Baza210
September 9th, 2008, 06:57 PM
Ok, I'll be the first to admit that the 1024 x 600 screen on my EEE 1000H is a tad small. However, there are some ways you can get better value for your screen real estate in the Firefox browser, which I assume many of you use.
Before I tell you the addons I've used, let me show you a before and after ;)
Before:
http://i33.tinypic.com/suysuh.png
After:
http://i37.tinypic.com/qsuw6q.png.
Please forgive the operating system change! It's the same steps for Windows or Linux.
Now, the addons.
Fission (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/33048/fission-1.0-fx.xpi) - This puts your loading progress bar in your location bar, in a similar fashion to Safari. In fact, if you want it to have the same appearance as Safari, save this gradient (http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/8/20/1363774/My%20Designs/Other%20Designs/SafariLoader.png) to your computer and input that to the Fission addon. Fission can also display the link of a hovered-over URL in your location bar if you wish, as this function is lost in hiding the normal status bar.
Tiny Menu (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/29011/tiny_menu-1.4.9-fx+tb.xpi)- See that "Menu" in the top left of the After image? That's all the File, Edit, Tools, Bookmarks etc inside one space saving drop-down menu. I rarely use things in these menus so it's a very handy tool for saving screen space.
After you have installed these addons, there are still several things left to do. First, right click your Firefox's Navigation Bar - the one with the Forward, Back, Home buttons. Click Customise. First thing you want to do is click "Use small icons" in the bottom left. This saves some space and also makes the button layout look much better, in my opinion. Note, if you are using Firefox on Linux, as I am, you can install the Vista buttons, which look much nicer than the GNOME ones, here (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/30538/strata_aero-3.0.02-fx.jar). After this, you want to merge your bookmarks bar, your location bar, and your navigation bar, all into one.This can be easily done by selecting and dragging each item.
One thing you may have noticed is that I have no Google Search to the right of my Location bar. This is because I discovered a very handy feature in Firefox called "Quick Searches". Or at least, it was called Quick Searches in Firefox 2, but it seems to have dropped the moniker in FF3. Anyway, what a Quick Search basically means is that on [pretty much] any page with a search function, you can access this search function from anywhere through your Location Bar.
How to do this:
Navigate to a page that you frequently use the search function in.
Right click the search field, and click Add A Keyword For This Search..
http://i33.tinypic.com/20ptugw.png
Fill in the name of the Site you are searching, and then click down to Keyword. What this keyword basically is is the prefix you have to enter in your Location Bar to search that site. For example, if I type g msi wind into my Location Bar, and hit Enter, it will search Google for "msi wind", as "g" is my keyword for Google. Similarly I have "y" setup for YouTube, "i" for Google Images, etc.
By removing the Google Search box we have freed up some space, so I suggest you put your Bookmarks Toolbar there. You can now right click the area beside your Location Bar and uncheck Navigation Bar and Bookmarks Toolbar.
Your Bookmarks Toolbar is obviously going to take up a lot of space if you have plenty of bookmarks, all of which will reduce the size of your Location Bar. So what I do is, in the Organise Bookmarks window, create a new folder called Bookmarks in the Bookmarks Toolbar, and drag all my bookmarks into that. This will be displayed, like the Menu top left, as a drop down menu when clicked.
And you're finished! 4 Lines - Menu Bar, Navigation Bar, Bookmarks Bar, Status Bar - all consolidated into one.
Hope some of you find this useful :)
Feedback appreciated.
Before I tell you the addons I've used, let me show you a before and after ;)
Before:
http://i33.tinypic.com/suysuh.png
After:
http://i37.tinypic.com/qsuw6q.png.
Please forgive the operating system change! It's the same steps for Windows or Linux.
Now, the addons.
Fission (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/33048/fission-1.0-fx.xpi) - This puts your loading progress bar in your location bar, in a similar fashion to Safari. In fact, if you want it to have the same appearance as Safari, save this gradient (http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/8/20/1363774/My%20Designs/Other%20Designs/SafariLoader.png) to your computer and input that to the Fission addon. Fission can also display the link of a hovered-over URL in your location bar if you wish, as this function is lost in hiding the normal status bar.
Tiny Menu (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/29011/tiny_menu-1.4.9-fx+tb.xpi)- See that "Menu" in the top left of the After image? That's all the File, Edit, Tools, Bookmarks etc inside one space saving drop-down menu. I rarely use things in these menus so it's a very handy tool for saving screen space.
After you have installed these addons, there are still several things left to do. First, right click your Firefox's Navigation Bar - the one with the Forward, Back, Home buttons. Click Customise. First thing you want to do is click "Use small icons" in the bottom left. This saves some space and also makes the button layout look much better, in my opinion. Note, if you are using Firefox on Linux, as I am, you can install the Vista buttons, which look much nicer than the GNOME ones, here (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/downloads/file/30538/strata_aero-3.0.02-fx.jar). After this, you want to merge your bookmarks bar, your location bar, and your navigation bar, all into one.This can be easily done by selecting and dragging each item.
One thing you may have noticed is that I have no Google Search to the right of my Location bar. This is because I discovered a very handy feature in Firefox called "Quick Searches". Or at least, it was called Quick Searches in Firefox 2, but it seems to have dropped the moniker in FF3. Anyway, what a Quick Search basically means is that on [pretty much] any page with a search function, you can access this search function from anywhere through your Location Bar.
How to do this:
Navigate to a page that you frequently use the search function in.
Right click the search field, and click Add A Keyword For This Search..
http://i33.tinypic.com/20ptugw.png
Fill in the name of the Site you are searching, and then click down to Keyword. What this keyword basically is is the prefix you have to enter in your Location Bar to search that site. For example, if I type g msi wind into my Location Bar, and hit Enter, it will search Google for "msi wind", as "g" is my keyword for Google. Similarly I have "y" setup for YouTube, "i" for Google Images, etc.
By removing the Google Search box we have freed up some space, so I suggest you put your Bookmarks Toolbar there. You can now right click the area beside your Location Bar and uncheck Navigation Bar and Bookmarks Toolbar.
Your Bookmarks Toolbar is obviously going to take up a lot of space if you have plenty of bookmarks, all of which will reduce the size of your Location Bar. So what I do is, in the Organise Bookmarks window, create a new folder called Bookmarks in the Bookmarks Toolbar, and drag all my bookmarks into that. This will be displayed, like the Menu top left, as a drop down menu when clicked.
And you're finished! 4 Lines - Menu Bar, Navigation Bar, Bookmarks Bar, Status Bar - all consolidated into one.
Hope some of you find this useful :)
Feedback appreciated.