Browsing the Web

Welcome to Mozilla! One of the most popular ways people use Mozilla is to browse the Web. Navigator, the Mozilla component that lets you visit web pages, offers many ways to visit web pages and search the Web.

This section introduces you to Navigator and how you can use it to browse, search and save web pages.

Navigating Web Pages

Viewing Your Home Page

When you start Mozilla, you see Navigator, your browser. A "What's New" page appears automatically in the browser window when you first launch Mozilla.

After the first launch, you will normally see your home page when you launch Mozilla. Unless you choose a home page yourself, your home page is chosen by your network or Internet service provider, or you see Mozilla's home page.

To choose your own home page, see Specifying How Mozilla Starts Up.

Tips

• To streamline the Mozilla interface, you can use Full Screen mode to display web pages using almost all of your screen. In Navigator, open the View menu and choose Full Screen. You can also press F11.
• To go to your home page quickly, press Alt+Home (Cmd+Home on Mac OS).

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Moving to Another Page

You move to a new page by typing its URL—its location (address) on the Web. URLs normally begin with "http://," followed by one or more names that identify the address. For instance, "http://mozilla.org"

1. Click the Location Bar to select the URL that is already there.
2. Type the URL of the page you want to visit. The URL you type replaces any text already in the Location Bar.
3. Press Enter.

Using the lock icon near the lower-right corner of the window, you can check a web page's security status at any time. For details, see Checking Security for a Web Page.

Tip: To quickly select the URL in the Location Bar, press Ctrl+L.

Location Bar

Don't know a URL? You can type part of a URL, such as "cnn" (for www.cnn.com); or you can type a general word, such as "gifts" or "flowers". Navigator guesses what page you want to view, or displays a page with a choice of links related to the word you typed.

If you are new to the Internet, see the New to the Net Tutorial.

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Clicking a Link

Most web pages contain links you can click to move to other pages.

1. Move the pointer until it changes to a pointing finger. This happens whenever the pointer is over a link. Most links are underlined text, but buttons and pictures can also be links.
2. Click the link once. While the network locates the page that the link points to, status messages appear at the bottom of the window.

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Retracing Your Steps

There are several ways to re-visit pages:

• To go back or forward one page, click the Back or Forward arrow.
• To go back or forward more than one page, click the small triangles on the Back and Forward buttons. You'll see a list of pages you've visited; to return to a page, choose it from the list.

  Back   Forward

• To see a list of any URLs you've typed into the Location Bar, click the arrow at the right end of the Location Bar. To view a page, choose it from the list.

Location Bar

• To choose from pages you've visited during the current session, open the Go menu and use the list in the bottom section of the menu.
• To choose from pages you've visited during the past several sessions, open the Go menu and choose History. You see the history list. The history list displays a list of folders. Double clicking the folders displays subfolders or bookmarks to web pages. You can double-click the URL next to the Bookmark icon to view that page.

Tip: The Sidebar History tab also allows you to choose from pages you've visited during the past several sessions. For information, see Adding Sidebar Tabs.

About History Lists

The history list contains links to recently visited pages. The Location Bar list contains links to pages you've typed into the Location Bar and then visited.

To access the history list from Navigator, open the Go menu and choose History. To access the Location Bar list, click the arrow at the right end of the Location Bar.

Tip: To quickly open the history list, press Ctrl+H.

If you don't want the Location Bar or history list to display the pages you've been visiting, you can clear the history list and Location Bar history entirely or selectively.

To delete all pages from the Location Bar or history list, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Navigator category, click History. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Navigator to expand the list.)
3. Click Clear History and Clear Location Bar to remove all previously visited web pages from the lists.
4. If you wish to set a limit on how many pages remain in the history list, click the field next to "Number of pages in session history" and type a number of pages.

To selectively delete pages from the history list, do any of the following:

• To delete all pages from a domain, select a page within that domain (folder) in the History list, open the Edit menu and select "Delete entire domain [domain name]". For example, use this command if you want to delete all pages that end in "mozilla.org".
• To delete pages from a subdomain, select a page within that subdomain in the History list, open the Edit menu and select "Delete all from [subdomain]". For example, use this command if you want to delete all pages from "bugzilla.mozilla.org" but not "mozilla.org".
• To delete a single page, select a page in the history list and press Delete.

Tip: To sort the history list, click one of the categories (Title, Location, or Last Visited). Click the title again to reverse the order.

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Stopping and Reloading

If a page is taking too long to appear, or you change your mind and don't want to view it, click the Stop button.

