In Mitchcraft, I will be playing Minecraft.  For those of you unaware of the game, the best way to describe it would be Legos mixed with a role playing game.  Your goal is to mine and collect supplies so you can build new things.  It is very open ended and lends itself well to basing a series around it.  I’ll be recording myself playing the game and invite all my Firefox Facts fans to tune in and check it out.

Just visit my YouTube channel page and click on the “Subscribe” link at the top. New videos will also be posted on Mitchelaneous.com too.  I’d love to hear your comments too on what you’d like to see me do and build.  This series will be as much for you as it is for me, so give me your feeback and be sure to “like” a few of my videos too.  It is nice to know you guys are out there.

Some websites, like Hulu for example, give you the ability to dim everything in the background on a page so that you can focus on the video you are watching.  What if you could do that on every website? That is what the add-on for Firefox, Turn Off the Lights, brings to the browser.

This brings distraction free video watching to Firefox, plain and simple.  Here are a few more features of Turn Off the Lights:

• Turn the lights back on, by clicking on it
• Fade in and out effect just like the Chrome, Safari and Opera extension
• Support multiple video sites: YouTube, HTML5 video
• Support multiple image sites: Google Images Search

More features are planned for the future too.  They are looking to add autoplay, color changing, context menu options and more. You can learn more about the Turn Off the Lights project from their Google Code project website and pick up the add-on for Firefox from the Firefox Add-ons website.

With Firefox 4 coming soon, we will be finding a lot of new hacks, interface customizations and more we can do to make Firefox more personalized to our own needs.  So, with that said, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the most popular hacks for Firefox 3.5 and up to give you all one last chance to try them out before Firefox 4 changes the game again.

How to Disable the New Tab Button

For some people out there, the new tab button on the tab toolbar was a waste of space.  By editing your userChrome.css file, you can easily remove it.

Speed Up Flash Videos (like YouTube)

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. With a little about:config tweak you can speed up the videos you are watching on YouTube and other video sharing websites.

Quicker Route to Private Browsing

Yes, we did finally get a way to enable private browsing in Firefox.  The problem is, it is a pain to enable!  Well, to save you a few clicks, I figured out a way you can start private browsing mode in Firefox from within the awesome address bar.

Move the Close Tab Button

In an effort to simplify the Firefox interface, did you know you can make a few changes in the about:config page to move the close tab buttons around?  I’ll show you how to move it to the far right of the browser, in just six easy steps.

Enable the Visual Tab Switcher

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.

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

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.  Now, let us put things back the way they were.

Change the Firefox Spell Check Font Format

Want to make your misspelled words stand out a ‘bit more when composing a message in Firefox?  It is easy to do with this quick about:config tweak.  You can select no highlighting, a dotted line, long dots, a single straight line, a double underline or the default squiggly line.

I hope you enjoyed this collection of classic Firefox 3.5+ interface hacks and tweaks you can do to make the browser a little more customized to your own browsing needs.  Have another favorite customization tip I might have missed?  Leave it in the comments!

How can you add the full screen button to YouTube videos found on Facebook?  This is the question that was brought to my attention Friday by one of my Facebook followers, and after doing a little hunting I did find a solution.

You see, for some unknown reason, either Facebook or YouTube does not want you to watch videos in full screen when on Facebook. Why?  I guess they are afraid it will take you, “out of the Facebook environment, leaving you with a less desirable experience” or at least that is what I would guess the Facebook public relations team would have to say.

So, how do you bring the full screen icon back to YouTube videos featured on Facebook?  Just grab the Greasemonkey add-on for Firefox, then get the user script named Fullscreen Youtube & Vimeo (+others) on Facebook.  Once this script is installed, you will see the full screen icon come back to your online videos you find on Facebook.

The control to watch things full screen (or not) is back to being your choice, and not the choice of the Facebook public relations team.  Thanks to Filipe for the great question!

Once TweakTube has been installed, you can access it from Tools > YouTube – Options in the Firefox menu bar.  Once inside, here are some of the general options you can tweak around with:

• AutoPagerize – Inserts the next page of results as you are reaching the bottom of the page you are on.
• BetterTube – Auto-embeds the video file, enlarges it, and provides a link to download the video
• Colorful Buttons – Makes the Youtube buttons colorful, and adds a few other improvements
• Enhancer – Download link, quality selector, rollover preview, media controller, resizer, etc.
• Free Youtube – Plays videos with your local FLV-capable media player (VLC recommended)
• Middle-click Multi-selected Links – Middle-click on buttons and select multiple videos with ctrl+click
• Prewatch – Displays a tooltip for YouTube videos with video information and a small player for a preview
• Serialize Multiple Videos – Play multiple videos (requires “Multi-selected Links”), ctrl+click to select, shift+click to play
• Simple Flash Blocker – Disables autoplay of videos, so that you need to click them in order for them to play
• The Movie Dude – Cross-links movie sites so you don’t have to
• Small Tweaks – Black background for videos, comment dates, related videos are now scrollable, and more
• Video Downloader – Downloads videos in MP4, FLV, 3GP and MP3 format

When it comes to your watching experience on YouTube, you can tweak things in that aspect too.

