JT - AI7TDSep 10, 2023
mhoye

If you're switching to Firefox this week, I collected a list of the team's favourite hidden features back when I worked there:

https://exple.tive.org/blarg/2020/10/25/navigational-instruments/

Navigational Instruments | blarg

Sep 9, 2023 at 3:36pmWeb
Show threadStacey CampbellSep 9, 2023
@mhoye Awesome, thanks! (I just switched today.)
Show threadTony CliffSep 9, 2023
@mhoye this is fantastic (and I’ve been using FF forever)
Show threadRobert "Anaerin" JohnstonSep 9, 2023
@mhoye The big, and main one I use is "First Party Isolation" brought over from the Tor project. Basically if you visit a website, it's cookies (and third-party cookies from it) are isolated from others. So if blah.com has a facebook tracking pixel, the cookie that pixel sets is different to the one from the facebook pixel set by foo.com, and different from the facebook pixel set by facebook.com. No more being tracked across the internet!
Show threadstilescrisisSep 9, 2023
@anaerin @mhoye That's rapidly becoming the standard! Safari switched to that default a while back and Chrome offers it as an option (becoming the default next year).
Show threadmhoyeSep 9, 2023
@stilescrisis @anaerin The reason Chrome is doing this nonsense now is specifically so they don't lose any real visibility into what people are doing on the web when they need to turn that on in a year.
Show threadstilescrisisSep 9, 2023
@mhoye @anaerin "Need to"? Tell me more. I haven't heard of any legislation or mandate here.
Show threadStephanSep 10, 2023
@anaerin @mhoye Unfortunately, 3rd-party cookies are only *one way* of tracking you. The many other techniques to fingerprint your browser/device still work incredibly fine.
Show threadStewart RussellSep 10, 2023
@anaerin @mhoye that sounds a lot like FF's Container Tabs, a built-in feature
Show threadRobert "Anaerin" JohnstonSep 10, 2023
@scruss @mhoye It goes beyond that, because rather than containing all sites within a group, this is for every site.
Show threadKyle McCowinSep 9, 2023
@mhoye Firefox has been my primary browser since 0.7 or so and the alt-select and shift-rightclick are both news to me. Ctrl+Enter worked in IE at least as far back as 2000.
Show threadErtainSep 9, 2023
@mhoye Thanks for the tips. I've used Ctrl+Shift+T many times when I accidentally closed a tab.
Show threadBadger AF (he/him) DEMOCRACYSep 9, 2023
@mhoye I work for an association and we use Aptify as our Association Management System. I've recently figured out that it runs much better in FireFox than in Chrome (especially when printing Crystal Reports) and have been telling everyone in my association about it.
Show threadcdelimaSep 9, 2023
@mhoye only for desktop version?
Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Sep 9, 2023
@mhoye Interesting. Saved for later. I recently tried to 'transition' to FF and then went back to Brave. Probs need your tips...
Show threadAreYouDeeWhySep 9, 2023
@bytebro @mhoye Once I came aware of the story behind the homofobe browser, I removed Brave everywhere and never regretted it
Show threadRuweg 🇳🇱🐺Sep 10, 2023

@bytebro @mhoye
I would not trust Brave. Their founder has backed anti-gay laws, which is already reprehensible.

The browser itself supports crypto, replaces ads (a security risk), and at one point injected affiliate links.

For a browser focusing on privacy, the latter two are massive red flags.

Here's a full article giving the rundown: https://www.spacebar.news/p/stop-using-brave-browser

Stop using Brave Browser

Seriously.

