Firefox 4 reversed Open in a new window, and Open in a new tab

[mm]

Firefox 4 reversed Open in a new window, and Open in a new tab.

When right-clicking on a link.

I hate that.

Is there any way to reverse them back again?

 

[mm]

Firefox 4 reversed Open in a new window, and Open in a new tab.

When right-clicking on a link.

I hate that.

Is there any way to reverse them back again?

This was a fresh install on a computer that never had FF before. If I
installed it on my own computer, this one, would it let me copy
everything from FF3 and make the list like is on this computer?

 

[Paul]

This was a fresh install on a computer that never had FF before. If I
installed it on my own computer, this one, would it let me copy
everything from FF3 and make the list like is on this computer?

I'm not sure I understand the question properly, but

1) A newer version of Firefox, will use information from the older
install. If I was using Firefox 3 on my current computer, and I
download and install Firefox 4 on top of it, it should keep the
bookmarks.

2) Programs keep their configuration in a folder as a set of files.
Transferring a set of files, that are being used for the same
version of program, should result in your accumulated state being
preserved.

For example, if I look for sqlite (a database type), I find the program
files (which I don't particularly care about)

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

as well as my profile, which has bookmarks and other stuff.

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default

The "username" is the username of the account you're using. The xxxxxxxx
part is an 8 character random string. Inside that folder, is stuff you
could copy from one installation to another.

Any bookmarks you find in the profile, may be unreadable. The "Export"
function in Firefox itself, allows an HTML file to be generated. Otherwise,
they're contained in a .json file. The many .sqlite files are databases.
The databases can be read with the appropriate tools, if you want to
understand what is stored inside. For example, I used "sqlite3.exe"
from a download, to dump the contents of the database as a text file.
And there is at least one add-on for Firefox, that allows you to use
the browser to examine the database.

"PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
CREATE TABLE moz_classifier (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, domain BLOB,
partial_data BLOB, complete_data BLOB, chunk_id INTEGER, table_id INTEGER);"

So if you wanted to transfer Firefox from another computer, you'd install
the program first, then bring over the xxxxxxxx.default folder with all
those files in it. Copy the contents (you don't need the xxxxxxxx.default
folder itself) and use them to replace what's in there already, should
do the job.

As they change from one major release to another, they may choose at
any time, to change the database type they're using. So there is no
reason to believe that "sqlite3.exe" is the right tool to dump the
database. I only learned about the existence of that program, when
there was a flurry of activity about "vacuuming" the sqlite files
to make them smaller. It was believed at the time, that the large
size of the files was a detriment to reading them in (which is
true), but "vacuuming" the database files runs the risk of
damaging them. When I tried the same experiments other people were
trying, I could shrink one of the files to about 20% of its original
size. I was curious what kind of saving might be possible, but
since I didn't plan on running my browser that way, I didn't test
whether the resulting file was fully functional or not.

*******

With regard to your original question, normally you'd use the
Preferences in the program, to change the program behavior.

If you need more detailed control, go to the URL box and type in

about:config

That will open what I think is a representation of the "prefs.js" file.

Note that the about:config interface is a "live" interface and
very dangerous. After you've made changes, there is no "save or
discard changes" option. If you make a mistake (like I did one
day), there is no "plan b". I deleted a setting, and didn't
know how to put it back. If you shut down Firefox first,
use Task Manager to make sure it has really exited, then
back up the profile somewhere, then you will have an option
later to recover from any mistakes you might make in about:config.
There are a ton of lines in there you can edit if you want.

At one time, program designers would write those files as text.
For example, bookmarks may have been maintained as an HTML file,
preferences might have been stored in plain text. I don't understand
the thinking that says config info must be stored in some unintuitive
form. You can't give me a performance argument, because the choice
of sqlite and the huge files the tool keeps, says the designers
don't give a rat's ass about performance. I expect storing things
in various binary forms, or making them dangerous to edit directly,
is just a form of job security.

Paul

 

[mm]

Thanks Paul.

There is a lot to read here and I will read it, but let me try to
clarify the question above before the thread falls off the top of my
screen.

I usually right click on links and then "Open [the link] in a new Tab"
which has always been the second option down on the right-click list,
since they came out with tabs for Netscape or Firefox, whichever it
was.