To refresh the current page, or get the most up-to-date version, click the Reload button, or press Ctrl+Shift+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac OS).

Reload	Stop

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Visiting Bookmarked Pages

The addresses, or URLs, of web pages can be quite long and difficult to remember. Fortunately, it's not necessary to memorise URLs in order to browse the Web. Your browser has a list of bookmarks, which are pointers to interesting web pages.

To go to a bookmarked page, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the Bookmarks menu. The menu contains bookmarks represented by a bookmark icon and folders that contain more bookmarks.
2. To visit a bookmarked page, choose a bookmark from the menu, or open a folder and choose a bookmark.

Tip: To retrace your steps, click the Back arrow.

You can save your own bookmarks to point to pages you frequently visit, or to other interesting places on the Web. See Creating New Bookmarks for more information.

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Using Tabbed Browsing

When you visit more then one web page at a time, you can use Tabbed Browsing to navigate the Web faster and easier.

Tabbed Browsing lets you open tabs, each displaying a web page, within a single Navigator window. You don't have to have several windows open to visit several different web pages. This frees up space on your desktop. You can open, close, and reload web pages conveniently in one place without having to switch to another window.

You can manage your navigation tabs easily and control when tabs are opened automatically. For more information about setting Tabbed Browsing preferences, see Navigator Preferences - Tabbed Browsing.

To learn more about using Tabbed Browsing, see Tabbed Browsing.

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Using The Sidebar

In addition to navigating the Web with Navigator, you can let the Web come to you by using the Sidebar.

The Sidebar is a customisable frame in your browser where you can keep items that you need to use all the time—the latest news and weather, your address book or Buddy List, stock quotes, a calendar—and many other available options. The Sidebar presents these items to you in tabs that it continually updates.

Mozilla comes with some Sidebar tabs already set up, but you can customise your Sidebar by adding, removing and rearranging tabs. For details, see The Sidebar.

To view an item in the Sidebar, click its tab.

The Sidebar Handle

If it is not already open, open the Sidebar by clicking its handle. If the handle is missing, open the View menu in Navigator, choose Show/Hide and then Sidebar from the submenu.

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Searching the Web

Fast Searches

There are three ways to search quickly: from the Location Bar, from the Sidebar and from the Net Search page.

Searching From the Location Bar

Searching for web pages on a particular topic is as easy as typing a question, or just a word or two, into the browser's Location Bar, as pictured below.

For example, if you want to find information about baby dolls:

1. Double-click in the Location Bar to select the current text.
2. Type the word "baby doll". Your typing replaces the current text.
3. Perform one of these steps:
   • Click the Search button.
   • Click Search Mozilla Search for "baby doll" at the bottom of the drop-down list in the Location Bar. (Your default search engine may be different.)
     The default search engine you choose in Preferences is used. Search results for "baby doll" appear in both the browser window and in the Sidebar. Click the links to visit web pages about baby dolls.

After you perform a search, the results are saved in your Sidebar's Search tab until you do a new search. You don't have to click the Back button to retrieve the search results.

Note: You can also use Internet Keywords to search from the Location Bar.

Searching from the Sidebar

The Sidebar Search tab lets you quickly search and bookmark your search results. For example, if you want to find information about toy cars:

1. If it is not already open, open the Sidebar by clicking its handle.
2. Click the Search tab.
3. Open the "using" drop-down list and choose a search engine.
4. Type "toy car" in the search field.
5. Click Search. Search results for "toy car" appear in both the browser window and in the Sidebar. Click the links to visit web pages about toy cars.

Note: If the Sidebar Search tab contains a list of search engines from which to choose, then it is set to search in Advanced mode and you will have to choose one or more search engines before clicking Search. You can keep it that way or change to a basic setting in Preferences.

Tip: To display the next or previous page of search results quickly, click the Next and Previous buttons at the bottom of the Sidebar Search tab.

Searching from the Net Search page

The Net Search page lets you type in a Search term or phrase, or explore several categories (such as Arts & Entertainment, Business and many more) that may interest you. To visit the Net Search page, perform one of these steps:

• Click on the Search button on the Personal Toolbar.
• Open the Tools menu and choose Search the Web.

Searching on Selected Words in a Web Page

Mozilla allows you to search for words you select within a web page:

1. Select (highlight) any words in a web page.
2. Right-click and choose "Web Search for [your selected words]" for the menu. (To right-click on Mac OS, press Ctrl and click the mouse button.)

