Photo Credit: Gary Tamin - Edited by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

You have may noticed many changes from the previous version, specially the address bar, and many people have asked me if the old tricks to speed your browser up are still working.

The answer is yes, and here you can find the most common tricks that are used by many people:

1. Open Firefox, and type about:config in the address bar. Don’t worry about the warning that comes out.

   

2. Use the filter above to find network.http.pipelining and set it to True by double clicking on it.
3. Create a new boolean value named network.http.pipelining.firstrequest and set that to True, as well.
4. Find network.http.pipelining.maxrequests, double click on it, and change its value to 8.
5. Now look for network.http.proxy.pipelining and again set it to True.
6. Create two new integers named nglayout.initialpaint.delay and content.notify.interval, setting them to 0.

Now restart your browser and check a few heavy-loading websites to see if those changes worked or not.

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-speed-up-firefox-3/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/firefox-safe-mode-how-to-use-it http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/firefox-safe-mode-how-to-use-it#comments Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:00:06 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/?p=418 Safe mode is a great thing to use when your Windows OS is encountering problems or simply won’t run properly. It is simplified version of your operating system, that disable many function, letting you edit and adjust what is wrong.

But did you know that Firefox has its own safe mode?


Photo Credit: Thiago Miqueias - Edited by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

This safe mode can help you verify if an add-on, theme, or toolbar setting is causing problems, by simply disabling them temporarily.

Here’s how to start and use safe mode in Firefox:


Start

• Windows

  

  Normally in your Mozilla program folder under the Start menu, you should find a shortcut called Firefox (Safe Mode). If you don’t, simply select Start>Run and enter: firefox -safe-mode.

• Mac OS X & Linux

  On Linux, you can go to your Terminal and run: /path/to/firefox/firefox -safe-mode

  On Mac OS X go to Utilities (in the Applications folder), open Terminal and run: Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode

Use

At this point, a window called Firefox Safe Mode should open, and you will be able to select through various options:



• Disable all add-ons: Disables all added themes and extensions.
• Reset toolbars and controls: Removes any made toolbar customization.
• Reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults: Replaces your bookmarks with the default bookmarks.
• Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults: Restores the default Options and preference settings and resets the default theme.
• Restore default search engines: Adds back all of the default search engines (Google, Yahoo, eBay, Creative Commons, Answers.com, and Amazon.com) , without removing any added search engines.


And here the buttons:

• Make Changes and Restart: Restarts Firefox in normal mode and applies the applied changes
• Continue in Safe Mode: Starts Firefox in Safe Mode (this will not apply any of the options selected above).
]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/firefox-safe-mode-how-to-use-it/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-spell-check-all-fields-in-firefox http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-spell-check-all-fields-in-firefox#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:26:33 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-spell-check-all-fields-in-firefox Firefox has a really useful built-in dictionary that underlines a misspelled word, so you can see at a glance whenever you have typed something wrong.



But you might have noticed that when you type a wrong word into the email subject (in Gmail for example) or any single line element, it doesn’t work.

Yes, the default setting corrects and spell checks all multiple lines areas, leaving it to you to find errors in single lines box such as titles, subjects, tags…

Here are some quick steps to set Firefox to check every field:

1. Type about:config in the address bar and look for ‘layout.spellcheckDefault’.
2. The default value is 1, which means that Firefox will spell check all “textarea” fields, but changing it to 2 will make it check all fields of any kind.


You can also deactivate the spell checker function by setting the value to 0, but I suggest you keep this function on as it doesn’t really bother, but can really help you out with distraction errors and mistakes.

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-spell-check-all-fields-in-firefox/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-create-a-smart-keyword-search-in-firefox http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-create-a-smart-keyword-search-in-firefox#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:06:57 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-create-a-smart-keyword-search-in-firefox Do you make a lot of researches on the Internet, maybe on websites that are not major search engines like Google or Yahoo, and you want to speed up the search process?


Photo Credit: Davide Guglielmo - Edited by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

In Firefox you can type in the address box the name of a search engine followed by the search term (e.g. “Wikipedia Firefox”) so that it will search directly into that website, without the need of going to that page and type in the search box.

But, if you want to do the same thing on other sites, it is not possible if you do not set Firefox to do it properly.

