Okay. So you're one of those folks that took the plunge and decided to go anti-Mr. Softee and switch to Firefox. Well there is no doubt that Firefox has left its mark on the browser scene. The statistics are impressive. Looking at our server logs alone, Firefox browsing is making up 30% of our visitor hits! With that much activity it's no wonder that more and more blog designers are trying to make sure their blogs are optimized for Firefox as well as IE (not always an easy task!).
Then there is optimizing Firefox itself. The browser is open source designed such that there is quite a bit of flexibility built into it at the disposal of the end user IF they know how to access it. There are bits and pieces of information on the web on how to do this of course, and you can also download specific tweaking extensions into the browser as well. Lots of unorganized and decentralized information exists along with countless differences of opinion.
Hyper Tuning Firefox: A Blogger's Guide, which was put together by the folks at the ZZ OpenWeb, combines detailed instructions researched from software engineers across the web into six areas of optimization written with the blogger in mind. They have recognized that bloggers as a whole are more interested in their content than the inner workings of the browser they are using.
An excerpt:
First a little background on why you would want to fine-tune such a great browser in the first place. In fact right about now you are wondering, if it is so good “out of the box”, why mess with it? The answer has to do with the fact that a good deal of Firefox was designed in an "open source" environment. In fact, that customization is part of its power. Since the Mozilla Foundation is not really a corporation but a consortium of web developers dedicated to the idea that more of the software code we have on our PCs should be “open” to the general public, it does not have a vested interest in “hiding” features from it’s users. It was designed instead to adapt to a number of various PC / Network configurations and installations. Understanding how to make those adjustments can be intimidating for users who are not computer professionals. We will share some tips on how to do just that!
The guide proceeds to go into six key areas to CUSTOMIZE not only the browser but the cache and how your operating system interfaces with Firefox.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Important guide - thanking for pointing it out:)
2 - Tan The Man
I must say that I'm more partial to Apple's Safari and the Opera browser.
3 - hi
you have to buy this? laugh
4 - Jimmy
Whoever wrote that guide should be ashamed of themselves!
Get the info from the web instead...its FREELY available :p
5 - losgatos
hi -- The guide which was reviewed contains value to some users (perhaps not yourself) and the user decides to purchase or not based on the value of the contents and it's intented objective to enhance his or hers browser performance. You know like "Pro Choice". You don't have to buy anything you don't want to buy. (See the Amazon books associated with the review. You don't have to buy those either.) If spending a few bucks helps get you increased browser performance from changes that have been consolidated and organized in one place for the user then what is the issue?
6 - none
The issue is conning any of the masses into buying crap, ignorance is not to be exploited by any means. Why pay for something rather than open your mind to new possibilities? Those that say otherwise are just trying to line their pockets.
7 - Firefox
Unlike you geeks, some people don't spend 60 hours a week on the internet searching for this crap. Paying 10 dollars for a book is like paying to have more free time. Its not exploiting anyone, its just how the economy works.
8 - alex albrecht 2 from heaven
oh yeah Firefox, we spend 60 hours a week looking up a book. stfu we hsve lives to and are way more computer literate than u.
9 - Mr Digg
This made the front page of Digg. Prepare to be bombarded if it hasn't already happened
10 - d5xps
What are the other five tips?
11 - Kingtone
Or you could just go to this site and read lots of tips: Firefox Help, Tips and Tricks
12 - ugotz
nice to have it all in one place though...
13 - FireTune
Don't buy crap. Try this FireTune and visit
14 - scotty131
This was actually pretty good.... Saved me some time. There was more in there than just the usual pipelining tweaks and such! They even included some freeware to get you started but the other conversion instructions and how to optimize XP, disc and memory caching were pretty good and as they said written for NON Geeks..! All in one place. For the Non Geek types this is good. If you are a computer geek you probably already know a lot of this stuff. Sort of like a basic guide for tunining firefox.
15 - Ned
This is a good book--though a little outdated now. It does a good job of showing how Firefox actually works. It is not just a collection of about:config tweaks. It teaches a user how to create themes extensions and troubleshoot Firefox issues. Something a lot of Firefox users don't know how to do.