The "x" doesn't appear on the the last remaining tab in Firefox 3.5, what happened to it?
Jason Barone
"x" is no longer displayed on the very last tab when "Always show tab
bar" option is selected. I've noticed this immediately, as well 2
others I've talked to. When we're down to the last tab, we like to
click the "x" to shut down the last remaining tab, but keep Firefox
open on a blank page. Am I missing something? I don't want to have to
use keyboard commands.
Dave Royal
What I do is set the homepage to about:blank and click that.
Dave
--
(Remove any numerics from my email address.)
clay
How stupid is that?
What Einstein thought removing the option to close (blank) the last tab
was a good idea?
I removed the 'red x' from my tabs, preferring to middle click to close
tabs/blank the last tab. Now I have to stare at a stale web page because
some sfb decided to remove this functionality?
And, what keyboard command?
Now I find Ctrl+w closes the whole freakin' browser instead of the last
tab.
un freakin' believable!
And what's with that effing 'plus' sign next to the tab? I don't know. I
don't want to know. I don't want it there... Who's brain fart was that?
Less than five minutes into the upgrade and already I'm wondering why I
fall for these things!?
The last version worked fine. Now I have more bs screwed up crap to
learn to hate all over again...
When will I learn... if it works, don't fix it.
Mighty Chaffinch
> And what's with that effing 'plus' sign next to the tab? I don't know. I
> don't want to know. I don't want it there... Who's brain fart was that?
Seems useful to me, double-clicking on the tab bar didn't work if you
had more than half-a-dozen tabs or so.
> Less than five minutes into the upgrade and already I'm wondering why I
> fall for these things!?
Tools > Options > Advanced > Update > Automatically download... ?
> The last version worked fine. Now I have more bs screwed up crap to
> learn to hate all over again...
Yeah nothing should ever change unless you want it to.
> When will I learn... if it works, don't fix it.
It's easy enough to go back to an earlier version if that floats yr boat.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html
MC
Moe
This setting stayed active through update for me, no "X" on tabs, one at
right of always shown tab bar
Type about:config into the location bar.
Search for the browser.tabs.closeButtons line.
Set the integer value to 3.
clay
> clay wrote:
>
>> And what's with that effing 'plus' sign next to the tab? I don't know.
>> I don't want to know. I don't want it there... Who's brain fart was that?
>
> Seems useful to me, double-clicking on the tab bar didn't work if you
> had more than half-a-dozen tabs or so.
What possible reason would I want to open a new, blank tab?
Only one I can think of is to paste in a link.
In which case, Ctrl+t then Ctrl+v seems most efficient... Left hand
isn't doing anything anyway.
>
>> Less than five minutes into the upgrade and already I'm wondering why
>> I fall for these things!?
>
> Tools > Options > Advanced > Update > Automatically download... ?
All unchecked. I'll decide when and if I want to update, tyvm.
Some day I'll actually resist the urge to update...
>
>> The last version worked fine. Now I have more bs screwed up crap to
>> learn to hate all over again...
>
> Yeah nothing should ever change unless you want it to.
Turns out, this is the case. Apparently the devs decided their prefs
were better than mine and changed several. An hour of tinkering in
about:config has most everything back the way it was.
Still haven't found a way to remove that tab space wasting, useless, '+'
yet.
>
>> When will I learn... if it works, don't fix it.
>
> It's easy enough to go back to an earlier version if that floats yr boat.
> http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html
>
nah. I'll have forgotten soon enough, all the things I truly hate about
this 'update' just as I have all the others...
Chris Ilias
1. In the Location bar, type the following URL, and press <Enter>:
about:config
2. You should get a warning page. Click on [I'll be careful, I promise!].
3. In the rsulting page search for the preference
|browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab|.
4. Double-click on |browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab| which should
set the value to "false".
