Configuring Firefox

Configuring Firefox

This section describes how to configure some of Firefox's popular functions. I describe how to select a home page, block annoying pop-up advertisements, and encrypt saved passwords. I also show how to install popular plug-ins such as Java and Shockwave Flash.

Selecting a home page

Firefox automatically displays your home page when started. To select a home page, start by choosing EditPreferences. Figure 14-1 shows the Firefox Preferences dialog that opens. The initial home page is set in the Home Page text box to the Ubuntu introduction file.

Figure 14-1: Firefox Preferences dialog.

Change Firefox's home page to any place you want using the following methods:

• Manually: Type the Universal Resource Locater (URL) in the Home Page text box.

  A URL is the familiar Web page address, such as www.wiley.com.

• Use Current Page: You can first browse to the location and then open the Firefox Preferences dialog. From the Preferences dialog, click the Use Current Page button, which is just below the Home Page text box, and the home page is set to the current location.

• Use Bookmark: Click the Use Bookmarks button, immediately to the right of the Use Current Page button. The Set Home Page dialog opens, and you can select a Web page pointed to by a bookmark to be your home page.

Clicking the Home button — looks like a home — near the top-left side of the Firefox window sends you to the designated home page. Going home has never been so easy.

Blocking pop-ups

Firefox blocks pop-ups by default. Whenever you visit a pop-up-infested Web site, Firefox blocks the annoyance and displays a menu bar, near the top of the Firefox window, telling you of its good deed.

When Firefox blocks a pop-up, it displays a Preferences button in the menu bar that also opens. Click the Preferences button if you want to allow pop-ups from the Web site. Select the Allow Pop-ups option.

You can also fine-tune the pop-up blocking configuration as follows:

1. Choose EditPreferences from the Firefox menu bar.

   The Firefox Preferences dialog opens.

2. Select the Content tab.

3. Click the Exceptions button to the far right of the Block Pop-Up Windows check box.

   The Allowed Sites - Popups dialog opens.

4. Type the Web site URL in the Address of Web Site text box.

Updating Firefox Application software changes all the time. Applications such as Firefox are constantly improved, bugs are fixed, and nothing stands still for long. The Firefox developers realized this and added a simple but amazingly effective tool to their system — an automatic update system. Mozilla Firefox can update itself whenever security-related updates become available. The browser checks in with the mothership and looks for updates. Firefox downloads and installs updates as they occur. You don't have to worry about using an outdated version of Firefox. However, Ubuntu disables Firefox's ability to update itself because Ubuntu wants to do the job. Ubuntu takes care of updating all software that it runs, and Firefox is no exception. Rather than allowing the software update job to be handled by individual applications, Ubuntu wants to be sure it performs the update process uniformly.

Encrypting passwords

Many Web sites require you to authenticate yourself before allowing you access. Browsers can save passwords for you, but at the risk of storing them unprotected on your computer. Unprotected passwords can be stolen by hackers, and that isn't good.

Firefox has pioneered the practice of letting you protect your passwords by encrypting them. But Firefox doesn't encrypt passwords by default; you have to tell it to do so. Here's how:

1. Choose EditPreferences from the Firefox menu bar.

   The Firefox Preferences dialog (Figure 14-1 ) opens.

2. Click the Security tab.

3. Select the Use Master Password check box.

   The Change Master Password dialog, shown in Figure 14-1 , opens.

   
   Figure 14-1: Configure Firefox to encrypt passwords.

   
   

   
   
   

4. Type your password in the Enter New Password text box.

5. Retype your password in the Re-Enter Password text box.

   The Password Quality Meter shows how difficult your password is to crack (decrypt) by a hacker. Using simple words and phrases for a password registers a lower quality than using passwords with numbers and special characters. The longer, the better, too. Use the meter to find the balance between passwords that are easy to remember and passwords that are difficult to crack. The quality meter shows a horizontal bar that moves to the right as the password becomes more complex — better.

