Section B.5. Advanced


B.5. Advanced

The Advanced settings tab, visible in [click here], is where Firefox keeps all the more specialized goodies. They're not essential, but I guarantee you'll find at least one item in here that exactly solves a problem you've been having, or provides a feature that's just perfect for your needs.


Here are the sections you'll see on the Advanced tab:


Accessibility

Don't skip this section just because you think you don't need it! The second of the options offered here is something all Firefox users should consider.

The first choice"Move system caret with focus/selection changes"is not generally useful, unless you're using a screen reader or magnifier. If you enable "Move system caret," the small blinking up-and-down line (the caret ) you're probably used to from word processors will now appear on your web page. This doesn't mean that you can type on the web page; instead, it indicates where the focus is; in other words, where you've clicked. Screen readers will use that focus to know which areas to read, and magnifiers will use that focus to know which areas to magnify. You can then move focus using either your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard, and the caret will move also.

Flip the switch

Another way to turn on that caret is to press F7 on your keyboard. Although the dialog box that opens refers to it there as Caret Browsing, it's the same thing. In fact, if I need to toggle between viewing the caret and turning it off, I just press F7 to see it, and then press F7 again to turn it off.

The second option under Accessibility, "Begin finding when you begin typing," is a great feature that invokes Firefox's Find feature (which I discussed in Section 5.1.1) the moment you begin typing something. With this feature enabled, you don't even have to press Ctrl+F to start searching a web page.


Browsing

The Browsing area of the Advanced options tab governs how Firefox presents web pages to you.

Checking "Resize large images to fit in the browser window" means that if you visit a web page containing a picture that is so large that it would require scrolling (either up and down or right and left) to view it all, Firefox will automatically shrink it and display the picture within the confines of your browser window. If you click on the picture, it will jump to its full size; click on it again to restore it to the smaller size.

Zoom, zoom, zoom

To test this feature, load this URL in your browser: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vinci/joconde/joconde.jpg. You should see a small Mona Lisa; when you move your mouse over her, you should see a small magnifying glass with a plus sign (+) in it. Go ahead and click on the image, and you'll see a really big Mona Lisa; click again and she returns to her smaller size.

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel (and who doesn't, these days?), you may also want to check "Use autoscrolling." If you check this option, you can press down on the wheel and, while holding it, move the mouse up or down to scroll the web page you're viewing in the direction you're dragging the mouse. I find this behavior annoying, so I make sure this option isn't checked, but your tastes may vary.

Before discussing the third option, "Use smooth scrolling," let's review the many ways you can move up or down while you're viewing a web page:

  • If you click on the scroll arrows at the top or bottom of the vertical scrollbar on the righthand side of your browser, you move the page up or down a few lines at time.

  • If you click inside the vertical scrollbar, or use the PgUp or PgDn keys on your keyboard, you move up or down a screen at a time.

  • If you press the spacebar, you advance down one screen at a time.

  • Finally, if you click and hold the scrollbox in the vertical scrollbar, you can drag it up or down to move as much or as little at a time as you like.

If you do not check "Use smooth scrolling" and you use the first, second, or third of the methods listed above, your screen will jump as you move up and down. If you place a checkmark next to "Use smooth scrolling," instead of jumping, Firefox slides the screen up or down. It's hard to describe, and you will either love it or hate it, so I suggest finding a long web page with a lot of text and testing both settings, and then choosing accordingly.

Of course, "Use smooth scrolling" doesn't affect the fourth method listed above, since the amount of movement there is completely under your control.


Tabbed Browsing

Tabs are one of the coolest features Firefox has to offer, so it's not surprising that you get to exert control over how this feature works in the browser. Your Tabbed Browsing options are shown in [click here].


The section-within-a-section labeled "Open links from other applications in" is designed for users who have made Firefox the default web browser on their Windows systems. Let's say a friend has sent you an email with a hyperlink in it. You click on it so you can view the referenced web page...but now what? If you've made Firefox your default web browser, the link will open in Firefox, but how, exactly? The choice is up to you.

Do you want a new window to open up, even if Firefox is already running? Pick "a new window." Do you want Firefox to use the window you already have open, and just open a new tab in that window? Choose "a new tab in the most recent window." Or maybe you want the new link to open in the active tab or window, replacing the current contents. If so, select "the most recent tab/window."

The next option under Tabbed Browsing is "Hide the tab bar when only one web site is open." As I discussed in Chapter 2, I don't think checking this option is a good idealeaving the tab bar in place is a handy reminder to newbies that the option of opening multiple tabs exists, and it's not as though the bar takes up much browser real estate.

Whether to enable the "Select new tabs opened from links" option is completely a matter of personal choice, but let me make a case against changing it from its (unchecked) default setting. Normally, when you open a link in a new tab by right-clicking on it and selecting Open Link in New Tab (or by middle-clicking on a link, or by pressing Ctrl while clicking with the left mouse button), the new tab opens in the background. In other words, it opens next to any already open tabs, but Firefox keeps the tab you're currently viewing in focus.

