Tag Archives: firefox

Firefox: Going Strong

Jun 26, 2008 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts One Comment

On Firefox 3 “Download Day,” over 8 million copies of the updates browser were downloaded. And countless more copies have undoubtedly been downloaded since the end of the record-setting event.� Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Firefox accounts for an estimated 22% of internet users currently, which, sadly, is nothing compared to the behemoth Internet Explorer. Twenty-two percent…

After hearing about that rather large-sounding eight million figure, I decided to check my statistics to see what exactly that meant to Webmaster-Source. Take a look at these charts (from June 18 to June 19):

Firefox Chart

The first chart shows the browser makes of WSC readers. Firefox users account for over 65% of Webmaster-Source readers. Sure, this is blog is targetted at people who keep up on tech/internet related things, so it makes sense that Firefox have a…slight edge against Internet Exploder. I’ve been aware of this statistic for some time though, so let’s move along to the interesting part.

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(Multi)Design Spotlight: Mozilla

Jun 23, 2008 by Matt | Posted in Design No Comments

With the launch of Firefox 3, Mozilla redesigned all of their sites (save for the Mozilla Foundation at Mozilla.org). As usual, their designs are clean and usable, and they have the signature “Mozilla Look” that they’ve had since the Firefox project took off. Let’s take a look at some of the new pages.

The New Navigation Bar

Mozilla’s site-wide navigation bar has changed a bit, though it retains the blue coloration. It’s smoother and more “plasticy,” and I think it’s a bit of an improvement, though I think it would look better if it had 100% width like its predecessor.

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Firefox 3.0 Testing

Jun 22, 2008 by Matt | Posted in Design No Comments

Firefox 3.0 is out now. If you’re a Firefox user, then chances are you’ve already downloaded and installed it, maybe played with some of the new features a bit. However, there’s serious work to be done, albeit quick work.

Whether you’re a regular Firefox user, or an advocate of another browser, if you run� website you need to test it thoroughly in the new version of Firefox.

Changes were made to the rendering engine in Firefox 3, improving standards support by far (I believe it passes the ACID2 test?). Those changes, of course, will affect how pages are rendered. So go through your sites and make sure they look alright.

Need an example? Take a look at MVH Media. Here’s a screenshot from Firefox 2:

MVH Media Header (Firefox 2)

After installing Firefox 3, it looks more like this:

MVH Media Header (Firefox 3)

By the time you’re reading this, I’ll probably have fixed it. But it just goes to show that you should keep up with changes to major browsers. I’m glad I caught it early.

Essential Firefox Extensions For Webmasters

Dec 14, 2007 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts No Comments

Mozilla Firefox is truly the best browser for web designers and developers. It’s Extensions system makes it possible to equip your browser with tools to make your life easier. But if you’re reading this, you probably already know that.

What extensions are the most useful for webmasters?

ColorZilla – Like having Photoshop’s Eyedropper tool in Firefox.
Lorem Ipsum – Generate Pseudo-Latin dummy text.
Firebug – “edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.”
IE View – Open the current page in Internet Explorer.
MeasureIt – Drag a ruler across your browser’s viewport.
Web Developer Toolbar – One of my favorites, this extension adds dozens of useful options to your browser’s arsenal. You can disable JavaScript and CSS, resize your window to exact dimensions, and more. Here’s one of my favorite parts: Press Ctrl-Shift-F to toggle a “Element Inspector” tool. Forget the DOM Inspector, this is more useful.
YSlow – How fast is your website? How can you improve it? Requires Firebug.