The Sidebar
What is the Sidebar?
The Sidebar is a customizable 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 options you can choose. The Sidebar presents these items to you in tabs that are continually updated.
Mozilla comes with some Sidebar tabs already set up, but you can customize the Sidebar by adding, removing, and rearranging tabs.
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Using the Sidebar
Unless you have closed the Sidebar, it is always open at the left side of your browser. To view a tab:
- Click a tab's title; for instance, click the words "What's Related." The What's Related tab opens, showing you a list of web pages related to the page you are currently viewing.
If you don't see the Sidebar, it may be closed. To open it: |
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- Move the mouse pointer up and down along the left hand border of the Mozilla window. The pointer changes to a hand when it touches the "handle" for the Sidebar, as shown in the picture.
- Click the handle to open the Sidebar.
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Adding Sidebar Tabs
To add a new tab:
- Click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar, and select Customize Sidebar from the menu.
- In the Customize Sidebar window, select a tab from the list on the left. You can open and close folders by clicking the triangles.
- Click Add.
- Continue adding as many tabs as you like.
- Click OK to finish.
Tip: To view an extensive and categorized list of Sidebar tabs available
for the Sidebar, click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar, and select
Sidebar Directory.
You can also turn Sidebar tabs on and off.
- Click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar. Current tabs are listed in the lower
part of the menu.
- Select the tabs you want displayed in the Sidebar. Remove the checkmark to
turn a tab off (it will still be available from the menu).
Tip: To quickly turn off a Sidebar tab, right-click on its name and
choose Hide Panel.
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Customizing Individual Sidebar Tabs
- Click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar, and select Customize Sidebar from
the menu.
- Select a tab from the list on the.
- Click Customize Tab. A window appears with information and options for customizing
the tab. (Note: not all tabs can be customized.)
The instructions vary depending on the source of the tab---in addition
to Netscape, tab providers can be any company, organization, or individual
who uses the Internet.
- After you follow the tab provider's instructions, close the customization
window (or follow the provider's instructions to close it).
- Click OK to finish.
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Reorganizing Sidebar Tabs
- Click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar, and select Customize Sidebar from the menu.
- Select a tab from the list on the right.
- Click Up and Down to change the tab's placement.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 to continue reording as many tabs as you like.
- Click OK to finish.
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Removing Sidebar Tabs
- Click "Tabs" at the top of the Sidebar, and select Customize Sidebar from the menu.
- Select a tab from the list on the right.
- Click Remove.
- Continue removing as many tabs as you like.
- Click OK to finish.
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Opening, Closing, and Resizing the Sidebar
Use the Sidebar's handles to open, close, and resize: |
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If the Sidebar is closed, you can still see its handle. Move the mouse pointer up and down along the left edge of the Mozilla window. The pointer changes to a hand when it touches the "handle" for the Sidebar, as shown in the picture.
- Click the handle to open and close the Sidebar.
- Click and drag the handle to resize the Sidebar.
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To remove the Sidebar, including the handles:
- Under the View menu, open Show/Hide and uncheck the Sidebar option.
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Changing Fonts, Colors, and Themes
Changing the Default Fonts
Normally, web pages are displayed in the default font set by your browser, or in a font chosen by the web pages' authors.
To change the default fonts:
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Under the Appearance category, choose Fonts. (If no options are visible
in this category, click to expand the list.)
- From the "Fonts for" pop-up menu, choose a character set. For instance,
to set default fonts for the Western (roman) character set, choose "Western."
- Select whether proportional text should be serif or sans-serif. You can
also specify what font size you want for proportional text. You can select
either Serif (like Times Roman) or Sans-serif (like Ariel).
- If the appropropriate font is available for your language character set,
select fonts for Serif, Sans-Serif, Cursive, Fantasy, and Monospace. You can
also specify what font size you want for monospace text.
- Specify whether the default font should be serif or sans serif.
- Select a fixed width font and size. Certain types of text, such as equations
and formulas, are displayed in a fixed width font.
Many web page authors choose their own fonts and font sizes. To allow fonts
other then the ones specified in your preferences, check "Allow documents
to use other fonts.
To adjust the readability of fonts, type a number for your preferred resolution
in the field next to "Display resolution." 96 dpi (dots per inch) is the standard
resolution, but you may want to choose a larger value.
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Changing the Default Colors
Normally, the background and text colors on web pages are determined by the default colors set by your browser, or by the pages' authors.
To change the default colors:
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Under the Appearance category, choose Colors.
- Click the colored blocks next to "Text," "Background," "Unvisited Links," and "Visited Links." Choose a color for each from the color chart. You can also specify that links should be underlined.
Most web page authors choose their own colors. You can override the authors'
intentions by selecting "Use my chosen colors, ignoring the colors specified."
When viewing the source of a web page, you can see the HTML syntax of the souce
of a web page highlighted in specific colors by selecting "Enable syntax
highlighting."
