Firebug Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our new wiki based FAQ.


Older content:

Firebug Web Development Evolved  getfirebug.com releases FAQ Working Group Blog Bugs

• Please give the version number for Firebug and Firefox when discussing issues.
• Firebug 1.5 will work with Firefox 3.5 and Firefox 3.6
• Firebug 1.4 works with Firefox 3.0 and Firefox 3.5
• Firebug 1.3 works with Firefox 3.0 and Firefox 2.0
• Firebug Lite works with IE, Safari, and Opera

Installing Firebug

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1843
• Works for Firefox 2 and 3
• Beta and Alpha versions on getfirebug.com 
• Firebug Lite for non-Firefox browsers.
• For installation problems, try a new Firefox profile (see below) or contact Firefox Support.
  

Firebug Versions

• Version 1.05: check using Firefox->Tools->Addons->Firebug. Version number on the panel.
• Version 1.1: check using Firebug->BugMenu->About
• Version 1.2+: hover on the Firefox status bar icon for Firebug
  

Installation Issues, Firefox 2.0

• To enable Talkback: reinstall Firefox using "custom" install and select Talkback and DOM Inspector.

Installation Issues, Firefox 3.0

• Firebug 1.0 is incompatible with Firefox 3.0.  Firebug 1.1 does not work completely.
• Firebug 1.2 works on Firefox 3. 
• Firebug 1.3 works with Firefox 3.0
• Firebug 1.4 works with Firefox 3.5
• Firebug 1.5 will target Firefox 3.6. 
  

Installing in a clean Profile (To test for interactions with other extensions)

Firefox and Firebug re-install rarely fixes problems because the configuration files are not altered on reinstall. To clear out the configuration files you need to create a new Firefox profile:

• Exit Firefox
• Get to a command line
  • Windows: Start->Run->"cmd" enter
  • Linux: you know how ;-)
• Run Firefox with -ProfileManager
  • Windows: C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe -ProfileManager
• Create New profile
• Start Firefox with your new profile
• Load Firebug into this clean profile.
• Learn more about the Firefox Profile Manager 
  

Using the Tracing Version of Firebug (eg 1.4X rather then 1.4)

• First follow the instructions from the preceding section to create a new Firefox profile. Install the tracing version.
• Open Firebug, then open the tracing panel from the Firebug Icon menu (upper left in Firebug)
• In the Tracing window Option tab, set ERRORS on, switch to the Log tab.
  
• Try your problem page/function.
• Look for error messages in the log. You can export the trace with the button at the top.
• To get help, open an issue report and attach the trace.
  
• For problems with breakpoints, set UI_LOOP and BP, and SOURCEFILES
  
• For problems with Console, set CONSOLE and ACTIVATION
• For problems where Firebug UI is acting, set DISPATCH, ACTIVATION, and PANELS
  

Crashes, Firefox 3

• Crash means the Firefox program ends and the crash report dialog box appears.
• A Firefox crash is always a Firefox bug and needs to be reported to http://bugzilla.mozilla.org.
• The crash information is available after you let the crash reporter log to to mozilla. You can read the report by using "about:crashes" as a URL in a reopened Firefox. This link should be supplied in any bug report; it sometimes takes several minutes for the server to digest the incoming reports.
• You can optionally open a bug report for Firebug,  http://code.google.com/p/fbug/issues/list but we cannot fix Firefox crashes.  This is true even if the crash only happens when Firebug is enabled.

Crashes, Firefox 2.0

• Crash means Firefox exits.
• Please put "Firebug <your Firebug version>" in the Talkback comment field. If Talkback does not come up, see Installation Issues on this page. 
• Check about:config. If you have javascript.options.strict true, try setting it false.
• All crashes are Firefox bugs, all Firebug can do is try to avoid using features that tend to crash.
  • Is it possible there is a mexican stand off scenario going on whereby Firebug developers say it's Firefox's problems, and then vice versa? If so something needs to be done to address this stand off. 
  • There is no such standoff. No one working on Firefox claims that the FF2 crashes are caused by errors in Firebug code. 
  • Please see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=400618
    
  • If diligent documenting of talkback incidents and corresponding bugzilla entries is needed, I'd like to help. Any thoughts? 
  • More talkback traces would probably not help at this point. The best way to help would be to create test cases that crashes in the shortest possible wall-clock time.  That will help developers pinpoint the problem.
    
• Use the Mozilla talkback site to look for your Firefox stack trace by searching on Comment "firebug".

Firebug bugs

• Report bugs on the issues list: http://code.google.com/p/fbug/issues/list
  • Please be realistic when adding an issue.
  • Provide a small example script or page.
  • Provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to reproduce the problem.

  Remember this is an open source project: the time you invest in explaining a bug goes a long ways toward getting it fixed. Conversely, incomplete instructions without an example will probably be a waste of your time: no one will know what to do with the report and it will be ignored.

• How to contribute a translation:
  • Translate the three English locale files: http://fbug.googlecode.com/svn/branches/firebug1.2/locale/en-US
  • Open a new issue on the firebug issues list with a title like "Translation for xx-XX\47" http://code.google.com/p/fbug/issues/list 
  • Attach the translation files. 
  • Check that you have the issue "starred" so you receive email when your translation goes in or when other folks offer suggestions. 

Enable Firebug 1.05 for Specific Sites

To enable Firebug only for some sites you are working on do this:

• Disable Firebug:
  • Firefox->StatusBar->(green check or gray dot)->RightClick->Disable Firebug checked
    
• Navigate Firefox to the site you want to work on.
• Enable Firebug for Site:
  • Firefox->StatusBar-(Firefox->StatusBar->(green check or gray dot)->RightClick->Disable Firebug checkedDisable Firebug for ... unchecked.

To get finer control you can use 

• Firefox->StatusBar->(green check or gray dot)->RightClick->Allowed Sites
• OR Firebug->BugIcon->AllowedSites

How to Enable/Disable Firebug 1.2

The logic behind enabling and disabling Firebug has been changed in 1.2. Since this version, every panel that could have negative impact on Firefox performance can be enabled and disabled separately. Thus there is no need to disable entire Firebug.

 

The following panels are activable. Notice that all these panels are disabled by default.

Source and Extending Firebug

• Firebug Internals (on a real wiki)
  
• A comprehensive tutorial and a sample XPI for extending firebug. 
• A HelloWorld for extending Firebug.
  
• Readme file for branches of source tree