Speed Up Your Firefox Browsing

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Reading blogs and other websites, participating in Social Networking Sites, doing research, dropping Entrecards can create an overloaded and disorganized Firefox browser. Here are some ways you can avoid frustration, speed up your browsing and be more organized.

  • Keep one lean clean, mean speedy profile free of addin toolbars, sidebars and multiple extensions for quick browsing..

firefox default toolbars

  • Use a different profile for visiting other sites and social networking.

firefox multiple toolbars

(I would not recommend using this many toolbars at any one time!)

To start Firefox in profile view, where you can choose which profile to load and add new ones: Go to Start Menu/Run and type “firefox -profilemanager”. Mac users - “/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin —profilemanager” (without the “’s) . From the profile screen you can choose to open Firefox in the Profile Manager each time you start the program. To run more than one profile at once use the Profile Switcher extension

  • Keep your most used bookmarks at hand by using folders on your bookmarks toolbar. Eg - one for social networking sites, one for sites you visit regularly…

firefox bookmarks toolbar sueblimely

  • Bloggers who take part in carnivals or regular memes (eg wordless Wednesday) or follow particular scheduled weekly posts may be interested in the Morning Coffee Firefox extension which allows you to organise favorite sites by day and open them in tabs. Thanks to Brown Baron for putting me on to this one. You could also use this to discipline yourself and not be sidetracked while working or studying, e.g. by setting weekend and weekday bookmarks.
  • If you have the Greasemonkey extension installed the following scripts can speed up your browsing and make life easier:
    • Disable Text Ads - Disables inline text ads from Vibrant Media (IntelliTXT), AdBrite, Infolicious (lingoSpot), Kontera, Linkworth, EchoTopic, Targetpoint and MediaText (to date).
    • RSS+Atom Feed Subscribe Button Generator - automatically finds RSS and Atom subscription links on a webpage and insertsa feed subscription button to the top left of the page.
  • It’s All Text, - speed up the process of writing in text areas (comments, forum posts etc) and do not lose what you have typed due to mishaps.
  • If you are game to alter your Firefox configuration take a look at the tutorial Speed Up Firefox web browser
  • Use the noscript extension to disable javascript, Java, Flash and other plugins for safe browsing as well as speed. You can choose which sites you wish to be excluded from the disable functions - It does take some setting up to do this though. Some love it, some find it annoying. If you do not want to use this all the time add it to your “lean” profile or to a new one
  • It is wise to do backup or copy of your Firefox profile before editing your config or adding Greasemonkey scripts.
  • It is always worth doing regular backups of your profile in case other problems arise.

Please let me know if you have any tips to speed up your browsing activities (apart from setting yourself a time limit that is - something I have rarely been able to achieve).

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29 Comments »

Pingback by coComment - Site
2008-04-08 07:55:41

links from Technoratiview blog

 
2008-04-08 18:54:35

Wonderful tweaks, I desperately needed them; BTW I’m not a wombat am I?

Rahul Pinnamaneni’s last blog post..Mind-Boggling

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Comment by no imageColin Campbell (Who am I?)
2008-04-08 23:10:49

Ha Ha. I have too many tool bars. I am going to come back and look at this again.

Colin Campbell’s last blog post..Stockbrokers of the World Beware

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2008-04-09 08:07:05

Kramer auto Pingback[…] Your page is on StumbleUpon […]

 
Comment by no imageCynthia Blue (Who am I?)
2008-04-09 08:08:08

I’m going to have to check out FF Profiles. I’ve been using different browsers (kinda fun to try out Safari and Opera) as I hate clearing my cookies since I have multiple Entrecard accounts. :)
Cynthia Blue’s last blog post..Tatum Went for a Visit

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Comment by no imageCynthia Blue (Who am I?)
2008-04-09 08:16:43

And I tried to install the Kramer Plugin (very cool) but it the options won’t save on my blog. I wonder if it’s not compatible with WP 2.5

Cynthia Blue’s last blog post..Tatum Went for a Visit

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Comment by no imageLaura (Who am I?)
2008-04-09 10:45:59

This is great. I’ve pretty much given up on FF for a few reasons. One being the login problem, it just refuses to remember any of my logins any more. The other being the toolbar thing. I have a few of them and had looked for something that would make them into a one bar deal or something. This is great but I the login thing is too aggravating for me to go back to FF at this point.

Laura’s last blog post..Internet Addicted?

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Comment by no imageRennyBA (Who am I?)
2008-04-10 08:17:21

there is always great trick to make the time in cyber space more officiant - thanks for sharing your knowledge Sue!