6. Click the Cancel button.

   Firefox now protects all of your passwords by encrypting them. From now on, you're asked to enter the master password before Firefox lets you use your stored passwords. This feature greatly increases your security.

Clearing private data

Web browsing is a complicated process. A lot goes on behind the scenes while you're surfing 'da net. A consequence of the complexity is that browsers store information that can potentially be used against you if your computer is ever hacked.

Once again, Firefox has pioneered a simple but effective tool for protecting your data. You can configure Firefox to delete some or all of the data it stores — behind the scenes — when you exit. Follow these steps:

1. Choose EditPreferences from the Firefox menu bar.

   The Firefox Preferences dialog opens.

2. Click the Privacy tab.

3. Select the Always Clear Private Data When I Close Firefox check box.

4. Click the Settings button.

   The Clear Private Data dialog opens. (See Figure 14-1 .)

   
   Figure 14-1: Tell Firefox how you'd like it to clear private data.

   
   

   
   
   

5. Select the Cookies check box.

   You can select any combination of options, depending on your needs and preferences. I suggest using the defaults and adding Cookies but not Saved Passwords.

6. Click OK.

   Control returns to the Preferences dialog.

7. Click the Close button.

   Your private data is erased.

Adding multimedia plug-ins

Multimedia makes the world go 'round. The Web browsing experience is greatly enhanced by audio, video, and other capabilities.

Most of the capabilities that we take for granted aren't actually part of the Web browser itself. Web browsers use add-ons to provide extra functions. This section shows how to add add-ons to Firefox. Follow these steps:

1. Type addons.mozilla.org in the Firefox Location text box.

2. Click the Plugins link.

   You see a listing of numerous plug-ins. The following sections describe how to install several of the popular plug-ins listed on the Web page.

You can see which Firefox plug-ins are installed by typing about:plugins in the Location text box.

Installing the Flash Player plug-in

Flash Player allows Web sites to provide animation within their content. Download and unpack the Flash Player plug-in as follows:

1. Using the steps in the preceding section, find the Flash Player section and click Version 7 under the For Linux heading.

   Another Web page opens, describing how to download and install Flash Player.

   You find the Version 7 button in the Flash Player section. The version number might change after this book is published, so select the latest version, if necessary.

2. Click the Download Now button.

   The Opening Install_Flash_Player_7_Linux.tar.gz dialog opens.

3. Click OK.

4. Click the Extract button.

   The Extract dialog opens.

5. Click the Extract button.

   Control returns to the Install_Flash_Player_7_Linux.tar.gz dialog.

6. Close the dialog.

Next, you have to copy the Flash Player plug-in files to a place where Firefox can find them.

1. Open a Terminal window by choosing SystemAccessoriesTerminal from the GNOME menu bar.

   A Terminal Emulator window opens.

   See Chapter 5 for information about using Terminal Emulators.

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

   
   

   sudo cp /tmp/install_flash_player*/*so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins
   sudo cp /tmp/install_flash_player*/*xpt /usr/lib/firefox/plugins

   
   
   

   This copies the plug-in files to the Firefox plug-in (/usr/lib/firefox/plugins) directory.

Your plug-in is now ready to be used.

You can test your Flash Player plug-in by browsing the www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome Web page.

Installing the Java plug-in

Java is widely used on the Internet to allow people to interact with Web sites. Download and unpack the Java plug-in as follows:

1. Using the steps in the "Adding multimedia plug-ins" section a little earlier in this chapter, find the Java section on the Web site and click Latest Version under the For Linux heading.

   A Web page opens, telling you that you can download Java for free.

2. Click the Download Now button.

3. Click the Linux (Self-Extracting File) option and click the Download Now button.

   The Opening jre-current-version-linux-i586.Bin Z dialog opens. The version of the Java download changes frequently, so I don't mention the specific version here to avoid confusion.

4. Click OK.

   The Downloads dialog opens and displays the progress of the download.

