| Author |
Topic |
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
 Posted - 2004-12-14 : 08:16:22
|
| I've been using the new Firefox browser for a couple of weeks now. While it isn't a quantum leap over other tabbed browsers (IMHO), there is a feature that shows potential: reading RSS feeds. Unfortunately, it seems to require specical RSS site services (I'm an RSS dummy myself) so not all sites (like SQLTEAM) work with Firefox. If anyone has an explanation about the Firefox RSS requirements (or maybe I'm not using it correctly), I'd appreciate feedback.There are two minor features which are nice: (1) the Find (CTRL-F) function is better than IE or Netscape and (2) there's an interesting (but not immediately useful) feature that will open all the bookmarked URLs in a folder in different tabs. This might be useful if a lot of pages needed to be periodically reviewed.Last - can anyone recommend a good free-downloadable RSS reader ?Sam |
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 08:25:15
|
| Thunderbird, Firefox's sister product, works very well with RSS feeds (for me anyway) They're a cinch to set up and set to refresh at any interval you like.And I LOVE the open bookmarks in tabs feature. I put all my news sites in one folder and open them as tabs, VERY easy and quick way to get up to date with the news. |
 |
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 08:30:03
|
| Sam, is it the main SQLTeam article feed that doesn't work ?I can take a look at that if it's the case, it should work.RssBandit is a good free reader though.Damian |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 08:36:42
|
| Damian,As I said, I'm an RSS dummy but here's what happens: If I click on the RSS feed using Firefox, it opens as an XML file.There are some words on the Firefox site about what it is looking for, but only enough to do further research...SamRob - I'll try the Thunderbird product. Thanks. |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 09:03:42
|
| Ahh I see what's going on.Go into Manage Bookmarks, and select New Live Bookmark from the file menu. Paste the location of the feed in there ( http://www.sqlteam.com/rss.asp ).It's not that the XML is invalid, more that Mozilla doesn't know how to handle it, probably a MIME type thing.Damian |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 09:13:04
|
| Works for me.So what do you need to add to the HTML so Firefox will handle the inclusion correctly???Sam |
|
|
|
jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
7423 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 09:38:02
|
| Firefox is pretty good. a bit slower than IE in my experience, but it does a good job rendering pages.I LOVE the "Extensions", and the customability. Here's what I have installed so far:Google ToolBar (not officially from Google, but same features as the IE toolbar)Yahoo "rich-text" email editing (if you use yahoo email)Cute Menus (adds icons to the menu items; looks nicer)Ad-Bloc (filters adds from web pages; seems to work fine)Web-Developer (VERY cool ! lets you turn on/off and view all kinds of web page features)Also, there's lots of great tips and tricks here:http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips Including a key one, which shows you how to set it up so that all new windows open in new tab, which doesn't happen by default. (surprisingly) But go through that whole page if you haven't already, it's good stuff.Overall, not a bad browser at all. IE still "feels" quicker and zippier, though. (even before installing these extensions)- Jeff |
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 09:43:30
|
| It depends on the page. I've found some faster in Firefox. It also handles some nice CSS effects that IE can't. For examples, head on over to:http://www.csszengarden.com/http://www.alistapart.com/ |
|
|
|
jsmith8858
Dr. Cross Join
7423 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 15:23:22
|
| hmmm ... cool sites! I didn't see any difference in either the rendering or the speed, IE seemed to display all the styles I tried the same ... any particular spots on these sites where it's more obvious? (I don't have a good attention to detail with this stuff! )- Jeff |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 16:24:09
|
| I see no performance difference at all, but I am prejudiced against IE for not evolving to support Tabs since they killed Netscape in the market ;-)Damian - I'd like to know what meta tag / whatever instructs Firefox to find the RSS on a page...Sam |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:14:38
|
| It's not meta tag, I'm guessing it's a MIME type. I'll do a bit of poking around when I get a chance.Damian |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:24:40
|
| I bet it isn't a mime type... something associated with the page creates that little icon in the lower right corner. Gotta be a piece of HTML or HEAD tag... |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:29:03
|
| No, RSS doesn't have a Head tag, or an HTML tag. It's XML.Unless Firefox is using one of the auto discovery methods on default.asp that points it at the RSS url. In which case it's a link tag inside default.asp I think.Damian |
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 17:48:09
|
| Jeff-It depends on the feature. ZenGarden will probably look fine in both, AListApart should have some examples in the CSS articles that work differently. They're good at pointing out where IE doesn't match the CSS standards. |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 22:24:10
|
Rob, you into layouts, CSS and compliant HTML? What's up?Damian - I know XML doesn't have a head or HTML tag, but take a look at what Firefox does. It loads an HTML page and finds a descriptor of the RSS source. OK. I searched and here's what I found: quote:
If your site makes a feed available, but the RSS icon doesn't show up in the status bar, add the following lines to your HTML pages:<link rel="alternate" type="application/rdf+xml" title="John Bokma RSS" href="/index.rss">
|
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 22:46:33
|
| Yeah, I've been really trying to push CSS at work, and finding A List Apart was pretty awesome. They have a case study in there where they re-format Slashdot using web standards and CSS and cut the size of their home page down by 40% or more. I see savings like that with the code I have at work too. It's standard .Net crap formatted by MS and it's loaded with font tags embedded within <td> tags...you don't want to know. |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 22:57:53
|
Well, good luck! It's impossible to care about it much with .NET but Whidbey is supposed to support DOCTYPE compliance.If you hit layout bugs, there are some good sources for help:[url]http://www.positioniseverything.net/[/url]The CSS version of SQLTEAM is the CSS forum at forums.projectseven.com I don't know what I did before I found this group.I like the CSS Vault link on [url]http://9rules.com/whitespace/[/url]If you're interested, I have others... Reminds me of Groucho Marx:quote:
Those are my principles... if you don't like them, I have others.
|
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 23:06:28
|
| I got an "Under Construction" at http://forums.projectseven.com/ |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-14 : 23:12:34
|
| Ya need a newsreader (unfortunately). If you visit the site [url]http://projectseven.com[/url] hover on the "Support & Info" menu item, click on the "Information" submenu. That page has a link called "The PVII CSS Newsgroup" which will launch your newsreader at the right spot. |
|
|
|
rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 13:34:18
|
| thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you!Mozilla for the TABBED browser firefox,it has made my life on the internet Sooooooo much easier!rockmoose |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2004-12-15 : 13:37:08
|
On behalf of Mozzilla, your're welcome !  Anyone else got some favorite feature to point out? I'm still learning how to drive this thing.I'd like to know how to "Add engine" from the "google drop-down". The documentation is kinda weak. |
|
|
|
Next Page
|
New Firefox browser