Mozilla opens a new window and uses your default search engine to search for your selected words. To learn how to change the search engine used to search for your selected words, see Navigator Preferences - Internet Search.

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Advanced Search Mode

You can set the Sidebar Search tab to Advanced mode, which lets you narrow a search or choose one or more search engines.

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Navigator category, click Internet Search. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Navigator to expand the list.)
3. Under Sidebar Search Preferences, click Advanced and then OK.
4. If it is not already open, open the Sidebar by clicking its handle.
5. Click the Search tab in the Sidebar.
6. Open the "within" drop-down list and choose a category.
7. Choose one or more search engines for the selected category (if available).
8. In the search field, type the word for which you want to search.
9. Click Search.

Customising Search Categories

You can specify which search engines should be used for different categories of searches. For example, you can select one set of search engines to search for travel and select another set of search engines to search for software.

1. Set the Sidebar Search to Advanced Search Mode. See Advanced Search mode for details.
2. If it is not already open, open the Sidebar by clicking its handle.
3. Click the Search tab in the Sidebar.
4. Open the "within" drop-down list, click "Edit Categories". You see the Edit Categories dialogue box.
5. From the Categories drop-down list, choose the category you want to customise.
   Or
   To create a new category, click New and type a name for the category in the dialogue box. The drop-down list now displays the name of the selected category.
6. Do one of the following:
   • To add a search engine for the selected category, highlight the search engine in the list on the left and click Add.
   • To remove a search engine for the selected category, highlight the engine in the list on the right and click Remove.
   • To rename the selected category, click Rename and type a new name.
   • To delete the selected category, click Delete.
7. Click OK when you are finished customising.

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Setting Search Preferences

You can choose a different search engine as the default. You can also specify how you want search results displayed in the Sidebar.

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Navigator category, click Internet Search. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Navigator to expand the list.)
3. Under Default Search Engine, choose a search engine you want to use for web searching.
4. Under Search Results, select "Open the Search tab in the Sidebar when search results are available" if you want the the Sidebar Search tab to open and show your search results.
5. Under Sidebar Search Tab Preference, select Basic if you want to search using a single search engine, or select Advanced to be able to search using multiple search engines.

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Using Internet Keywords

Internet Keywords work with the Location Bar to help you quickly find specific types of information. There are several ways to use Internet Keywords:

• Type a specific product, trademark, or company name and press Enter (Return on Mac OS), to go directly to a company's web site.
• Type certain verbs, such as "shop" or "quote", followed by the word you want to look up, to get specific information. For instance, "shop pets" takes you to a page with links to online pet stores.
• Type the name of a city or town followed by certain words such as "movies" or "restaurants", for local information. For instance, type "manchester restaurants".

Hint: The most commonly used Internet Keywords are listed in the pull-down list to the left of the Location Bar. Click the triangle and choose from the list. To see a longer list of keywords, choose List of Keywords.

Important: To use Internet Keywords, you must press Enter on your keyboard (Return on Mac OS) instead of clicking the Search button. Pressing Enter activates the Internet Keyword feature; clicking Search initiates a search.

To see the difference, try this:

1. Type "apple imac" into the Location Bar and press Enter (Return). Apple Computer's iMac Web page appears.
2. Now type "apple imac" into the Location Bar and click Search. You see a list of links related to Apple Computer's iMac models.

If typing Internet Keywords into the Location Bar is not working for you, check your Smart Browsing preferences to be sure the Internet Keywords feature is enabled.

Quick Stock Quotes

To see a recent stock quote for a company, type "quote" followed by the company's stock ticker symbol and press Enter.

If you don't know a company's stock ticker symbol, type the company's name. The quote page will list all companies with similar names and you can choose the one for which you want a quote.

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Searching Within a Page

To find text within the page you are currently viewing in Navigator:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose "Find in This Page". If the page you are viewing contains frames, you may need to click within a frame before you begin your search. You see the "Find in this Page" dialogue box.
2. Type the text you want to find.
3. Choose from the following search options:
   • Match upper/lower case: Choose this to search for a word or phrase that matches the word you typed exactly (including uppercase and lowercase letters).
   • Wrap around: Choose this to allow the browser to search from where the cursor is to the bottom of the page and then continue searching from the top of the page. Note: Normally, the page is searched from the place where you last clicked your mouse to the bottom of the page.
   • Search backwards: Choose this to search from the insertion point backwards to the top of the page.
4. Click Find to begin the search.

To find the same word or phrase again:

• Open the Edit menu and choose Find Again.

