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.

Does Firefox now "read a page ahead" for WordPress sites?

user1027088
user1027088
more options

Hi there,

I've just noticed something odd in Firefox 26.0. Using Fiddler, I see that when I am browsing WordPress sites, the browser is requesting an additional page (only the source page, not the links on the page) to the one I am actually looking at. In effect it appears to be browsing "ahead" one page along the Wordpress menu, storing this page in case that happens to be the one I will look at next. This activity also happens in Safe Mode and does not happen with the latest version of Chrome.

Is this a new feature and, if so, how do I switch it off?

Hi there, I've just noticed something odd in Firefox 26.0. Using Fiddler, I see that when I am browsing WordPress sites, the browser is requesting an additional page (only the source page, not the links on the page) to the one I am actually looking at. In effect it appears to be browsing "ahead" one page along the Wordpress menu, storing this page in case that happens to be the one I will look at next. This activity also happens in Safe Mode and does not happen with the latest version of Chrome. Is this a new feature and, if so, how do I switch it off?

Chosen solution

Try to set the network.prefetch-next pref to false on the about:config page (search prefetch).

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (2)

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

Chosen Solution

Try to set the network.prefetch-next pref to false on the about:config page (search prefetch).

user1027088
user1027088 Question owner
more options

That did the trick cor-el, many thanks!

For anyone else reading this thread, the following article might prove useful: http://www.ghacks.net/2013/04/27/firefox-prefetching-what-you-need-to-know/

It appears that the WordPress page isn't using rel="prefetch" as described in the above article, but instead FF is prefetching the page indicated by rel="next".