--
Chris Ilias <http://ilias.ca>
List-owner: support-firefox, support-thunderbird, test-multimedia
Keeper of the Knowledge Base: <https://support.mozilla.com/kb/>
Dave Royal
> On 01/07/09 6:09 AM, Jason Barone wrote:
>> Hey guys, great release with Firefox, but I have a small concern. The
>> "x" is no longer displayed on the very last tab when "Always show tab
>> bar" option is selected. I've noticed this immediately, as well 2
>> others I've talked to. When we're down to the last tab, we like to
>> click the "x" to shut down the last remaining tab, but keep Firefox
>> open on a blank page. Am I missing something? I don't want to have to
>> use keyboard commands.
>
> ...
>
> 4. Double-click on |browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab| which should
> set the value to "false".
That enables you to clear the contents of the last tab with Ctrl-w but
doesn't restore the red x on the tab itself, which is what the OP (and I)
would like. It's greyed out on the tab's context menu too. (I'm using the
final RC on Linux.)
clay
Mine is '2' which hides the red X.
I tried 0 and 1 (and 3 and 99) and the red X is there... Until I'm down
to one tab. Then it disappears.
Wacky...
No matter to me since I use Ctrl+w or middle click (thumb click,
actually) to close tabs.
Dave Royal
> As Moe posted, browser.tabs.closeButtons is what you're after. Mine is
> '2' which hides the red X.
> I tried 0 and 1 (and 3 and 99) and the red X is there... Until I'm down
> to one tab. Then it disappears.
> Wacky...
>
can see the logic - but I'm beginning to think it's a bug ;-)
David McRitchie
See
Tabbed Browsing in Firefox
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/firefox/tabs.htm
and it's companion page
Tabs configuration, extracted from About:config entries
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/firefox/tabs_config.htm
Thought I'd recommend starting at the top of this page the preferences
are at (#pref).
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/firefox/lessons/intro/fx3_intro.htm#pref
--
HTH,
David McRitchie, extensions I use are briefly documented on my site
Firefox Custom: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/firefox/firefox.htm
Dave Royal
>
> I assumed that the lack of a close X on the last tab was by design - I
> can see the logic - but I'm beginning to think it's a bug ;-)
>
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=501714
I Have browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab=false
and I have tried all values of browser.tabs.closeButtons
and I never get a red close x on the last tab. (Last 3.5RC, Linux)
So is it a bug, or by design?
JM
> Dave Royal wrote:
>> I assumed that the lack of a close X on the last tab was by design - I
>> can see the logic - but I'm beginning to think it's a bug ;-)
>>
> See this bug:
> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=501714
>
> I Have browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab=false
> and I have tried all values of browser.tabs.closeButtons
> and I never get a red close x on the last tab. (Last 3.5RC, Linux)
>
> So is it a bug, or by design?
>
> Dave
haven't ever had a close x on the last tab either. Must be by design.
Robert M Jones
I'm missing the red button on the final tab too. I'd like it back where
it was please. It was added in an earlier upgrade as an improvement. Now
its gone.
--
Rev Robert M Jones, Wimborne Baptist Church, UK
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/dataprofiling/
http://www.wimborne-baptist.org.uk
Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
goes to our partners in Bulgaria)
http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420
Tokar
m...@NOSPAMyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Jason Barone wrote:
> > Hey guys, great release with Firefox, but I have a small concern. The
> > "x" is no longer displayed on the very last tab when "Always show tab
> > bar" option is selected. I've noticed this immediately, as well 2
> > others I've talked to. When we're down to the last tab, we like to
> > click the "x" to shut down the last remaining tab, but keep Firefox
> > open on a blank page. Am I missing something? I don't want to have to
> > use keyboard commands.
>
> I'm missing the red button on the final tab too. I'd like it back where
> it was please. It was added in an earlier upgrade as an improvement. Now
> its gone.
>
> --
> Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
> goes to our partners in Bulgaria)http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420
Here is the answer to fixing this:
1) Close FireFox
2) Open up your Mozilla profiles folder (%appdata%\FireFox\Profiles
\xxxxxxx.default\
3) Go into the Chrome folder and create a copy of the file userChrome-
example.css and rename it userChrome.css (assuming you haven't already
done this for a different visual modification)
4) Copy the following lines into the userChrome.css file:
/* Add tab-close-button to last tab*/
.tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; }
.tabs-newtab-button {display: none} .tab-close-button { display: -moz-
box !important; }
.tabs-newtab-button {display: none}
5) in a new tab go to about:config and change
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab from TRUE to FALSE
Done.