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Searching the Bookmarks or History List

To search the bookmarks list, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks. You see your Bookmarks window.
2. In the Bookmarks window, open the Tools menu and choose Search Bookmarks. You see the Find Bookmarks dialogue box.
3. Use the drop-down lists to select options to define your search.
4. Type a search word.
5. Click Find. Bookmarks that match your search criteria are displayed in the Search Results-Bookmarks window.

Tip: To quickly open your Bookmarks menu, press Ctrl+B.

To search the History list:

1. Open the Go menu and choose History. You see the history list.
2. In the History list, open the Tools menu and choose Search History. You see the Find in History dialogue box.
3. Use the drop-down lists to select options to define your search.
4. Choose from the following search options:
   • Choose "title" or "location" to choose where you would like to search. (The bookmarks window allows searching "name", "description" and "keyword".)
   • Choose "contains", "starts with", or "ends with" if you know only part of the word or phrase for which you're searching.
   • Choose "is" if you know exactly what you're searching for.
   • Choose "is not" or "doesn't contain" to exclude pages.
   • Click in the field and type all or part of the word or URL (web address) for the bookmarks or history listings that you want to find or exclude.
5. Click Find. History listings that match your search criteria are displayed in the Search Results window.

To use the search results:

• Double-click a bookmark in the Search Results window to go to that web page.

Tips:

• To open the History list quickly, press Ctrl+H.
• If the list is hard to read, try expanding the Search Results list.

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Copying, Saving and Printing Pages

Copying Part of a Page

To copy some text from a page, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Select the text.
2. Open the Edit menu and choose Copy.

You can paste the text into other programs.

To copy a link (URL) or an image link from a page:

1. Position the pointer over the link or image.
2. Right-click the link or image to display a pop-up menu. (On Mac OS, press Ctrl and click the mouse button.)
3. Choose Copy Link Location or Copy Image Location. If an image is also a link, you are offered both options.

You can paste the link into other programs or into Navigator's Location Bar.

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Saving All or Part of a Page

To save an entire page, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the File menu and choose Save Page As. You see the Save As dialogue box.
2. Choose a folder in which to save this file.
3. Choose a format for the page you want to save:
   • Web Page, Complete: Save the whole web page, along with pictures. This option allows you to view it as originally shown with pictures, but may not keep the HTML link structure of the original page. Mozilla creates a new directory (where the page is saved) to save pictures and other files necessary to show the whole web page.
   • Web Page, HTML Only: Save the original page without pictures. This option preserves the original HTML link structure in one file.
   • Text file: Save the original page as a text file. This option will not preserve the original HTML link structure, but will allow you to see a text version of the web page in any text editor.
4. Type a file name for the page and click Save.

When you view a page containing frames and a frame is currently selected, the Save Frame As option is offered in the drop-down list in addition to Save Page As. This lets you save only the page within the selected frame.

Saving a file onto your hard drive lets you view the page (or its HTML code) when you're not connected to the Internet.

To save an image from a page:

1. Position the mouse pointer over the image.
2. Right-click the image (on Mac OS, press Ctrl and click the mouse button) to display a pop-up menu.
3. Choose Save Image As. You see the Save File dialogue box.
4. Choose a folder in which to save this image.
5. Type a file name for the image and click Save.

To save a page without displaying it (which is useful for retrieving a nonformatted page, like a data file, that's not intended for viewing):

1. Position the mouse pointer over the page's link.
2. Right-click the hyperlink on the page (on Mac OS, press Ctrl and click the mouse button) to display a pop-up menu.
3. Choose Save Link Target As. You see the Save File dialogue box.
4. Choose a folder in which to save this file.
5. Type a file name for the page and click Save.

Important: Some links automatically download and save files to your hard drive after you click them. The URLs for these links often begin with "ftp" or end with a file-type extension such as "au" or "mpeg". These links might transmit software, sound, or movie files and can launch helper applications that support the files.

Tip: To set an image as your desktop wallpaper on Windows, right-click on an image and choose Set As Wallpaper from the pop-up menu.

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Printing a Page

To print the current page, begin from the Navigator window:

• Open the File menu and choose Print.

To print selected text, begin from the Navigator window:

• Select the text in the current page.
• Open the File menu and choose Print. The print dialogue box appears.
• Under Print Range, click Selection.

The size of the printed page, not the size of the onscreen window, determines placement of content on the printed page. Text is wrapped and graphics are repositioned to accommodate paper size.

Using Print Preview

To see how a page will look before it is printed, you can use Print Preview. Begin from the Navigator window:

• From Navigator, open the File menu and choose Print Preview.

