Firefox

Changing the look of Firefox 

Firefox has two ways to change the way that the Firefox window itself looks.

  • Personas change the background design of the toolbar area and status bar. It's very easy to switch personas, so you can change Firefox's look to fit your mood.
  • Themes change the way the toolbar and buttons look, and can even make Firefox look like a completely different program.

Using Personas

The personas feature is built into Firefox version 3.6, so you don't need to do anything special to be able to use them. In Firefox 3.0 or 3.5, you must first install an add-on in order to use personas.

If you are using Firefox 3.0 or 3.5: 

  1. Go to the web page for the Personas Plus add-on:
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10900 
  2. Click the Add to Firefox button. A Software Installation window appears.
  3. Click the Install Now button when it becomes clickable. 
  4. Click the Restart Firefox button when it appears. When Firefox restarts, you can use personas.

Switching Personas 

You can browse a gallery of personas and try them out at Mozilla's Personas page: http://www.getpersonas.com/

  1. To "try on" a persona to see what it looks like, move your mouse pointer over it. Firefox temporarily switches to display that persona.
  2. If you want to keep using that persona, click its Wear It link. A notification bar appears just under the tabs that says "A new theme has been installed". You can click the Undo button on the notification bar if you immediately change your mind.

To return to the default persona at any time, click on the fox in the bottom left corner of the Firefox window (next to the status bar), and select Default on the menu that pops up.

ff_persona_icon

Note that you can also use this menu to browse personas.

Installing Themes

A theme changes the appearance of Firefox of toolbar buttons, boxes, and other items that are not part of any web page. They can affect every window and dialog box in Firefox.

customizingwithaddons-themeexample

To install a theme:

  1. Browse themes in the Add-ons for Firefox site:
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:2
  2. When you see a theme in the list that you like, click it to see details about it.
  3. Click the Add to Firefox button. The Software Installation window appears. 
  4. Click the Install Now button when it becomes clickable. 
  5. Click Restart Firefox when prompted. When Firefox restarts, it appears using the theme you installed.

After you have downloaded and installed Firefox themes, you can manage them through the Add-ons window.

  1. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click the Tools menu, and select Add-ons to open the Add-ons window.
  2. In the Add-ons window, click the Themes tab.

    customizingwithaddons-selectthemespanel

  3. Select the theme you want to use.
    Note: The theme named "Default" restores Firefox to its original appearance.
  4. Click Use Theme.
  5. Click the Restart Firefox button when it appears.
Note: In Firefox version 3.6, you cannot use a theme and a persona at the same time. When you select a persona, Firefox switches to the default theme; when you select a theme, Firefox switches to the default persona.