the switch
the switch
I used to prefer Maxthon to Firefox. However, Maxthon has failed to develop sufficiently quickly to keep up with evolving Internet standards, forcing me to switch to Firefox now.
Here's what I did to make Firefox work (almost) as well as Maxthon in terms of functionality and ease of use.
Read the full post »1. Maximise screen real estate
Use a minimal number of toolbars and small icons, and remove as many buttons. Knowledge of keyboard shortcuts is essential to reduce reliance on toolbar buttons and menu options (here are some useful shortcuts).
Further, Smart Bookmarks Bar saves more space by hiding bookmark names in the bookmarks toolbar, showing only the icons; FaviconizeTab reduces the width of a tab to the size of the favicon; Menu Editor removes unnecessary options from the menu bar and context menus (see also Menu Mod).
Optional: remove the search bar.
2. Bookmarks & url aliases
Set keywords for frequently-accessed bookmarks (in bookmark properties) so that entering the aliases in the address bar will load the websites desired (e.g. I type "cal" for Google Calendar). keywordManager is a handy tool for managing your bookmark keywords.
Also, check out deskCut, which allows saving of bookmarks straight to the desktop. A very convenient tool for research.
PlainOldFavourites allows Firefox to use IE favourites, but those will not have the keyword function. A major irritation is that all other tabs will be closed before the selected IE favourite is opened.
Optional: Favicon Picker 2 allows changing of bookmark favicons.
3. Customise search functions
Option 1: Use the search bar for searching. Use Ctrl+K to access the search bar; Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down to select the search engine; Alt+Enter to open the search results in a new tab. Add custom search engines under the built-in function or from Mycroft.
Option 2: Use the address bar instead for searching. Click here for instructions on how to create smart keywords.
4. Tab tweaking & navigation
Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilities; SwiftTabs allow assigning of shortcuts for switching and closing tabs; Super DragAndGo allows dragging of a link to open the link in a new tab; PermaTabs prevents tabs from being closed; SmoothWheel allows smooth scrolling with the mouse wheel.
5. Use mouse gestures with Mouse Gestures.
6. Block ads with Adblock Plus.
7. New: Increase address bar functionality with Locationbar.
8. New: load status in address bar with Fission (use with this image.)
9. New: clean up pages before printing with Aardvark (see here.)
10. New: Backup everything with FEBE, or simply by copying your %AppData%\Mozilla folder
11. Lastly, optimise Firefox by reducing RAM usage and response time (see tips #12 to #14 here).
This post is meant mainly for personal reference and will be updated over time.
Here's what I did to make Firefox work (almost) as well as Maxthon in terms of functionality and ease of use.
Read the full post »1. Maximise screen real estate
Use a minimal number of toolbars and small icons, and remove as many buttons. Knowledge of keyboard shortcuts is essential to reduce reliance on toolbar buttons and menu options (here are some useful shortcuts).
Further, Smart Bookmarks Bar saves more space by hiding bookmark names in the bookmarks toolbar, showing only the icons; FaviconizeTab reduces the width of a tab to the size of the favicon; Menu Editor removes unnecessary options from the menu bar and context menus (see also Menu Mod).
Optional: remove the search bar.
2. Bookmarks & url aliases
Set keywords for frequently-accessed bookmarks (in bookmark properties) so that entering the aliases in the address bar will load the websites desired (e.g. I type "cal" for Google Calendar). keywordManager is a handy tool for managing your bookmark keywords.
Also, check out deskCut, which allows saving of bookmarks straight to the desktop. A very convenient tool for research.
PlainOldFavourites allows Firefox to use IE favourites, but those will not have the keyword function. A major irritation is that all other tabs will be closed before the selected IE favourite is opened.
Optional: Favicon Picker 2 allows changing of bookmark favicons.
3. Customise search functions
Option 1: Use the search bar for searching. Use Ctrl+K to access the search bar; Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down to select the search engine; Alt+Enter to open the search results in a new tab. Add custom search engines under the built-in function or from Mycroft.
Option 2: Use the address bar instead for searching. Click here for instructions on how to create smart keywords.
4. Tab tweaking & navigation
Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox's tab browsing capabilities; SwiftTabs allow assigning of shortcuts for switching and closing tabs; Super DragAndGo allows dragging of a link to open the link in a new tab; PermaTabs prevents tabs from being closed; SmoothWheel allows smooth scrolling with the mouse wheel.
5. Use mouse gestures with Mouse Gestures.
6. Block ads with Adblock Plus.
7. New: Increase address bar functionality with Locationbar.
8. New: load status in address bar with Fission (use with this image.)
9. New: clean up pages before printing with Aardvark (see here.)
10. New: Backup everything with FEBE, or simply by copying your %AppData%\Mozilla folder
11. Lastly, optimise Firefox by reducing RAM usage and response time (see tips #12 to #14 here).
This post is meant mainly for personal reference and will be updated over time.
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