In Print Preview, you can do the following with pages you want to print:

• View a preview of each page: Click the Next , Previous , First , or Last button to move between pages.
• Change the scale (size) of pages: In the Scale field, type in a percentage of the original size and Press Enter (Return on Mac OS). For example, type "50" and press Enter to make each page half the size of the original page. Click the Up or Down button to resize up or down by an increment of one, respectively.
• Change the direction of the page: Choose Portrait to position the page normally, with the shorter side facing up. Choose Landscape to position the page sideways, with the longer side facing up.
• Go to Page Setup: Click Page Setup to further customise pages you want to print.
• Go to Print: Click Print to print pages.

Note: Some Print Preview functions are different or unavailable on Mac OS and Linux.

Using Page Setup

Note: Some Page Setup functions are different or unavailable on Mac OS and Linux.

To customise how pages are printed in Mozilla, you can use Page Setup:

• From Navigator, open the File menu and choose Page Setup.

In Page Setup, you can change the following settings for pages you want to print:

• Format & Options: Choose the orientation, scale and other options:
  • Orientation:
    • Portrait: Choose this to position the page normally, with the shorter side facing up.
    • Landscape: Choose this to position the page sideways, with the longer side facing up.
  • Scale: Type in a percentage of the original size. For example, type "50" and to make each page half the size of the original page.
    • Shrink To Fit Page Width: Select this to automatically resize the page to the width of the paper.
  • Options:
    • Print Background (colours and images): Select this to print background images and colours. If unselected, only pictures and colour in the foreground (in front) are printed.
• Margins & Header/Footer: Click this tab to set up margins, headers and footers:
  • Margins:
    • Top, Bottom, Left, Right: Type a margin in inches for the top, bottom, left and right margin.
  • Headers & Footers: Each drop-down list represents either a header or a footer area. The top row of drop-down lists are for the left, centre and right header areas. The bottom row are for the left, centre and right footer areas. In each drop-down list, choose one of the following options:
    • --blank--: Show nothing in this area.
    • Title: Show the web page title.
    • URL: Show the web page URL (URLs usually start with "http://").
    • Date/Time: Show the date and time when the web page is printed.
    • Page #: Show the page number of each page.
    • Page # of #: Show the page number along with the total number of pages. For example, if you print a five page web page, "3 of 5" would be shown on the third page.
    • Custom: Type your own text. You can include any of the following codes to print specific information:
      • &PT: Page Number with Total (eg: "3 of 5")
      • &P: Page Number
      • &D: Date
      • &U: URL
      • &T: Page Title

Tip: To see a preview of changes made to Page Setup, use Print Preview.

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Using Languages and International Content

Selecting Character Codings and Fonts

If you browse, compose, or send and receive email in more than one language, you need to select the appropriate character codings and fonts.

A character coding method is the way a document or message has been converted to data to be used by your computer. All web documents and mail and news messages use a character coding method (also known as a character encoding or character set).

The character coding method for a document depends on its language. Some languages—such as most of the Western languages—share the same coding method. Others, such as Chinese, Japanese and Russian, use different methods.

Your version of Mozilla is set to a default character coding appropriate for your region. However, if you use more than one language, you may need to select appropriate character coding methods and designate the fonts you wish to use for your coding method.

To select character codings, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the View menu, choose Character Coding and then choose More.
2. Choose a region from the top section of the submenu.
3. Choose a character coding within the region submenu. Repeat steps 1-3 for each character coding method you want.

The character coding methods you select are added to the Character Coding menu. If you have more than one coding method selected, the active one has a bullet (dot) next to it.

Mozilla can detect which character coding a document uses and can display it correctly on your screen. To take advantage of this capability, begin from the Navigator window:

1. Open the View menu, choose Character Coding and then choose Auto-Detect.
2. Choose one of the Auto-Detect options, or choose Off from the submenu.

To make changes to your list of active character sets:

1. Open the View menu, choose Character Coding and then choose Customise. You can see the Customise Coding dialogue box.
2. Choose from the following procedures:
   • To add to the list of active character sets, choose a character set from the list on the left and click Add.
   • To remove a character set from the active list, choose a character set from the list on the right and click Remove.
   • To change the order in which the browser checks for character sets, highlight character sets in the list on the right and use the arrow buttons to move the character sets up or down in the list.

