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Does Firefox now "read a page ahead" for WordPress sites?

user1027088
user1027088
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Hi there,

I've just noticed something odd in Firefox 26.0. Using Fiddler, I see that when I am browsing WordPress sites, the browser is requesting an additional page (only the source page, not the links on the page) to the one I am actually looking at. In effect it appears to be browsing "ahead" one page along the Wordpress menu, storing this page in case that happens to be the one I will look at next. This activity also happens in Safe Mode and does not happen with the latest version of Chrome.

Is this a new feature and, if so, how do I switch it off?

Hi there, I've just noticed something odd in Firefox 26.0. Using Fiddler, I see that when I am browsing WordPress sites, the browser is requesting an additional page (only the source page, not the links on the page) to the one I am actually looking at. In effect it appears to be browsing "ahead" one page along the Wordpress menu, storing this page in case that happens to be the one I will look at next. This activity also happens in Safe Mode and does not happen with the latest version of Chrome. Is this a new feature and, if so, how do I switch it off?

Chosen solution

Try to set the network.prefetch-next pref to false on the about:config page (search prefetch).

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All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
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Chosen Solution

Try to set the network.prefetch-next pref to false on the about:config page (search prefetch).

user1027088
user1027088 Question owner
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That did the trick cor-el, many thanks!

For anyone else reading this thread, the following article might prove useful: http://www.ghacks.net/2013/04/27/firefox-prefetching-what-you-need-to-know/

It appears that the WordPress page isn't using rel="prefetch" as described in the above article, but instead FF is prefetching the page indicated by rel="next".