Editors at Hongkiat.com have published a short guide on how to create Smart Keyword Searches in Firefox and Safari, showing how easy it is to search automatically in any website by typing your query in the address bar with Firefox.

Here’s what to do:

1. Go on the website you would like to create a quick search for and look for the search box.
2. Right click on the search box and select “Add a Keyword for this Search”.



3. A new box will open: in the Name field just type the site’s name or something that will help you remember the assigner search keyword. In the keyword box, type the string that you will use to search on that particular site.



Now anytime you will type the keyword and the search query, Firefox will automatically redirect you to the results page.



Via: Hongkiat.com

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-create-a-smart-keyword-search-in-firefox/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-convert-documents-and-files-online-via-email http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-convert-documents-and-files-online-via-email#comments Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:33:45 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-convert-documents-and-files-online-via-email Sometimes we all need to convert some files in other formats for compatibility reasons. There are millions of programs that allow you to convert any type of document from a format to any other.


Photo Credit: Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

And there are also many web-based services that allow you to change any file’s format without installing any software, and I also made a little collection of the best online conversion tools.



But another way of converting files is on its way: email. Nowadays email accounts do not longer need to be accessed via dedicated softwares like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird, so you can just use a browser and log-in into your personal email through a web form.

Koolwire is a service that you can use to convert files just by sending an email: you just have to attach a file, type in the right address for that specific conversion and, after a while you have sent the email, a new one will be sent to you with the converted file attached.



Here are the email addresses, limited to 10MB per file:

4. pdf@koolwire.com - Converts Microsoft Word DOC, Excel XLS and PowerPoint PPT in PDF files.
5. doc@koolwire.com - Converts PDF files in Word (DOC) o RTF documents.
6. mp3@koolwire.com - Converts WAV in MP3.
7. wav@koolwire.com - Converts MP3 in WAV files.

Apart from Koolwire, other services like Adobe offer you a convert-email address:

8. pdf2txt@adobe.com - Converts PDF in TXT files.
9. pdf2html@adobe.com - Converts PDF in HTML.
10. iPhone@pdfonline.com - Converts Microsoft Visio (VSD) and Word 2007 (DOCX) in PDF (1MB file limit).
11. doc@scanr.com - Converts images in PDF files.
]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-convert-documents-and-files-online-via-email/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-open-multiple-home-pages-in-firefox http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-open-multiple-home-pages-in-firefox#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:38:28 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-open-multiple-home-pages-in-firefox Every browser out there gives you the possibility to have a home page loaded automatically every time you open it. If you are someone who doesn’t like to wait very much, or just someone who likes to optimize his time this is the perfect solution for you.


Photo Credit: Nicolò Canali De Rossi

With Firefox in fact, you can easily open multiple pages at startup, without any plug-in or particular trick.

All you need to do is:


• Click on Tools>Options from your Firefox toolbar.



• In the Main tab, you will see a box called startup: in the Home Page box, just type all of the websites you wish to be opened at startup, separated by “|” (bar). It will look like www.gmail.com | www.google.com/reader | www.google.com.

After you click OK, every time your browser starts again those web pages will load in separated tabs.

If you are currently browsing the pages you wish to open at startup, you will notice a button under the Home Page box called Use Current Pages: this button will automatically add those pages’ URLs, separated by bars, into the box.



You can also make Firefox open all the tabs and windows you were browsing when you last closed it, by selecting the related option from the drop-down menu.



]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-open-multiple-home-pages-in-firefox/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-assign-keywords-to-bookmarks-in-firefox http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-assign-keywords-to-bookmarks-in-firefox#comments Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:27:25 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-assign-keywords-to-bookmarks-in-firefox Are you someone who works a lot with tabs and needs to open millions of sites rapidly, without even losing a second typing a URL into the address bar?


Photo Credit: Andre Veron - Edited by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

With this little trick, I am going to show how to assign a keyword shortcut to your Firefox bookmarks, so that you will have to type just one word instead of a long text and slashes.

Here’s what to do:

• Click on Bookmarks, choose the site you want to add a keyword to, right click on it and select properties.



• Think of a word that you will easily remember for that site and type it in the Keyword box and click OK.



From now on, everytime you want to open that particular site, you will just have to type its corresponding keyword into the address bar, click Enter, and there you go: the keyword will be replaced by the site’s URL, and you will automatically be redirected to it.