If you check the box next to "Select new tabs opened from links," each new tab you open will immediately grab focus and become the tab you're viewing. This may make sense to you, but it would drive me completely insane. Let's say I'm reading Google News. I scan the page looking for interesting stories. Oh, there's oneso I right-click and choose Open Link in New Tab. There's another oneso I repeat the process. And another. And another. Now I still have Google News open in the tab I'm viewing, but I also have four other tabs open, each with pages I want to read, and each loaded in the background. When I'm ready to read them, I click on each tab in turn and read the stories. Easy, simple, and sane.

If I had "Select new tabs opened from links" checked, the process would instead have occurred like this: read Google News. Right-click on link and choose Open Link in New Tab. Gah! Now that tab has seized focus and is the one I'm seeing, not Google News. Click back on the Google News tab so the story I wanted to eventually read can continue loading in the background. Reorient myself to Google News, and continue reading. Another link looks good, so I right-click to load the link in a new tab. Gah! It did it again! The other tab jumps to the front! Back to Google News while the other tab loads. And so on. I find this process to be distracting and annoying. Tabs are supposed to enable you to better use your web browser, not force you to constantly jerk your mental focus from page to pagedo yourself a favor, and leave "Select new tabs opened from links" unchecked.

"Select new tabs opened from bookmarks or history" is the same as the previous option, except that it causes a tab created by clicking on a bookmark or history selection to grab focus. This one I actually leave checked: if I chose the bookmark, I want to see it now, so I want that tab to have focus.

If it were up to me

I would have renamed these two options something like "Tabs opened from links grab focus" and "Tabs opened from bookmarks or history grab focus." I think that wording would make these options more obvious.

Finally, unless you like living on the edge, you should definitely leave "Warn when closing multiple tabs" checked. If it's not checked, you're going to run into the following situation sooner or later: you've got 10 tabs open that you've carefully selected for reading, research, or fun. You accidentally close the browser window instead of a single tab, by clicking on the X in the upper-right corner of the window instead of the X on the righthand side of the tab bar. Boom! The browser window closes like you told it to, and all your tabs are gone. Yes, you could recover them using the History Sidebar (covered in Section 3.3), but it's a pain. Better to check this box here, and be warned if you try to close a browser window that contains multiple tabs. It's saved my bacon, and it will yours. Don't uncheck it!


Software Update

The next section is Software Update, and it's a doozy. There is simply no good reason not to check the boxes next to both Firefox and My Extensions and Themes. By doing so, you enable Firefox to check every once in a while for updates to your browser and any extensions or themes you've installed. If you're feeling impatient, or just extra paranoid, go ahead and press Check Now, and Firefox will immediately inquire if there are any updates available. In both cases (i.e., Firefox checks periodically or you force a check), if any updates are found, a window appears asking you if you'd like to install them. Do it, and that's one less thing you have to worry about.


Security

The Security section is easy to talk about: don't you dare uncheck anything. All three optionsUse SSL 2.0, Use SSL 3.0, and Use TLS 1.0should be checked and remain checked. Ever been to a web site that used https:// instead of http:// in the address? Ever bought anything securely on the Web with a credit card? Then you've used SSL or TLS, technologies that encrypt the conversation between your web browser and the web server to which it's talking. If you turn off SSL or TLS, you won't be able to access and use secure sites anymore. Now why would you want to do that?


Certificates

[click here] shows the options under Certificates, the next section in the Advanced tab.


Something not look right?

Firefox developers have made it very clear that both the Certificates and Validation sections may change in future versions of the browser, so be prepared for differences between the screenshots presented here and what you see in front of you in Firefox.

Certificates help secure web sites prove to your web browser that they are who they say they are. I'd leave everything here alone, just the way that Firefox set it up for you. Change it only if you must, and in that case, you'll know enough to know what to change and how to change itor your system administrator will. The vast majority of Firefox users will never, ever need to touch this section.


Validation

Validation, pictured in [click here], is the last section in the Advanced tab.


As with the Certificates section, most (nearly all) Firefox users shouldn't have to mess with the options here and can just leave these settings the way they are. Again, if you know enough to know that you need to change these settings, you should know enough to do so without causing a problem.

That's it! You are now a Firefox options expert. Just write to O'Reilly and let them know, and you'll get a handsome embossed certificate proclaiming your advanced skill and knowledge!

Or maybe not

Note from the Editor: the above paragraph does not constitute an official offer by O'Reilly Media. The author has been severely reprimanded with another 30 days of toilet-scrubbing duty (above and beyond what our standard contract requires) at The Official O'Reilly Orbital Laser Platform for making an improper and unsanctioned offer.



    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

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