Firefox not displaying XML file as a tree
I usually troubleshoot XML files by simply dragging them into a Firefox browser window. Unlike other text files, Firefox displays XML in a handy tree format, as show below.
Category: Firefox
When Firefox won’t launch Java applets
If Firefox won’t launch java applets, but Internet Explorer will, you may need to change some settings in the Java control panel to turn on Applet support for Firefox. (Expert users: One sign that this is the issue rather than some Java security exception is that the Java console will be completely blank when you try to launch the applet in Firefox. _
Unfortunately on many PC’s, the Java control panel can be a challenge to find. First, check in the control panels area for “Java.” If it is not there, you may have to look in
C:Program FilesJava
for JRE (Java Runtime Environment) folders.
In the image below there are several of them. Usually you should pick the most recent one, as that is the one that is probably in use.
Defeat the IE 7 z-index bug
The z-index bug in action
Although Internet Explorer 8 has been widely adopted, IE 7 is still the browser in use at my office, so all new projects must be compatible with it. Even though IE7 was already obsolete when we adopted it, it was a wonderful change from IE 6, because of the reduced need for CSS and javascript hacks, workarounds and compromises in general.
So it was a surprise to realize that an old Internet Explorer 6 stylesheet problem, the “z-index bug” still lingers on. You’ll know you’ve hit this bug when your drop-down menus fall UNDER elements that are lower down on the page. (…I should add: and there are no iframes or frames on the page).
There are several sites that do a fantastic job of telling you exactly why this happens. I’m just going to tell you how to fix it. In fact, if you want to jump to the fix right now, click here
Continue readingFirefox and Java/SCORM issues
Our LMS uses Java applets to transmit SCORM data back and forth between learning activity and the LMS. Sometimes this causes problems, because Java security on various browsers is increasingly strict. However we can usually
Continue readingFirebug breaks on page errors whether set to break or not.
Ever since Firebug got a recent big upgrade, I’ve had problems with it stopping a page from loading whenever there is any javascript error. Since the web is riddled with javascript errors, this has meant
Continue readingStyle Confluence with CSS using a back-door approach
I recently had the task of creating a new theme for a Confluence-based corporate wiki in time for a big launch date.
There were a few restrictions on how I could do this, including:
- There is no user access to the Space’s Page Layout features, which means that any changes needed there must be sent to an administrator to be added to the site.
- There is no user access to the server, so editing stylesheets would have to be through the application or by giving them to the admin to upload. We could put assets on another server but sometimes this can cause security issues with browsers, coming from mixed security level domains. Similarly, every image to be used at the Space Page Layout level would have to be sent to an admin for upload.
- The Documentation theme was not available to us yet.
- ThemeBuilder was not available yet.
- And – it goes without saying – the schedule was tight.
Our first challenge was to add a collapsible navigation tree on the left side of the page, similar to the Documentation theme does, but without using the Documentation theme, since we do not have that option yet.
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Firefox wants to use the font… on OS X
Ever since I spent some time adding and organizing some new fonts, Firefox has developed the annoying habit of showing repeated alerts that ask:
Firefox wants to use the font “__” on the volume _____”. This
font is not installed. Allow Firefox to use this font?
If I click “Don’t ask me again for Firefox,” it completely ignores it. Really, why do they even have that checkbox if it makes no difference!
This minor irritation became more critical today when it would not stop popping up those messages. Finally, I found the answer:
Open Firefox > Preferences, and click “Content“. Click the Advanced button as shown:
Changing the window scope in Firebug
If I had to choose one piece of advice for new web developers, I’d tell them to learn to use Firebug. Firebug is probably the most valuable debugging tool available, but if you are just getting started, it may seem pretty opaque at first.
In addition, some things do not appear to work as advertised. In particular, the “cd” function does nothing as far as I can tell.
The page that documents the commands you can use within Firebug lists the cd command as a way of changing the window scope:
Firefox causes 100% CPU usage on Mac OS X
I’ve been attempting to run down the cause of my iMac being constantly at 100% CPU. Here’s part of the cause: Clicking anywhere in a Firefox browser window pegs the CPU usage to 100%. Using
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