Mozilla Firefox Version 2.0 Windows XP/Vista Mac OS X 10.2.x and later

Getting Started with Firefox 2.0

Mozilla Firefox is a popular web browser that allows you to explore and retrieve information from web sites on the Internet. Web sites contain pages that may consist of text, images, sounds, animation, and digital video.

Getting Started

To launch Firefox

Double-click on the Mozilla Firefox icon on your desktop (or the Dock in Mac OS 10.x). If you do not have an icon on your desktop:

Windows: Go to Start > All Programs > Mozilla Firefox > Mozilla Firefox.

Mac: In the Finder, go to Go > Applications > Mozilla Firefox.

If you cannot find Mozilla Firefox, it might not be installed on your computer. To install this version of Firefox, go to Installing Firefox.

Using Firefox Overview

Below is a screenshot of the Firefox 2.0 window with important components highlighted.

Location Toolbar

Near the top, the Location Toolbar holds the address of the page being viewed. This is called the URL (Universal Resource Locator) and each page has its own unique URL. Some URLs are case-sensitive and all have to be typed exactly, including spaces or special symbols such as ~. If you know the URL of the page you want to visit, you can click in the white Location field, delete the current URL, type in your URL, and click . If the URL begins with http://, you can leave this part off since Firefox automatically adds it. You can choose from a list of URLs you've previously typed by pulling down the menu on the right of the white Location field (appears as an arrow pointing down ).

 

Restoring Navigation and Bookmarks Toolbars

The Navigation and Bookmarks Toolbars can be arranged according to your preferences. Any website you add to the Bookmarks Toolbar will immediately load when you click on it. If the Navigation and Bookmarks Toolbars disappear completely, you can restore them by going to View > Toolbars and making sure that both the Navigation Toolbar and Bookmarks Toolbar are checked.

Navigation Buttons

Back	The Back button lets you return to the previous page in the browsing history list. If you click on the small downwards pointing triangle to the right of this button, you can see a menu of web pages that you can go back to. Note: Back is only available after you have visited more than one web page. The browsing history list is discarded every time you quit Firefox.
Forward	The Forward button lets you display the next page on the browsing history list. If you click on the small downwards pointing triangle to the right of this button, you can see a menu of web pages that you can go forward to. Note: Forward is only available after you click the Back button or click a web page in the browsing history list. Remember the browsing history list is discarded every time you quit Firefox.
Reload	When displaying a web page, Firefox transfers a copy of the web page from the Internet onto your computer. Therefore if the page changes, you can update the page in your browser window by clicking the Reload button.
Stop	If the page is taking too long to load, you can stop the process by clicking on the Stop button. Sometimes a page will load faster on the second or third try (press the Reload button to try loading the page again).
Home	The Firefox window displays the home page upon launch. The Home button lets you return to the home page that you set. Click here to learn how to set your home page.

Browsing History

Firefox lets you quickly return to the web pages you have already seen during the current browsing session. To see a list of web pages you have visited since you started Firefox, click History in the Menu Bar. To return to a specific page, click its title from the list. You can also click the small downwards pointing triangle next to the Back and Forward buttons to navigate the browsing history list backwards and forwards from the page you are currently on.

Links in the History list expire after a set amount of time. To save the location of a favorite web page permanently, you must create a bookmark for the web page. Click here to learn more about Bookmarks.

Search Bar

You can enter regular words or phrases in the Search Bar and click the magnifying glass to search the Internet. However, the search results are limited to web pages found by your search provider. You can select a different search provider or add a new search provider (e.g. Google, Yahoo), by clicking on the downwards pointing triangle to the left of the search field. Click here to learn more about the search feature.

Tab Bar

The Tab Bar allows you to have multiple web pages open at once in a single window. Each pages will appear under a separate tab, and you simply click on the tab to access that page. To open a new tab, you can go to File > New Tab.

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Bookmarks

Bookmarks provide a permanent and easy way to remember your favorite web pages. They are only deleted when you delete them and thus they will never expire.

