Longtime user taking temporary leave from Firefox

[Sedination]

Hey there,

I've been a longtime user of Gecko-based browsers (been using it since Netscape 6) on Windows but am taking a temporary leave from them now that I've just got an ibook a week ago. Firefox still has a number of issues on OS X on Firefox 0.8. For example, in decreasing levels of severity:

1. Extensions don't work (at least the ones I've tried to install)
2. There's no keyboard shortcut for going back or forward. Since I'm on a laptop and don't use a mouse, this is essential for me.
3. UI needs a little more polish (as compared to Safari)

#1 is a real killer for me.

I'll check back on Firefox when it hits 0.9...in the meantime I'll be "surfin safari"...actually a pretty decent browser

[Torniojaws]

1. Extensions don't work (at least the ones I've tried to install)

Tried making a new profile? And what is the exact error you get when you try to install extensions (and from where)?

2. There's no keyboard shortcut for going back or forward. Since I'm on a laptop and don't use a mouse, this is essential for me.

Alt + Arrow Left / Right

[Sedination]

1. Extensions don't work (at least the ones I've tried to install)

Tried making a new profile? And what is the exact error you get when you try to install extensions (and from where)?

2. There's no keyboard shortcut for going back or forward. Since I'm on a laptop and don't use a mouse, this is essential for me.

Alt + Arrow Left / Right

On further investigation, I've realized that some extensions DO work! I tried to install tabbrowser preferences before and firefox would become unresponsive so I figured all extensions were broken...not the case, actually.

And the shortcut does work! Thank you! For fellow mac users, it's cmd + left/right.

I guess I was a little quick on my decision...my temporary leave last 15 minutes

One little annoyance however that maybe someone can clear up. I want to increase the number of lines that firefox scrolls when I use the cursor keys. I tried mousewheel.withnokey.numlines and mousewheel.withnokey.sysnumlines in about:config and it didn't work. Does anyone know how?

[Gonzilla]

Strange, as far as I know mousewheel.withnokey.numlines has always worked for me, without using any extensions. I entered the following lines into my pref.js

user_pref("mousewheel.withnokey.numlines", 8 );
user_pref("mousewheel.withnokey.sysnumlines", false);

This one works even with K-Meleon, all I have to do is to change the value (mine is set to eight) and voila

[TheOneKEA]

The only problem I've ever head with TBP is that it refuses to install into your profile - it must be installed into the Firefox directory, which is a pain.

[soydog]

Tried making a new profile?

Have anyone of you figured out how to successfully create a new profile in Firefox on OS X?

Back in Firebird, it was,
cd /Applications/Mozilla\ Firebird.app
Hit Return. Then paste the following in the Terminal:
./Contents/MacOS/MozillaFirebird-bin -p

So I tried:
cd /Applications/Firefox.app
Hit Return. Then paste the following in the Terminal:
./Contents/MacOS/Firefox-bin -p

The profile manager did pop up but I couldn't click on any of the buttons and instead, Terminal showed an error that said:
can't map file: /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Java Applet.plugin ((os/kern) invalid argument)

For reference, I'm using 4/6/04 nightly running on panther.

[casey1992]

Have anyone of you figured out how to successfully create a new profile in Firefox on OS X?

Are you trying to have two profiles available at one time?

[casey1992]

1. Extensions don't work (at least the ones I've tried to install)

I had no luck with extension installation on the release version. A post suggested that the 3/27/04 nightly was good. Extension installation has been very smooth. The only problem was that TBE wasn't compatible with the default theme (and several other themes I tried). I'm using 'Mostly Crystal', which works fine.

2. There's no keyboard shortcut for going back or forward. Since I'm on a laptop and don't use a mouse, this is essential for me.

Command [ = BACK
Command ] = FORWARD

Firefox doesn't make that obvious. They were the keyboard shortcuts from some other browser; I tried them and they worked. They also move you backward and forward in OS X Finder windows.

[SimmonsJ2K]

And the shortcut does work! Thank you! For fellow mac users, it's cmd + left/right.

Command - [ = BACK
Command - ] = FORWARD

Firefox doesn't make that obvious. They were the keyboard shortcuts from some other browser; I tried them and they worked. They also move you backward and forward in OS X Finder windows.

That makes two.

[TheOneKEA]

#3: What sort of polish do you want?

[thenightfly42]

The only problem was that TBE wasn't compatible with the default theme (and several other themes I tried). I'm using 'Mostly Crystal', which works fine.

Do you get scrollbars? I've been searching for an OS X theme that works with TBE and shows the scrollbars.

[thenightfly42]

3. UI needs a little more polish (as compared to Safari)

The developers agree; if you check out the Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Roadmap, you will see:

1.0 Beta (MacOS X)
June, 2004
Aquafication release. Focus on outstanding UI issues particular to MacOS X, redevelop UI to support cross platform nature, etc.

[casey1992]

Do you get scrollbars? I've been searching for an OS X theme that works with TBE and shows the scrollbars.

I don't think I understand your question.

If you mean, are there scrollbars at all (like they could disappear)...yes, there are scrollbars.

If you mean, does Mostly Crystal give me custom scrollbars...no.

OR

Is the tab bar able to scroll, or something like that? (I've never seen that.)

I believe the Little Firefox 0.8 theme customized them; most themes I tried didn't do that, and a few messed up TBE. It was just trial and error until I got what I wanted.

[thenightfly42]

If you mean, are there scrollbars at all (like they could disappear)...yes, there are scrollbars.

Essentially, that one. There's a discussion elsewhere on the board:
Firefox-OS X-Themes - MozillaZine Forums

I'll try your suggested theme when I get back to my Mac box tonight.

[casey1992]

I'm using 10.2.8, if that makes any difference.

I found two themes that worked with TBE and Firefox, and chose the one I preferred. I probably wouldn't have looked for a theme at all had that not been suggested on TBE's forum.