To change the default fonts within a language group:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Appearance category, click Fonts. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Appearance to expand the list.)
3. From the "Fonts for" drop-down list, choose a character coding method. For instance, to set default fonts for the Western character set, choose "Western".
4. Select whether proportional text should be serif (like Times Roman) or sans serif (like Arial). You can also specify what font size you want for proportional text. Proportional text varies in width.
5. (If available) Select a font for Serif, Sans-Serif, Cursive and Fantasy.
6. Select the monospace font (like Courier) that you want to use for web pages. Monospace text is fixed in width, so each character or letter takes the same amount of space.

Many web page authors choose their own fonts and font sizes. You can use the author's font settings by selecting "Allow documents to use other fonts".

To adjust the readability of fonts, select from the drop-down list the dots per inch (dpi) for displaying Web pages. Select "Other" to open the Calibrate Resolution dialogue box, which allows you to calibrate your resolution by measuring how long a line appears on your screen.

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Setting Language Preferences

The language you use for Mozilla affects the text of buttons, dialogue boxes, menus, tools and other items. The functionality of these items remains the same.

To set your preferred language:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Appearance category, click Languages/Content. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Appearance to expand the list.)
3. Under "Installed language packs" select a language pack.
4. Click OK.

   Note: You must restart Mozilla after you change your preferred language.

The content pack you use affects the home page, bookmarks, toolbar contents, Sidebar and other items.

To use a content pack:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Appearance category, click Languages/Content. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Appearance to expand the list.)
3. Under "Installed content packs" select a content pack.
4. Click OK.

   Note: You will have to need to restart Mozilla after you change to another content pack.

Tip: To download more language packs or content packs, click Download More.

Web pages are sometimes available in several languages. Mozilla presents pages in the language you prefer, if it is available. You can specify the languages you wish to see, in order of preference.

To set language preferences:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Navigator category, click Languages. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Navigator to expand the list.)
3. Click Add. You see the Add Languages dialogue box.
4. Select a language and its code. If you wish to add a code not on the list, type the language and its code in the Others field (see note below). If you want to reorder the languages in the list, select a language and click Move Up or Move Down.
5. Click OK.

Note: Two-letter codes enclosed in brackets appear next to each language in the list. These are standard abbreviations for languages. For a complete list, see the online document, Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages.

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Finding International Web Content

For information about Mozilla in multiple languages, see the online document International Users Page.

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Improving Speed and Efficiency

Managing Different File Types

Navigator can handle many types of files. However, for some files, such as movies or music, Navigator needs plug-ins or "helper" applications that can handle those files. If Mozilla doesn't have the needed helper application or plug-in, it can still save the file to your hard disk. When saving files, you can keep track of them using Download Manager.

Plug-ins

Plug-ins are helper applications that extend the functionality within Navigator and run within Mozilla. Plug-ins like Sun Java, Macromedia Flash, and RealNetworks RealPlayer allow Mozilla to show multimedia files and run small applications, such as movies, animations, and games.

When you installed Mozilla, you had the option of adding some of these most popular plug-ins. You don't have to install them separately. However, you can also install plug-ins after you install Mozilla. To see the plug-ins for Mozilla that are currently installed, see the online web page, Mozilla Plug-in Manager.

To see a full list of Mozilla plug-ins you can install, see the Browser Plug-ins page at Netscape.

Helper Applications

When files can not be used within Mozilla, you have to option to launch helper applications that open outside of Mozilla. For example, to play MP3 files, programs like Winamp can be opened outside of Mozilla.

The settings in the Helper Applications preferences panel tell Navigator which helper applications to use on your computer. Usually, these preferences don't need to be changed since they are preconfigured. Also, if Navigator doesn't know which helper application to use, it allows you to find helper applications within the download dialogue box.

The download dialogue box has these options:

• Open using: Mozilla opens the file using the default program in your system settings.
• Choose: Mozilla allows you to open the file using an application you choose.
• Save this file to disc: Mozilla allows you to select a location to save the file.
• Always ask before opening this type of file: When this is selected, Mozilla opens the download dialogue box when downloading a particular file type. You can reset these choices subsequently in preferences for Helper Applications.
• Advanced: Mozilla allows you to fine-tune how files are handled. See "To add a new helper application to the list" for details.

Tip: You can clear your saved options for "Always ask before opening this type of file" in preference. For more information, see Navigator Preferences - Helper Applications.

