Changes the appearance and/or behavior of the Firefox 3 Smart Location Bar aka AwesomeBar.
Compatibility
- Does not work with Firefox 3.6 or newer
Background
One of the biggest changes to Firefox 3 is the Smart Location Bar commonly called the AwesomeBar. Most users either like it or hate it as it is a major change as to how the address bar behaves in comparison to Firefox 2. We are not going to get into all the technical details as to how the Smart Location Bar works other than to say it displays the results based not only on addresses you have type previously (Firefox 2 behavior) but as well as browser history and bookmarks. For more detailed information on the technical workings and frequency algorithm of the Smart Location Bar see this CyberNet News article.
The Tweak
There are two parts to this tweak:
- Bar Appearance
- Removing History and/or Bookmarks
Bar Appearance
Result are displayed on two lines. The favicon followed by the page title in a larger font on the top line, followed by the URL in green below. In Firefox 2 the results were displayed on one line with the page URL followed by the page title. This new format may be a little easier to read, but takes up more room.
- Oldbar -To revert back to the Firefox 2 style by using the oldbar add-on (note this add-on only changes the display of the results, not the method the results are obtained). See Review: Oldbar for more information and samples.
- Number of Results -By default the Smart Location Bar will display a maximum of 12 results based on what is typed in the address bar. You can increase (or decrease) this number by going to a new tab and typing about:config. Filter for browser.urlbar.maxRichResults then double-click on the entry and enter the number of results to be displayed.
Removing History and/or Bookmarks
As a reminder, the Smart Location Bar displays the results on not just previously typed URLs but browser history and bookmarks as well.
Note: If these changes are made, the Smart Location Bar will still display results on Bookmarks and History when you start typing in the bar, but then will automatically filter based on the settings once a couple more letters are added.
- Remove History and Bookmarks - Like Firefox 2, the address bar can be configured only to display results based on addresses typed. From about:config filter for browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped double-click on the entry to change it from False to True
- Remove Unvisited Bookmarks -Displayed results will still include your bookmarks, but only those which have been visited. From about:config filter for places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus double-click on the entry and enter 0 (note this is a zero, not an O).Restart Firefox and clear history.
- Remove ALL Bookmarks -Displayed results will only be based on browser history as well what has already been typed in the Smart Location Bar. With about:config change the following entries to 0 (note this is a zero, not an O also be sure to Restart Firefox and clear history after making these changes):
- places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus
- places.frecency.bookmarkVisitBonus
