Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

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fsinclaire
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Joined: February 10th, 2007, 2:21 pm

Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

I have Firefox 62 on an iMac with Sierra. How do I remove the left hand sidebar that displays on most if not all browser pages? It is a thin, vertical bar with linked icons to Home, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc. I can't figure out what made it appear, or how to remove it. Thank you.
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smsmith
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by smsmith »

Try View -> Sidebars. If one of the entries has a checkmark in it, click it to turn it off.
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fsinclaire
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Joined: February 10th, 2007, 2:21 pm

Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

Thanks. That worked.
Before posting my question, when I clicked on View>Sidebar, all that appeared were Bookmarks, History, and Synced Tabs, and none of those or any pieces of them was checked.
This morning, after reading your post, I clicked on View>Sidebar again, and now "Ribbon" appeared on that list. It was checked. I unchecked it, and the sidebar disappeared.
Again, thank you.
fsinclaire
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Joined: February 10th, 2007, 2:21 pm

Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

It's back again. And View>Sidebar yields only Bookmarks, History, and Synced Tabs.
I notice now that It doesn't appear on all websites. I see it regularly on the site of a newspaper's website that I have been reading lately. Maybe it isn't a Firefox issue, but a webmaster issue. That is, it's written into the site's HTML as a ""feature" for visitors.
Oh well.
Tomatoshadow2
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by Tomatoshadow2 »

Seems to me you are trying to edit a sidebar on a website or are you talking about the clickable sidebar under customize?
fsinclaire
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Joined: February 10th, 2007, 2:21 pm

Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

Yes, I am now certain that it is not Firefox, but the website itself, because the same slim, left-side sidebar with the same icons/links appears when visiting the website with Safari 11. So, it's a website design feature.
I'll live with it.
Thank you all for your help. I apologize for not checking more thoroughly before posting.
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the-edmeister
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by the-edmeister »

Check the Properties for the Bookmarks that open in the Sidebar. If you use the "Bookmark this Page" button on a web page chances are that bookmark will get the option to "Load the page in the sidebar. Years ago I discovered that there are 3 versions of JavaScript for "Bookmark this Page" that could be used on a web page, 2 of those 3 did cause that option to be check-marked in Gecko-based browsers; the one that didn't cause that didn't work with another more popular browser of that era. I never used Safari so I can't verify that was happening in Safari or not.

Uncheck that box for each bookmark that does that and stop using buttons like that which are on web pages, There are multiple ways in Firefox, so use what's in Firefox.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Mine has wandered off and I'm out looking for it.
Tomatoshadow2
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by Tomatoshadow2 »

Yes as ed says, just let Firefox handle all that for you, instead of the webpage itself, much less of a headache.
fsinclaire
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

Thanks!
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the-edmeister
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Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by the-edmeister »

Was that the problem? The "Load the page in the sidebar" box was check-marked?



.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Mine has wandered off and I'm out looking for it.
fsinclaire
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Joined: February 10th, 2007, 2:21 pm

Re: Firefox 62 on Mac - Turn off sidebar

Post by fsinclaire »

No, but I am glad to be alerted to that issue anyway, to avoid the trap.

The same sidebar appears when I visit a particular newspaper's website using other browsers, so I conclude that it has nothing to do with Firefox. I suppose the sidebar is written into the newspaper's website code, presumably as a "feature" for visitors. I have not clicked on the links in the sidebar, but I presume they connect to the newspaper's Facebook, Twitter, etc pages.

I like your take on the line "A mind is a terrible ...". It reminds me of Einstein's "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot."
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