#URLBar

Merlin Gillard 🚋😷merling@sciences.social
2025-09-05

Since #Firefox update 137 the location of the alternative search engines had been moved to the left of the #searchbar in the so-called "unified search button", instead of being at the bottom of the #urlbar, where it was easy to navigate with keyboard arrows. This has annoyed me since them, but I just found the way around it!
➡️ To change it back, look for "scotch" in about:config, and change browser.urlbar.scotchBonnet.enableOverride to false
Pic by askvg.com/tip-enable-upcoming-
firefox.com/en-US/firefox/137.

Illustration by askvg.com showing the previous version of the location of search engines and the new version.
Previous version: the url bar is activated, with a dropdown window showing: "search with google" then "this time, search with" followed by the logos of various search engines organized in a horizontal list. This dropdown window opened automatically and you can just navigate through these logos using keyboard arrows.
New version: the url bar is darkened (it's not activated). On the left of it, a google icon, on which you need to click to open a dropdown menu (introducing an additional step in the workflow compared to the previous way it worked). The dropdown menu is open, showing a vertical list: "This time search with:" / "[google logo] Google" / "[bing logo] Bing" / "[wikipedia logo] Wikipedia (en)" / "[bookmarks icon] Bookmarks" / "[tab icon] Tabs"
Inautiloinautilo
2025-05-20


Early preview of Dia · What’s next from The Browser Company? ilo.im/163xqq

_____

2024-06-03

Не устраивает узкая адресная строка в Firefox? Не беда, исправляется одной строчкой #userchrome

#urlbar[open] { width: 80vw !important; }

2024-03-13

I just upgraded #firefox and I'm not impressed.

Dear #Mozilla. The URL bar is the most prominent UI element in the browser. You made sure it's always in my face, and I'm glad for it.

So why are you making it hard to read? Don't cripple it with low contrast.

Make up your minds: either make the URL field great or make it hidden.

The following userChrome.css undoes this braindead change:

#urlbar-background, #searchbar {
background-color: Field !important;
}

#browser #design #lowcontrast

Default Firefox 123 URL bar. Most of the URL is barely readable gray on slightly darker gray.URL bar after fixing, and on older Firefox. Most of the URL is now gray on black.

userChrome.css to the rescue:

@namespace url("mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeep");

#urlbar-background { background-color: white !important; }
#searchbar { background-color: white !important; }
toolbaritem { --toolbar-field-border-color: ThreeDShadow; }

screenshot of firefox, now the background of the urlbar and searchbar are white again, and those bars have a thin grey border again, like they had in previous versions of Firefox
Dick Smiths Fair Go Supportersdsfgs@activism.openworlds.info
2023-08-22

HOT PRIVACY TIP for #TorBrowser.

Tired of accidentally #searching from the URL bar.

Enter the 'about:config' page and change 'keyword.enabled' to 'false'.

We are supposed to believe that someone at #Mozilla thought, '#keyword' was an adequate description of the "feature".

#antiFeatures #privacy #search #searchFromTheURLBar #urlBar #ux #duckDuckGo #firefox

Dick Smiths Fair Go Supportersdsfgs@activism.openworlds.info
2023-05-23

For those interested in disabling #search from the #URLBar in #Firefox-based browsers, like #TorBrowser, #LibreWolf and the like:

In 'about.config'…

Change 'keyword.enabled' to false.

Someone at #Mozilla must've been awarded a 'Most #Obtuce Setting Descriptor of the Year' with that one.

#duckDuckGo #microsoft #microShaft

Dick Smiths Fair Go Supportersdsfgs@activism.openworlds.info
2021-07-22

@vandys
We don't care for HSv3 for this reason of terrible #useability.

A heap of entropy could have been gained by making #Tor addresses 17 charaters, then using additional entropy to colour parts of URL text/bar, depending on choice of #webDeveloper.

Eg. If #webDev sees they get a great colour of #URLBar they can use that for design, if they get matching colours when highlighting the first 8 and last 3 letters of URL, they can do that.

Must use full entropy for #API #URL tho.

#UX
@alcinnz

2020-04-10

@vollkorn There is a fix via about:config! Set 'browser.urlbar.update1' to false, restart browser.

Thanks to reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/

#Firefox75 #expanding #urlbar

Client Info

Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst