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In a new tab, reduce top sites by default

  • 14 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by scpsc

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I enjoy the top sites module when I open a new tab. It is possible to reduce/develop it by clicking the title. By default (when opening a new tab), the module is developped. How can I change this to make it reduced by default? I had a look at about:config, but could not manage to find any parameter related to this.

Thank you

I enjoy the top sites module when I open a new tab. It is possible to reduce/develop it by clicking the title. By default (when opening a new tab), the module is developped. How can I change this to make it reduced by default? I had a look at about:config, but could not manage to find any parameter related to this. Thank you

All Replies (14)

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Hi, you can click the cog wheel button in the top right corner of the new tab page, then make changes to the number of rows etc., in 'Firefox Home Content.' To edit individual tiles (thumbnails), point to any one of them, then click the three dots (...) in the top right corner. More Customize your Firefox New Tab page.

Zooming in or out can also change the appearance depending on your screen size/resolution. Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you!

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Thanks for your answer. It does not help however, but maybe I was not clear at first, so let me try to explain better.

When I say developped/reduced, I mean that the top sites "module" is always visible, and the sites are either visible (developped) or not visible (reduced). You can switch between the two states by clicking the module's title (or the little arrow next to it). When opening a new tab, it is always developped.

It is a matter of privacy: I would prefer if top sites are accessible but not visible by default when opening a new tab, for example when I am not alone in front of my computer.

It might be too specialized to provide that option in the preferences, but it would be nice to have access to it at least through the about:config! Is it possible?

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Hello scpsc,

Just a thought, but what you could do :

Bookmark your current top sites for easy access and then set the New Tab page to open a blank page - see :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/hide-or-display-content-new-tab

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That is an option if there is no way to customize indeed, thanks!

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Despite the fact that this is more or less a 'have your cake and eat it too' kind of thing, I went to try and find out if there is a way to customize it - to no avail .....

The only (other) alternative I can think of is to have your top sites as your homepage (providing you don't have all that many top
sites .... ) : use the 'pipe' symbol ( | ) to separate URLs.

And then of course set the New Tab page to open a blank page .....

(but bookmarking the Top Sites still sounds like the easiest way to me)

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Hi scpsc, on the U.S. English version, the ••• menu that appears on the right side when you hover the Top Sites title uses the terms "Collapse" and "Expand" for this function.

Assuming there is no feature or add-on to always show the section collapsed when you display a new tab, it might be possible to style the section to only open when you hover over it. Hover rules are tricky because you might be moving your mouse over the section to access one below it and you wouldn't want it to just fly open immediately and get in your way. but you also don't want a long delay on opening it if you use it regularly. Hmm...

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Hi and thanks again for your help,

@McCoy: I tried the workaround you suggest in your second post but I think the bookmark solution would be better, I agree.

@jscher2000: "collapse" and "expand" sounds better :) How can you style the top sites section?

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scpsc said

How can you style the top sites section?

See the first link in Scribe's post :

Customize the New Tab page

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I did, yesterday and just now, but I could not see anything about expanding the section by hovering over the title.

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scpsc said

I did, yesterday and just now, but I could not see anything about expanding the section by hovering over the title.

Oops, I thought that by 'styling' you meant 'customize' (sorry .....)

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scpsc said

@jscher2000: "collapse" and "expand" sounds better :) How can you style the top sites section?

You would need some custom style rules, which would be applied using an optional file named userContent.css. A good place to ask for help with custom style rules is:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/

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Ok, thanks for the info!

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If a section is collapsed then Firefox should remember it and show it in other tabs and after a restart in the remembered state.

This code in userContent.css works for me to expand the topsites and highlights sections on hover when I have them collapsed (i.e. there is a .collapsed class present). You would have to switch between max-height:none !important (expanded) and max-height:0 !important (collapsed). See: resource://activity-stream/css/activity-stream.css

I've added a background color to make it easier to see the active hover area.

@-moz-document url(about:newtab){
 :-moz-any(section[data-section-id="topsites"],section[data-section-id="highlights"]) {background-color:#ddd!important}
 :-moz-any(section[data-section-id="topsites"],section[data-section-id="highlights"]).collapsible-section.collapsed:hover .section-body {max-height:none !important}
}
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Thanks a lot, I will give it a try asap!

On the fact that Firefox should remember the last state, it does for me indeed, but when you expand the section, then click a top site, now the state is "expanded" and so it will be next time you open a tab / the homepage.

Anyway, I will test it first, thanks again.