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'''Tips from [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=170970 Firefox support]'''
{{appliesto|Firefox|Keyboard and mouse}}
''Many of these tips come from [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=170970 Firefox support]''.
 
See also [[Keyboard shortcuts]] and [[Mouse-Keyboard Combo Tips]]).
 
==Middle Click==
==Middle Click==
;Note: Two-button mouse
 
:For those without middle mouse buttons or mouse wheel, ctrl-click will also open new tabs for links, bookmarks, bookmark folders, history items, and toolbar buttons.
====Notes====
:Many Laptops mimic the MiddleClick/MouseWheelClick function if you click both right/left pads at the same time.
=====Two-button mouse=====
:Clicking both mouse buttons at the same time also mimics the MiddleClick/MouseWheelClick function.
A Mouse Wheel Click can be used wherever a Middle Click is required in the tips below. For those without middle mouse buttons or mouse wheel, clicking both mouse buttons at the same time also mimics the Middle Click function. Many Laptops mimic the Middle Click function if you click the right and left pads at the same time.
===Tabs===
=====Logitech Wheel button and SetPoint software=====
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on a Tab will close that Tab.
By default, when SetPoint is installed, the wheel button doesn't seem to work at all. The following settings seem to allow for the Wheel button to work as intended in Firefox:
===Personal Toolbar===
#In SetPoint select the 'My Mouse' tab.
:Middleclick/MouseWheelClick on a Bookmark on your Personal Toolbar will open it up in a New Tab.
#If you have more than one mouse, select the mouse you want to configure.
===Folders===
#In '''2. Select Button''', choose the 3<sup>rd</sup> entry (default '3  AutoScroll')
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on a folder will open all the bookmarks in the folder in a new Tab(s) (Note: see http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=1015518#1015518)
#In '''3. Select Task''' select the 'Other' bullet.
===History===
#Select 'Middle Button' from the list and click 'OK' to close the pop-up.
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on a History item will open the page in a new Tab.
#Apply the changes and click 'OK' to close the SetPoint software.
===Back and Forward buttons===
The wheel button should now work as expected. If not, try restarting Firefox.
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on the Back and Forward buttons will open the last/next page in a new Tab.
 
===Home button===
===Opening Tabs===
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on the Home button will open your homepage in a new Tab(s).
Middle Click on a link will open that link in a new tab. This principle will work in many other situations, such as on bookmarks, bookmark folders, history items, page images, and also on toolbar buttons such as Home, the Back and Forward buttons, Personal Toolbar items, and the Throbber [the 'busy' icon at the top-right]. Moreover, you can even Middle Click on menu items which represent web page (such as items from the Back, Forward, Bookmarks, Go, and View Image menus) to open them in a new tab.<br>
===Links===
In Firefox 2.0 and above it is possible to Middle Click the "Go" buttons for both the [[:Category:Location Bar|Location Bar]] and the [[Search Bar]] to open the link in a new tab.
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on a link will open that link in a new tab.
 
===Throbber===
===Closing Tabs===
:MiddleClick/MouseWheel Click on the Throbber (the 'busy' icon at the top-right) will open the Firefox homepage in a new Tab.
Middle Click on a tab marker will close that tab.
===Images===
 
:Middleclick/MouseWheelClick on "View Image" or "View Background Image" will open the image in a New Tab.
Note that user preference "middlemouse.contentLoadURL" must be set to false (default for Windows version) for this to work.  To verify that the preference is set to false, enter "about:config" in the Firefox location bar, enter the preference "middlemouse.contentLoadURL" in the filter, and verify the setting appears as 'false' in the 'value' column.  If it is set to 'true', double-click anywhere along the row and it will revert to 'false'. Middle-clicking on a tab to close it will now work.
 