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-assign-keywords-to-bookmarks-in-firefox/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-resize-and-reposition-firefox-window-with-a-bookmarklet http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-resize-and-reposition-firefox-window-with-a-bookmarklet#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:49:52 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-resize-and-reposition-firefox-window-with-a-bookmarklet Javascript is a scripting language that is mostly used on the client side and can be really powerful. It can open a new browser window, change images as your mouse moves on them, position objects…But also resize windows!


Photo Credit: Marcelo Terraza - Edited by Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

In fact there are some Javascripts that can be used to resize and reposition your Firefox windows with a single click over a bookmarklet.

Editors at Hongkiat, a really good up-to-date website about technology that I always follow, have written two great articles on you to create there powerful bookmarklets in a few simple steps.


Creating a bookmarklet



Hongkiat’s original article will show you how to simply create a bookmarklet in Firefox in three easy steps.

Resizing and repositioning bookmarklets

Hongkiat’s editors have also created a series of useful bookmarklets that you can simply drag&drop to your Firefox sidebar, and that will automatically resize and reposition your window with one click.



Here are some examples:

• Max!
• 1024×768 C
• 1024×768 TC

And here is the full article with all the bookmarklets you can add to your sidebar.

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-resize-and-reposition-firefox-window-with-a-bookmarklet/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-embed-google-applications-inside-your-sidebar-in-firefox http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-embed-google-applications-inside-your-sidebar-in-firefox#comments Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:47:56 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-embed-google-applications-inside-your-sidebar-in-firefox Google Applications have changed many people’s lives…at least mine! It has made it possible to have all of your emails into a single professional web-based account, create, view, and edit all of your documents online, organize yourself with an online calendar, take notes and bring them everywhere, and also chat with everyone without downloading anything.



Yes, this is a pure dream…but could you make it even better somehow?

And indeed you can do so: including all of these incredible services into your Firefox’s sidebar!

In this mini-guide I am going to explain step-by-step how to embed every Google Application in your left sidebar in a matter of seconds.


Gmail



To embed Gmail into Firefox’s sidebar, you really can’t use the normal page: it is too wide, and too complicated to fit in such a small place. So the best way to do it, is to use the Mobile Gmail, the one designed for your mobile phone.

1. Just bookmark this link, http://m.gmail.com, by right clicking it and selecting “Bookmark this link…”, or manually from the Bookmarks menu, and name it as you want (e.g. Mobile Gmail).



2. Now open Bookmarks>Organize Bookmarks and look for the site you’ve just added, right-click it, and select properties: you will see a check box that says “Load this bookmark in the sidebar”. Tick it and close the menu.

Now, everytime you click that bookmark, you will get your new embedded Gmail in your sidebar.

Google Talk



To embed Google’s own chat, GTalk, into your sidebar, you will have to repeat the process you have just seen for Gmail, changing the link into http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/client

Google Calendar



Again, to include GCal into the sidebar, this is the link to add to your bookmarks: http://www.google.com/calendar/….

Google Notebook



Google Notebook’s link to add: http://www.google.com/notebook/ig?hl=__MSG_locale__

Google Docs



To include Google Docs, there’s an ad-hoc Firefox extension called Google Docs Bar.

It allows you to view your GDocs account directly into your Firefox’s sidebar, upload files using drag&drop, search and filter documents, and more.

Free to download and use.

Link: http://www.gdocsbar.com/

]]> http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-embed-google-applications-inside-your-sidebar-in-firefox/feed http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-export-your-firefox-boomarks-manually http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-export-your-firefox-boomarks-manually#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:38:14 +0000 Nicolo' Canali De Rossi http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-export-your-firefox-boomarks-manually Ever needed to export your Firefox bookmarks because you are planning to format your computer, or simply to make a backup of them? Are there too many extensions and add-ons that you can’t pick one?


Photo Credit: Nicolo’ Canali De Rossi

In this simple guide, I will show you how to export all of your bookmarks manually, in a matter of seconds, with no need of installing anything.

Here is what you need to do:



• Click on the “Bookmarks” menu on top of Firefox and then select “Organize Bookmarks”. A new window will open, and you will see all of your bookmarks listed.



• Click on “File”>”Export”, select where to save the file and you’re done!



Now, if you want to import that file in a new Firefox installation, instead of clicking “Export” in the last step, click “Import” and locate the file.

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