Lots of issues!

(1) Tab bar position

You can use a custom style rule in a userChrome.css file to rearrange the toolbars.

(A) You need to create a new chrome folder in your profile folder. This article has the steps for that (#1, #2, and optionally #3)

https://www.userchrome.org/how-create-userchrome-css.html

(B) Download the following file and move it into that chrome folder:

https://www.userchrome.org/samples/userChrome-tabs_on_bottom.css

(C) Rename the file to just userChrome.css

The next time you quit Firefox and start it up again, it should discover that file and apply the rules.

Success?

(2) Changing white-on-black text

Firefox 57 has 3 "themes" built in (default, light, and dark) which you can experiment with on the Customize page using the Themes button at the bottom. Could you check whether any of those work for you.

See: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars

The menu that pops up from the button also has an option to go to the Mozilla Add-ons site to look at additional themes. Many of these are solid colors, while some are quite wild. If you have a preferred shade, I would check there.

If none of that works, a custom style rule could be applied to adjust either a light or dark theme. You'll need to figure out your preferred colors for the active and inactive tabs.

(3) Tab Width Too Narrow

Before Firefox 57, no tab ever was more narrow than 100 pixels. To fit more tabs, that minimum was reduced to 76. You can increase it again using this setting:

(A) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(B) In the search box above the list, type or paste tabmin and pause while the list is filtered

(C) Double-click the browser.tabs.tabMinWidth preference and change 76 to your preferred minimum then click OK.

You also can use a custom style rule to make a little more space by hiding the "X" close buttons until you hover your mouse over the tab. This would be something you add to your userChrome.css file. Here's the rule:

/* Hide tab close buttons until hovered */
.tabbrowser-tab:not([pinned="true"]):not(:hover) .tab-close-button {
  display: none !important;
}

Actually, I think below a certain size Firefox will hide them anyway, but maybe that will help in some cases.

Hopefully with these changes Firefox 57 will be more pleasant to look at and more productive to use.

I followed the instructions and created the Chrome folder and copied and pasted the text and renamed the text file to userCrome.css. I re-booted Firefox (Quantum), however, the tabs are still on top. There should be a simpler option to do this or make this the default.

Any other suggestions?

Same here - for those of us unfamiliar on how to change things via new folders and code and stuff, this is just an illegible solution. The ability to move the tabs below the toolbar should just be an option under "customize" button. It shouldn't require a coding degree to change this. Mozilla prides itself on having FF be user-friendly but this very simple option is STILL - after 57 variations - insanely difficult to do. And now we can't even use an add-on for it. It's obviously a request that a lot of people have - it should be a simple box to click somewhere.

Please check the spelling?

mgmm1 said

I followed the instructions and created the Chrome folder and copied and pasted the text and renamed the text file to userCrome.css. I re-booted Firefox (Quantum), however, the tabs are still on top.

• chrome folder name must be all lower case
• userChrome.css needs to have an h in it between C and r

There should be a simpler option to do this or make this the default.

Someone could write a program to install it, if you trust such things. I wouldn't.

OK, jscher2000. I followed your instructions in #1 and did get the tabs back below (yay!). However, now the two arrows to go back, etc. are UNDER the red, yellow, and green buttons. Any idea how to move the arrows?

I will try the themes and tab width later when I have time. So thanks for that.

They just need to give us the old design back. I refuse to have to code css to get things even slightly the way they were.

jscher2000 said

Please check the spelling? mgmm1 said

I followed the instructions and created the Chrome folder and copied and pasted the text and renamed the text file to userCrome.css. I re-booted Firefox (Quantum), however, the tabs are still on top.

• chrome folder name must be all lower case
• userChrome.css needs to have an h in it between C and r

There should be a simpler option to do this or make this the default.

Someone could write a program to install it, if you trust such things. I wouldn't.

The chrome folder is in lower case and my post had a typo. The text is userChrome.css. but no luck in getting the tabs on the bottom.

jmazzeo said

OK, jscher2000. I followed your instructions in #1 and did get the tabs back below (yay!). However, now the two arrows to go back, etc. are UNDER the red, yellow, and green buttons. Any idea how to move the arrows?

Oh... is this on a Mac? On Windows you can display the menu bar or title bar to move those buttons out of the toolbar. On Mac, maybe we need to create a little space above the bar in some other way? Can someone give me a Mac?

I agree with the other posters. It's idiotic to keep "improving" things. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

One gets accustomed to certain moves. Just moving the Back button to a new place slows one down. What's the point of a blazing fast Firefox if one is forced to spend a lot of time figuring out how to get things the way one is accustomed to, and then movements that were automatic now require thought? It's as if someone switched the keyboard to a more efficient one. Yes, more efficient when you get used to it but much slower when you're learning it.

I didn't want to use Chrome because I'm accustomed to Firefox and didn't want to have to learn a new way of working. Now I'm thinking might as well switch as I'm having to learn a new way of working anyway.

Bah.

RevertSearch, have to say I agree with you. But in the meantime I hate to have to start all over with a new browser. I've been using Firefox for many years and have always liked it better than the others.

Still, I think users should be given the choice to use the new or revert to the old.

OK jscher2000, I was able to solve the arrows under the three buttons by adding flexible space to the left of the arrows. (However, I thinks it's nuts to have to do all this just to get a viewable, easily used browser.)

But I tried your suggestion to fix the tab width yesterday and couldn't get past about:config. Today I tried again and pasted about:config instead of typing it and it worked. Set my tabs to 125 and now I'm much happier.

Thanks for the help.

