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Toolbar folders -> drop down orientation problem -> screen limit not recognised

  • 9 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by sawbona1

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Hello:

Quite a few iterations of Firefox ago (cannot recall which), the orientation of the drop down menu listing the bookmarks inside any folder in the toolbar was either towards the 'left' or towards the 'right', depending of the amount of screen real estate available to the right side of the screen where it was opened.

If the listing could not be properly seen by opening the drop down menu towards the 'right', it would be opened towards the 'left'.

This worked perfectly well with my three screen setup, with Firefox in a window in the centre screen. ie: Firefox knew it was inside a three screen wide setup and in the centre screen, so it also "knew" that the right edge of the centre screen was the limit for available screen real estate.

At some time this stopped working in the described manner.

It seems that Firefox now ignores the right edge of the centre screen and as a result the drop down menu for any folder in the toolbar opens to the 'right' and invades the right screen. (see attached screen capture)

If Firefox is opened in a window inside the right screen, it proeprly recognises the right edge of the screen as the limit and acts accordingly.

This is quite a problem for me: I make intensive use of the toolbar with bookmarks inside folders and subfolders and this heavily affects my everyday work.

Is there a way to get back to how it used to be? ie: Firefox using the right edge of the screen it is opened in as the limit to open a drop down menu.

Thanks in advance,

S.

Hello: Quite a few iterations of Firefox ago (cannot recall which), the orientation of the drop down menu listing the bookmarks inside any folder in the toolbar was either towards the 'left' or towards the 'right', depending of the amount of screen real estate available to the right side of the screen where it was opened. If the listing could not be properly seen by opening the drop down menu towards the 'right', it would be opened towards the 'left'. This worked perfectly well with my three screen setup, with Firefox in a window in the centre screen. ie: Firefox ''knew'' it was inside a three screen wide setup ''and'' in the centre screen, so it also "knew" that the right edge of the centre screen was the limit for available screen real estate. At some time this stopped working in the described manner. It seems that Firefox now ignores the right edge of the centre screen and as a result the drop down menu for any folder in the toolbar opens to the 'right' and invades the right screen. (see attached screen capture) If Firefox is opened in a window inside the right screen, it proeprly recognises the right edge of the screen as the limit and acts accordingly. This is quite a problem for me: I make intensive use of the toolbar with bookmarks inside folders and subfolders and this heavily affects my everyday work. Is there a way to get back to how it used to be? ie: Firefox using the right edge of the screen it is opened in as the limit to open a drop down menu. Thanks in advance, S.
Attached screenshots

All Replies (9)

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Hello:

Hmm .... No one?

Bump!

S.

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Start Firefox using Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Troubleshoot(Safe) Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

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Hello:

Yes.

But this is something that 'changed' at some time or another in how Firefox opened the drop down menus, not related to any add-ons.

No idea what it is that changed nor exactly when. A real PITA, like moving the tabs to the top ... 8^|.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

S.

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Is this problem unique to the center monitor or to a 3-screen setup? If this happens on a 2-screen setup, I imagine there must be multiple bugs filed on it by now.

You can search and/or file a new bug report here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

It would be helpful to know whether this started with the Firefox 89.0 update in June or some earlier update.

If you think it might have started with Firefox 89, you could test toggling the Proton preferences to see whether that makes any difference. That isn't a perfect way to test the previous UI but it might provide the developers some insight.

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste proton and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click any true/false (boolean) preference to switch the value between true and false

Some of these changes do not take full effect in the same window, so you might need to launch a new window (Ctrl+n) to test whether there is any difference.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox.

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Hello:

> Is this problem unique to the center monitor ... It happens with Firefox open in the centre screen in a three screen setup.

Like I mentioned earlier on, if I open Firefox in a window inside the 'right' screen, it properly recognises the right edge of the screen as the limit and acts accordingly.

But if I open Firefox in a window inside the 'left' screen, it does not do that and the drop downs invade the 'centre' screen, just like when it invades the right screen if I open it in a window inside the 'centre' screen.

So it would seem (to me) that from a certain version (can't recall which) onwards, Firefox started seeing the 'three' screen setup as 'one' screen, where as in earlier versions it 'knew' it was in 'a' screen (any one of them) and recognised the limits of 'that' screen (ie: the one it was in) when opening the drop downs.

> ... think it might have started with Firefox 89 ... I am testing this issue with a dated FF 64 Quantum AppImage, which is when I stopped using FF and started using FF based alternatives because of this and the (now) irreversible 'tabs on top' thing. 8^|.

The latest version Firefox 90.0.2 AppImage shows the exact same behaviour.

Thank you very much for your input.

Best,

S.

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sawbona1 said

> ... think it might have started with Firefox 89 ... I am testing this issue with a dated FF 64 Quantum AppImage, which is when I stopped using FF and started using FF based alternatives because of this and the (now) irreversible 'tabs on top' thing. 8^|.

Do you mean Firefox 64? Someone probably needs to run a Mozregression because memory of what changed way back then is likely to have faded.

https://mozilla.github.io/mozregression/

Were you using an extension to rearrange your toolbars in Firefox 56 and earlier? Starting in Firefox 57, you needed to use custom style rules in a userChrome.css file. The method hasn't changed, but the specific rules you need haved changed about every 10 versions or so as the toolbar area code has evolved.

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Hello:

> Do you mean Firefox 64? Yes, see attached image.

> Were you using an extension to rearrange your toolbars in Firefox 56 ... No.

I started this thread to see if the two things that at one time started to bug me in Firefox had been solved. ie: the 'drop down' and 'tabs on top' problems.

I guess I'll have to come back further on, see what has happened with Firefox and check if these problems have been addressed.

Firefox was my go-to browser for a great many years but these changes finally upended the way I had 'always' worked with Firefox and turned into a nuisance for me, prompting me to look for and eventually find/use other Firefox based browsers which did not have these issues.

eg: in Waterfox you 'can' chose to have the Tab Bar Position at above/blow address bar or at the bottom of the window. Unfortunately, the 'drop down' has been inherited from the Firefox code they use.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

S.

Modified by sawbona1

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Firefox 28 was the last version with a built-in tab bar position option. In Firefox 29-56, you needed to use an add-on like Classic Theme Restorer to move the bar. Since Firefox 57, you have needed to use a userChrome.css file.

Do you want to file a bug regarding the 3-screen issue? https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/

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Hello:

jscher2000 said

Firefox 28 was the last version with a built-in tab bar position option.

I see.

In Firefox 29-56, you needed to use an add-on like Classic Theme Restorer ...

But I recall that there was a setting in about:config which was at some time disbled. 8^/ I think it was "browser.tabs.onTop" -> boolean: false

... want to file a bug regarding the 3-screen issue?

Yes, maybe it will be taken care of. I'll do so this week.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

S.

Modified by sawbona1