==Double Click==
==Double Click==
===Opening Tabs===
====Tab Bar====
Double Clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a 'New Tab''.
===Closing Tabs===
====Tab====
Double Clicking on a Tab to close a Tab is an option in [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/260 Tab Clicking Options] extension.
=== Location Bar ===
Double Clicking in the [[Location Bar]] selects its entire contents.
You can set the user preference "browser.urlbar.doubleClickSelectsAll" to false so that double-click selects a "word" in its contents,
and then if the user preference "layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation" is true (the default in Firefox), double-click will select part of a URL shown in the Location Bar.
Triple Clicking always selects the entire contents of the Location Bar.
===Download Manager===
===Download Manager===
:Double Clicking a file entry in the Downloads Manager will open/launch the file (provided you haven't moved it yet).
Double Clicking a file entry in the Downloads Manager will open/launch the file (provided that you haven't moved it from its saved location).
===Tab Bar===
 
:Double Clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a 'New Tab''.
==Right Click==
==Right Click==
===Customize Toolbar===
===Customize the toolbars===
:You can adjust your toolbars to your liking. Right click on any toolbar, and select 'Customize'. While this dialogue is up, you can move buttons around on your toolbars by click-and-drag to the new location. The window that pops up when you do this is a holding area for unused icons. You can drag any item from it onto your toolbars to have it made available, and you can drag any icon from your toolbars onto this box to hide that icon completely.
You can adjust your toolbars to your liking. Right click on any toolbar, and select 'Customize'. While this dialogue is up, you can move buttons around on your toolbars by click-and-drag to the new location. The window that pops up when you do this is a holding area for unused icons. You can drag any item from it onto your toolbars to have it made available, and you can drag any icon from your toolbars onto this box to hide that icon completely.
;Tip: Some toolbar items, such as the Location bar, will expand to take up all available space.
;Tip: Some toolbar items, such as the Location bar, will expand to take up all available space.
===Keyword Bookmark===
;Tip 2: You can fit the Menu Bar, Personal Toolbar, Location bar, Back and Forward buttons, etc, all to one single row if you really want to maximize web pages' viewable area.
:Right clicking in a search box (such as the 'search mozillazine, powered by Google', on the left of this page) and selecting 'add a keyword for this search' lets you make an interactive keyword bookmark.
 
===Create a keyword bookmark===
Right clicking in a search box (such as the search box on the left of this page) and selecting 'Add a Keyword for this Search' lets you make an interactive keyword bookmark.
;Here is how it works:
;Here is how it works:
:Give it a name, such as 'Mozillazine search'
:Give it a name, such as 'mozillaZine Knowledge Base search'
:now, assign a keyword to it, such as 'moz'
:Now, assign a keyword to it, such as 'mozkb'
:click 'ok'
:Click 'OK'
;From now on, you can search mozillazine (or any other search box you used for this) from your address bar like this
;From now on, you can search mozillaZine Knowledge Base (or any other search box you used for this) from your address bar like this:
Enter 'moz search topic' in your address bar and click Go!
:Enter 'mozkb search topic' in your address bar and click Go!
===Save all open tabs in a bookmark folder===
 
:Right click > Bookmark this Page. Select the "bookmark all tabs in a folder". Select or create a folder.
===View selection source===
==Drag'n Drop==
Right-click on a highlighted area of a page (obtained by click-and-dragging the mouse, for example) and choose 'View selection source' to display the source code for the selected part of the page only.
 
==Drag and Drop==
===Moving bookmarks and folders===
===Moving bookmarks and folders===
:You can change a bookmark's position in a folder or move it from one folder to another or move it to another position on the toolbar by highlighting it & clicking on it (WITHOUT LETTING GO) and dragging it to your desired position.
To change a bookmark's position within the same folder by dragging it to your desired position.  
A folder can be moved the same way as above tip but u MUST hold down the SHIFT key while dragging.
 
  (note: didn't see that SHIFT made any difference)
To Move a folder to another position or location by dragging the folder to new location. 
:To copy a folder, hold the Ctrl key while dragging.
 
