361714 - Change user.js tips to about:config

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(www.mozilla.org :: General, defect)

Description

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Now that bug 361623 is fixed, and we have an about:config tutorial on the support site, we should change each instance in which the user is instructed to add a line to their user.js, so that they are instructed to use about:config instead.

Looks like the Firefox FAQ doesn't have any; so this only applies to the Tips & Tricks page.

Comment 1

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Whoops. I referenced the wrong bug in the summary. :-)
Should be say bug 357349.

Comment 2

[Brian Heinrich]

While I understand that the preferred way of editing prefs.js is through about:config, user.js does have its utility for those of us who have had to install Fx/Moz/SM/Tb on multiple machines, since it provides a simple way in which to keep track of prefs that aren't exposed in the UI.

Indeed, there is at least one pref that can only be properly edited either directly through prefs.js or by using user.js:  |user_pref("mailnews.reply_header_colon", ": \n");|.

Might I suggest that it might be worthwhile to include some indication of the existence of user.js and its possible utility?

Comment 3

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Brian, mailnews.reply_header_colon does not apply to Firefox. I think we'll keep the user.js tutorial anyway. The reason for changing instructions is so we don't confuse users, by giving them more than one method to accomplish the same goal. It may be okay for troubleshooting, but not for tips/tricks. If we change the tips to about:config, without removing the user.js instructional, we're still fixing the problem.

I was working on the patch for this and came across <http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips#beh_bookmarks>. Using about:config, the double backslashes aren't needed; but there's a note about using the pref on dual-boot systems. If the user uses about:config to add the pref, does anyone know if the pref will still work on a dual-boot?

Comment 4

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Attachment: Draft using <em> class for prefs

I figured, using about:config to change browser.bookmarks.file writes the value with two backslashes in the prefs.js, thus it probably works; so I changed that tip.

There's an instance at <http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips#oth_usb>, which already references about:config, and uses the <var> tag. I changed that as well.

I also used <tt> for pref values.

There are a couple of instances (custom bookmarks and cache), in which the values are file paths. I feared that users may use the text that is actually there, rather than figuring out their own paths; so I added a note to each of those instances.

There are a couple of obsolete items. I changed them too, and plan on filing another bug later, for removing them. Same goes for updating references to the old Options panel.

For a preview, see <http://ilias.ca/bugs/361714/tips.htm>.

Comment 5

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Comment on attachment 247307 [details] [diff] [review]
Draft using <em> class for prefs

Got an email from David saying to use <var> instead of <em>.

Comment 6

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

Attachment: Draft using <var> class for prefs

New patch, using <var> for pref names.

I also noticed an oddity in my last patch. The angle brackets in "Tools > Options" were convert to the proper "Tools &gt; Options". That must have been done automatically by HTML-Kit or Firefox. I tried to undo that for this patch. If David wants to change those, I would rather it be filed as a separate bug report. validator.w3.org doesn't report them as invalid.

Comment 7

[David Tenser [:djst]]

Comment on attachment 247364 [details] [diff] [review]
Draft using <var> class for prefs

The reason why the literal > is allowed is probably because of the HTML 4.01 doctype. The original code on texturizer.net/firefox used XHTML 1.0 strict.

The patch looks good, let's check this in and see how people react to it.

Comment 8

[Chris Ilias [:cilias]]

/cvsroot/mozilla-org/html/support/firefox/tips.html,v  <--  tips.html
new revision: 1.26; previous revision: 1.25
done

attachment 247364 [details] [diff] [review] checked in.