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Firefox shows blank spaces where text should be (eg, in displaying code), but other browsers do

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Firefox does not completely display all the text in a website, but other browsers do. It displays blank spaces in some sections.

Firefox does not completely display all the text in a website, but other browsers do. It displays blank spaces in some sections.

Chosen solution

Thanks to everyone that responded but I actually quit using firefox after this frustration. I finally found a working solution from this page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/118346/firefox-doesnt-display-website-text

I had to run the script to reset the font cache on the machine(s) and change permissions. Everything seems to display correctly now. I am watching warily but I think I can use firefox again!

Thanks!

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All Replies (6)

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Can you post a link to a publicly accessible page (i.e. no authentication or signing on required)?

Is that about text in Latin or characters from another language?

You can right-click on a web page and select "Inspect Element" to open the Inspector (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer). You can check the font used for selected text in the Font tab in the right pane of the Inspector.

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Yes this is text in Latin, like for instance when I'm trying to look at a stackoverflow page, I don't see everything. Or facebook for instance.

Post a link to a publicly accessible page? Yes I can but what would that do? I'm not sure I fully understand.

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Then we can check that site to see if we can find possible causes of your issue and maybe we can replicate the problem. With your description it is hard to tell what is happening.

Can you attach a screenshot?

  • Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot
  • Make sure that you do not exceed the maximum size of 1 MB

Make sure that you allow pages to choose their own fonts.

  • Edit > Preferences > Content : Fonts & Colors > Advanced: [X] "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above"

You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • Hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • Press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • Press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the cache and cookies only from websites that cause problems.

"Clear the Cache":

  • Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"

"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:

  • Edit > Preferences > Privacy > "Use custom settings for history" > Cookies: "Show Cookies"

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
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Yes I have actually gone through all those steps (except the Safe Mode suggestions), I also renamed my .mozilla folder and let it create a new one when I started firefox up again. Ive attached a shot of how the facebook login page looks like.

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Save the picture(s) to your desktop. Now look at the Reply box below. Press the button under it that says Browse. Now select the screen shot(s) from the desktop.

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Chosen Solution

Thanks to everyone that responded but I actually quit using firefox after this frustration. I finally found a working solution from this page: http://askubuntu.com/questions/118346/firefox-doesnt-display-website-text

I had to run the script to reset the font cache on the machine(s) and change permissions. Everything seems to display correctly now. I am watching warily but I think I can use firefox again!

Thanks!