To move a single bookmark or a selection of bookmarks  to another location hold down SHIFT while dragging it to the new location.  If you drag a single bookmark, or a selection of bookmarks  to a new location without holding down the Shift key, you will copy the bookmark(s).  (see [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Sorting_and_rearranging_bookmarks_-_Firefox#Rearranging_bookmarks Sorting_and_rearranging_bookmarks_-_Firefox])


===Icons===
===Icons===
:You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the location bar to your Bookmarks folder. You can also drag it to the desktop to make an icon for that page.
You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the location bar (or the tab) to your Bookmarks folder. You can also drag it to the desktop to make an icon for that page.
:Drag a text file, a link, a picture, etcetera... from your folders or your desktop to Firefox and it will open in Firefox!
Drag a text file, a link, a picture, etcetera... from your folders or your desktop to Firefox and it will open in Firefox!
 
===Links===
===Links===
:"Click-and-drag" a bookmark to the main content window (which is the biggest on the Firefox user interface),so you can open it in a new tab!
"Click-and-drag" a bookmark to the main content window (which is the biggest on the Firefox user interface),so you can open it in a new tab!
:Dragging a link onto a new tab will open the link in the new tab.
Dragging a link onto a new tab will open the link in the new tab.
===Downloading links===
===Downloading links===
:Drag any link to the Download Manager Window to add & download the link.
Drag any link to the Download Manager Window to add and download the link. You can also directly download anything from a page by drag and dropping it onto the "Downloads" icon in your toolbar (provided you put it there through [[Mouse_Tips#Customize_the_toolbars|Customize]]).
You can also directly download anything from a page by drag and dropping it onto the 'download' icon in your toolbar (provided you put it there in 'right-click > customize').
==Mouse and Keyboard==
===Images===
:Holding down the Shift or Ctrl key when you Right Click to "View Image" or "View Background Image" will open the image in a New Tab or New Window.
===Selecting text===
:If you hold down the CTRL key and left click on part of a web page, that section of the page will be highlighted. If you right click on the selection and choose 'View selection source', the source code for that part of the page will be displayed.
:To quickly highlight text, especially long text fields. Left-click once in the window where you want the selection to start; and then shift=click in the spot where you want the selection to end (selection range). *this is a lot easier than click-selection-dragging, especially where there is a lot of text to highlight.
===Font Size===
:hold Ctrl AND scroll up down with the mouse to change font size.
(the font changing on IE is 5 sizes. FF has dozens of size settings)

Latest revision as of 00:55, 18 January 2011

This article applies to Firefox.

Many of these tips come from Firefox support.

See also Keyboard shortcuts and Mouse-Keyboard Combo Tips).

Middle Click

Notes

Two-button mouse

A Mouse Wheel Click can be used wherever a Middle Click is required in the tips below. For those without middle mouse buttons or mouse wheel, clicking both mouse buttons at the same time also mimics the Middle Click function. Many Laptops mimic the Middle Click function if you click the right and left pads at the same time.

Logitech Wheel button and SetPoint software

By default, when SetPoint is installed, the wheel button doesn't seem to work at all. The following settings seem to allow for the Wheel button to work as intended in Firefox:

  1. In SetPoint select the 'My Mouse' tab.
  2. If you have more than one mouse, select the mouse you want to configure.
  3. In 2. Select Button, choose the 3rd entry (default '3 AutoScroll')
  4. In 3. Select Task select the 'Other' bullet.
  5. Select 'Middle Button' from the list and click 'OK' to close the pop-up.
  6. Apply the changes and click 'OK' to close the SetPoint software.

The wheel button should now work as expected. If not, try restarting Firefox.

