Firefox for Newbies

Step 1: Download Firefox. This should be a painfully obvious step, but there are still people who haven't switched over from Firefox. There isn't a single reason to still use Internet Explorer or Safari if you're a casual internet user. Of course this is debatable, but unless you have some specific reason not to switch...there's a link in the sidebar.

Now, since Firefox is the fastest growing browser today (accounting for more than half the hits to this blog) I'll assume step one is done.

Step 2: Be smart about security. If you're like me, you probably take advantage of Firefox's ability to save your username and password for sites you log into often. If you're using your personal computer, you may think this isn't a problem, but this isn't the case. Anyone with access to you computer can easily see everyone of your saved passwords in PLAIN TEXT unless you set a "master password". Try it.
Go to Tools>Options>Security>Show Passwords>Show Passwords
Unless you have a Master Password, you can see all your passwords. Under the security tab, make sure you set a Master Password. You can make this fairly short and easy, but obviously something that you'll remember.
There are various other security options there to look through if you so desire.

Step 3: Use the Bookmarks Toolbar. This one is very simple. View>Toolbars>Bookmarks Toolbar. When you bookmark a page, save it there. However, there are also a few tips to make the most out of this toolbar.
If you check out Bookmarks>Organize Bookmarks, you can make folders for the bookmarks toolbar. This is great if you have a lot of bookmarks in the same general group (such as "classes").
Since this toolbar also displays the icons for each website, you can save space by removing the actual name of the website. (This can also be done in "Organize Bookmarks")

Step 4: Use Quicksearches. This is one of the best features of Firefox and also the most underutilized. Try opening up a new tab (Ctrl+T) and typing "wp kangaroo". This will search Wikipedia for kangaroos straight form the address bar. If you go back to "Organize Bookmarks" and scroll down, you can check out all the quicksearches. You will see that you can search imdb, urban dictionary, and Google. However, you can also edit these to search any site you want.
If you want to search Google with "g" instead of "google" (which I recommend) do as follows:
1. "New Bookmark" (button on top).
2. Make the name anything you want (doesn't matter)
3. Make the location "http://www.google.com/search?q=%s" (no quotes)
4. Make the keyword "g" (no quotes)
That's all you need to do, and it works with most any site. If it's not immediately obvious, the keyword is what you'll type in to search, and you need to add %s to the url instead of a search string. Find any site, search for "test", copy the resulting url, and change "test" to "%s"

Step 5: Common Extensions. You're most likely aware of Firefox's ability to use extensions, and probably have a few installed. Instead of reinventing the wheel on this one, it's probably easier to visit a site with common extensions listed out. Just go here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758849,00.asp

Step 6: Tips and Shortcuts. There's a few ways to do things much faster/easier in Firefox.
When you want to open up a new tab, hit Ctrl+T.
When you want to find something on a page, hit Ctrl+F.
When you want to automatically jump to the address bar and highlight the whole thing, hit Ctrl+L.
To open a link in a new tab, middle-click it.
To close a tab, middle-click it (or Ctrl+W).
To go back, hit Alt+Left. Forward, Alt+Right.
To cycle through tabs, Ctrl+Tab.

So now if you want to search Google, just hit Ctrl+L, then type g "my humble opinion", and in under 5 seconds you can see how unoriginal I am with my blog title. Now, there's plenty more to know about Firefox, but this post is getting very long as it is. If you're interested, search for some articles on how to use the sidebar for many uses, get an RSS reader that works for you, and how to tweak about:config to make things speed up a bit.



Something to listen to: Sound the Alarm - Until We Collide
Something to do: Go beat this: http://www.jigsaw.x0.com/sphere_e/
(If you need a hint, leave a comment and I'll help)