amazon shopping experiences. If you do not want your web browsing information associated with your Amazon.com account, you can easily opt-out within the AmazonAssist application.

If you like to do all your shopping through Amazon, this add-on is simply a really handy addition to an already great service.  You can pick it up at the Firefox Add-ons website.