FireFox TidBits

[Tom]

Open FireFox and type about:config in the address bar to see the configuration of 'your' firefox browser. I saved my config to a notepad so I have a working tweeked default in case something goes wrong. It's handy for checking to see if something alters your browser.

 

[Tom]

Quicktime Guide for Windows

Introduction
Many sites that you may visit will have embedded media that requires the use of the Quicktime plug-in. Whether a Quicktime movie file or an embedded midi, Quicktime is useful for playing these file types from within the browser.

One of the most common questions on this forum is about background music and other embedded media not playing, even despite the fact that Quicktime has been installed. This is an attempt to address that and other common problems in a straightforward manner.

You should copy or print the following instructions so you will have them handy as it is necessary to close Firefox during the installation and setup of Quicktime.

Download
The first step is to download the latest version of Quicktime. Actually, you have two choices: The standard Quicktime player from Apple or Quicktime Alternative*.

* Stand-Alone Quicktime Player 6.5.2
* Quicktime Alternative 1.40


* Earlier versions of Quicktime Alternative did not handle mime types for the browser plug-in correctly which resulted in media not playing. However, this problem has been corrected with the latest version.

Installation
Once you have downloaded your player of choice, close Firefox and and other unnecessary programs. Remove any older versions of Quicktime or Quicktime Alternative through Control Panel > Add/Remove programs. Also, manually delete any Quicktime folders which may have not been removed.
Examples:

* C:\Program Files\Quicktime
* C:\Program Files\Quicktime Alternative


Run the Quicktime setup program and follow the instructions.

If you are installing Quicktime Alternative, make sure that the "Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape/Opera Plugin" is checked when selecting which components to install.

Setup
Once installed, it is necessary to make a few minor adjustments in the Quicktime Control Panel. The steps vary depending on whether you have the Standard Quicktime player or Quicktime Alternative:

* Quicktime 6.5.2
o Close all instances of Firefox
o Launch Quicktime
o Go to Edit > Preferences > Quicktime Preferences
o Select "Browser Plug-in" from the Drop-down Menu
o Click "Mime Settings"
o In the Mime Settings window, check all the file types you want the Quicktime plug-in to handle.
o Click "OK"
o Select "Connection Speed" in the Drop-down Menu
o Choose the connection that best matches your current Internet connection speed

* Quicktime Alternative
o Close all instances of Firefox
o Go to the Start Menu > Quicktime Alternative > Quicktime Settings
o Select "Browser Plug-in" from the Drop-down Menu
o In the Mime Settings window, check all the file types you want the Quicktime plug-in to handle.
o Click "OK"
o Select "Music" from the Drop-down menu
o Select "General Midi"*
o Select "Connection Speed" in the Drop-down Menu
o Choose the connection that best matches your current Internet connection speed

* Selecting General Midi is necessary as Quicktime Alternative does not include the Quicktime Music Synthesizer.

The most common file types you will probably want to enable are:

* Video
o Video for Windows (AVI) file
* Audio
o Wave audio file
o Midi file
* MPEG
o MPEG media file
o MPEG Audio File
o MPEG-4 Media File
* MP3
* Images
o Mac Paint image file
o PICT image file
o Quicktime image file
o TGA image file
o TIFF image file

When selecting the file types you want Quicktime to handle under "Mime Settings", make sure that "Flash File", under miscellaneous, is not enabled. This will cause a conflict with the Macromedia Flash Plug-in and flash files will more than likely cease to play.

Note: These do not determine which file types are handled within Windows. That is determined by going to Edit > Preferences > Quicktime Preferences > File Type Association. Refer to this post for more details: After QuickTime 6.5.2 install, Firefox still cannot locate i • mozillaZine Forums

After the above settings have been made, close the Quicktime Control Panel.

Plug-in Verification and Testing
The next step is to verify that the plug-ins have been installed and function correctly.

