This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Color does not change on visited links on secure websites where cookies are not downloaded into the Firefox cache

  • 2 replies
  • 34 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by xbott

MKH
MKH
more options

I am using Firefox 3.6.8 and when I browse the internet the color of visited links changes from blue to purple like they are suppose to do. I assume this happens because cookies are downloaded into the Firefox cache and as long as they are there for at least the session Firefox will mark where you have been at least until the browser is closed if Firefox is set to delete the cookies when it closes.

There have been some secure websites that I have visited where by design cookies are not downloaded into the cache and Firefox controls this through its encryption under the advanced tab and if you are on a secure page this information can also be referenced by right clicking and selecting View Page Info. When browsing on these type of pages Firefox will not mark where you have been because no cookies where downloaded to the cache. When I had this happen I made sure I referenced the Firefox cache with Firefox open on that page to confirm what I just said is true then I went to that same page in Internet Explorer where my tracks were marked with the changing of the color of visited links. Next I referenced Internet Explorers cache with the browser open on that page like I did in Firefox and confirmed there were no cookies from that website in the cache.

I find this inconvenience because when I go to sites like that it is usually for business purposes and I find myself duplicating my efforts when I open pages I have already visited among a listing of hundreds or thousands of links.

Is there a way to get Firefox to reference where I have been on a secure website for a session then when I close Firefox to have it clear the cache?

I am using Firefox 3.6.8 and when I browse the internet the color of visited links changes from blue to purple like they are suppose to do. I assume this happens because cookies are downloaded into the Firefox cache and as long as they are there for at least the session Firefox will mark where you have been at least until the browser is closed if Firefox is set to delete the cookies when it closes. There have been some secure websites that I have visited where by design cookies are not downloaded into the cache and Firefox controls this through its encryption under the advanced tab and if you are on a secure page this information can also be referenced by right clicking and selecting View Page Info. When browsing on these type of pages Firefox will not mark where you have been because no cookies where downloaded to the cache. When I had this happen I made sure I referenced the Firefox cache with Firefox open on that page to confirm what I just said is true then I went to that same page in Internet Explorer where my tracks were marked with the changing of the color of visited links. Next I referenced Internet Explorers cache with the browser open on that page like I did in Firefox and confirmed there were no cookies from that website in the cache. I find this inconvenience because when I go to sites like that it is usually for business purposes and I find myself duplicating my efforts when I open pages I have already visited among a listing of hundreds or thousands of links. Is there a way to get Firefox to reference where I have been on a secure website for a session then when I close Firefox to have it clear the cache?

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Firefox doesn't store the cookies in the cache, but in an SQLite database file cookies.sqlite.

Visited links are part of the browser history and if you delete the history of those items then links appear again as unvisited.

See Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox

xbott
xbott
more options

Morbus Posted this article else where on the web. August 6, 2010 11:49:42 AM PDT. Please give him the recognition for it. Here is the link:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/746306

Firefox (well, actually, it's the sites that do it, but that's a technicality) will, by default, highlight the visited links, but it needs to remember whether you visited those links. For that, browsers (Firefox included, of course) will keep a list of the sites you visited. Such list is called your browsing history. If the history is deleted, Firefox will forget the sites you visited and will stop marking them as such. So you need to make sure Firefox is remembering your history. Simply going into Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will:Remember history should do the trick.