Firefox 6.... not an emergency

[carson]

I bit the bullet after much thinking. I always say to myself "if it ain't broke, dont fix it".

  Have been on FF 3.6 for a long time. Today I downloaded FF 6.0, holding my breath.

  Seems to work fine but I sure miss my 2 favorite add-ons; not available. (yet)

.... Fast Dial and Google Toolbar. I depended on them daily. (Whatamigonnado ?)

  The new few new add-ons don't look too exiting to me.

One question: If I wanted to restore back to FF3.6, will a system restore back 2 or 3 days do the trick?

Even the tab-bar at the top of the page is gone ??

Carson FL

Edit...Tab bar entry.

 

[Ned]

If you really want to revert to FF3, just install it.  In the worst case, you may have to restore your profile from a backup (you do have a backup, right?).  A system restore will overwrite a lot more than just your Firefox installation and may not restore your profile anyway.

But before reverting, get the Add-on Compatibility Reporter, it makes most addons work with FF6+.  The tab bar is still there, but may be at the top of the window.  FF3 won't be getting security updates much longer, and won't get any of the performance updates of FF4 and above.

 

[Just Lou]

Carson, you are only eleven years late getting into the 21st century.  Get with the program! (and that doesn't mean FF6 either).

Okay, buddy.  Now we're even for the dig you gave me yesterday. ;D

Give the new FF a chance.  It's been stable and fast for me so I think you'll like it once you get it tailored to your needs.

I'll talk to you later, bud.
lou

 

[BernieD]

Carson

I too kind of missed some of the 3.6 add-ons. Google tool bar is gone forever, it will not be upgraded to FF v5 or 6 compatibility. In all honesty, I prefer the extra real estate and you still have the Google search box on the FF bar. Many of the other features are now built into FF. You do have to play with it a bit and do a little searching, but FF now does a lot on it's own. I am quite happy with it.

 

[John From Detroit]

I don't like any more tool bars than I have to have, There is a Google Search window on my main address bar now days (Actually it's a many-engine selectable search tool, I can set it to search some search engines I have to log into if I wish)

Thus loss of the space eating Google bar, or Yahoo bar, or ______ bar does not bother me, I want the main br (File Edit and so on, and the address bar, and the tab bar and the status bar, that's all folks.....

I ran the add on compatability reporter and it fixed most of the losses.

I see no major difference between 5 and 6 save for the ability to "Group" tabs if I choose,.. I choose not, don't have that many open at one time ever, computer bogs if I do.

 

[carson]

Thanks to Lou and Bernie..

  Lou, I feel so much better now that you have elevated me into the future.  Your advise is much appreciated.
  My dig yesterday was meant with pure love in mind.. ;D

  Bernie, your advise is also very well received. I see now that a learning curve is ahead. I think I am up to it despite of my Buddy, Lou, thinking that I am a Dinosaur. See my pix below. 

  I was able to get the skinny Google toolbar back but the FF homepage Search is not functioning. The google name is missing; I guess that what you meant.

  My next post is directed to Ned who was the first to help me. Take a look.

Carson Fl

 

[carson]

Thanks Ned, for your advise. I did run the program https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/?src=api

and was able to at least get the Google toolbar back. The Fast Dial extension, despite some conflicting  information, turned out to be not available/compatible. I'll work around it until it reappears.

  The Google search function on the FF homepage is also  missing. Nothing works on the FF searchbar.

  One thing I noticed that while I am typing here is that the Spellchecker is not working during this post.

  Wonder if that is related.

  Any info will be appreciated.

  Don't fret, I like working around obstacles.

Carson FL

 

[Ned]

Since Google says their toolbar isn't compatible with Firefox 5+ and has been discontinued, it is probably interfering with the FF search bar.  I would remove the Google toolbar as just about everything it does is already available in FF.  See this article for the explanation.

Here's the pertinent information:

"Google Toolbar for Firefox is compatible with Firefox version 4 or older. If you use Firefox version 5 or newer, you won't be able to use Google Toolbar."

 

[carson]

Thanks again for that info, Ned

I am making progress in getting some of my "must haves" back:  I did get the (slim) Google toolbar back with all the buttons I have used for ages. I am not into some of the stranger button.

  The Fast Dial add-on is definitely not available, Drat....

