Recipe for web surfing bliss:

may 28, 2003 @ 00:00

Recipe for web surfing bliss:

  1. Download the latest version of Firebird. [download] [release notes]
  2. Install it. It's easy. It's just a zip file. Unzip it to your Program Files directory.
  3. Chug a beer. Oops, not softball.
  4. Find the file MozillaFirebird.exe in the new folder. Run it.
  5. Right away, make the following config changes. To make the changes, open the Tools -> Options menu. All changes are under the General group.
    • click the 'Use Blank Page' button
    • uncheck the Open Links in the background checkbox
  6. What the hell, chug a beer.
  7. Close Firebird.

Here's where it gets a little tricky. But stay with me, it'll totally be worth it.

  1. Open My Computer and find your user's Firebird data folder. From the Firebird help page:
    On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Phoenix\Profiles\default\xxxxxxxx.slt, where xxxxxxxx is a random string of 8 characters. Just browse to C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Phoenix\Profiles and the rest should be obvious.

    On Windows 2000/XP, the path is usually %AppData%\Phoenix\Profiles\default\xxxxxxxx.slt. [see note]

    Note: %AppData% is a shorthand for the Application Data path on Windows 2000/XP. To use it, simply enter %AppData% in a normal Explorer address field and press Enter. You will be instantly taken to the "real" folder, which is normally C:Documents and Settings[User Name]Application Data.


  2. In the chrome folder will be a file named userContent-example.css. Rename that file to just userContent.css

  3. Open the userContent.css file. You can probably just double click on it and then select Notepad when Windows asks you what to open it with.

  4. Paste this entire block of code into the userContent.css file. Put it at the end of the file.

  5. Save the userContent.css file.

  6. Close Notepad or whatever program you used to edit the file.

>whew!< That's it.

I know, I know, it's 13 steps, but they're not that hard, so suck it up and do it. If you get totally stuck, send me an email, maybe I can help.

Why go to the trouble, you ask? Because now when you use Firebird, you'll rarely - if ever - see an unwanted pop-up. In fact you'll rarely - if ever - see any ads at all. You get tabbed browsing and a whole bunch of other bitchin features. You get a super fast, lightweight browser. In short: it rules.

Rock on.