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Changing the Theme
You can change Mozilla's look by changing themes.
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Under the Appearance category, choose Themes.
- Click to select the theme you want to use.
- Click the Apply button, then click OK to adopt your selection as your theme.
Shortcut: You can also change themes by opening the View menu, choosing Apply
Themes, and then choosing the theme you want to use.
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Toolbars
Navigation Toolbar
The Navigation Toolbar, pictured here, helps you move around the Web.
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Back
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Forward
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Reload
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Stop
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Personal Toolbar
The personal toolbar is completely customizable---you decide what you want
to keep there. The personal toolbar comes with some buttons already enabled,
including your home page. You can easily
add, delete, and re-arrange items in the personal toolbar.

Turning Buttons On and Off
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Click Navigator.
- In the Toolbars section, select the items you want to see in the toolbars.
- Click OK.
Adding Personal Toolbar bookmarks
You can add buttons for your favorite bookmarks, or folders containing groups of bookmarks. To create a new bookmark to add to the personal toolbar:
- Open a Web page you want to bookmark.
- Drag the bookmark icon (located to the left of URL in the Location Bar)
to a desired place on the personal toolbar. You can drag the icon directly
to the personal toolbar, or to a folder on the personal toolbar.
Each item in the Personal Toolbar folder appears as a toolbar button. You may need to enlarge the browser window to see them all.
Designating a Bookmark Folder as Your Personal Toolbar Folder
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- Select the bookmark folder whose items you want to appear on the toolbar.
- From the View menu, choose Set as Personal Toolbar Folder.
The buttons in your personal toolbar now correspond to the bookmarks in the folder you designated.
Removing Bookmarks From the Personal Toolbar
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- Click the Personal Toolbar Folder.
- Select the bookmark or folder you want to delete.
- Press Delete on your keyboard.
- Close the Manage Bookmarks window.
Tip: To quickly remove a bookmark placed on the personal toolbar (not
in a folder), right-click on the bookmark and select Delete.
Re-Arranging the Personal Toolbar
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- Click the Personal Toolbar Folder.
- Select a bookmark or folder and drag it to a new location.
- When you are finished re-arranging items, close the Manage Bookmarks window.
Tip: To quickly re-arrange a bookmark placed on the personal toolbar
(not in a folder), click and drag the bookmark to the another location on the
personal toolbar or to a folder.
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Taskbar
Use the Taskbar at the bottom of the Mozilla window to switch between tasks (such as browsing, composer and mail).
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Hiding a Toolbar
There are two ways to hide the toolbars.
To minimize a toolbar:
- Click the small triangle at the left of the toolbar. To show the toolbar, click the triangle again. (Note: you cannot hide the Taskbar using this method.)
To completely hide a toolbar, including its triangle:
- Open the View menu.
- Choose Toolbars and uncheck the toolbars you want to hide.
To reverse this action, open the View menu, choose Toolbars, and select the toolbars you want to show.
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Bookmarks
What Are Bookmarks?
Bookmarks are shortcuts to your favorite and most-visited web pages. Rather
than typing in long URLs (web addresses), you can create bookmarks that take
you directly to the pages you want to see.
You access your bookmarks through the bookmarks menu. You can control what's
listed in the bookmarks menu, by adding bookmarks for your favorite web pages
and organizing your list of bookmarks any way you want.
Using Bookmarks
Mozilla comes with some bookmarks already available. To use a bookmark:
- Open the Bookmarks menu.
- Choose a bookmark from the list. Most of the bookmarks are in folders such
as "Business and Finance," "What's New and Cool," and so forth.
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Creating New Bookmarks
You can bookmark your favorite web sites to make it easy to return to them.
To bookmark the current page, perform one of these steps:
- To add a bookmark right to the Bookmarks menu, open the Bookmarks menu and
choose Add Bookmark.
- To add a bookmark to the personal toolbar, drag the bookmark tag next to
the URL to a place on the personal toolbar. You can add add a bookmark to
the personal toolbar or to a folder on the personal toolbar.
- To add a bookmark to the Bookmarks tab in the Sidebar, open the Sidebar, select
the Bookmarsk tab, and drag the bookmark tag next to the URL to a place on
the bookmark list in the Bookmarks tab.
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Organizing Your Bookmarks
To organize your bookmarks, open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
Then do any of the following tasks in the Manage Bookmarks window.
Tip: You can open the Manage Bookmarks window from the Bookmarks tab
in the Sidebar. Click on Manage at the top of the Bookmarks tab.
To view bookmarks inside of folders:
- Click the open/close triangles at the left of each folder to view its contents.
To move a bookmark or a folder to another location in the list:
- Click to highlight the bookmark or folder that you want to move, and drag
the item to the new location. To put a bookmark in a folder, drag it to the
folder.
To create a new folder or separator:
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, click New Folder or New Separator.