I never changed anything, nor did I ever see a method to change this
in Preferences. But I did not look at most of the options in
about:config.

For one thing, that thing scares me, for the reasons you give, and
there are just so many, there are too many to understand them all
permanently, or even while going through the list**.

So it seems like the default behaviour has changed, but maybe not.
Although I started 3 new windows instead of tabs before I figured out
that the order had changed,

I don't know what I'll do if installing FF4 on my current computer
with FF3 (and which once had FF2 and FF), if it doesn't come up with
the same option order as I have now. I'll have to go change my other
computer to the other order, and my laptop, and any family or friends'
computers that I use! And it will be very difficult to teach this
old dog a new order. I've been meaning to write to the local
supermarket to stop moving things around. They seem to do it just to
mkae the customers suffer.

CORRECTION, maybe. I just downloaded contextmenueditorinstall.exe . I
intended it for other situations and I haven't tried to install it,
but maybe it would work here. It came recommended, maybe from someone
in this ng.


**OFF TOPIC Footnote: I did recently increase the number of recently
closed tabs to 20 from 10, and the number of recently closed windows
to 20 from 3, although this doesn't really solve my problem. The
problem I had with "Start new window" is that it turns out, by default
FF3 only remmebers three windows. And every time one is in Amazon
etc. and he clicks to see an enlarged photo of something, etc. it
calls that a new window, and after 2 or 3 of them, it forces out one's
second real window, a window used for important tabs. So more than
once I lost a window's full of tabs. Now because I changed the number
to 20, I have more time to get rid of old windows, but it's not easy.

I have to open the window if it's close, alt-T to open a blank tab,
cntl-w to close the non-blank tab if there is only one of them or, if
there are a lot, cntl-tab to go to the blank tab, right click on the
tab and choose "Close other tabs", then cntl-shift-w or click on the
upper right corner to close the window. Since by this time it has
only one tab, a tab that is blank, has never been anywhere, the window
really disappears. But it should be easier.

I checked now and I have a recently-closed window that I never want to
see again. All it does is explain what a no-install version is,
something I would have just assumed if I had known it would be so much
trouble to get rid of the window, which eats into my current quota of
20, and would really eat into most people's quota of 3.

I'm sorry. This whole footnote is off topic, but I got emotional.

 

[Paul]

Thanks Paul.

There is a lot to read here and I will read it, but let me try to
clarify the question above before the thread falls off the top of my
screen.

I usually right click on links and then "Open [the link] in a new Tab"
which has always been the second option down on the right-click list,
since they came out with tabs for Netscape or Firefox, whichever it
was.

I never changed anything, nor did I ever see a method to change this
in Preferences. But I did not look at most of the options in
about:config.

For one thing, that thing scares me, for the reasons you give, and
there are just so many, there are too many to understand them all
permanently, or even while going through the list**.

So it seems like the default behaviour has changed, but maybe not.
Although I started 3 new windows instead of tabs before I figured out
that the order had changed,

I don't know what I'll do if installing FF4 on my current computer
with FF3 (and which once had FF2 and FF), if it doesn't come up with
the same option order as I have now. I'll have to go change my other
computer to the other order, and my laptop, and any family or friends'
computers that I use! And it will be very difficult to teach this
old dog a new order. I've been meaning to write to the local
supermarket to stop moving things around. They seem to do it just to
mkae the customers suffer.

CORRECTION, maybe. I just downloaded contextmenueditorinstall.exe . I
intended it for other situations and I haven't tried to install it,
but maybe it would work here. It came recommended, maybe from someone
in this ng.


**OFF TOPIC Footnote: I did recently increase the number of recently
closed tabs to 20 from 10, and the number of recently closed windows
to 20 from 3, although this doesn't really solve my problem. The
problem I had with "Start new window" is that it turns out, by default
FF3 only remmebers three windows. And every time one is in Amazon
etc. and he clicks to see an enlarged photo of something, etc. it
calls that a new window, and after 2 or 3 of them, it forces out one's
second real window, a window used for important tabs. So more than
once I lost a window's full of tabs. Now because I changed the number
to 20, I have more time to get rid of old windows, but it's not easy.