As a run-around I put some of my "must have" daily website choices onto the desktop (Shortcuts); keeps me from looking up the Bookmark Menu or Bookmark Toolbar constantly. Such a pain...

The Google Toolbar has an entry space for searching. But I must get on a live website to use it. So... what I did was to put Googles Homepage on the desktop also as a shortcut, works like a charm.

  Hope all this makes sense; at least I am back in business.

Thanks for your help.

Carson FL

 

[Ned]

Carson, if you have several pages that you always, or almost always, have open in the browser, right click on those tabs and select "Pin as app tab" and they will always be there.  I have at least 6 tabs that are always open, so I have them pinned.  A pinned tab shows just the fav icon, so they don't take up much space on the tab bar.

Go to this page and scroll down to the first comment.  You can get a version of Fast Dial that works with FF up to version 7.

 

[carson]

Ned, Wow... that 'pin to add tab' is a charmer.  I put seven on there, with little space.

Re the Fast Dial info I have to look at it more closely. Can't find the "Download here button"
What's the secret?

Carson FL

 

[Ned]

Carson, it appears that the Install link is broken.  Either they're getting ready for a new version, or the page is really broken.  You might check in their forums for more information.

I found a link to the Fast Dial Alpha 3.5a1 version here.

 

[BernieD]

Carson

A couple of things I have done that may or may not work for you.

I have 7 tabs always open on my bookmark toolbar. The pages aren't open but are only 1 click away. Second, I have a wide screen so I have a little more real estate on the side and my tabs run vertically down the left side of the screen rather than across the top. You need the add-on Vertical Tabs 0.8

 

[carson]

Hi Bernie,  Yes I have those seven from my bookmark toolbar as well. I use them infrequently, just for things like Thesaurus, Crossword Solver, Speed check, translation program, etc. Works great. My problem is I have so many bookmarks in both the menu and the toolbar. I am ashamed to say how many. Many of them are actually dead 

Will have to allot a whole day to go thru them all to clean them up.

  I liked the Fast Dial as it was so easy with one click to identify and bring up a host of sites , several weather sites, hurricane warnings, daily news sites and that kind of stuff.

  The pin to app tab is working but it only lasts for one session unless you keep one program running all the time. There was a permatab add-on available for this in the past but not for FF6 yet.

  In case you are reading this, Ned, am I right.

I am happy though that a got the slim Google Toolbar back.

Carson FL

 

[Ned]

Carson, go to Options, General and set your start page to "Show my windows and tabs from last time".  Also, you must let Firefox save your browsing history.  (Tools -> options -> Privacy), make sure you are not clearing in "Settings for Clearing History"  your "browsing history".

If you use CCleaner, be sure it isn't clearing your Firefox browsing history too.

 

[carson]

Ok, Ned. More useful information. My brain is already over-loaded but I'll heed your advise.

  By the way, false alarm yesterday. My spell check is working fine. The checker in Google Toolbar, although I never use that  much, is not working.  It will indicate a wrong spelling (red underline) but the actual edit function has been obsoleted.

So be it..

Carson

 

[Ned]

Carson, keep that brain active.  It keeps you young

Google did say their toolbar won't work with any version past FF4 so anything that it does still do is a bonus.  The Firefox spell checker works really well, but there is a bug with the forum full message editor that hopefully will be fixed in the next release.  But it works fine in the quick reply editor.

 

[SCR]

Just think... Once you get Firefox set just the way you like it they will update to the next version and you can start all over again. Mozilla is cranking out a new version every 6 weeks. What a pain.

 

[Ned]

There have been very few noticeable changes from version 4, to 5, to 6, to 7 beta, which I'm now using.  The version numbers are meaningless to the user and most won't notice any changes on the surface.  Even all my add ons are all working exactly as they did 3 versions ago.  The new release schedule is to get security and bug fixes, as well as new, tested, features out to the users quickly.  No more waiting a year as we did for version 4

Google has been doing the exact same thing with Chrome all along and most users haven't noticed it.  My Chrome is version 15

 

[carson]

Not fair, Ned.  You are a professional and sleep and dream the stuff.  ;D ;D

  Most of us are still in the learning stages. Can you download your knowledge to us peons ?

You can even ask for donations for the privilege, think about it.

  Just a little rib, of course. 

Carson