Creating a bookmark and a bookmark folder

1. Go to the page you want to bookmark.
2. Go to Bookmarks in the Menu Bar and select Bookmark This Page.
3. In the Add Bookmark window, you can specify a Name for the bookmark and choose which folder you want to save it in from the pull down menu. If you choose the default folder Bookmarks, your bookmark will be added to the bottom of the Bookmarks menu. If you choose the folder Bookmarks Toolbar, your bookmark will appear as a button in your Bookmarks Toolbar.
   
   
4. Optional: If you wish to create an entirely new folder, click the right down triangle on the right. Then click Create New Folder. Type in a Name for your folder. Click OK.
5. When you are done creating a bookmark, click OK to exit out of the window.
   

Viewing bookmarked web pages

Go to Bookmarks in the Menu bar to view the list of bookmarks. Select a bookmark to view by clicking on it.

Organizing your bookmarks through the Bookmarks Manager

Firefox lets you arrange your bookmarks in folders and add separators. Open up the Bookmarks Manager window by going to Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks in the Menu Bar. The Bookmarks Manager window will display bookmarks and folders in a list. You can put the bookmarks anywhere you want by simply dragging them to the desired position or into a folder. You can also rename the folder.

To create a new folder

1. Make sure the Bookmarks Manager window is open and active.
2. Go to File > New Folder or click the New Folder button .
3. Type a name for the folder and click OK.

To add bookmark buttons on the Bookmarks Toolbar

1. Make sure the Bookmarks Manager window is open and active.
2. Select a bookmark and drag it into the Bookmarks Toolbar folder.

To change the name of the bookmark

1. Make sure the Bookmarks Manager window is open and active.
2. Click the bookmark you want to change.
3. Go to Edit > Properties or click or .
4. Change the name in the Name field and then click OK.

Backing up / Restoring bookmarks

If you need to back up your computer and want to save your bookmarks, or if you want to save your bookmarks and import them into another browser, follow the directions on our Backing Up/Restoring Bookmarks page.

Retrieving bookmarks if Firefox will not launch

If Firefox is not launching even after you restart your computer, and you would like to access your bookmarks list, do the following:

PC: Go into My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Documents and Settings > Your User Name (e.g. JDoe) > Application Data >Mozilla > Firefox > Profiles > randomletters.default (e.g. ddzvdozr.default). The bookmarks are usually stored in a file called bookmarks.html. You can copy or drag that file onto your Desktop.

Mac: Go into Macintosh HD > Users > Your User Name (e.g. JDoe) > Library > Firefox. The bookmarks are usually stored in a file called bookmarks.html. You can copy or drag that file onto your Desktop.

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Saving Web Pages and Images

To save an image

1. In order to save an image on a web page, put your mouse pointer over the picture that you want to save.
2. Right-click (on Macs CTRL + click) on the image and choose Save Image As.
3. Choose the location on your hard drive where you want to save the image and click Save.

To save a web page

1. To save a web page onto your hard drive, go to the page that you want to save.
2. From the File menu, choose Save Page As....
3. You can type a new filename if you wish or you can just leave the name as is.
4. In the Save as type drop-down menu under the File name field, choose whether to save the page including the images (Web Page, complete), save only the HTML of the page (Web Page, HTML only), or save only the plain text (Text Files).
5. Choose the location of where you wish to save this page and then click Save.

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To set Firefox as your default browser

1. In the Firefox menu bar, select Tools > Options.
2. Click the Main tab.
3. Under System Defaults, click Check Now.
4. A window will ask if you would like to set Firefox as your default browser. Click Yes.
5. Click Ok.

To set the default Home Page

Your home page is displayed when Firefox first launches or when you click the Home button . You can choose any web page to be your home page.

1. To choose a new home page, go to the web page that you want to use as your home page.
2. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
3. Click Main in the category list on the top.
4. Next to When Firefox starts, make sure Show my homepage is selected. Click Use Current Page, or type in the page's URL (e.g. http://www.wellesley.edu).
5. Click OK.

To load web pages with no images (in order to speed up web browsing)

1. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click Content in the category list on the top.
3. Uncheck the box next to Load images automatically. Optional: If you click the Exceptions button, you can specify which website(s) you would still like to display images.
4. Click OK.