Dave Royal
>
> Here is the answer to fixing this:
>
WFM. Thanks.
Robert M Jones
Thanks very much for the workaround. Much appreciated.
Although for me it rather sums up an issue with Mozilla - to get Firefox
to work the way you want you have to be a techie. I would still like
Mozilla to fix that the way it was two weeks ago. It wasn't ME that
changed it. I see the little arrows at each end of the tab barwhich
allow me to scroll along the tabs when I have a lot open, have also got
very shy and gone an invisible sort of grey.They used to be blue and
perky and and I could SEE them. Why why why?
Ron Hunter
added to each tab. You would have thought the developers were killing
children. Now people scream when they aren't there by default. Wonder
how many of the people complaining now were the same ones complaining
before....
If you don't want anything to change, then don't let update run. Simple.
Robert M Jones
First - no I didn't scream when they were added. I didn't even post
quietly. I really don't know where the rhetorical language about
screaming or killing children comes from. I wonder what these support
groups are FOR if they are not going to include consumer comments and
even complaints?
But secondly - any developers who DONT want to know what people think
are headed for a low broswer market share. There should never be a
problem over consumers expressing their opinions about the product.
You say "when they aren't there by default". I think what you should
have said - "when the upgrade removes them and there is no obvious way
within the settings to get them back".
The workaround may work (haven't yet applied it) but if it isn't in
"Tools-options" then it is not available for the average user.
I like Forefox - but I do detect a sensitivity about any criticism from
some quarters as if the consumer should just gratefully accept
everything that Mozilla and bow respectfully. I've no idea why they took
the red buttons away. They never said, and it wasn't prominent in the
release notes that I could see. So a comment on a support group seems
appropriate, and reference to complaining and killing children and
shouting, quite frankly, seems a little over the top.
Ron Hunter
will understand why some of us get tired of hearing how every single
change, not matter HOW trivial, causes some users to go off like a
fireworks display. And the comment about killing children was intended
to show how blown out of proportion the complaint was. I also found the
missing red x's to be annoying, and I can't imagine why they changed it,
but restoring them was the work of only a few minutes effort. Much
worse was the fact that after switching to FF3.5, my passwords all
disappeared. Now try that for a serious problem. But, since NO ONE
ELSE had the problem, I looked at MY systems until I figured out why it
happened, and fixed it.
Yes, I am far from an 'average user', but from experience, I know that
the developers rarely solicit comments, or opinions on changes from the
userbase. It's just that way, and it isn't going to change. I find FF
to be sufficiently useful to me that I am willing to put up with what
seems an excessively arrogant point of view from the developers, and I
continue to use the product. Should it ever reach the point where I
spend a lot of effort complaining about a change in these groups, then I
will just use something else. Live is just too short to spend it
carping about small cosmetic changes in a browser.
Robert M Jones
I think you just illustrated my point. And I think you may have
forgotten what the title of this group IS. Last time I looked, it was
mozilla.support.firefox - so what do you EXPECT puzzled non expert users
to do?- when they encounter a problem and they have tried an ordinary
series of user solutions via the user menus, then they post a query.
Then they get berated. Strange sort of support IMHO. Config:about and
chrome files are NOT the sort of thing an average user even knows
exists. If it isn't in the Optionis then that is usually it, except for
the afficionado. and there are plenty of replies above showing how far
users DID go with both the menus, the Tab options and even Config:about
options.
Support groups are for people who don't know the answers. I know that's
a difficult concept a few of the regular experts (not all) but it is
nevertheless true. People who do NOT know how to do things, or who are
puzzled by something that has changed will come here and post. No - they
have NOT memorized the last fifty thousand posts, no they may NOT have
used FF since the first trial vesion. They may just have found it last
week. They may not even know how to use Usenet, but that is not a crime.
They will learn if they are greeted with patience.