I have to open the window if it's close, alt-T to open a blank tab,
cntl-w to close the non-blank tab if there is only one of them or, if
there are a lot, cntl-tab to go to the blank tab, right click on the
tab and choose "Close other tabs", then cntl-shift-w or click on the
upper right corner to close the window. Since by this time it has
only one tab, a tab that is blank, has never been anywhere, the window
really disappears. But it should be easier.

I checked now and I have a recently-closed window that I never want to
see again. All it does is explain what a no-install version is,
something I would have just assumed if I had known it would be so much
trouble to get rid of the window, which eats into my current quota of
20, and would really eat into most people's quota of 3.

I'm sorry. This whole footnote is off topic, but I got emotional.

I didn't want to mess up my current install, so I installed Firefox 4.0.1
in Linux (Ubuntu) in a virtual machine. I downloaded right from mozilla.org
and ran that version from a separate folder.

I located a file called omni.jar . It is 3,536,058 bytes. A JAR file
is Java code, as far as I know. It's a Java container, and it is in
a ZIP format. Java is a language that is intended to be "write once
run anywhere", so what I learn here, should be directly applicable
to the Windows version. (They should be able to use the same JAR
on all platforms.)

In Linux, I then used "unzip omni.jar" and got a gazillion files.

Next, I did some searching for text, such as "Open in a New Tab".
In the unzipped tree of files, that got me to...

chrome/en-US/locale/browser/places/places.dtd

and a reference to cmd.open_tab.label. I tried searching for that
and got a second file...

chrome/browser/content/browser/places/placesOverlay.xul

In there, I can find

<menupopup id="placesContext"

but then I kinda lose the scent.

I think *somewhere* in omni.jar, they control the order of the menu
items, but it can't be set from about:config. It would be inconvenient
to use a flat file like about:config for a job like that.

In theory, you'd find the responsible file in the JAR, edit it,
and zip up the tree again and make a modified omni.jar. Now, the
question would be, whether they have any mechanism for detecting
modifications, such as a checksum or the like.

Initially, I thought it might be controlled bu some conventional
C code, and totally impossible to get at. But it might actually
be accessible, just not through about:config.

Paul

 

[Patok]

I usually right click on links and then "Open [the link] in a new Tab"
which has always been the second option down on the right-click list,
since they came out with tabs for Netscape or Firefox, whichever it
was.

As noted, this Firefox thread is not quite on topic here. Having said that...
why are you using such arduous routes to get to a new tab? Just middle-click on
the link, and it will open in a new tab! I guess probably that's the reason
Firefox changed the default behavior of the top of the right click - to make the
two actions relatively equally easy. Now you have middle click -> new tab, and
right click top -> new window. In the old setting, it was easier to get to a new
tab, and harder - to a new window.
(I don't have FF4 installed here, just 3, so I don't know if they haven't
changed the middle click behavior to something else. They better not!)

 

[mm]

mm wrote:
Firefox 4 reversed Open in a new window, and Open in a new tab.

When right-clicking on a link.

Thanks Paul.

There is a lot to read here and I will read it, but let me try to
clarify the question above before the thread falls off the top of my
screen.

I usually right click on links and then "Open [the link] in a new Tab"
which has always been the second option down on the right-click list,
since they came out with tabs for Netscape or Firefox, whichever it
was.

I never changed anything, nor did I ever see a method to change this
in Preferences. But I did not look at most of the options in
about:config.

For one thing, that thing scares me, for the reasons you give, and
there are just so many, there are too many to understand them all
permanently, or even while going through the list**.
....
CORRECTION, maybe. I just downloaded contextmenueditorinstall.exe . I
intended it for other situations and I haven't tried to install it,
but maybe it would work here. It came recommended, maybe from someone
in this ng.

I didn't want to mess up my current install, so I installed Firefox 4.0.1
in Linux (Ubuntu) in a virtual machine. I downloaded right from mozilla.org
and ran that version from a separate folder.

I located a file called omni.jar . It is 3,536,058 bytes. A JAR file
is Java code, as far as I know. It's a Java container, and it is in
a ZIP format. Java is a language that is intended to be "write once
run anywhere", so what I learn here, should be directly applicable
to the Windows version. (They should be able to use the same JAR
on all platforms.)

In Linux, I then used "unzip omni.jar" and got a gazillion files.

