Where is the CURRENT Firefox help for Javascript settings, about:config, and getting the status bar to display only the true URLs for links?
This issue starts with the observation that if you hover over a link from a result in a Google search, the URL you see in the ephemeral status bar (status bar that only appears when it's needed) is not the same as the URL you get from copying the link location (right-clicking and selecting that from the context menu). In fact, after you copy the link location, the URL you see by hovering changes to the correct one.
Google is hiding the fact that it sends you to a location on Google's own site before redirecting you to the searched-for destination. If Google can hide the true URL, then another site can do so too. Users need to be able to see the URL of the site they're going to before they click, to avoid sites they don't trust, which may contain malware.
My guess is that JavaScript is changing the text displayed in the status bar from the actual URL you're sent to when you click the link to something different. Therefore, I want to change the JavaScript settings not to allow this. I go to the options to change the JavaScript settings.
There aren't any.
I check Firefox help for JavaScript settings. It says they should be right there in the options, where they used to be. They aren't anymore.
I search Mozilla Support for answers. I find that it is now necessary to use about:config to change JavaScript settings. I check Firefox help for information on about:config. I don't find any.
So, where's the necessary help for • JavaScript settings (applicable to the current version of Firefox) • about:config • getting the status bar to display only true link URLs
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There are onclick event tied to the URL that changes the link when you left or right-click.
So on first hover you see something different than after you have clicked a link with the mouse.
You can check that yourself by closing the right-click context menu and then hover the link another time.
It is possible to remove the onclick with a Scriptish/GreaseMonkey script or with a bookmarklet (do a Google search).
Firefox will always show the URL as present in the href attribute and not what the onclick will make of it as this is only known after running the JavaScript code in the onclick.
It is best not to mess with the JavaScript setting in Firefox as this is a very basic enable/disable and will cripple a lot of web pages when you disable JavaScript.
There are extension like NoScript that can block all scripts by default, but that requires to whitelist all websites where you want scripts to run.
This may slow down Firefox when this list gets larger and also you need to be aware that pages may not work properly.
This is the same with all extensions that block content.
Thank you for your reply. I now have a better idea of what's going on.
First of all, my question as posed asks where current Firefox help is for these topics.
- The help for JavaScript settings that I found refers to options that are not there anymore (it's not current).
- There probably isn't any Firefox help describing how to use about:config, particularly with details.
- Based on what you said, the status bar does display the URL for a link as it currently exists, but clicking a link, which is what determines where you actually go, changes the URL to something that could be a surprise (that's dangerous). That's probably not in Firefox help.
We need a feature allowing users to see where they're going, or only go to pages whose addresses they can see.
It has been taking me too long to find anything with Google that simply removes onclick events without adding a whole new set of code (such as by installing a scripting add-on just because I want to control where I'm going in my browser). So far, I don't see the actual bookmarklet that does what I want.
As for changing JavaScript settings, I want to do more than just turn it on or off.
As for turning JavaScript off, it seems that although JavaScript is important for many Web sites, it can undermine the ability of the user to accurately see what is on a Web page, and to keep control of what he or she does on the Web.
A possible bookmarklet to remove the onmousedown is this:
javascript:(function(){var N=document.querySelectorAll("#search li.g"),E,i;for(i=0;E=N[i];i++){E.querySelector("h3 a[onmousedown]").removeAttribute("onmousedown")}})()
Or even more generic:
javascript:(function(){var N=document.querySelectorAll("#search a[onmousedown]"),E,i;for(i=0;E=N[i];i++){E.removeAttribute("onmousedown")}})()
See also this forum thread (page 2 has a GreaseMonkey script):