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Firefox’s built-in spell checker is useful for using web content management systems like Wordpress for blog entries or Google docs, but the default setting only spellchecks fields that are bigger than one line. Enable single-line spellcheking (like for Google searches) by changing the following preference in about:config: layout.spellcheckDefault = 2
Additionally, you can add different language dictionaries to the spell-check database by picking and installing the right packages from Mozilla’s language packs page. Right click any multi-line text field and you can choose to alternate between different languages for spell checking.
And in case you’ve ever unintentionally added a word to the Dictionary, you can remove the entry by opening the persdict.dat file stored in your user Profile directory. Using a text editor like notepad, delete the line containing your unwanted word, and save the file.
Browse websites the way you want. Use the Greasemonkey add-on with user-created scripts to automate and customize the way the way websites behave and look. You can make MP3 file links play with an in-line MP3 player, or make Google display Twitter search results at the top of all search pages. There are thousands of Greasemonkey scripts that you can use, and they’re all free to download.
Stylish lets you easily employ themes (called Styles) for any website without having to mess with CSS code. Like Greasemonkey, there is a sizeable database of preconfigured styles that users have created for you to try.
Even if you don’t want to run Internet Explorer, there are some web services that only work if you use Microsoft’s browser (such as web outlook or Windows Update). IE Tab gives you the option to render pages using Internet Explorer or open new tabs using the IE engine. You can make specific sites always open with IE Tab as well.
User Agent Switcher is an add-on that doesn’t change the rendering engine, but allows you to make Firefox pretend to be a different browser when it retrieves information from a server. For example, you can have Firefox pose as an iPhone to view mobile-specific pages.
Comments are closed on this article
mishrajulien
February 28, 2012 at 9:43am
Obviously! Very well tips and suggestion. I also appreciate that does impressive info to know all of the users. http://showamerica.com/ Thanks for letting us know!
jimmydshoulder
January 11, 2011 at 6:25pm
I understand this article was written more than a year ago but please take down the portion of this article concerning the about:config tweaks. The only difference that I noticed, as most others did, was that Firefox was now significantly slower. I've been a subscriber for a while and know that slowing down PC's is not one of your goals. I applaud you for having an extensive and easily accessible online archive; but since this isn't fine literature I believe removing or at least correcting the faulty information would only serve to enhance the value of this vast trove of information. I am not asking that you review every article ever written, just the ones that people complain about. If articles like this, about improving a popular product were kept up-to-date, they would be of great service.
JiMiZnHB
December 22, 2009 at 7:48pm
Hello,
I am NOT sure WHY... But EVERY Time I try to Use your "About:Config" Suggestions Firefox SLOWS DOWN!!!
Lucky for me that I Still have a Copy of FIRETUNE :P
It Fixed The Problems the came from Making Your "About:Config" changes :)
Well, better Luck next Time
FRAGaLOT
November 28, 2009 at 8:29pm
Using these tips made FF load pages slower if not all out stall, after clicking link. So I'm gonna have to un-do some of these tweaks. Oh well..
Mahogany
November 26, 2009 at 5:03am
I'd add another under the "14 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts" to make it 15. On shortcut I find very useful is Ctrl + either + or - to increase or decrease font/page viewing size.
Also, another add-on I really like is Adblock Plus. Also, since I like to have lots of tabs open at once, I find Tabs Open Relative (which makes your tabs always open just right of the tabe you open it from so that you don't have to go scrolling over to the far right to access it) and Aging Tabs (which helps you to see which tabs you've accessed most recently).
r7mr7m
November 14, 2009 at 12:11pm
Had the same problems. But a lot of my extensions had been updated recently and so I had to disable all of them to see if it was one of them. Turns out it was just the about:config tweaks. I only did the first few (before the pipelining ones) and still had the problems. Too bad.
quickone
November 14, 2009 at 8:03am
Yeah, going to have to go with everyone else on this one, the about:config changes made me have to use IE for a day or two until I got FF back to the way it was. It would be fine for a minute or two but then pages would not load or would take MINUTES to load. :(
~~The difference between insanity and genius is merely succes~~
mikestjames
November 13, 2009 at 6:31pm
Firefox 3.5.5 became s sludge bucket after implementing the speed tweaks on my very fast Vista64 machine. Your could go eat lunch waiting for pages to load, Had to undo them to get back to normal (fast) speed. Waste of time for me, at least. Very bad advice.
K0BALT
November 13, 2009 at 2:45pm
Tried these settings and it ruined my browser. i had to keep restarting Firefox because nothing would load. Restored back to default...... for those who need to do the same, just open the Start Menu and type.....
firefox -safe-mode ....... then just check the box to restore default preferences and restart.
Lummoxx
November 13, 2009 at 7:45am
I tried the changes in the "Speed Up Browsing" section, and experienced much worse Firefox performance.