The Spacebar
Show threadking toot uncommonSep 11, 2023
@randomwolfguy @bytebro @mhoye also the guy behind it invented (shudder) JavaScript, in case those other facts don't scare you enough
Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Sep 11, 2023
@capn_b @randomwolfguy @mhoye Hah! I'm aware of the feelings of many about the person behind Brave, of course. I've naturally disabled all the telemetry, 'news' and crypto nonsense in Brave. It's still one of the few browsers to rid me of all the advertising cruft on YouTube, for example, out of the box.
1/2
Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Sep 11, 2023

@capn_b @randomwolfguy @mhoye

I tried FF for about a full week, and it's still not for me, at least not yet. Very slow in comparison to Brave, and some of its rendering decisions are just perverse, in my view. Oh, and as my home machine is running Garuda I also tried their version of FF ('DragonFire' or something), but that seems to be just a pretty skin over FF.
2/2

Show threadking toot uncommonSep 11, 2023
@bytebro @randomwolfguy @mhoye hotswapping ads is such a violation of your trust though. I just couldn't.
Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Sep 11, 2023
@capn_b @randomwolfguy @mhoye Not seeing any ads, on almost all sites.
Show threadking toot uncommonSep 11, 2023
@bytebro @randomwolfguy @mhoye that doesn't make me more inclined to trust it, given that many of the concerns about the browser are about what's going on behind the scenes
Show threadFlock of Cats 🐈 🐈 🐈 ❄️Sep 11, 2023
@randomwolfguy Brave seems like a massive bait and switch scam. Full stop.
Show threadDogzillaSep 11, 2023
@randomwolfguy I had high hopes for Brave and spent a week using it before learning of the founder’s weird predilections. The tech was decent, but there’s plenty of decent tech choices nowadays
Show threadnantucketlitSep 11, 2023
@randomwolfguy @bytebro @mhoye I seem to recall installing Brave at one point, and it set itself up to load upon startup.
Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Sep 11, 2023
@nantucketebooks @randomwolfguy @mhoye Not for me. If I want that I have to add it to start-up apps. This is on Garuda Linux.
Show threadmirabilosSep 12, 2023
@randomwolfguy @bytebro @mhoye well support for cryptography isn’t something bad now… the rest is, sure.
Show threadCallieSep 11, 2023
@bytebro @mhoye I got rid of Brave before I knew this only because it didn't play nicely with my work apps. I use Firefox for my primary browser, Maxthon for my work stuff (keep it synced separate from personal) and Vivaldi for my NSFW activities.
Show threaddevoluteSep 9, 2023
@mhoye Ah ctrl return to complete the domain. I remember that until Google decided that pushing you to a SERP was a money making opportunity so they crippled it.
Show threadcognitively accessible mathSep 9, 2023
@mhoye this seems ... I don't know.... isn't the point to get away from Google? (Image shows google search and looks like the same weird spammy stuff I get on Edge.)
Show threadmruscSep 10, 2023
@mhoye This is a great resource -- thank you. FF has been the only browser I use, since way back, and it keeps getting better. One of my go-to functions is Reader view (along with audio option) -- awesome for my older eyes ;-)
Show thread🐺 Naia ŌkamiSep 10, 2023
@mhoye Neat. I’m likely switching due to the changes Google is making that will effect ad blockers.
Show threadDrSpiderMattSep 10, 2023
@mhoye This is super helpful, thank you! I've been a Firefox user continuously since it first came out and a lot of this is new to me.
Show threadEsdontoSep 10, 2023
@mhoye my favourite Firefox feature is the behavior of the shift-tab. It works just like alt-tab, but with browser tabs instead of desktop windows. It's much more useful than the behavior of Chrome that just jumps to the next tab in the list
Show threadJiří Fiala Total LandscapingSep 10, 2023
@mhoye great tips, too bad Firefox has a bug (unfixed for at least a decade) where on Mac with Czech keyboard layout, cmd-1 zooms in instead of switching to first tab. Others work as expected. I have first reported this in like 2012, and couple of times since, to no avail.
Show threadaeriqueSep 10, 2023

@mhoye Oooh boy!

Keywords have been a favorite of mine since forever and I'm always afraid they'd get removed.

Show threadDan Hugo (雨果丹)(แดน)Sep 10, 2023

@mhoye

no about:config ?

there was some other fun stuff back in the nscp days, I miss the developer about: urls (but they carried us over into about:credits, fwiw)

good times

Show threadBecca 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇺🇦 🇸🇩 🇵🇸Sep 10, 2023

@mhoye
I remember there was for .net and .org too

"Hitting Ctrl-enter in the URL bar works like autocomplete;”mozilla” go straight to www.mozilla.com, for example. Shift-enter will open a URL in a new tab."

