Can't read transparent tabs in Firefox 91
Please, please, please, stop changing things that were working just fine. Every time you make one of these pointless UI changes it pushes me towards Chrome. I really prefer Firefox and have used it almost exclusively for over a decade. But how am I supposed to be able to use it when I literally can't read the interface? With every update I am sent to google various solutions posted by other users trying to remedy problems caused by the latest update. I shouldn't have to dive into about:config every time the FF developers decide to play with the source code. I shouldn't have to install UI addons to maintain intuitive workflow. I shouldn't have to append userChrome.css with code copy-pasted from some forum. And this is to say nothing of the users that are inexperienced enough or unwilling to make such changes. Most just switch to Chrome. Sure, some of it is personal preference. "Do you like large tabs or small tabs? Do you like square tabs or rounded tabs?" But when I LITERALLY CANT READ THEM, that's not something ANY user should have to google or fix on their end. That is the developers dropping the ball. Fix this. Firefox developers, YOU fix this. Because I am DONE with midnight scrambles to repair what someone else broke.
All Replies (5)
If you have any of the 'proton' preferences in about:config set to false, try changing that to true.
Are you using code in userChrome.css ? Are you using a theme or otherwise dark mode ?
Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.
- switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
- do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window
The other day, I also updated to Firefox 91, and was confounded by the big changes.
The issues I had were: - no delineation between tabs. Suggestions I came across on how to make delineations between the tabs involved either fiddling around with about:config, or adding "recipes" to UserChrome.css. I'm accustomed to recipes that involve food, not code; - back navigation no longer works with a simple keystroke - pressing the "delete" key does nothing - the only way to navigate back is to click the cursor on the back arrow key; - the overall look and feel of the theme I'd been using was totally changed and I couldn't figure out how to get it back;
Then I came across cor-el's tip above. While it didn't fix the issue I have with the tabs, at least the search bar is visible, there's a bounding box around it, and the theme is similar. Thank you, cor-el.
But, the tabs are still transparent on one, long, unbroken bar. Is there any way of getting delineations between the tabs? It would make it so much more user friendly than the tabs only indicated by little icons with letters fading into the background. Only when the tab is highlighted is it delineated by a bounding box.
Looking at the bottom of this page that I'm writing on, "Preview Reply" and "Post Reply" are clearly boxed and bounded by borders. This is sensible. Our eyes scan for easily distinguishable things, we quickly identify what we're looking for, and then we act. By having one thing bleed into another, it takes a lot more effort to determine what we're looking at.
Additionally, I don't have the knowledge or experience to go about fixing these issues. It's great that Firefox is open source and accessible to people who are able to get 'under the hood' as it were, and who can improve their user experience. But for someone like me, hours of my time is wasted as I try to figure out how to do something, only to discover that the solution is considerably beyond my abilities. To assume that every user will be able to confidently make changes by going into about:config (which, btw, I don't even know what that is!), is not fair to people who don't know how to program.
Anyway, I hope some of my comments will encourage developers and coders to at least put delineation lines, or the option to add them, on the tabs bar. And fix the keystroke navigating back, issue.
I'm running Sierra on an Early 2011 MacBook Pro.
Thanks for your time.
Modified by IngT
To re-enable the Backspace keyboard shortcut for back navigation, you can change this pref on the about:config page to 0.
- browser.backspace_action = 0
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-config-editor-firefox
To get separators on the tab bar back is only possible via code in userChrome.css.
In Firefox 91+ it is only possible to override/revert changes coming with the Proton design by using code in userChrome.css.
Thanks cor-el. I was able to fix the backspace issue, and I didn't break anything!
As for coding in userChrome.css to override or revert the changes to the Proton design, I can't help but wonder why the separators were removed from the tab bar. It's a poor stylistic choice for reasons I previously outlined.
I'll review the articles you've attached, though the time and effort to read, understand and learn that level of coding is, as I've already said, considerably beyond my skills.
Thanks for your time.