RennyBA’s last blog post..Slow Food Catfish delight and quality time

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Comment by no imageAlex Graham (Who am I?)
2008-04-10 17:50:26

Some good tips there.

I hadn’t considered profiles but having read your post they’re perfect for web developers like me.

I’ve always opted for a very “standard” browser setup so I can (supposedly) see the web as others see it. With profiles I can have the browser how I like and have a separate profile for testing.

Excellent!

Alex Graham’s last blog post..Do Cowboys Exist?

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Comment by no imageCarl in Spain (Who am I?)
2008-04-11 22:19:30

I never knew profiles could be set in firefox, that is a pretty major innovation and one I’m going to have to try out

Carl in Spain’s last blog post..It’s been Raining in Spain, dropping Entrecard and Spanish TV

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Comment by no imageDiane (Who am I?)
2008-04-12 04:52:36

Excellent! Guess who my next post is about…

Diane’s last blog post..PayPerPost Everyone Wins

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Comment by no imageSuzie Cheel (Who am I?)
2008-04-15 10:40:55

This is fantastic Sue,

Have just switched to flock, but these probably work there. Would you like to come and organise my firefox looks very complex :roll:

Will stumble this

Thanks
Suzie

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Comment by chinardf
2008-04-15 13:55:30

“Disable Text Ads” is Great.I don’t like inline text ads.

 
2008-04-18 18:29:42

[…] Sueblimely offered her advice on how to speed up your Firefox browsing. I'm going to be using this particular list of tips in order to get around better when I […]

 
2008-04-19 09:52:26

Kramer auto Pingback[…] View Original Article […]

 
2008-04-24 14:00:47

[…] Speed Up Your Firefox Browsing By: Sueblimely Excellent article on using Firefox. Since I use Firefox, I had to read it. The suggestions are great and now I’ve got some new plugins to play with. I love plugins. They make me happy. […]

 
Pingback by Solo Home Business
2008-04-25 00:07:12

links from TechnoratiSpeed Up Your Firefox Browsing | Blogging Sueblimely

 
Comment by no imagedai (Who am I?)
2008-04-25 15:38:10

Great Tips!!!

Please write about grease monkey stuffs.

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2008-04-27 19:18:12

[…] profiles which I can run at the same time using the Profile Manager extension. Please see my post Speed Up your Firefox Browsing for more […]

 
Pingback by coComment - Site
2008-06-04 02:10:05

links from Technoratiview blog

 
Comment by no imageTool Belt (Who am I?)
2008-06-04 09:12:41

Great ideas, I really liked the arranging of the different folders. Thanks you for the nice visuals also.

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2008-06-15 05:37:51

Kramer auto Pingback[…] profiles which I can run at the same time using the Profile Manager extension. Please see my post Speed Up your Firefox Browsing for more […]

 
Comment by no imageGert Hough from Business Email Service Provider (Who am I?)
2008-06-26 21:19:27

Never knew that you can use different profiles in firefox. I am currently formatting my pc but I have noted the blog post as I would like to learn about using this feature.

Firefox is the best and the fastest (and the sweetest) browser. But I guess that it might also become sluggish if you just add and add plugins.

…And don’t we just love the plugins?

Gert Houghs last blog post..Business email list for sale - 5000 email addresses cheap cheap

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Comment by no imageChaCha Fance (Who am I?)
2008-08-21 12:38:00

I have found the All-in-one sidebar to be most helpful…… and then I can get rid of the bookmarks toolbar & have more space. Also the Adblock Plus addon is great.

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2008-09-02 02:08:57

Wow this will help me thanks

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Comment by no imagekudotech (Who am I?)
2008-09-08 00:14:29

Hi,

It’s my first time to visit your site. I am using firefox as my default browser. Great tips you have here. Thanks for sharing.

kudotechs last blog post..Blank System Restore in Windows XP

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Comment by no imagePeter Monroe (Who am I?)
2008-09-09 04:52:44

:mrgreen: Thanks. These are some great tips. Thanks for the info, Sublimely.

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Comment by no imageLA Law from Los Angeles Divorce Attorneys (Who am I?)
2008-09-14 13:43:25

That profile manager is one of the sweetest tip I’ve ever heard of! I do the folder organization bit and the other plugins I’ve never heard of before. I’m always leery of adding more plugins as that in itself makes it slow as well. But that profile manager I’ve got to try…

Thanks!

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Comment by no imageAl (Who am I?)
2008-10-05 18:08:19

How did I miss out on It’s All Text? What a useful plugin. Thanks for pointing it out.

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