Table Of Contents

• Toolbars
• Rearranging Toolbar Items
• Special Toolbar Items
• Hiding, Adding, and Removing Toolbars
• Add-ons (extensions and themes)
• Add-ons (extensions, themes and plugins)
• Getting and Installing Add-ons
• Using the Add-ons window
• Updating Add-ons
• Disabling, Enabling, and Uninstalling Add-ons
• Further functionality
• Tasks specific to extensions or themes
• Configuring Extensions
• Switching Themes

Toolbars

This will tell you how to rearrange, hide, add, and remove toolbars in Firefox. For those who are unfamiliar with the terminology, a toolbar is the (usually gray) box above the area that the web site is displayed.

• Menu Bar: This is the toolbar that contains the browser menus (File, Edit, Help, etc.).
• Navigation Bar: This is the toolbar that contains the Location Bar and the buttons used to navigate web sites.
• Bookmarks Toolbar: This is the toolbar that contains your Bookmarks Toolbar Folder bookmarks.

There are two basic methods of customizing the toolbars in Firefox:

• Rearranging Toolbar Items
• Hiding, Adding, and Removing Toolbars

Rearranging Toolbar Items

To rearrange the items (icons, buttons, text boxes, etc.) on your toolbar, either click the View menu item, then go to the Toolbars sub-menu, and select Customize..., or you can right-clickpress Ctrl and click on any empty part of the and select Customize.... This will bring up the toolbar customization dialog.

Drag any items you want to add from the palette and drop it on the toolbar (excluding the menu items). Similarly, drag any items you want to remove from the toolbar and drop it on the palette. You can also rearrange icons already on the toolbars by dragging and dropping them wherever you wish. When the toolbars and items are arranged the way you want them, click Done.

Special Toolbar Items

There are a few special items that are available to you when customizing the toolbar. They are as follows:

• Separators: These allow you to separate items on the toolbars with a small vertical line.
• Spacers: These allow you to separate items on the toolbars with a fixed-size space, usually around 20 pixels on most themes.
• Flexible spacers: Spacers allow you to separate items on the toolbars with a space. These spacers automatically resize to fill all of the empty space on the toolbar. These are good for positioning items on the right of a toolbar.

Hiding, Adding, and Removing Toolbars

You can hide the Navigation Toolbar and the Bookmarks Toolbar if you do not wish to keep them on your screen. You cannot hide the Menu Bar because you cannot move the menu items (File, Edit, Help, etc.) to a different toolbar, and they must stay on the screen at all times.

To show or hide a toolbar, click on the View menu, then go to the Toolbars sub-menu, and click the name of the toolbar you want to show or hide.

To add a custom toolbar, click the View menu item, then go to the Toolbars sub-menu, and select Customize.... Click on Add New Toolbar (in the bottom of the dialog). This will give you a dialog to enter a name. If you enter a name and click OK, your new toolbar appears. Now you can drag and drop items to it. To remove a custom toolbar, drag and drop all the items from it, and click Done. You can also hide a custom toolbar as described in the previous paragraph.

Extensions: Extensions add new functionality to Firefox. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow the application to be customized to fit the personal needs of each user while minimizing the size and appearance of the application itself.
Themes: Themes modify the appearance of Firefox and allow you to personalize it to your taste. A theme can simply change the appearance of toolbar buttons, or it can completely change the look and feel of Firefox.

Getting and Installing Add-ons

You can download and install many add-ons from Firefox Add-ons. Internet searches will find many other add-ons as well.

When you click on a link to install an add-on, Firefox displays a dialog asking you for permission to install the add-on. You can choose to allow the installation or to cancel the process.

Using the Add-ons window

Add-ons are managed in the Add-ons window. Click on the Tools menu and select Add-ons to open it.

Updating Add-ons

By default, Firefox will periodically check when a new version for one of your installed add-ons is available. If any are available, it will prompt you at the next start to install any updates. You can change this behavior in the Update tab of the Advanced panel of OptionsPreferences window.

You can check for updates manually by selecting the Extensions or Themes panel and clicking the Find Updates button. If updates are available, the Add-ons window displays an Updates panel, where you can choose the updates you want to install. Click the Install Updates button to update those add-ons. You need to restart Firefox for changes to take effect.

Disabling, Enabling, and Uninstalling Add-ons

If you want to get rid of an extension, you can either disable it temporarily, so it is easily available should you want to enable it again in the future, or uninstall it. Themes can only be uninstalled since all themes except the current one are disabled automatically.

To disable or enable an extension, select the extension of your choice and click its Disable or Enable button. To remove an add-on from Firefox, select the add-on you wish to remove and click its Uninstall button. You need to restart Firefox for changes to take effect.

Further functionality

Further functions such as Visit Home Page and About are available by selecting the add-on of your choice, pressing Ctrl and clicking onright-clicking the add-on and selecting the respective item from the context menu.

Tasks specific to extensions or themes

Configuring Extensions

Extensions often provide a dialog to configure their functionality. To open the optionspreferences dialog of an extension, select the Extensions panel, select the extension of your choice, and click its OptionsPreferences button, or simply double-click the extension.

Switching Themes

To switch between your installed themes, select the Themes panel, select the theme of your choice, and click its Use Theme button. You need to restart Firefox for changes to take effect.