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Why is it nearly every update effs up my personal settings and defaults to the crap YOU think I should use? - /download chrome

  • 7 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by John99

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I have since Firefox 3 used it due to the ability to change the GUI to my liking. Now with this update to 29.whatever I can no longer seem to move the address bar up to the tabs area. So you have decided I do not need maximum space to view web pages? I wouldn't be surprised if we can go into about:config and fix this IF WE KNEW EXACTLY what to type but your help on this type of changes is extremely lacking.

Time to try out Chrome.

I have since Firefox 3 used it due to the ability to change the GUI to my liking. Now with this update to 29.whatever I can no longer seem to move the address bar up to the tabs area. So you have decided I do not need maximum space to view web pages? I wouldn't be surprised if we can go into about:config and fix this IF WE KNEW EXACTLY what to type but your help on this type of changes is extremely lacking. Time to try out Chrome.

Chosen solution

There are others who have managed to work around this by using addons as ''Gingerbread Man mentions.if you want to give that a try we can probably help if you run into problems. I personally have not used the addon mentioned but I know it is popular. There is an even more retro addon newly updated to cope with Fx29

Developers did visit the forum for a couple of days after Firefox29 was launched and answered a few questions. You may be interested in this post of mine mentioning some of the help articles and quoting one of the developer's explanation of the changes.

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All Replies (7)

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There is no about:config preference for making the address bar movable. You need the add-on Classic Theme Restorer for that.


  1. Install Classic Theme Restorer and restart Firefox when prompted.
  2. Open the Add-ons Manager (Ctrl+Shift+A; Mac: Command+Shift+A), then the Extensions category.
  3. Next to Classic Theme Restorer, click the Options button.
  4. On the Main tab, make sure "Movable back-forward button" is checked. You may also want to check "Hide urlbars stop & reload buttons" and "Combine stop & reload buttons". Close the options window when done.
  5. Right-click an empty area of the tab bar and choose Customize.
  6. Drag the Back/Forward, address bar and any other buttons you're interested in off the navigation toolbar and onto the tab bar.
  7. Drag all unwanted items off the navigation toolbar and onto the customization palette.
  8. Click the Exit Customize button in the lower right corner when done.
  9. In the Add-ons Manager, Extensions category, next to Classic Theme Restorer, click the Options button.
  10. On the Main tab, under General UI, check "Hide navigation toolbar". Close the options window when done.
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While I do appreciate your reply and understand it probably would do what I am wanting, I am extremely tired of every update having things changed to a different way of doing them without any comments or instructions included in the update on how to change them. So then we have to search and hope we find the right keywords to use. And if we do find an 'Add-on', which certainly is no guarantee, the instructions are not always easily followed. For years now the 'about:config' was some sort of crytpic feeling config tool with very little documentation.

For now I have uninstalled and downloaded FF 28.0 and this will be my last update. When it becomes unusable I will be either going to Chrome or IE.

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Please at least add feedback using

I suggest you make separate short comments

  1. That you were not warned in advance
  2. That you do not like the changes to the UI

We are fellow users of Firefox. Developers will not see this forum.

Input comments are categorised and aggregated and the results made available to developers.

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Thank you too John99, I went there and left my comments.

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Chosen Solution

There are others who have managed to work around this by using addons as ''Gingerbread Man mentions.if you want to give that a try we can probably help if you run into problems. I personally have not used the addon mentioned but I know it is popular. There is an even more retro addon newly updated to cope with Fx29

Developers did visit the forum for a couple of days after Firefox29 was launched and answered a few questions. You may be interested in this post of mine mentioning some of the help articles and quoting one of the developer's explanation of the changes.

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Last update the dev team put out they claimed surveys from users indicated a majority of approval, though you couldn't tell from the feedback. Now this one happens and I see a 90% SAD vs 10% HAPPY. Uhm excuse me? No matter, I believe they just cut 33% or so of their user base out including me ( when it becomes unusable with no updates ). *SAD*

Never the less, I do appreciate your time and efforts :)

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Sorry to lose you.

Firefox 28 is usable but is not secure. Unfortunately if you do not feel like trying the addons route you would be safer using Chrome now instead. To hold off the inevitable some are using ESR builds intended for businesses. Mozilla will not recommend it but it is at least secure. I expect both the third party Portable site, and Palemoon are seeing an increase in traffic

Personally; in a perfect world; I would have liked Firefox not to have been dumbed down and remain with many changes being possible from the UI or about:config but I can see and understand the reasoning behind the changes. Firefox needs to adapt to survive so I accept change is necessary.

Remember

  • Mozilla Firefox has limited resources, (financial & staff) especially compared with the major direct competitors.
  • Mozilla also promotes freedom, privacy and open source code projects to me that is a good reason to support Firefox.
    (From the Mozilla Tab above Doing good is part of our code -> www.mozilla.org/mission/ )

Luckily as someone interested in Firefox I have had the new version or its development versions available for months so Fx29 does not really hold surprises for me. If there was a change I could not live with I would have used an addon.

What does disappoint me is that I think Mozilla needs to manage the changes better. I see too many people, including personal acquaintances drop Firefox because it has without warning changed unexpectedly.

I can point to articles or quote developers explaining the Rapid Release Cycle, or the changes in Fx29. I have no ammunition to defend the unexpected changes. I just do not understand why Mozilla makes changes that repeatedly surprises the ordinary user with a broken or unfamiliar browser without providing any advance warning.
Having said that there is at least one beneficial minor change in Fx29, this may only help a few peopl, but it now does let you download an update but wait until you agree to upgrade to it. ( In Fx28 the act of trying to check the version and confirm you had not upgraded would initiate the upgrade there and then ! )

Modified by John99