• Better Loopy – Displays a link below YouTube videos to enable/disable auto replay
• Coralized – Uses Coral Content Distribution Network (www.coralcdn.org) to accelerate video performance
• YouTraceX – Video history
• Lights Out – Turn the lights out for easier watching of YouTube videos
• HD Suite – Shows HD videos by default and shows quality icons on video thumbnails
• VidzBigger – Automatically scale videos to largest possible size and HQ/HD quality video
• Random Video Playlist – Pick a user, and this script will automatically watch random videos from that user
• Resizer – Move the YouTube player to a spot where it has more room, and make it bigger
• Windows Media Player – Replaces Flash-Player with Media Player
• Real HD Player – Expands video but not when it should be normal size

If you play with one YouTube add-on this weekend, TweakTube had better be it.  You an also change the overall style of the YouTube pages between eleven different color and background layouts.

This add-on is definitely worth checking out, if you spend a lot of time browsing through videos on YouTube.  You can download TweakTube on the Firefox add-ons website.

Want to be able to download some of the best HD 1080p videos from across the internet, but missing that Firefox add-on that promises to get it all done in a simple way?  KeepTube is the video downloading extension you might want to take a look at.

According to the author of the KeepTube add-on you can:

Download Youtube Videos (HD 1080p & 720p/HQ MP4, FLV, 3GP) Dailymotion (HQ MP4, FLV), Megavideo (HD/HQ FLV) Google (HQ MP4, FLV), Vimeo (HQ MP4) Break (HQ MP4, FLV), Veoh (HQ MP4, FLV), Metacafe, Spike, Myspace, Facebook, Current, and more!

They even supply a neat chart covering all the video downloading basics they provide, that others don’t.

Color me impressed.  The positive thing about the KeepTube add-on is it supports a lot of websites.  Bad news is, it still will not support every single website you might watch videos on.  However, that is an eventual flaw all these video download add-ons have.

On the negative side, I really don’t like how this add-on puts itself all over the browser.  Give me one simple button or addition to the webpages I visit.  It seems like it is invading my space, just a little ‘bit.

Overall, if you don’t have a video downloading add-on you are in love with yet – give KeepTube a shot.  It gets the job done, supports tons of websites out there and you can download it for free on the official Firefox Add-ons website.

Once installed, you get your own WYSIWYG editor to create and edit your own signature collection.  You can add links via RSS, instant messenger service or social profiles from around the Web too.

Still need more information?  Check out this awesome video tutorial demonstrating what all you can do with this amazing add-on for Firefox.

WiseStamp has gotten praise from all around the Web, from Lifehacker to Mashable – so it is well worth checking out if you need to micro-manage a lot of e-mail signatures, or rotate the one you use around a ‘bit depending on your mood.

It has built in support for these webmail services:

• Gmail
• Yahoo! Mail
• AOL Mail
• Hotmail

As far as social profiles and services you can plug with it, there are almost 50 to choose from, including:  Netflicks, Youtube, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Friendfeed, Digg, Google, Blogger, Tumbler, Twitter and many more.

You can pick up the WiseStamp extension for Firefox on the Firefox Add-ons site, and learn more about the amazing tool on their official web site, WiseStamp.com.

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)

Now, I know what you are going to tell me before you even say it.

“Mitch, there are already a million and one video downloaders out there, why review another one?”

Number one, you are right – there are way too many.  So what makes the 1-Click YouTube Video Download any different?  It cuts out the useless junk, and gets right to the meat and potatoes.

Other plugins make you pass through one place, that goes to another, and then finally after you turn in a circle three times you might have the video.  This add-on doesn’t make you do that dance.  Instead, it adds download links under the videos on YouTube.

All you do is select if you want to download the .flv version, the .mp4 version, or the HD version (if available).  Click the link, the download starts and you are done.

You can pick up the 1-Click YouTube Video Download add-on for Firefox on the Firefox Add-ons web site.

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.