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Latest Firefox does not work properly

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I am unable to get complete article in Wall Street Journal. No problem with Chrome. Have latest version Firefox and problem just started. I load WSJ, then click on article and only 3 lines show. I am WSJ subscriber and tech there said I need to contact Mozilla as Firefox is problem after Chrome worked OK. Thanks- Doug K.

I am unable to get complete article in Wall Street Journal. No problem with Chrome. Have latest version Firefox and problem just started. I load WSJ, then click on article and only 3 lines show. I am WSJ subscriber and tech there said I need to contact Mozilla as Firefox is problem after Chrome worked OK. Thanks- Doug K.

All Replies (3)

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Hi Doug, as a non-subscriber, I don't know whether I would get the same page layout as you -- in fact it probably would be normal to get the first part of an article and then a paywall.

If you have the Reader View icon in the address bar, click that and see whether any more of the text appears. If the text appears, then you know that Firefox retrieved the content successfully, but there is some issue causing it to be invisible in normal view.

If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:

Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Tracking Protection feature, and extensions that counter ads and tracking, may break websites that embed third party content (meaning, from a secondary server).

(A) The shield icon toward the left end of the address bar usually turns a bit purplish when content is blocked. Click the icon to learn more or make an exception. See: Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop.

(B) Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix may block required elements on a site. Usually you can find a toolbar button for each add-on to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you sometimes need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.

Cache and Cookies: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Clear Firefox's Cache

See: How to clear the Firefox cache (only select Cached web content, don't clear all cookies and site data)

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, click the lock icon at the left end of the address bar. After a moment, a "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button should appear at the bottom. Go ahead and click that. Firefox will ask you to confirm; go ahead and confirm.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

Testing in Firefox's Troubleshoot Mode: In this mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, any userChrome.css/userContent.css files, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is running:

You can restart Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Help > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)
  • (menu bar) Help menu > Troubleshoot Mode... (before Fx88: Restart with Add-ons Disabled)

and OK the restart. A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).

If Firefox is not running:

Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.) A small dialog should appear. Click the Open button (before Fx88: "Start in Safe Mode" button).

Note: Don't use the Refresh without first reviewing this article to understand what will be deleted: Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.

Any improvement?

Helpful?

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I tried each item noted without solving my problem. I still don't get full articles. One thing to remember is that this was not an issue a week ago. Seemed to start when I upgraded Firefox. Otherwise nothing has been changed in my setup and this is the only website with this problem. Weird......

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I didn't see any new filings at https://webcompat.com/issues?q=wsj but most people may not know about submitting broken site reports there.

Aside from submitting a report, you could check the Web Console in the developer tools panel. Press Ctrl+Shift+K to open that panel in the lower part of the tab, click the little trash can button above the list to clear existing clutter, then reload the page bypassing the cache (Shift+click the Reload button) and watch for any error messages (red or pink) that might be related to Firefox loading the content into the page. Anything that looks relevant?

If WSJ uses multiple servers, here is another thing to check:

A few versions ago, Firefox rolled out "Total Cookie Protection" to more users. This limits how sites can use "third party" or "cross-site" cookies, meaning cookies from different websites than the one you see in the address bar. Some sites partition content among servers, and require third party cookies to transparently authenticate access to the extra servers. Total Cookie Protection can hamper this process, causing the extra servers to decline to provide access.

You can make exceptions to Total Cookie Protection by turning off Enhanced Tracking Protection for the main site, and potentially for the extra servers. More info in the following articles:

Any difference?

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