Talk:Using Firefox

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 * Started: 1 June 2004
 * Size: ?? words
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To Do
This is a just a general list of things to work on or ideas to consider. Feel free to add, comment, or strike out items from the list.
 * Customizing the Firefox interface
 * feature set and differences between IE - perhaps this can help?
 * maybe we could add tips to make it more 'book-like'? does a tip box type thing exist in wikibooks?
 * possibly organize our categories (mouse shortcuts could be merged w/ keyboard shortcuts)
 * Very good idea--Midnightcomm 17:39, 16 January 2006 (UTC)


 * external links - forums, extension/theme links, help
 * plugins
 * useful extensions - we can't expect a user to wade through hundreds of extensions
 * safe-mode
 * separate profiles
 * pop-up blocking
 * more images
 * possibly a FAQ? (how to block ads, single window mode, change key combinations)?
 * theme info

Keyboard shortcut changes
For 1.0 PR some keyboard shortcuts will be changing:


 * Download manager, Windows & Mac OS X: Ctrl+J
 * Download manager, Unix: none
 * Web search, All platforms: Ctrl+K
 * Web search, Windows & Mac OS X: Ctrl+E
 * Web search, Unix: Ctrl+J

See also bug 250396 and bug 258694

-- Greg K Nicholson 15:41, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Keyboard shortcuts:

Updated the main document since 1.0 PR's release. Page Info no longer seems to have a keyboard shortcut. Need confirmation from Mac OS X and Linux users that Backspace for Back and Shift+Backspace for Forward are Windows-only. Confirmation of other platform-specific keyboard shortcuts would be nice.

Perhaps a two-dimensional table with one column per OS would be better?

-- Greg K Nicholson 03:34, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

The list of Firefox keyboard shortcuts appears to be current.

--Eibwen 03:52, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

update
When you press the update extensions button, does it update extensions that you downloaded from sites other than mozilla update? if i download one from extensionsmirror.nl or from a private website, does it get updated, too? - Omegatron 20:10, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * I'm pretty sure it does. - Omegatron 16:47, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I learned all kinds of cool stuff here! thanks!--dgd 17:02, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The ultimate adblock.txt file
We should have an "ultimate adblock.txt" file here, in the style of this thread: http://aasted.org/adblock/viewtopic.php?t=45 It should remove everything commonly considered ads, but not have any false positives. Suitable for someone just installing Firefox for the first time. A wiki is perfect for this because people can correct each other's bad entries (which will give false positives) and compress several entries into one with regular expressions.

We can start it off with something like this:

[Adblock] *.ad.* */Banner/* */ad/* */adclick/* *doubleclick.net*

I think a better starting point would be http://www.pierceive.com/ It seems to be the best filter set available, and closest to an "ultimate filter list" (minus filters for certain things like trackers). Best to start with that and create a list of filters to be added in append mode.

Keep this quote in mind:


 * "The idea of compiling the ultimate filter list is appealing, but may present problems. The reason for this is that Adblock works by matching the address of every blockable object against every filter in the list. In algorithmic terms, this scales as O(M*N).


 * This is actually not a very effective way of doing it, but it's necessary because of the use of filters instead of just blacklisting certain servers, and as long as the list is kept small most of us will never notice any delays.


 * What I'm trying to say is that compiling a huge list of every ad-directory on every server on the planet will scale extremely badly. The idea of creating a "beginner's list" is very good, though, but should perhaps be limited to containing very generic filters (*/ads/*, *doubleclick*, etc). At the moment, every filter-list should be adapted to the needs of the individual user and his surfing habits."

We should point it out to that thread after it gets started, too. - Omegatron 18:31, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I've hosted a pretty basic adblock file that was originally posted on TotalFark, and which I've improved slightly. It can be found at my filespace. To download it, move to the root directory (delete the filename from the address bar) and right-click, selecting "Save Link As." If you feel a need to update, feel free to replace this link. -TotalFarker Atvar

Here is another: http://www.geocities.com/pierceive/adblock/ - Omegatron 13:28, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

1.5 release?
Perhaps any new information should use the 1.5 RC or the latest nightlies instead of 1.0x, so that it won't need to be converted to reflect the new release. I'm going to try and start working on this when I have time, especially since the new release is nearing. -Gflores 02:53, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Firefox in Wikipedia
There's a ton of information on Firefox in Wikipedia. In fact, it's even been on the main page as a feature article. Most of it is encyclopedic information that won't be pertinent in a wikibook, but some things like Features of Firefox will be very helpful. Some other things that we could use is history of Firefox and general tidbits of background information that would make this wikibook more complete. Gflores 04:17, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
 * Added

How to use the Internet?
Beyond the technical aspects of an application, many people don't know "how to use the Internet" in a basic way. Where's the guide on these topics?
 * Evaluating credibility, timeliness, and bias of a site
 * How to use a search engine
 * How to narrow down a broad search
 * How to read the results page
 * How to discern between paid ads and "organic" results
 * Using special sites (such as maps.google.com) to find special kinds of information
 * How to identify phishing sites and protect oneself regarding fraud and privacy

--AndrewZ

"How to create a plugin"
Hi, I've commented out "How to create a plugin" because Plugins are flash, quicktime, etc. If it's supposed to be a Search Plugin, please change that. Pilif12p (talk) 17:07, 6 August 2010 (UTC)