Next, I did some searching for text, such as "Open in a New Tab".
In the unzipped tree of files, that got me to...

chrome/en-US/locale/browser/places/places.dtd

and a reference to cmd.open_tab.label. I tried searching for that
and got a second file...

chrome/browser/content/browser/places/placesOverlay.xul

In there, I can find

<menupopup id="placesContext"

but then I kinda lose the scent.

Wow. I would have lost the scent much earlier. I'll try some of this
stuff, just to know in general.

I think *somewhere* in omni.jar, they control the order of the menu
items, but it can't be set from about:config. It would be inconvenient
to use a flat file like about:config for a job like that.

In theory, you'd find the responsible file in the JAR, edit it,
and zip up the tree again and make a modified omni.jar. Now, the
question would be, whether they have any mechanism for detecting
modifications, such as a checksum or the like.
Ummm.

Initially, I thought it might be controlled bu some conventional
C code, and totally impossible to get at. But it might actually
be accessible, just not through about:config.

Okay. I still havent' finished your first reply. You give me a lot
to do and think about. (I'm going to complain to my parents about too
much homework.)

 

[mm]

I usually right click on links and then "Open [the link] in a new Tab"
which has always been the second option down on the right-click list,
since they came out with tabs for Netscape or Firefox, whichever it
was.

As noted, this Firefox thread is not quite on topic here.

I guess I got "confused" because of another thread here about ff a day
or two ago. Thank you for not caring too much.

Having said that...
why are you using such arduous routes to get to a new tab? Just middle-click on
the link, and it will open in a new tab!

Whoa! For a long time I had no middle button, then when I got a
scroll wheel, it took me a long time to notice it was also a button**.

You are right. This is a new habit it's worth learning. Thanks a
lot!!!

I guess probably that's the reason
Firefox changed the default behavior of the top of the right click - to make the
two actions relatively equally easy. Now you have middle click -> new tab, and

Maybe so.

right click top -> new window. In the old setting, it was easier to get to a new
tab, and harder - to a new window.
(I don't have FF4 installed here, just 3, so I don't know if they haven't
changed the middle click behavior to something else. They better not!)

Well I only tested on ff3. FF4 is in the basement.

**In the basement I also have a 5-button mouse! that I must have
gotten at a hamfest. I think the left-most button is Back, and I know
I keep touching it by accident. Do you ever use one of those?

 

[Patok]

**In the basement I also have a 5-button mouse! that I must have
gotten at a hamfest. I think the left-most button is Back, and I know
I keep touching it by accident. Do you ever use one of those?

Oh yes. I *refuse* to use a mouse that has less than 5 buttons. I carry one
of them (USB) with me wherever I go, to use with my laptop, and if needed to
plug into any other computer that may happen to need my attention.
If you haven't noticed, the back and forward buttons are recognized by many
programs that have history - Windows Explorer for example.

 

[mm]

Oh yes. I *refuse* to use a mouse that has less than 5 buttons. I carry one
of them (USB) with me wherever I go, to use with my laptop, and if needed to
plug into any other computer that may happen to need my attention.
If you haven't noticed, the back and forward buttons are recognized by many
programs that have history - Windows Explorer for example.

But I keep touching the buttons by accident. I have to pick it up
and put it down like I'm handling an insect specimen on a pin.

Okay, maybe I'll get better at this.

 

[Patok]

Oh yes. I *refuse* to use a mouse that has less than 5 buttons. I carry one
of them (USB) with me wherever I go, to use with my laptop, and if needed to
plug into any other computer that may happen to need my attention.
If you haven't noticed, the back and forward buttons are recognized by many
programs that have history - Windows Explorer for example.

But I keep touching the buttons by accident. I have to pick it up
and put it down like I'm handling an insect specimen on a pin.

Okay, maybe I'll get better at this.[/QUOTE]

Maybe the one you have is not designed very well? On the ones I have, the
buttons are well on the sides, and not very easy to press, except deliberately.
One of them has them slightly sticking out, so it easier to bump them into
something - the side of the keyboard, for instance. One other (which is my
favorite and the one I carry around) has them on the sides of the top of the
hump (at the same level as the regular buttons), and it is impossible to press
them by accident - you have to deliberately lift your thumb or pinkie to do it.