For experienced users to fine-tune the Helper Applications preferences:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Navigator category, click Helper Applications. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Navigator to expand the list.)
3. Perform any of the following procedures:

   To add a new helper application to the list:

   1. Click New Type. You see the New type dialogue box.
   2. Type a description of the type of files the application works with; for instance, "movies" or "sound files".
   3. Type the file extension (suffix) used by this file type. If this type of file uses more than one extension, type them all, separated by spaces.
   4. Type the MIME type. MIME types consist of two words separated by a slash. For instance, a TIFF image file's MIME type is "image/tiff".
      Note: When you download a file, Mozilla will show you the MIME type on the download dialogue box.
   5. Click Choose, then select an application that handles files of this type.
   6. Click OK.

   To specify how Navigator should handle downloaded files:

   1. Select a file type from the list and click Edit.
   2. Type in the MIME type you want this file to use.
   3. Choose a "Handled By" option to have downloaded files saved on your hard disk or opened in an application that you specify. Click Choose to specify the application.
   4. Click OK.

   To remove an item from the list:

   1. Select a file type from the list and click Remove.
   2. Click OK.

To learn more about Helper Application preferences, see Navigator Preferences - Helper Applications.

Download Manager

You can use Download Manager to keep track of files you download. Download Manager shows the following information:

• filename
• time remaining before download is complete
• transfer speed
• percent complete
• time elapsed
• web location (source)

To open Download Manager, do the following:

• Open the Tools menu and choose Download Manager.

The following menu options are available in Download Manager:

• Properties: Select a file being downloaded and click Properties to show the progress dialogue box.
• Cancel: Select a file being downloaded and click Cancel to stop the download.
• Remove from List: Select a file and click Remove from List to remove a cancelled or finished download. This will not delete the file from your hard disk.
• Launch File: Click this to open a selected file.
• Show in Explorer: Click this to show the location of a selected file.
  Note: Show in Explorer appears as Show in Browser on Linux, and Show in Finder on Mac OS.

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Making Mozilla Your Default Browser

Note: This section discusses settings and features present only on Windows.

Mozilla is best known for displaying web pages, both on the Internet and on your computer. To easily open web pages, you can make Mozilla your default browser.

Common Internet Files and Protocols

Making Mozilla your default browser allows it to automatically open common file formats and protocols used on the Internet. Common Internet file formats and protocols include the following:

• Image Files:
  • JPEG, GIF, PNG and MNG
• Internet Document and Language Files:
  • HTML, XML, XHTML and XUL
• Internet Protocols:
  • HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, Chrome, Gopher

Changing Default Browser Settings Automatically

After installation is finished, Mozilla checks to see if it is the default browser for any of the common Internet file formats or protocols. If it isn't, you are asked, "Mozilla is not currently set as your default browser. Would you like to make it your default browser?"

Click Yes to make Mozilla the default browser. If you click No, you will be prompted with this question each time Mozilla starts, unless you deselect the checkbox "Check at startup next time, too".

If you deselect the checkbox, "Check at startup next time, too," you can still make Mozilla the default browser by changing your settings in Preferences. To learn how to set Mozilla as the default browser through Mozilla preferences, see Navigator Preferences - Navigator.

Customising Default Browser Settings

You can manually customise how Mozilla handles various file formats and protocols. For more information, see Advanced Preferences - System.

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Automatic Loading

When you bring a web page to your screen, Mozilla automatically loads (starts up) several features that help interpret web pages. These features, Java and JavaScript, can make web pages more lively, but they take time to load.

To learn how to turn off Java, see Advanced Preferences - Advanced.

To learn how to turn off JavaScript, see Advanced Preferences - Scripts & Plugins.

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Changing Cache Settings

Your computer stores copies of frequently accessed pages in the memory cache or disc cache. This way, the computer doesn't have to retrieve the page from the network each time you view it.

To set the size of the memory cache or to clear it (Windows and Unix only):

1. Open the Edit menu and click Preferences.
2. Under the Advanced category, click Cache. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Advanced to expand the list.)
3. Enter a number in the Memory Cache field to specify the size of the memory cache. 1024K to 2000K is a good size. To clear the memory cache immediately, click Clear Memory Cache.

Important: A larger memory cache allows more data to be quickly retrieved. But unless you have a lot of extra memory on your computer, 1024K is sufficient.

To set the size of the disc cache or to clear it:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Advanced category, click Cache. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Advanced to expand the list.)
3. Enter a number in the Disc Cache field to specify the size of the disc cache. 8000K on Windows is sufficient (5000K on Unix). To clear the disc cache immediately, click Clear Disc Cache.

Important: A larger disc cache allows more pages to be quickly retrieved, but more of your hard disc space is used.

When you quit Mozilla, it performs cache maintenance. If maintenance takes longer than you wish, try reducing the size of the disc cache.

