Browsers ​

A window to the internet.
Settings and extensions for an optimal session.

Firefox ​

Running multiple browsers with different profiles helps keeps active references in the right place. When the work is finished, just close that browser. This strategy helps keep memory free.

If you need a browser context for a specific task / job, launch f irefox with:

firefox -p

firefox -p

If no relevant profile is available, create one from scratch, or clone an existing template. A template Firefox profile that tracks these notes is available here:

https://gitlab.com/charlesbrandt/firefox-profile

Profile Management

Settings ​

Open via the menu: Menu -> Settings
or in a new window load: about:preferences#general

Set the following:

-> Open previous windows and tabs (AKA: Restore previous session)

-> Pick your preferred search engine

-> Update the homepage and new tabs preference.

• Lately I've been opting for "Blank Page" to minimize distractions.
• Tabliss (see below) is another nice option

Ensure "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order" option is unchecked. (This has been unchecked by default for a while.)

Tab Links ​

When creating documentation, it is useful to be able to copy all open tabs in a window. I wrote this extension to help:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/copy-all-tabs/
Copy All Tabs :: Add-ons for Firefox

This may have similar functionality?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tab-mix-plus-webextension/

OneTab?

Copy Selection as Markdown ​

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/copy-selection-as-markdown/
Copy Selection as Markdown – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-US)

https://github.com/0x6b/copy-selection-as-markdown

I prefer to change a few of the default settings:

Uncheck the following:

"Prepend quote (>) to the selection" "Include link to source page in the copied text" (Be sure to still give attribution!)

Code block style

let code == "fenced";

let code == "fenced";

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=firefox+extension+copy+html+as+markdown&ia=web
firefox extension copy html as markdown at DuckDuckGo

Tab Suspender ​

'Auto Tab Discard' will automatically put non-active tabs to sleep. It's a good way to keep a lot of tabs loaded in the browser without consuming a lot of active memory or resources.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/auto-tab-discard/

This feature goes by many names, including:

Tab Sleep, Tab Snooze, Tab Freeze, Tab Suspend, Tab Discard or Tab Hibernation.

It's similar to Chrome's 'The Great Suspender'.

Preferences:

Remove: Prepend a symbol to the discarded tabs (e.g. 💤 or ⏻︎)

Firefox Unload ​

There is starting to be similar functionality built in to Firefox, however this still appears to be a manual process, and the tabs are prefixed with "firefox hibernate tabs" (too long)

Type about:unloads in the address bar and press Enter.

https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/browser/tabunloader/
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/unload-inactive-tabs-save-system-memory-firefox

Another old Firefox setting that came close, but does not provide unload on demand and automatically:

in about:config

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory

https://www.askvg.com/tip-disable-or-enable-tab-sleep-or-tab-snooze-feature-in-web-browsers/

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=great+suspender+firefox&t=canonical&ia=web
great suspender firefox at DuckDuckGo
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/374gx3/chromes_the_great_suspender_for_firefox/
Chrome's 'The Great Suspender' for firefox? : firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/unload-tabs/
UnloadTabs – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-US)

this one didn't work so well for me.. major memory usage
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ff-tab-suspender/
Tab Suspender – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-US)

Ad Blockers ​

Instead of only blocking ads, ublock-origin is a general filter / tracking blocker:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/

Beware of false imitations:
Tom's Hardware: Popular Ad Blockers AdBlock and uBlocker Deemed 'Fake'.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/adblock-ublock-fake-google-chrome-browser-extensions,40422.html

Disconnect me is a similar privacy focused extension:

https://disconnect.me/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/disconnect/

via

Profile Management ​

If you make frequent use of profiles, it can help to create a default profile.

Locate where your profiles are stored:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

Available on about:support using the "Open Directory" button in the "Profile Directory" section.

Under snap at

~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox

~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox

Previously

~/.mozilla/firefox

~/.mozilla/firefox

Backup and Restore Profiles ​

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

Recommendation is to use built in Firefox Profile manager to create a new profile first, then copy the contents of your default profile in to the newly created directory. That way all of the configurations in the browser settings are initialized correctly.

To apply your template profile

cd path/to/profiles
git clone git@gitlab.com:charlesbrandt/firefox-profile.git
# Create the new profile via Firefox
rm -r hn95wtr8.example/*
cp -r firefox-profile/* hn95wtr8.example/

cd path/to/profiles
git clone git@gitlab.com:charlesbrandt/firefox-profile.git
# Create the new profile via Firefox
rm -r hn95wtr8.example/*
cp -r firefox-profile/* hn95wtr8.example/

If you need to update the order, try manually editing the settings (make a backup copy first!)

cd [profile-directory]
cp profiles.ini profiles.ini.backup.2
edit profiles.ini

cd [profile-directory]
cp profiles.ini profiles.ini.backup.2
edit profiles.ini

Snap ​

Newer versions of Ubuntu are shipping Firefox as a snap package. This leads to annoying "Close the app to avoid disruption messages".

It looks like it is possible to run the update manually:

killall firefox;
sudo snap refresh;

killall firefox;
sudo snap refresh;

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1412140/how-to-solve-pending-update-of-firefox-snap-close-the-app-to-avoid-disruptio
How to solve "Pending update of "firefox" snap. Close the app to avoid disruptions" error? - Ask Ubuntu

New Tab ​

This is optional.

Tabliss is a clean minimal alternative to the default new tab page.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tabliss/

https://tabliss.io/

https://github.com/joelshepherd/tabliss

An open source, pluggable New Tab web extension written in TypeScript, React and Redux.

No special permissions required!

Themes ​

Colorway themes can be helpful for distinguishing one Firefox context from another, especially if they get spread across multiple workspaces.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/personalize-firefox-colorways

Menu -> Add-ons and Themes

Not configured in "Settings".

Chrome / Chromium: ​

For non-linux machines, go with Chrome: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/

Otherwise: http://www.chromium.org

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

Settings ​

Change "On startup" to:

"Continue where you left off"

to restore previous session.

Extensions ​

The Great Suspender! ​

Suspend Tabs after a certain period of inactivity.
This is great!
Saves so much memory and resources!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg/related

https://github.com/deanoemcke/thegreatsuspender

Copy Tabs ​

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/djdmadneanknadilpjiknlnanaolmbfk?hc=search&hcp=main

Configure the format as desired.

right click, options,

$url
$title

$url
$title