Maybe there are NEW customers? Not for long. After getting blasted maybe
they go back to Microsoft.
Maybe they thought a support group offered support not flame wars? I
always thought there were plenty of usenet groups for those who like a
good fight - but support groups were for those who wanted support (not a
debating ground for the experts who provide it). It seems that the
purpose of the group got confused in some people's minds.
I do peer support on my ISP support group. I've learned that yes, you
get the same problems again and again - I have some boiler plate replies
ready for them with a method for fixing the problem - but I don't tell
them off for asking. I reassure them they are not alone with their
problem and I try and show them how to fix it.
One of the reasons people get fed up with the big software corporations
and other large corporations is their failure to engage with their
customer base constructively. Some have even blogged about it
http://blog.btbroadbandoffice.com/archive/business-blogging/dealing-with-negative-comments.php
I think as Mozilla grows a larger user base and develops the product
they need to make sure they don't make the same mistake.
Getting berated here for asking questions is not a good way of growing
the user base.
Personally I am not bothered - a bit of robust debate never bothered me.
But I am bothered on other people's behalf when they come for support
and then get hammered for asking their question or not knowing that the
answer could be found deep inside the Mozilla KB or by hacking into a
chrome file.
I'm very grateful that someone DID suggest that "chrome" solution to me,
but I would ONLY have found it by asking here - I would not have worked
it out myself in a month of Sundays, and I don't mind having a muck
about under the hood if someone tells me what to do.
Moan over. I'll leave it there. Meanwhile I must go and actually try out
that user hack and see if it works...
John
will get berrated again, and knowing some of the so called helpers might
even get plonked, which is a usual thing on these newsgroups. Its
happened to me already, a lot of my posts/questions have even been
ignored. I have seen the so called Moz Champions keep a thread going for
100's of posts over a misspelt word or the use of html in the newsgroup,
or with one member being banned for an alleged break of rules, but when
somebody really wants help it doesnt come. Its not a good advertisement
for a growing concern like this.
Pete Holsberg
While the idea of navigating through Windows folders and editing a text
file may seem challenging to the user who see the computer as just
another appliance, those are really not difficult tasks. Try them and see.
>>>>>> I would
>>>>>> still like Mozilla to fix that the way it was two weeks ago. It
>>>>>> wasn't ME that changed it. I see the little arrows at each end of
>>>>>> the tab barwhich allow me to scroll along the tabs when I have a
>>>>>> lot open, have also got very shy and gone an invisible sort of
>>>>>> grey.They used to be blue and perky and and I could SEE them. Why
>>>>>> why why?
I see faint arrows at the ends of the tab tab and they permit me to
scroll along the tabs.
Also, I get the "x" when I click on a tab. Not as convenient as having
them there all the time, but not really bad.
Ron Hunter
Just ask. Don't complain about how it should have been done, unless, of
course, you want to join the developer ranks, and make the changes
yourself. ASK a question. Provide needed information. Be patient.
Many of us have a lot of experience with the software, and will do our
best to help resolve issues, but telling us that Opera, GoogleChrome,
etc. do it better is downright unproductive. Understand that many of us
frequently don't like what the developers do with new releases, but we
know that complaining about something they changed is about as
productive as complaining to the government.
> Support groups are for people who don't know the answers. I know that's
> a difficult concept a few of the regular experts (not all) but it is
> nevertheless true. People who do NOT know how to do things, or who are
> puzzled by something that has changed will come here and post. No - they
> have NOT memorized the last fifty thousand posts, no they may NOT have
> used FF since the first trial vesion. They may just have found it last
> week. They may not even know how to use Usenet, but that is not a crime.
> They will learn if they are greeted with patience.
>
Attitude is the key. Asking for help is one thing, telling other users
how another browser does it isn't helpful.
> Maybe there are NEW customers? Not for long. After getting blasted maybe
> they go back to Microsoft.
> Maybe they thought a support group offered support not flame wars? I
> always thought there were plenty of usenet groups for those who like a
> good fight - but support groups were for those who wanted support (not a
> debating ground for the experts who provide it). It seems that the
> purpose of the group got confused in some people's minds.