To remove a bookmark or a folder from the list:
- Click to highlight the bookmark or folder that you want to remove.
- Press the Delete key on your keyboard, or click Delete in the Manage Bookmark
window.
Handling New Bookmarks and Bookmarked Search Results.
When you create a new bookmark, Mozilla normally adds it to the bottom of
your bookmarks list. If you prefer to file your bookmarks in a folder, you can
designate a new bookmarks folder.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, select a folder to hold new bookmarks.
- Open the View menu and choose Set as New Bookmark Folder.
If you use the Sidebar Search tab to locate web pages, you can save your
search results by clicking the Bookmark this Search button in the Search tab.
Saved search results are placed in their own folder at the bottom of the bookmarks
list. For instance, if you searched for "parrots," and then clicked Bookmark
this Search, a folder named "Search: parrots" would be added to your bookmarks
list. Each time you save search results, a new folder is added.
If you prefer to file all your saved search results in a single folder, you
can designate an Internet search folder.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, select a folder to hold search results.
- Open the View menu and choose Set as New Internet Search Folder.
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Changing Individual Bookmarks
You can change the information for any individual bookmark.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, click a bookmark.
- Click Properties.
- In the Properties window, click the General Information tab.
You can rename the bookmark (the name appears in your bookmark list), add descriptive
information, or set a keyword. (A bookmark's keyword can be typed into the location
field to go to the bookmarked site.)
You can also set Mozilla to check bookmarked web sites for changes.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, click a bookmark.
- Click Properties.
- In the Properties window, click the Schedule tab.
- Use the pull down menus to specify how frequently you want Mozilla to
check the bookmarked page for changes.
- If you want to be notified when the bookmarked page changes, choose a notification
option.
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Searching Your Bookmarks
To search the bookmarks list:
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, open the Edit menu and choose Seach Bookmarks.
- In the pop-up menus choose options to define your search, and then click
Find. Bookmarks that match your search criteria are displayed.
Double-click a bookmark in the list to go to it.
Search options:
- 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 the fill-in field and type all or part of name or URL (web address)
for the bookmarks or history listings that you want to find or exclude.
Tip:: If the list is hard to read, try expanding the Search Bookmarks/History
window.
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Exporting or Importing a Bookmark List (Advanced Feature)
Your bookmarks are stored in a file named bookmarks.html. You can export a
copy of this file and save it in a folder of your choosing. You can then edit
it and treat it as you would any HTML file.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, open the File menu and choose Export Bookmarks.
- In the Export Bookmark File window, choose a folder. Your bookmarks.html
file will be copied into the folder you designate.
- Click Save.
Your Mozilla bookmarks are not altered by this procedure.
You can also import bookmarks files from other sources, such as friends, earlier
Netscape versions, or other browsers.
Before you start, make sure that the bookmark file you want to import is an
HTML file.
- Open the Bookmarks menu and choose Manage Bookmarks.
- In the Manage Bookmarks window, open the File menu and choose Import Bookmarks.
- In the Import Bookmark File window, locate and select the bookmark file
you want to import.
- Click Save.
The imported bookmark file is treated as new bookmarks, and added to the bottom
of your bookmarks list. If you have designated a new bookmark folder, the imported
bookmark file is added to that folder.
Note: Importing a bookmark file imports the bookmarks and folders from
that file. It does not create two bookmark files.
You can use any bookmarks file as your default Mozilla bookmarks,
as long as it is an HTML file and is named "bookmarks.html."
Before you begin, close all Mozilla windows and exit from Mozilla.
- Go to the directory that contains Mozilla on your computer, and find
the Users subdirectory.
- In the Users subdirectory, open the directory for your current profile.
- In the directory for your profile, find the current bookmarks.html file
and rename it. (For instance, rename it "bookmarks.old.")
- Put the new bookmarks.html file in the directory containing your profile.
This replaces the file you just renamed.
- Restart Mozilla. Your new bookmarks file will be used as the default
bookmarks.
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Specifying How Mozilla Starts Up
Specifying a Starting Page
You can specify how your browser window opens up at launch.
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Under the Navigator category, chose "When Navigator starts up display:"
to specify whether you want a blank page, your home page, or the last web
page visited to open automatically when you launch your browser.
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Changing Your Home Page
Your home page is the page that opens when you click the Home button in the
personal toolbar. Depending on how your preferences are set, it may also be
the page that opens automatically when you launch Mozilla.
To specify your home page:
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Click the Navigator category.
- In the Home page section, do one of the following:
- Type your home page's URL (web address) in the Location: field.
- Click Use Current Page to make the page currently displayed in the browser
window your home page.
- Click Choose File to select a local file from your computer's hard drive.
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Specifying Which Components Open at Launch
- Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
- Click the Appearance category
- Select the components you want opened automatically each time you start
Mozilla.
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20 June, 2001
Copyright © 1998-2001 The Mozilla Organization.