Opening Tabs

Middle Click on a link will open that link in a new tab. This principle will work in many other situations, such as on bookmarks, bookmark folders, history items, page images, and also on toolbar buttons such as Home, the Back and Forward buttons, Personal Toolbar items, and the Throbber [the 'busy' icon at the top-right]. Moreover, you can even Middle Click on menu items which represent web page (such as items from the Back, Forward, Bookmarks, Go, and View Image menus) to open them in a new tab.
In Firefox 2.0 and above it is possible to Middle Click the "Go" buttons for both the Location Bar and the Search Bar to open the link in a new tab.

Closing Tabs

Middle Click on a tab marker will close that tab.

Note that user preference "middlemouse.contentLoadURL" must be set to false (default for Windows version) for this to work. To verify that the preference is set to false, enter "about:config" in the Firefox location bar, enter the preference "middlemouse.contentLoadURL" in the filter, and verify the setting appears as 'false' in the 'value' column. If it is set to 'true', double-click anywhere along the row and it will revert to 'false'. Middle-clicking on a tab to close it will now work.

Double Click

Opening Tabs

Tab Bar

Double Clicking empty space on the Tab Bar will open a 'New Tab.

Closing Tabs

Tab

Double Clicking on a Tab to close a Tab is an option in Tab Clicking Options extension.

Location Bar

Double Clicking in the Location Bar selects its entire contents. You can set the user preference "browser.urlbar.doubleClickSelectsAll" to false so that double-click selects a "word" in its contents, and then if the user preference "layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation" is true (the default in Firefox), double-click will select part of a URL shown in the Location Bar. Triple Clicking always selects the entire contents of the Location Bar.

Download Manager

Double Clicking a file entry in the Downloads Manager will open/launch the file (provided that you haven't moved it from its saved location).

Right Click

Customize the toolbars

You can adjust your toolbars to your liking. Right click on any toolbar, and select 'Customize'. While this dialogue is up, you can move buttons around on your toolbars by click-and-drag to the new location. The window that pops up when you do this is a holding area for unused icons. You can drag any item from it onto your toolbars to have it made available, and you can drag any icon from your toolbars onto this box to hide that icon completely.

Tip
Some toolbar items, such as the Location bar, will expand to take up all available space.
Tip 2
You can fit the Menu Bar, Personal Toolbar, Location bar, Back and Forward buttons, etc, all to one single row if you really want to maximize web pages' viewable area.

Create a keyword bookmark

Right clicking in a search box (such as the search box on the left of this page) and selecting 'Add a Keyword for this Search' lets you make an interactive keyword bookmark.

Here is how it works
Give it a name, such as 'mozillaZine Knowledge Base search'
Now, assign a keyword to it, such as 'mozkb'
Click 'OK'
From now on, you can search mozillaZine Knowledge Base (or any other search box you used for this) from your address bar like this
Enter 'mozkb search topic' in your address bar and click Go!

View selection source

Right-click on a highlighted area of a page (obtained by click-and-dragging the mouse, for example) and choose 'View selection source' to display the source code for the selected part of the page only.

Drag and Drop

Moving bookmarks and folders

To change a bookmark's position within the same folder by dragging it to your desired position.

To Move a folder to another position or location by dragging the folder to new location.

To move a single bookmark or a selection of bookmarks to another location hold down SHIFT while dragging it to the new location. If you drag a single bookmark, or a selection of bookmarks to a new location without holding down the Shift key, you will copy the bookmark(s). (see Sorting_and_rearranging_bookmarks_-_Firefox)

Icons

You can bookmark the current page by dragging the icon from the location bar (or the tab) to your Bookmarks folder. You can also drag it to the desktop to make an icon for that page. Drag a text file, a link, a picture, etcetera... from your folders or your desktop to Firefox and it will open in Firefox!

Links

"Click-and-drag" a bookmark to the main content window (which is the biggest on the Firefox user interface),so you can open it in a new tab! Dragging a link onto a new tab will open the link in the new tab.

Downloading links

Drag any link to the Download Manager Window to add and download the link. You can also directly download anything from a page by drag and dropping it onto the "Downloads" icon in your toolbar (provided you put it there through Customize).