>
> I do peer support on my ISP support group. I've learned that yes, you
> get the same problems again and again - I have some boiler plate replies
> ready for them with a method for fixing the problem - but I don't tell
> them off for asking. I reassure them they are not alone with their
> problem and I try and show them how to fix it.
>
> One of the reasons people get fed up with the big software corporations
> and other large corporations is their failure to engage with their
> customer base constructively. Some have even blogged about it
> http://blog.btbroadbandoffice.com/archive/business-blogging/dealing-with-negative-comments.php
> I think as Mozilla grows a larger user base and develops the product
> they need to make sure they don't make the same mistake.
>
> Getting berated here for asking questions is not a good way of growing
> the user base.
>
Who is being blasted for asking questions?
Ron Hunter
John,
Run back through the messages and see how much response I got after
twice posting a question about loss of passwords on 3.5 update.
Sometimes there is no ready answer because, either no one has discovered
a way to fix the problem, or they haven't seen the problem. None of us
knows all the answers. And we don't mind the questions, and will go to
a great deal of trouble to try to help, but a message like; "I can't get
the program to put the x's in each tab, I'm going back to xxxxx (filling
your favorite other browser)." isn't going to generate useful responses
in most cases.
Pete Holsberg
> John,
> Run back through the messages and see how much response I got after
> twice posting a question about loss of passwords on 3.5 update.
> Sometimes there is no ready answer because, either no one has discovered
> a way to fix the problem, or they haven't seen the problem. None of us
> knows all the answers. And we don't mind the questions, and will go to
> a great deal of trouble to try to help, but a message like; "I can't get
> the program to put the x's in each tab, I'm going back to xxxxx (filling
> your favorite other browser)." isn't going to generate useful responses
> in most cases.
Apparently some think that attacking a product will make supporters
respond more quickly!
»Q«
Ron Hunter <rphu...@charter.net> wrote:
> Just ask. Don't complain about how it should have been done, unless,
> of course, you want to join the developer ranks, and make the changes
> yourself. ASK a question. Provide needed information. Be patient.
That's good advice, but users with problems are often feeling
frustrated, and it shows. It's no reason to divert their threads into
lectures about how they should express themselves.
> Many of us have a lot of experience with the software, and will do our
> best to help resolve issues, but telling us that Opera, GoogleChrome,
> etc. do it better is downright unproductive.
It usually doesn't help to tell us that, though sometimes it does help
to clarify the behavior the OP wants to see.
OTOH, that information doesn't do any harm unless people react to it by
getting into a browser-wars type of argument about it.
> Understand that many of us frequently don't like what the developers
> do with new releases, but we know that complaining about something
> they changed is about as productive as complaining to the government.
<shrug> I find them pretty responsive to feedback.
> Attitude is the key. Asking for help is one thing, telling other users
> how another browser does it isn't helpful.
If a user's attitude seems to be bad, IMO it's better to stay out of
that user's thread; trying to convince a user that s/he has a bad
attitude is unlikely to do any good, and it takes the focus away from
the actual issue. Even if the user who made the OP has a bad attitude,
there may be several users with good attitudes who have the same issue
and are lurking to find an answer.
This thread has over thirty posts now, and only one of them has the
solution in it,
<http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.firefox/msg/d276728ec9ff28fa>.
> Who is being blasted for asking questions?
I don't know, and I'm just responding to ideas raised in the thread in
general. Speaking of general, I'm setting the followup to
mozilla.general, since I think these kinds of meta-support issues are
better off there.
--
»Q« /"\
ASCII Ribbon Campaign \ /
against html e-mail X
<http://asciiribbon.org/> / \
Pete Holsberg
> In <news:_6idnaS0pJqugszX...@mozilla.org>,
> Ron Hunter <rphu...@charter.net> wrote:
>
>> Just ask. Don't complain about how it should have been done, unless,
>> of course, you want to join the developer ranks, and make the changes
>> yourself. ASK a question. Provide needed information. Be patient.
>
> That's good advice, but users with problems are often feeling
> frustrated, and it shows. It's no reason to divert their threads into
> lectures about how they should express themselves.