Launch Firefox and enter aboutlugins in the location bar (address bar). You should see one or more entries for Quicktime with the file types listed that correspond to your mime settings. Here's an example of one entry:


If you do not see the Quicktime Plug-ins and\or the correct file types listed, ensure that Quicktime was installed correctly and repeat the steps for the Setup section.

The following link is for a test page which contains an embedded midi, mp3 and wav file:
Quicktime Plug-in Test

You should see three Quicktime players for each file type. After the media loads, click the play button on the Player for the Midi File. If it plays, press stop and try the other players one at a time.

If you are prompted to install a "Missing Plugin", more than likely, one or all of the file types were not correctly set in the Quicktime control panel. Repeat the instructions for the Setup Section.

A note about bgsound
If you have successfully installed and setup Quicktime and passed the above test, you may still run into a problem with embedded media on some pages or your own page for that matter. The most common reason is that the page in question is using the non-standard <bgsound> element to embed audio. Firefox does not support the bgsound element. If this is the case, there is an extension available which enables Firefox to play audio embedded with the bgsound element:
BGM Conductor

Troubleshooting
If you are still having problems, go over the steps again to ensure that they have been followed correctly.
Perform these additional steps if you are unable to rectify the problem:

* Ensure that the proper Mime Settings have been enabled.
* Try playing a local Quicktime file on your system.
* Test a website with embedded Quicktime Media using Internet Explorer.
* Download and reinstall Quicktime if it does not function correctly with local files or with Internet Explorer.


If you are still unable to resolve any issues, ask for help here in the Mozilla Firefox Support forum. Include the following information:

* Windows Version
* Firefox Version
* Difficulties with any of the above steps
* A link to problem websites
* Any other relevant information

-------------------------------
Updated March 1, 2005

keywords: Quicktime stream streaming embed embedded embedding video audio mov mp3 avi plugin plug-in firefox

Thanks to Vectorspace for his support and maintenance of this guide and everyone at Mozillazine Forums who take the time to help support Firefox.
_________________
Jim Roberts
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b2) Gecko/20050223 Firefox/1.0+ (MOOX M1) My Firefox Info

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=206210#qtsetup

 

[Tom]

Type about : plugins without the space to view the plugins you have in FireFox
I put the spaces in because aboutlugins shows up with a smilie in it

 

[Tim]

with Mozilla Firefox open, click Tool/Extensions/Get More Extensions

Color Zilla, real handy tool for increasing/decreasing the size of images on the screen and other functions too!

Chatzilla (256k!!!) very basic IRC plugin for Firefox, great for 56k users

BB Tagger - right click images and you get the BB option to make a link for the clipboard for sites not allowing live links (using tags like IMG)

I Must Not Fear - remember in Dune the Bene Gesserit mantra (I must not fear, fear is the mindkiller, blah, blah) displays this mantra in a window in centre of screen

 

[Tom]

I use bbtagger all the time here

 

[Tom]

Mozilla stops in favor of FireFox and Thinderbird
News
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,120012,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

The Mozilla Foundation is cutting off development of its flagship Mozilla browser suite with the current 1.7.x line, but says it will back a community-supported version of the suite for those that wish to continue using it.
"We intend that the 1.7.x line of releases will be the last long-lived, maintained versions released by the Mozilla Foundation," it says in a "transition plan" published this week.

The Foundation made it clear in 2003 that it would be shifting most of its resources away from the suite towards the stand-alone Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail client, but it was unclear--even to many of Mozilla's own developers--exactly where the cutoff would be.

Further muddying the waters was a series of recent Mozilla 1.8 alpha and beta releases, which the Foundation acknowledged has led developers to contribute a substantial amount of work on features for Mozilla 1.8, under the impression there would be an official release of a 1.8 client. The 1.8 releases have not been directed at developing a Mozilla 1.8 client but to test changes to the back end of the code base, according to the Foundation.

"This has been an error on our part. These contributors have reason to be unhappy with us. We can only apologize," the Foundation states.