Section B.1. General


B.1. General

General preferences are just that: as [click here] shows, they allow you to change Firefox's overall look and behavior.


Your options on the General tab are:


Home Page

Sets your home page. This is covered in detail in Chapter 2.


Fonts & Colors

Controls how fonts appear. This is covered in detail in Chapter 2.


Languages

Specifies the default languages that Firefox uses. Since the Firefox download page offers you a choice of languages, you probably shouldn't have to change these; however, if you do, press the Languages button and make your choices. You can add as many languages as you want, and even place them in your order of preference.

A worldly browser

Don't worry about viewing a site in French, Spanish, or any other Western European language. Those should display just fine without any action on your part. In fact, most of the world's languages will "just work" in Firefox. You really need to change this setting only if you are experiencing a problem on a particular site. Wait until you discover an issue, then open this options screen, add the language you need, and see if that fixes things.


Default Browser

Determines whether Firefox should check to see if another browser has taken over as your operating system's default browser. This is covered in detail in Chapter 2.


Connection

Use this to configure a proxy, if you need one. A proxy is software that sits between your computer and the Internet, filtering all requests your computer makes. Companies often use proxies to keep their employees from accessing inappropriate web sites, but proxies can also be used to keep copies of frequently accessed web pages close at hand, which makes surfing the Web a lot faster.

If you need to configure your PC to use a proxy (most of you will not), you need to select the Connection Settings button and make your changes there. I can't really walk you through those settings, as the possibilities are endless. Ask your ISP or network administrator for the settings (if you even need them), and then enter the information as directed, or just try importing them from IE, as I discussed in Chapter 2.

If you do change your proxy settings, you may need to reset them when you connect to a different network (for example, when you switch between using your laptop at work and at home). In such cases, you may find it helpful to use multiple profiles, which are discussed in Chapter 2. Configure one profile to use a proxy server and the other to use none, and choose the appropriate profile when you start up Firefox.

Proxified!

It's possible that you're using a proxy without even knowing it. If you use a cellular network, or some hotspot or corporate networks, there's a good chance that all your web requests are going through a proxy that doesn't need browser configuration on your part (this is called a transparent proxy, since its operation is transparent to you). This proxy grabs web pages and images for you, shrinks them down to save bandwidth, and sends them back to your computer.

When you're done with the General options, you do not need to press OK; in fact, if you do, the Options window will close, and you'll have to reopen it to continue on with the Privacy options. Just press the Privacy button and continue.



    Don't Click on the Blue E.
    OReilly Publishers.(Digital Aduio Essentials)(Dont Click on the Blue E!)(IMovie HD and iDVD)(Network Security Tools)(Photoshop Elements 3 For ... Review): An article from: The Bookwatch
    ISBN: 596009399
    EAN: N/A
    Year: 2003
    Pages: 93

    flylib.com © 2008-2017.
    If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net