Show threadDaniel NeumanSep 10, 2023
@mhoye @tanghus Great tips! Long time user of Firefox (ever since Phoenix) here, but I still discover new power user features.
Show threadgeographileSep 10, 2023
@mhoye I switched ages ago but I flip back and forth between that and ddg because I'm starting to get wary of putting all my eggs in one basket.
Show thread@yabellini@fosstodon has movedSep 10, 2023

@mhoye This is great! Thanks so much!

I have been using FF for several years and didn't know about most of the small navigation tricks.

I'm a big fan of named profiles. I have one for each community I'm part of, so things are tidy - well, at least not mixed.

Show threadChris CunninghamSep 10, 2023
@mhoye I know a lot of these are relatively recent but I've been using firefox (and firebird, and phoenix, and m/b) for fully 21 years this month and didn't know about most of this
Show threadmhoyeSep 10, 2023
@chriscunningham when I compiled the list we found people who had been working on the Firefox codebase for years who didn’t know some of them.
Show threadDickon HoodSep 10, 2023
@mhoye There're a lot of good tips in there, thanks. I've been using multiple profiles for years: my normal one, and a 'trusted' profile I only use for sites I know I can trust -- banking and whatnot, mostly -- that has all the ad defences disabled in case they break things. I've failed entirely at setting up a self-hosted sync server, though. Can't get that running no matter what.
Show threadTatiana Canales 🧰Sep 10, 2023
@mhoye Thanks! Those are awesome 😎
Show threadBob JonkmanSep 10, 2023

@mhoye

Wut? You're not at Mozilla any more? That's either a recent development or it's been a lot longer than I thought since you presented "State of the Browser" at @gtalug

Show threadmhoyeSep 10, 2023
@bobjonkman @gtalug last few months, yeah.
Show threadNathanSep 11, 2023
@mhoye great post. Ive lately been wondering if there is a keyboard shortcut to switch to previosly viewed tabs like Alt-Tab allows you to do for desktop windows?
Show threadDeborah PickettSep 12, 2023
LB 👆 also if you've been using Firefox for more than 15 years like me.
Show threadWendy MsGator 🐊Sep 12, 2023

@futzle

I was using Firefox when it was Netscape Navigator (yes, I know it's not the same browser but Firefox is a clear descendant of the original NN).

I never forgave Gates for bundling his POS IE with Windows. Netscape Navigator was a thing of beauty.

Show threadBenSep 12, 2023
@WendyMsGator @futzle NCSA Mosaic or bust
Show threadStephan KurzSep 12, 2023
@mhoye wow, that’s an impressive list of lesser known FF features – my fav would be bookmark keywords, with searches using %s as a standin for the search term. Available since #mozilla was taking over Netscape Navigator, but unknown to ~99% of the people I asked…
Show threadmirabilosSep 12, 2023

@mhoye meh. It begins with there not being a…

three-dot “Page Options” pulldown menu

… and it’s a very condensed block of text in a very condensed font, making it immensely hard to follow, or to even understand what the writer is talking about.

Basically, that article is written for people who already know it, not people who don’t.

You can do this trick with the “view image” option in the right-click menu, too – Ctrl-clicking that menu item will open that image in its own new tab.

No, you can’t. There’s now only a “Open I̲mage in New Tab” thing, and the old option (to load (what’s with this “open” and “view” anyway?) it in the current tab) is gone, to my anger, because I used that 90% of the time.

Also, nobody wants “Sync” set up with Mozilla, and the self-hosted sync server has been dysfunctional for years.

–no-remote

… will load http://xn--no-remote-p89d/, you want --no-remote I think, although the manpage says -no-remote for some reason?

Etc…

Show thread​PikoSep 19, 2023
@mhoye OMG this is crazy