It does if diverting helps them get answers.
>> Attitude is the key. Asking for help is one thing, telling other users
>> how another browser does it isn't helpful.
>
> If a user's attitude seems to be bad, IMO it's better to stay out of
> that user's thread; trying to convince a user that s/he has a bad
> attitude is unlikely to do any good, and it takes the focus away from
> the actual issue. Even if the user who made the OP has a bad attitude,
> there may be several users with good attitudes who have the same issue
> and are lurking to find an answer.
If we all stay out of threads started by users with bad attitudes, those
users will then complain that no one has offered any help!!
> This thread has over thirty posts now, and only one of them has the
> solution in it,
Nonetheless, it may be valuable to remind people not to fire off emails
while they are feeling frustrated.
Perhaps there should be a monthly posting explaining what this list is
about (and what it is not about).
Robert M Jones
Thank you - I can confirm that this userchrome customisation recreates
the behaviour with regard to a red cross on a single tab I had before
upgrading FF to 3.5. Thanks very much indeed. That was a positive
helpful suggestion and it dealt with the problem.
Ron Hunter
I don't have the problem here. But then, except to test, I never allow
a tab bar to take up space when I am using only a single tab, so it
really isn't something I need to worry about.
John
Sorry but its a response to something I see happening all the time. Its
not an attack, its an observation. It happens all the time. There's
thread after thread of arguments but when it comes to help, it doesnt
happen.
Ron Hunter
week. Not all of them are guaranteed to work, but they are offered, and
some of them HAVE worked.
However, I can pretty much promise that if you come on with derogatory
statements about FF, and say something else is better, then you aren't
likely to get an answer that you like. You catch more flies with honey
than with vinegar.
thecastle
> On Jul 2, 11:32 am, Robert M Jones <robert53newsgroups-
>
>
>
> m...@NOSPAMyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> > Jason Barone wrote:
> > > Hey guys, great release with Firefox, but I have a small concern. The
> > > "x" is no longer displayed on the very last tab when "Always show tab
> > > bar" option is selected. I've noticed this immediately, as well 2
> > > others I've talked to. When we're down to the last tab, we like to
> > > click the "x" to shut down the last remaining tab, but keep Firefox
> > > open on a blank page. Am I missing something? I don't want to have to
> > > use keyboard commands.
>
> > I'm missing the red button on the final tab too. I'd like it back where
> > it was please. It was added in an earlier upgrade as an improvement. Now
> > its gone.
>
> > --
> > Free trial of Mailwasher Pro - effective email spam filter - (commission
> > goes to our partners in Bulgaria)http://fta.firetrust.com/index.cgi?id=420
>
> Here is the answer to fixing this:
>
> 1) Close FireFox
> 2) Open up your Mozilla profiles folder (%appdata%\FireFox\Profiles
> \xxxxxxx.default\
> 3) Go into the Chrome folder and create a copy of the file userChrome-
> example.css and rename it userChrome.css (assuming you haven't already
> done this for a different visual modification)
> 4) Copy the following lines into the userChrome.css file:
>
> /* Add tab-close-button to last tab*/
> .tab-close-button { display: -moz-box !important; }
> .tabs-newtab-button {display: none} .tab-close-button { display: -moz-
> box !important; }
> .tabs-newtab-button {display: none}
>
> 5) in a new tab go to about:config and change
> browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab from TRUE to FALSE
>
> Done.
Thank you for posting this chrome file fix. I'm definitely a mere
"user" and felt quite adventurous making changes to Firefox other than
via the Tools menu.
I didn't feel comfortable not being able to hit the X to dispose of
the last tab. Not in case I was at a dubious site and my boss could
walk by any second, though I'm surprised that this ability was removed
in light of that very good reason for retaining it, but because I like
to occasionally close everything down a tab at a time and start with a
blank slate, knowing I've done what I had set out to do and can now
start over on something else.
Having that last page be sticky, needing me to do something different
to get rid of it, interrupted what ought to be a smooth and enjoyable
process at the point of fulfillment.