Customizing Mozilla

• Skins:
  Dress Mozilla up with new appearances!. Yes, you can download new skins and install them so that next time you start Mozilla, it will have a different look.

  Mozilla comes standard with two themes, Classic and Modern. These themes were designed for an enjoyable browsing experience but soon developers realized that people might desire to dress-up their browser to meet their own particular tastes and thus provided a means for independent designers to develop their own themes. You can take advantage of new on the edge state of the art themes to tailor your taste. To install new themes on Mozilla:

  1. Before installing the themes, launch Mozilla.
  2. JavaScript has to be enabled for Navigator in advanced preferences.
  3. Software Installation has to be enabled in advanced preferences.
  4. Themes can be automatically installed from the http://themes.mozdev.org/ site.
  5. Alternatively, themes are supplied as xpi files; meaning they can be downloaded and installed later.

• Tabbed Browsing:
  Tabbed browsing gives you a better way to surf the net. You no longer have to open one page at a time. With tabbed browsing, open several pages at once with one click. And now your homepage can be multiple tabbed pages.
  1. Ctrl-T opens a new tab.
  2. Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn cycle between tabs.
  3. Right-click on a link to Open Link In New Tab.
  4. Save a window of tabs as a group bookmark by going to Bookmarks, File Bookmark and checking ``File as group'' when you go to the bookmark, all the tabs will open at once.
  5. Set tabbed browsing preferences in Edit / Preferences / Navigator / Tabbed Browsing.

• Pop up window blocking:
  You can configure Mozilla so pop-up windows will not open. Popup blocker lets you surf the web without intrusion. Advanced popup blocker notifies you when popups are blocked. You can also block pop-ups on a site per site basis.
  1. Open the Mozilla Preferences window.
  2. Select the Advanced Category and then Scripts & Plugins.
  3. In this window, uncheck (disable) the Open Unrequested Windows.
  4. Disable Move or Resize Existing Windows.
  5. Uncheck Raise or Lower Windows.

• Plug-Ins:
  If installing plug-ins without root permissions, use $home/.mozilla/plugins instead of the plug-ins subdirectory where Mozilla is installed. You may have to create this directory first. Mozilla Firefox also uses $home/.mozilla/plugins for this. Java and Flash are already installed system-wide at CCRMA. You should not need to re-install any plug-in. If that is the case please contact the system administrator. You can go to the plugindoc.mozdev.orgweb page for instructions and additional support about Mozilla plug-ins.

• Privoxy:
  The privoxy daemon comes standard on most Linux distributions and chances are that it might be configured and running on your workstation. Privoxy can block annoying adds and animations but it can also prevent useful information on you browser so it must therefore be tested on favorite web sites so that it behaves accordingly.

  Privoxy (man page) is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for pro- tecting privacy, modifying web page content, managing cookies, control- ling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.

  These are the steps for using Privoxy in Mozilla:

  1. In the Edit menu go to | Preferences | Advanced | Proxies |
  2. Select ``Manual Proxy configuration''
  3. Type 127.0.0.1 on the ``HTTP Proxy'' space and 8118 on ``Port'' space.
  4. Type 127.0.0.1 on the ``SSL Proxy'' space and 8118 on ``Port'' space.
  5. After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using Privoxy!

• Cookies:
  A cookie is a small amount of information used by some web sites. A web site that sets cookies will ask your browser to place one or more cookies on your hard disk when you visit the site. Later, when you return to the site, your browser sends back the cookies that belong to the site. You can specify how cookies should be handled by setting your cookie preferences and by using the Cookie Manager. To change cookie preferences:
  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Privacy & Security category, choose Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. Click one of the radio buttons:
     • Disable cookies: Choose this to refuse all cookies.
     • Enable cookies for the originating web site only: Choose this if you don't want to accept or return Foreign cookies. Cookies received through email (when the message contains a web page) are treated as foreign cookies.

     • Enable all cookies: Choose this to permit all web sites to set cookies on your computer and receive them back during subsequent visits. Note: If you select this option, and later choose to reject all cookies, you may still have some older cookies stored on your computer (though no new ones will be set).

• Viewing Cookies
  To view detailed information about cookies:
  1. Open the Tasks menu, choose Privacy & Security, and then choose Cookie Manager.
  2. Choose View Stored Cookies from the submenu. The Cookie Manager window opens with a list of all the cookies stored on your computer.
  3. To see details for a particular cookie, click on it:
     • Name, means the name assigned to the cookie by its originator.
     • Information, is a string of characters and the data a web site tracks for you. It might contain a user key or name by which you are identified to the web site, information about your interests, and so forth.
     • Host or Domain, this item tells you whether the cookie is a host cookie or a domain cookie.
     • Path, This is the file pathway. If a cookie comes from a particular part of a web site, instead of the main page, a path is given.
     • Server Secure, indicates whether the cookie was sent over a secure server. If a cookie is secure, it will only be sent over a secure (https) connection. Before sending a secure cookie, your browser checks the connection and will not send if the connection is not secure.
     • Expires, is the date and time at which the cookie is deactivated.

• Using the Password Manager:
  Password Manager can help you by storing your user names and passwords on your computer's hard disk, and entering them for you automatically when you visit such sites.

  When you enter your user name and password at a web site a dialog box appears asking, "Do you want Password Manager to remember this logon?" You can choose the following options:

  1. Yes, the next time you return to the web site you'll see that your user name and password are already filled in.
  2. Never for this site, password Manager will not ask in the future if you want to save your user name and password for that site.
  3. No, password Manager won't remember the user name and password, but will ask again the next time you visit the site.
  Password Manager saves your user names and passwords on your own computer in a file that's difficult, but not impossible, for an intruder to read.

  Becareful if you provide personal information such as your name, phone number, or email address to a web site, because it is free to store that information in its database and use it later. A web site might use this information to improve its service to you or target advertising to your interests. A web site could sell the information it has gathered to other companies.

  To turn on encryption for your stored sensitive information:
  

  1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
  2. Under the Privacy & Security category, choose Web Passwords. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click the category to expand the list.)
  3. In the Encrypting versus Obscuring section, select "Use encryption when storing sensitive data."
  4. Click OK. If you haven't previously set a master password, a new dialog box appears and leads you through the process of setting it.

• Useful Hints:
  
  • Make Mozilla behave like Netscape:
    
    1. On the top [ hhtp:// ] blank address space just type: [ about:config ]

    2. Scroll down to general and look for: ``general.useragent.vendor''

    3. Change its value to: [ netscape 7.0 ]

    4. Alternatively, you can look for the filter blank line and type: [``general.useragent'' ]

    5. Scroll down and look for: `` general.useragent.vendor''

    6. If ``general.useragent.vendor'' is not in the list:
       • right-click and select new and type, [ general.useragent.vendor ]

       • Follow dialogs and add the value: [netscape 7.0]

       • click [ok]