 

[pjp]

Maybe the one you have is not designed very well? On the ones I have,
the buttons are well on the sides, and not very easy to press, except
deliberately. One of them has them slightly sticking out, so it easier to
bump them into something - the side of the keyboard, for instance. One
other (which is my favorite and the one I carry around) has them on the
sides of the top of the hump (at the same level as the regular buttons),
and it is impossible to press them by accident - you have to deliberately
lift your thumb or pinkie to do it.

The one I have is nice except when playing games. Have the left side button
mapped to "Zoom" and then the wheel changes magnification. Handy except in a
game when all of a sudden screen screwed up and you're dead or off the track
LOL

 

[mm]

Maybe the one you have is not designed very well? On the ones I have, the
buttons are well on the sides, and not very easy to press, except deliberately.
One of them has them slightly sticking out, so it easier to bump them into
something - the side of the keyboard, for instance. One other (which is my
favorite and the one I carry around) has them on the sides of the top of the
hump (at the same level as the regular buttons), and it is impossible to press
them by accident - you have to deliberately lift your thumb or pinkie to do it.

I'll comment more after I go to the basement, but now I'm thinking I
should wait until 9 or 13 button mouses come out. Or maybe a hat
with electrodes, so I only have to think about what I want to do.

 

[mm]

My left-most button is very easy to press and it's right where I
normally keep my thumb. I have to move my thumb to an undisclosed
location.

I don't think I press the right-most key, but the left-most has a hair
trigger.

BTW, it's an Intellimouse, with the Microsoft brand.

 

[Dominique]

(e-mail address removed) (John K.Eason) écrivait

Don't really know why this is in a Windows forum, but have you looked at the
options available from the Tools > Options menu? Click the Tabs icon and see if
anything there helps.

Regards
John ([email protected]) Remove the obvious to reply...

FF 4 f**ked up some Windows features, I have two Hotmail address and
before, when I clicked "Connect with another account" there was a drop down
list containing my 2 address. Since FF4, when I want to use my other
account, the list is empty and I have to type the whole address; and since
I installed FF4, even IE8 doesn't show my two address anymore.

I would gladly go back to FF 3.6 but when I search for a download, it only
shows FF4. Also the status bar at the bottom has disappear.

I hate this version and I cannot go back.

 

[Dominique]

Patok <[email protected]> écrivait

(I don't have FF4 installed here, just 3, so I don't know if they haven't
changed the middle click behavior to something else. They better not!)

Don't install it, it's garbage and you won't be able to go back, unless you
kept the v.3 installation program.

 

[Roy]

Patok <[email protected]> écrivait


Don't install it, it's garbage and you won't be able to go back, unless you
kept the v.3 installation program.

FF4 is flexible. If you don't like where things are...just "grab" them
and move them to where you want them. Go to View and change all kinds
of things. Quit bitchin' and experiment...soon you'll have it
customized to the way you want it.
==

 

[Paul]

(e-mail address removed) (John K.Eason) écrivait

FF 4 f**ked up some Windows features, I have two Hotmail address and
before, when I clicked "Connect with another account" there was a drop down
list containing my 2 address. Since FF4, when I want to use my other
account, the list is empty and I have to type the whole address; and since
I installed FF4, even IE8 doesn't show my two address anymore.

I would gladly go back to FF 3.6 but when I search for a download, it only
shows FF4. Also the status bar at the bottom has disappear.

I hate this version and I cannot go back.

You can find lots of the older versions. Try here.

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

Maybe you want something like 3.6.17 ?

Installing 3.6.17 on top of 4.0, is bound to lead to trouble, so you
might want to investigate the best way of doing that first. I'm sure the
Mozilla installer works fine in the "forward" direction, but I bet
it'll freak out in "reverse".

Paul

 

[Nil]

Installing 3.6.17 on top of 4.0, is bound to lead to trouble, so
you might want to investigate the best way of doing that first.
I'm sure the Mozilla installer works fine in the "forward"
direction, but I bet it'll freak out in "reverse".

It probably won't work well. I would make a backup of my profile, then
uninstall 4.0, then install 3.x, then restore my profile (the method is
a little more complicated than that, but that's the basic thing.)

 

[boatman312]

Maybe you want something like 3.6.17 ?

Installing 3.6.17 on top of 4.0, is bound to lead to trouble, so you
might want to investigate the best way of doing that first. I'm sure the
Mozilla installer works fine in the "forward" direction, but I bet
it'll freak out in "reverse".

Paul

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