To load page with images again

1. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click Content in the Category list (on the top).
3. Check the box next to Load images automatically.
4. Click OK.

Search

To search for a word on a web page

If you want to search for a text string within the current page:

1. Go to Edit > Find In This Page or press CTRL+F on your keyboard .
2. The Find Toolbar will appear at the bottom of the screen:



1. Type in the text you want to search for. As you type, Firefox will highlight and jump to the first instance of the search term on the page.
2. To find the next instance of your search term, click Find Next. If Firefox does not find the text in the current document, then the background of the text field will turn red.

To search for a web page on the Internet

To search for a web page, you can type the text to search for in the Search Bar at the top right corner of the browser window, then press Return or Enter or the magnifying glass icon . A results window will open. If you wish to use a different search provider, click on the down arrow next to the search engine .

To add a new search engine

1. Click the down arrow next to the search engine and select Manage Search Engines.
2. Click Get more search engines near the bottom.
3. You will be brought to a Firefox Add Search Engine page.
4. Select a search engine.
5. Click Start using it right away.
6. Click Add.

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Privacy Settings

Many people are worried about security and privacy over the Internet, especially if they are asked to provide information such as passwords, credit card numbers, or other confidential information. To see if encryption is in effect for a bank website, for example, check the bottom right corner of the Firefox window. If you see a padlock icon , the document is encrypted (secure).

To make sure that your passwords and other form data are not saved

WARNING: The default Firefox settings currently save passwords and other form data. For instance, information such as your credit card number and passwords to important accounts could be automatically saved. We strongly advise you to turn off this feature, since Firefox will automatically store any passwords you save, making them viewable when you click the Show Passwords button in the Security category.

1. To turn off the save form data and save passwords features, go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click Privacy in the category list at the top.
3. Under History, uncheck the box next to Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar.
4. Next click the Security category at the top and then uncheck the box next to Remember passwords for sites .

To remove already saved passwords

If you discover that Firefox has already saved passwords to certain sites, you can remove some of those sites or all of them.

1. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Then click Security in the category list at the top.
3. Under Passwords, click Show passwords.
4. In the Password Manager window that opens up, select the website(s) that you want removed from the list. To select more than one website at a time, press CTRL + click.
5. Click Remove. If you want all the websites removed from the list, click Remove All.

To customize the Clear Private Data tool

For additional security, Firefox also has a feature called the "Clear Private Data tool" which can allow you to clear private data such as browsing history every time you exit Firefox or by going to your Tools menu and selecting Clear Private Data.

1. To customize this feature, go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac), and click on the Privacy in the category list at the top.
2. Under Private Data, click the Settings button at the bottom of the Options window.
3. In the Clear Private Data window, check the boxes for the areas you want cleared. Click OK to close the window.
4. Under Private Data you can check Always clear my private data when I close Firefox, which will clear all the areas you selected each time you completely exit Firefox. If you check Ask me before clearing private data, you will receive a confirmation prompt before Firefox erases the data.
5. Click OK when you are done.

To clear the Browsing History

The browsing history is a listing of all the recent websites you have visited within a set period of time (e.g. two weeks). Clearing your browsing history does not affect your bookmarks.

1. To clear your History List, go to Tools > Clear Private Data.
2. Check Browsing History. Uncheck all other items.
3. Click Clear Private Data Now.
   

To clear Cookies

Sometimes Firefox will ask you if you want to accept a cookie. A cookie is a small amount of information that a site will save to a special file on your hard drive, then examine when you visit the site again (e.g. shopping cart information for an online business). They are usually harmless but they can present a privacy issue, since sites can use them to track what pages you visit and other personal details.

1. To change your cookies preferences, go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click Privacy in the Category list at the top.
3. Under Cookies, click Show Cookies. If you only want certain cookies removed, select a cookie and click Remove Cookie. If you want all cookies to be removed, select Remove All Cookies Now.
4. You can also
5. When you are done changing your cookie options, click OK.