5. Click Clean Up and then close the window.

Now you need to execute the Java installation script. Follow these steps:

1. Open a Terminal window by choosing SystemAccessoriesTerminal from the GNOME menu bar.

   A Terminal Emulator window opens.

   See Chapter 5 for information about using Terminal Emulators.

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

   
   

   chmod +x jre*bin

   
   
   

3. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

   
   

   sudo jre*bin

   
   
   

   The Sun Microsystem Java license is displayed.

4. Press the spacebar to read the entire license.

5. Type yes and press the Enter key if you agree to the license.

   Java is installed for you.

6. Type your user account password when prompted.

   This copies the plug-in files to the Firefox plug-in (/usr/lib/firefox/plugins) directory.

Your plug-in is now ready to be used.

You can test your Java installation by browsing the www.javatester.org/enabled.html Web page.

Installing the RealPlayer plug-in

I'll tell you how to install one more useful plug-in. You can listen to and view streamed (content that you don't have to download) audio-visual content using the freely available RealPlayer plug-in. Follow these steps:

1. Using the steps in the "Adding multimedia plug-ins" section earlier in this chapter, find the RealPlayer section on the Web site and click Version 10 under the For Linux heading.

   You jump to the Real, Inc., download Web page.

2. Click the Download RealPlayer button.

   The Opening RealPlayer10GOLD.Bin dialog opens.

   The version number might be different by the time you read this.

3. Click the OK button.

   The Downloads dialog opens and displays the progress of the download.

4. Click Clean Up and then close the window.

Now you need to execute the RealPlayer installation script. Follow these steps:

1. Open a Terminal window by choosing SystemAccessoriesTerminal from the GNOME menu bar.

   A Terminal Emulator window opens.

   See Chapter 5 for information about using Terminal Emulators.

2. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

   
   

   chmod +x RealPlayer*bin

   
   
   

3. Type the following command and press the Enter key:

   
   

   sudo RealPlayer*bin

   
   
   

4. Type your user account password when prompted.

   The files are extracted, and you're prompted to continue.

5. Press the Enter key to accept the RealPlayer installation defaults every time you're prompted.

   RealPlayer installs.

You need to tell Ubuntu to use RealPlayer when it encounters multimedia encoded as RealAudio or RealVideo. Follow these steps:

1. Open http://service.real.com/test/ in Firefox.

2. Click any RealVideo or RealAudio links.

   The Opening dialog appears.

3. From the Open With drop-down menu, choose Other.

   The Choose Helper Application dialog opens in your home directory. RealPlayer was just installed into your home directory, which makes it easy to select.

4. Double-click the RealPlayer folder.

5. Scroll down and select the realplay file.

6. Click Open.

   Control returns to the Opening dialog.

7. Select the Do This Automatically for Files Like This One from Now On check box.

   Selecting this option makes Firefox use RealPlayer by default for RealAudio and RealVideo files.

8. Click OK.

   A RealPlayer window opens and plays the audio or video clip you selected.

RealPlayer can play many familiar formats. For instance, it can play MP3 files.

Adding Themes to Firefox

You can add a theme to the browser to beautify its look and feel. Follow these steps:

1. Browse to addons.mozilla.org.

2. Click the Themes link.

3. Select any theme listed.

   For instance, select Firefox Vista under the Popular Themes heading.

4. Click the Install Now button.

   The Confirm dialog opens.

5. Click OK.

   The Themes dialog opens and displays the installation process progression.

6. Select the theme you just added.

   The Use Theme button activates at the bottom of the dialog.

7. Click the Use Theme button.

8. Close the Themes dialog window.

9. Restart Firefox and it uses the new theme.

When you restart Firefox, you notice that the menu system, icons, and even the borders look different. That's the new theme you installed. You can change back to the original or any other theme you have installed by choosing ToolsThemes from the Firefox menu bar and using the Themes dialog to change themes.