To specify how often Navigator checks the network for page revisions (so that you don't keep "stale" pages in the cache too long):

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Advanced category, click Cache. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Advanced to expand the list.)
3. Choose from the following options:

• Every time I view the page: Select this if you want Mozilla to compare a web page to the cache every time you view it.
• When the page is out of date: Select this if you want Mozilla to compare a web page to the cache when the page is determined by the server to have expired.
• Once per session: Select this if you want Mozilla to compare a web page to the cache once for each time you start Mozilla.
• Never: Select this if you do not want Mozilla to compare cached information to the network.

If pages that should be in the cache are taking longer to appear than they should, make sure the preference is not set to "Every time I view the page," because the verification requires a network connection that takes time.

To refresh a page at any time:

• Click the Reload button in the browser's Navigation Toolbar. The computer checks the network to make sure you have the latest version of the page.

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Getting the Latest Software Automatically

Mozilla can notify you when updates for your software are available and it can install the updates automatically. Mozilla can also inform you when a new version of Mozilla is available.

To learn about setting up automatic software installation, see Advanced Preferences - Software Installation.

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Using a Mouse Wheel

If your mouse has a mouse wheel, you can control how the mouse wheel functions in Mozilla.

To learn more about setting up a mouse wheel, see Advanced Preferences - Mouse Wheel.

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Using Quick Launch

Note: Quick Launch is available only on Windows versions of Mozilla.

Quick Launch shortens the time it takes for Mozilla to start. When Mozilla uses Quick Launch, the Mozilla logo icon is present in the system tray (near the time).

Mozilla Quick Launch Icon

Tip: To quickly start components (such as Composer, Mail & Newsgroups and the Address Book window), right-click the Mozilla logo icon and select the component in the pop-up menu.

When you installed Mozilla, you were given the option of enabling or disabling Quick Launch. If enabled, Quick Launch loads part of Mozilla into memory when Windows first starts (and each time Mozilla first starts up). Quick Launch allows Mozilla to stay in memory after you close all Mozilla windows. This lets Mozilla quickly start up when you need it, without having to load all of Mozilla. If your computer is low in memory, you can disable Quick Launch to conserve memory.

To enable or disable Quick Launch in Mozilla:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Click the Advanced category.
3. Select "Keep Mozilla in memory to improve startup performance" to enable Quick Launch, or deselect it to disable Quick Launch.
4. Click OK.

   Tip: To easily disable Quick Launch, right-click on the Mozilla logo in the system tray (near the time) and select "Disable Quick Launch" in the pop-up menu.

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Proxies

This section explains how to work with proxies.

Setting Proxy Values

Many organisations block access from the Internet to their networks. This prevents outside parties from gaining access to sensitive information. The protection is called a firewall.

If your organisation has a firewall, the browser may need to go through a proxy server before connecting you to the Internet. The proxy server prevents outsiders from breaking into your organisation's private network.

Before you start:

• If there's a proxy configuration file at your workplace, ask the system administrator for its URL.
• If there's no proxy configuration file, ask your system administrator for the names and port numbers of the servers running proxy software for each network service.

To set the browser to work with the proxy:

1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Advanced category, click Proxies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Advanced to expand the list.)
3. Select one of the following:
   • Direct connection to the Internet: Choose this if you don't want to use a proxy.
   • Manual proxy configuration: Choose this if you don't have a proxy configuration file (URL).
     • HTTP Proxy, SSL Proxy, FTP Proxy, Gopher Proxy: Type the name or numeric IP address of the proxy server. Type the port in the Ports field.
     • SOCKS Host: Type the name or numeric IP address of the proxy server. Type the port in the Ports field.
       • SOCKS v4, SOCKS v5: When entering a SOCK Host, select "SOCKS v4" or "SOCKS v5," depending on what version of SOCKS is used for the proxy.
     • No Proxy for: Type the domains that you do not want to use a proxy for. Separate each domain with a comma. (Example: .yourcompany.com, .yourcompany.co.nz)
   • Automatic proxy configuration URL: Choose this if you have a proxy configuration file or URL, then type the configuration URL.

Domain names are the part of a URL that contains the name of an organisation, business, or school—such as netscape.com or washington.org. If you use local host names without the domain name, list them the same way. Use commas to separate multiple host names. The wildcard character [*] cannot be used.

For more information on using the Proxy preferences panel, see Advanced Preferences - Proxies.

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14 June 2003

Copyright © 1994-2002 Mozilla Organisation.