To empty the Cache

Every time you visit a Web page, Firefox saves it to a folder called Cache. If this folder gets too full, Firefox will run more slowly and behave in an unstable way. You should clear the cache at least once a month.

1. To clear the cache, go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Go to Advanced category, and then click on the Network tab.
3. Under Cache, click the Clear Now button.
4. Click OK.

Pop-up windows launch automatically when you browse some websites on the Internet. They usually contain harmless advertisements. Firefox is set to block pop-up windows by default, but occasionally you may want to turn off this feature to look at a website such as http://www.artstor.org that uses pop-up windows to display artwork. You can completely turn off the pop-up blocker or make allow certain websites as exceptions to open pop-up windows.

To unblock all pop-up windows

1. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click on Content in the category list at the top.
3. Uncheck Block pop-up windows.
4. Click OK.

To make exceptions so certain websites can show popup windows

1. Go to Tools > Options (or Firefox > Preferences on a Mac).
2. Click on Content in the Category list at the top.
3. Next to Block pop-up windows, click Exceptions.
4. In the Address of website field, type in the full URL (e.g. http://www.artstor.org) .
5. Click Allow. Then click Close.
6. Click OK

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Extensions / Add-ons

Add-ons (or extensions) provide additional functionality to Firefox. However, be careful when installing Add-ons as they may not work when you perform upgrades to Firefox. If you still wish to install them, please note that they are not supported by Wellesley College Information Services.

To get new extensions

1. To get extensions, go to Tools > Add-ons .
2. In the Add-ons window, click the Get Extensions link in the lower right corner.

3. This will take you to the Firefox Extensions page, where you can search for and browse a complete list of extensions available for Firefox 2.0. Click the extension you would like to install and follow the web page's instructions.
4. Once you have installed an add-on, most require you to restart Firefox before changes can take place.

To check for updates to your extensions

1. To check for updates, go to Tools > Add-ons.
2. In the Add-ons window, click the Find Updates button on the lower left.
3. Install any updates that Firefox finds by clicking Install Updates.

To uninstall extensions

1. To uninstall extensions, go to Tools > Add-ons .
2. In the Add-ons window, click on the extension you want to uninstall. Click Uninstall.
3. Close and reopen Firefox in order to have the changes take place.

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Tips and Tricks

Copying/Pasting Text into Firstclass

Note: We recommend upgrading to Firefox 2.0, which allows users to copy and paste web page text directly into Firstclass messages.

When you try to copy text from Firefox 1.5 and paste it into a Firstclass message, you may see a link called "New link" , which links to the page you copied from, instead of the actual text you copied. To get the actual text you copied to appear in your message:

1. Highlight text from a web page using your mouse. Then press Ctrl+C or go to Edit > Copy.
2. In your Firstclass message toolbar menu, go to Edit > Paste Special. You can also right-click in the body of the message and select Paste Special (on Macs Ctrl + click).
3. You will then see this window:



4. Select Plain Text and then click OK.You could also download the Firefox Copy Plain Text extension, which will allow you to paste text from Firefox to Firstclass as you normally do without the added Edit > Paste Special step. However, please bear in mind that the extension may not work when you perform upgrades to Firefox in the future, and that Wellesley College Information Services does not support extensions.

Multiple Tabs

You can have more than one tab open in the same window at one time, which makes it easier to flip back and forth between a few web pages.

• To open a new tab, go to File > New Tab.
• To close a tab, click on it and go to File > Close Tab.

NOTE: When you close a window, you will receive a prompt telling you how many tabs you have open and asking whether you want to still close the window, as it would also close all the tabs. This is a helpful prompt in case you decide to close a page and forget that you have other tabs open, but you can also choose to to disable it by unchecking the box in the prompt.

Viewing the Source Code

To see the HTML source code of the current page, go to View > Page Source.

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How to Quit

To close Firefox

Go File > Exit (or Firefox > Quit Firefox on a Mac).

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Wellesley College | Information Services | Archives Computing | Library | Media Services | Telephone & Voicemail

• Maintained By: Mimi T. Lai
• Wellesley College Information Services
• Date Created: November 1, 2007
• Last Modified: September 20, 2007
• Expires: June 1, 2009