Did you ever wonder why Firefox

[Why Syzygy]

gives you a pop-down window to tell you it BLOCKED a pop-up window? Wouldn't a status bar indicator be less intrusive?

I also have an issue with the password storer. Sometimes I don't know if I've typed the right password until the next page loads. How do I know if I want it remembered? :shrug: Some time I want to find out how to make it remember a password on a site it never asks me if I want it remembered.

Just a couple of those things...

[charlie]

1. Status bar notification is an option if you want it

Use about:config to toggle this rule to 'false':

privacy.popups.showBrowserMessage

and it'll use the status bar instead of the dropdown from the top.

[Why Syzygy]

3. Where is

about:config?

[RoyGBiv]

6. You type it ...

Clear the address/URL field and type about:config then press ENTER.

You'll get a warning that you're about to void your warranty and have to PROMISE to be careful. :)

Seriously, you do.

Every conceivable setting for Firefox is in there, but you kinda have to know what you're looking for.

In the filter field, start typing what charlie mentioned, and it'll filter out everything else. You can then right-click on that and toggle it.

Another one I use is browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll. I toggle that to true so that when I click in the URL bar, it automatically selects the entire URL.

Also cool is to type about:mozilla and press ENTER. Less useful, but more entertaining.

OnEdit: Oh, forgot this one ... about:robots

[Duer 157099]

7. Is it useful to, when in about:config, to look at which items are not default?

The bolded items, it seems to me, would be a good list of things to look at periodically, to see if anything suspicious is going on.

Yes? No?

[RoyGBiv]

8. I suppose it could be ...

I hadn't really thought of that.

The problem would be making sure you knew everything that was changed from default by anything you've done. Changing options changes these things, and many extensions alter them.

Given the number of extensions I have installed and how far from default I have FF set up, I don't know if I could keep track.

[Duer 157099]

9. Yeah, same thought process I just went through

Every time I go in there for something, I end up nosing around and thinking "hey waitaminute, what's this thing doing and when did I tell it to do that?!

I try to keep things lean, only using the very few extentions I've come to rely upon (I keep several around but in the disabled state until I need it)

Then it consumes basically a whole day if I really want to try to Google each of the entries and figure out if it's doing something I might not like or approve of

I'm thinking I'd better do it tomorrow, lol...

[RoyGBiv]

10. A thought ...

Assuming you can start with a baseline you know is how you want it to be, you could copy the prefs.js file in the profile folder and rename it to something like prefs.js.bak.

Then, periodically, you could compare the files to see if there are any changes. From a command prompt under Windows, it would be COMP prefs.js prefs.js.bak.

Thought of this because for various things I use the Linux/BASH command 'diff' which is used to find differences in files.

At least I think that would work, again assuming you know you have a safe baseline, and as long as you know what you've changed between checks.

[RoyGBiv]

11. Follow-up ...

This isn't practical.

Various extensions, such as NoScript, make too many changes on an ongoing basis to the prefs.js file for this to be convenient.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Passwords ...

Which version are you using?

Since 3.0, the dialog for remembering a password will stay there until the page loads. So, you just log in, wait, then tell it to remember when you have the right password.

As for the sites where it doesn't ask, some sites have started using a method of password entry that is formed according to the standard, so Firefox won't ask because it doesn't know you've just entered a password. I don't know the technical details of this or whether it can be fixed.

[Why Syzygy]

4. I thought

that I noticed that recently. I'm now using 3.0.8. What if at one time you tell it to "never remember", and then change your mind? Is there a way to reset that?

[RoyGBiv]

5. Yes ...

Options > Security > Passwords

Then click "Exceptions" The list of sites you've told it to never remember is there. Just remove the one you want to reset.