Pages were taking longer to load, images seemed to be a big factor, and had frequent DNS lookup delays. The status bar would be "Looking up...<site>".
After resetting the values, it's back to normal again.
Black Lable 69
November 12, 2009 at 4:01pm
Everything was fine until a day or so later & just like some others, Firefox loaded very slowly & couldnt play any form of online video. I had to completely reinstall Firefox which is a headache if you have a thousand bookmarks like myself. Thanks though & maybe others will have better luck.
sdelvecchio
November 12, 2009 at 8:36am
Don't forget that use can also use Ctrl+Z to open the last closed website once you open a new tab with Ctrl+T. If you just keep hitting the Ctrl+Z to step back through pages.
nduanetesh
November 11, 2009 at 11:48am
The only keyboard shortcut I actually ever use is to hit the forward slash key "/" to open up the quick find bar at the bottom of the page. It's just like the find bar except it auto hides when you stop using it, and you have to know the keyboard shortcuts to move up and down through the things youv'e found (F3 to find next). It's pretty sweet!
V-mateika
November 10, 2009 at 10:10pm
I had no clue you could use the middle mouse button to open a link in a new tab!! I do it so often the "slow" way! This made my life a heckuva lot easier!
Houndf
November 10, 2009 at 8:50pm
Careful what you do with the about:config. Screwed up my firefox and it took forever to load pages (fast with every other browser). It worked for some people so just make sure it will work before you jump gung-ho with all the commands.
K0BALT
November 10, 2009 at 6:40pm
I never knew about the Ctrl-F to find a specific text on a webpage..... ive wanted to do that for so many things, but never knew you could. I also didnt know you could change the 'mailto' setting to Gmail instead.... thats a huge save for me. Excellent article. Very informative.
jazboy
November 10, 2009 at 5:41pm
Very good article. I am using firefox from quite long time but never bother to do customization. This tutorial encouraged me to do so.
herochild
November 10, 2009 at 12:00pm
most of these tricks are good, but the one to use About:config in order to enable Autofill makes it nearly impossible to type anything in the URL bar, as Firefox keeps trying to autofill it-with the wrong things!
Bloody_El
November 10, 2009 at 11:41am
For some reason the tweaks slowed down my browser to 56k like speeds. After resetting the about:config files it's at a good speed "in my eyes." I dunno though
Wyluliraven
November 10, 2009 at 11:34am
I tried all the about:config tweaks mentioned above (minus the proxy server ones), but ran into an issue with being able to load videos on hulu.com. I have not identified exactly which setting it was yet, but if you're an avid hulu consumer, be careful, and remember which settings you used.
Freedom is the right of all sentient beings -- Optimus Prime
ZayLay
November 10, 2009 at 9:07am
I've stopped using Firefox since switching to Windows 7. The new thumbnail preview of your tabs is really awesome, and works in every other browser besides firefox. I really miss some of the simple features of Firefox, and can't wait until they finally add support for the Win 7 Thumbnail previews of tabs. Anyone know of when that might be available?
myndflyte
November 10, 2009 at 9:55am
Give this a try. Just found it, and may try it when I get home.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/14/firefox-3-7-adds-per-tab-thumbnails-like-ie8-on-windows-7
ZayLay
November 10, 2009 at 11:18am
Thanks so much for that pre-release link to Firefox 3.7. Now i've got the best of firefox, with the Windows 7 preview of tabs :)
jey18
November 10, 2009 at 8:31am
Even with my fairly strong connection (see below) this slowed my browsing down to a halt. I had to open IE just to get back to MPC's website to revert to default.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/618224257.png
FRAGaLOT
November 10, 2009 at 6:48am
Another awesome Firefox Trick is using PIPES between URLs for your home pages. So go into Tools - Options, and under home page type:
http://maximumpc.com|http://www.twitter.com|http://www.google.com
Note the PIPES (vertical line) between each url. So when you open FireFox, or click the HOME button, those three URLs will open in their own tab!
aviaggio
November 10, 2009 at 11:40am
Wow, this tip is great! I had been wondering if such a thing were possible as I always load up the same 5 pages in the AM. Now I can just hit home and voila! Thanks for the tip!
Black Lable 69
November 10, 2009 at 12:34am
Thanks a lot, really :-) Now almost all my websites "Even the Heavy ones like G4" take only 1 to 3 seconds to fully load. I've noticed a significant boost in speed after following your instructions. THANKS! & now I can continue to look at Bridget Regans legs on G4 with even more speed. SET FOR LUDRICRIS SPEED
deadgarth
November 09, 2009 at 11:57pm
Hmm, setting the max connections to 96 really slowed me down and I thought I had a pretty good connection. I'll have to play around with it a bit more.
Airheadq
November 09, 2009 at 10:47pm
Great article. Its always nice to have the features of Firefox all-in-one place for refrence in case I missed something. But being the power user that I am, I've done all of this. :P
