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I have updated the Mozilla Firefox Cheat Sheet to include a couple of suggestions that have been made. Changes include:
Available in the following formats:
Note: The location of the PDF has changed.
It was almost eight months ago that Flock released the developer version of their Mozilla Firefox based web browser. Just recently they have released the first public beta version of their browser. Flock is a browser that is based on the Firefox code base. Like Firefox, Flock has tabs, a web search box in the upper right-hand corner and bookmarks, but it also has additional features built in to “enhance” the browsing experience. Some of these tools include photo integration with photo services, bookmarking integration, a RSS reader, enhanced searching, and a blogging tool.
Flock’s integrated blogging tool works with most major blogging platforms such as Blogger and Wordpress. The blog interface has a spell-check capabilities and allows for the easy addition of tags. The RSS reader makes saving posts easy and gives all sorts of options for reading what is new, allowing you to bookmark and blog with one easy click. While the RSS reader works well it suffers from the same problem has many other RSS readers, the inability to synchronize feeds across different computers and platforms. Flock’s bookmarking works with both Del.icio.us and Shadows allowing bookmarks and tags to be easily added. Photo integration works with both Flickr and Photobucket. For those that are heavy Flickr users this is where the browser really shines. Photos can be uploaded by dragging them into the browser and photos can be added to any web page (that accepts html) by dragging the photo directly unto the web page.
Flock still has a way to go before convincing me of the need to switch from Mozilla Firefox. While the look and feel of Flock is nicer than Firefox itself, Flock still feels to me like Firefox with a few extensions added on and a couple of bookmarks on the Bookmarks Toolbar. Nevertheless, this release goes a long way to fulfilling Flock’s original promise.
Mozilla has distributed a small, but very important upgrade to the Firefox browser. The software is being upgraded to Firefox version 1.5.0.3 to prevent browsers from DOS (denial of service) attacks that could cause the browser to crash (this was not a threat that could comprise a system). Mozilla is recommending that all users upgrade to the new version. The update should happen automatically or can be forced via the Check for Updates option on the Help menu.
Mozilla Firefox is by default a lightweight browser does not ship with many extra features. This is one of its best features as Firefox can be expanded with a wide range of optional extensions, search engines, and themes allowing the user to customize the browser to their individual tastes and needs. With hundreds of extensions, themes and other Firefox customizations available it is often hard to figure out where to start? What extensions and themes are worth downloading and installing and what tweaks are useful to make? If you have made the jump to Firefox, or are considering the move, hopefully the article I have written “Mozilla Firefox - Have It Your Way!” will help you fine tune the browser to your liking and allow you to get the most out of this excellent browser.
Mozilla Firefox - Have It Your Way!
My Other Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird Resources
Note: In most cases the links in the “Firefox - Have it Your Way!” document point directly to the author’s home page where you can find the latest version and more easily get help then at Mozilla’s add-on site. If you discover problems with anything in the article, please report them to me at lesliefranke at gmail dot com.
Mozilla has officially released the Firefox 2.0 (Bon Echo) Alpha. Due out later this year, Firefox 2.0 will include a handful of improvements and new features. These changes include a new storage system for bookmarks and history. The Places window is one of the biggest changes for the end user. This window allows the user to search their history, bookmarks, and RSS subscriptions by keywords. There are also a few minor tweaks to the UI, such as Xs on inactive tabs for easy closing (for those who do not like this approach an extension called Tab No X reverses the close buttons on tabs or you can use the Tab Mix Plus developer extension).
If you plan on installing this version of Firefox be forewarned this is alpha software so you will face some crashes while using it and all of the features are not fully complete (a list of the known issues is here. In addition, many extensions will not work. The best way to go about playing around with it then is to use a portable version of the build. This will allow you to use a separate profile from your original installation of Firefox. Secondly, if you want to try out extensions that will not install under Bon Echo grab a copy of the Nightly Tester Tools extension. This allowed me to easily install and run the excellent Web Developer extension, for example. There is no guarantee that an extension will work correctly, but most of the times they will.
Mozilla has announced the winners of their Extend Firefox contest. Winning the grand prizes were Reveal for Best New Extension, Web Developer for Best Upgraded Extension, and Firefox Showcase for Best Use of Firefox 1.5 Features.
The Rapid Web Development and Testing with Firefox presentation has been updated to account for two news extensions: the Firebug extension and the CSSViewer extension.
The Firebug extension helps in debugging AJAX, DHTML, and JavaScript web applications. It will display errors that occur during the rendering of a page, will place the pointer on the appropriate line, and allows for the inspection of different values of the DOM. The CSSViewer extension inspects elements on a page to give a complete rundown of the CSS declaration for a chosen element. While both of these extensions are very new, after the Web Developer extension these two extensions are some of the most valuable tools a developer can have in their toolbox.
Note: The location of the presentation has changed.
