Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mozilla Firefox Default Font Config

It is a bit awkward to keep the default firefox configuration up to date. The following outlines the manual procedure to follow after each new firefox release.
  • Build a new NST and boot the new system.
  • Bring up firefox,
  • Hide the Web Developer and Bookmarks toolbars.
  • Open the firefox Preferences and do the following:
    • In the Main section, make sure the Home Page: is set to: "http://127.0.0.1/".
    • In the Main section, set the download directory to: "/tmp" and then check the "Always ask me where to save files" option.
    • In the Tabs section, make sure that the option to open new windows in "a new tab" is selected.
    • In the Content section, make sure "Enable Java" and "Enable JavaScript" are selected. Also under the "Advanced" button check "Allow Javascript to change the status bar text".
    • In the Content section under Fonts & Colors do the following (you will need to select the "Advanced" button for most of these settings):
      • Make sure the "Default Font" size is: "16".
      • Make sure the default "Fonts for": "Western".
      • Make sure the default "Proportional" font is: "Serif".
      • Make sure the default "Proportional" font size is: "16".
      • Make sure the default "Serif" font is: "serif".
      • Make sure the default "Sans-serif" font is: "sans-serif".
      • Make sure the default "Monospace" font is: "Courier".
      • Make sure the "Monospace" font size is: "14".
      • Adjustment settings for: firefox x86_64 v1.5.0.0:.
        • Uncheck: "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above".
        • Select the Serif: font to be: "Luxi Serif".
    • In the Advanced section, select the General tab and turn on "Use smooth scrolling" and "Check my spelling as I type".
    • In the Advanced section, select the Update tab and turn off all options related to automatic updates AND select the radio button labeled: "Ask me what I want to do".
  • Open the firefox Menu "Customize" toolbar (right button mouse on firefox menu):
    • Check the option labeled: "Use Small Icons".
    • Install the "Full Screen" icon to the right of the "Stop" icon on the navigation toolbar bar.
    • Install the "Web Developer" icon to the right of the "Full Screen" icon on the navigation toolbar bar.
  • Open the firefox Add-ons tool:
    • Make sure the "Colorful Tabs" extension has its "Coloring Scheme" set to "Generate colors at random", its "Fading Level" set to "3" and its "Context Menu" enabled.
    • Make sure the "Html Validator" extension has its "Algorithm" set to "SGML Parser". HOWEVER, only select this option if it isn't broken (you should see "green check marks").
  • Make sure there is room for dock apps on right side when starting firefox using the funky VNC default size defined in the VNC NST WUI page (this should be OK unless you accidently resize/position firefox).
  • Continue to quit firefox and then restart firefox until ALL of the extra tabs, windows, and pop-ups stop appearing.
  • At this point, we need to locate the following configuration files which were just created by the previous steps: localstore.rdf, prefs.js, and mimeTypes.rdf. Search for these files under the /root directory and transfer them back to the appropriate location on the development system (under the src/packages/applications/firefox/nst/ directory). NOTE: Typically, you can use the mimeTypes.rdf file from the prior release and it will have the JNLP and PDF handlers already setup.
  • You should rebuild and boot the NST at this point and then verify that firefox behaves as expected when you start it up. Don't forget to check that it handles PDF files, JNLP (Java Web Start) files and pages containing Java applets.