Maybe you can help me with another problem? Now the bookmarks toolbar is such a tiny font that my extremely challenged eyes have difficulty with it. Is there a fix to make the font larger? I'd be so grateful!!

Oh, and ONE MORE THING. The old style FF had space running across the entire top of the page that you could grab with your mouse to move the window around. Now it's a teeny, tiny space that is only grabable where there is space in line with the address bar, search bar, etc. By adding flexible space to move the arrows to the right and to put space between the address and search bars I was able to free up 2 spots that I could grab to move the window, but it's extremely annoying to not be able to do it the way I could before. Hope you'll tell me there's a fix for this too!

jscher2000 said

jmazzeo said

OK, jscher2000. I followed your instructions in #1 and did get the tabs back below (yay!). However, now the two arrows to go back, etc. are UNDER the red, yellow, and green buttons. Any idea how to move the arrows?

Oh... is this on a Mac? On Windows you can display the menu bar or title bar to move those buttons out of the toolbar. On Mac, maybe we need to create a little space above the bar in some other way? Can someone give me a Mac?

I'm on a Mac & successfully followed your Tabs on Bottom instructions (thank you!!) & also had the issue with the back button suddenly under the green, red & yellow buttons so I opened the Firefox Menu drop-down from the top right corner of the browser, selected Customize, then placed a Flexible Space area under those buttons & it worked. The whole look sure is blocky & unelegant, I agree we should be able to keep the classic look & if it ain't broke don't fix it, or at least give us the option to choose which way we want our browser to display!

melancie said

jscher2000 said

jmazzeo said

OK, jscher2000. I followed your instructions in #1 and did get the tabs back below (yay!). However, now the two arrows to go back, etc. are UNDER the red, yellow, and green buttons. Any idea how to move the arrows?

Oh... is this on a Mac? On Windows you can display the menu bar or title bar to move those buttons out of the toolbar. On Mac, maybe we need to create a little space above the bar in some other way? Can someone give me a Mac?

I'm on a Mac & successfully followed your Tabs on Bottom instructions (thank you!!) & also had the issue with the back button suddenly under the green, red & yellow buttons so I opened the Firefox Menu drop-down from the top right corner of the browser, selected Customize, then placed a Flexible Space area under those buttons & it worked. The whole look sure is blocky & unelegant, I agree we should be able to keep the classic look & if it ain't broke don't fix it, or at least give us the option to choose which way we want our browser to display!

The "option" to allow the user (and extension developers) to display the UI in any manner they wished was creating a multitude of support issues and many complaints. Mozilla finally said "enough is enough" and almost completely locked down the UI from being tampered with, other that thru the Customize mode. But, Mozilla did leave "us" one way to achieve "our" desired goals - via userChrome.css and userContent.css.

I am afraid that if Mozilla sees too many threads like this one, they may decide in the future to just lock us out of userChrome.css modifications. And IMO the cause will be whiners and people who can't follow the well posted instructions that are posted here to achieve the desired end result without a lot of complaints thrown in. Also Mac users posting in a thread that was started about modifications for a Windows operating system sure as hell doesn't help matters, it just confuses things when the operating system isn't mentioned in a posting that basically "hijacks" the thread.

the-edmeister said

Also Mac users posting in a thread that was started about modifications for a Windows operating system sure as hell doesn't help matters ...

??? This thread was started by a Mac user.

P.S. This thread is for helping jmazzeo. Users seeking help for similar problems should ask a new question. See Mozilla Support rules and guidelines under posting support requests.

If Mozilla reacts to requests by users wanting to be able to maintain the UI in a readable and pleasant manner, with customizability, by stamping their feet and locking everyting down, then they will have only themselves to blame for losing market share.

And ... no. It's asinine to argue that allowing users to choose what toolbar goes where and what buttons are responsible for any unmanagable level of 'support issues' or 'complaints'.

If anything, forcing users to resort to back-end CSS modifications to get a usable, readable UI because some jackhole UI dev decided they know better where the Location Bar should be is MORE likely to cause support problems.

Enough with the 'you'll take the UI changes they forced upon us and you will like it', maybe?

Hi RevertSearch, I'm sorry you don't like Firefox 57 or having to create a userChrome.css file, but that's what support volunteers can offer you, and this is the support forum.

If you want to raise policy issues or foment an uprising, you can take it to a more appropriate venue. For example:

Feedback: https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Firefox Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/firefox

Or maybe a petition site.

melancie said

jscher2000 said

jmazzeo said

OK, jscher2000. I followed your instructions in #1 and did get the tabs back below (yay!). However, now the two arrows to go back, etc. are UNDER the red, yellow, and green buttons. Any idea how to move the arrows?

Oh... is this on a Mac? On Windows you can display the menu bar or title bar to move those buttons out of the toolbar. On Mac, maybe we need to create a little space above the bar in some other way? Can someone give me a Mac?

I'm on a Mac & successfully followed your Tabs on Bottom instructions (thank you!!) & also had the issue with the back button suddenly under the green, red & yellow buttons so I opened the Firefox Menu drop-down from the top right corner of the browser, selected Customize, then placed a Flexible Space area under those buttons & it worked. The whole look sure is blocky & unelegant, I agree we should be able to keep the classic look & if it ain't broke don't fix it, or at least give us the option to choose which way we want our browser to display!

Great workaround!

As for having more built-in options or more powerful extensions, that's not something that will change right away. Add-on developers are pressing for more ability to tweak the toolbar area, so by next Spring they may be able to offer more options. It's hard to predict.

jmazzeo said

OK jscher2000, I was able to solve the arrows under the three buttons by adding flexible space to the left of the arrows. (However, I thinks it's nuts to have to do all this just to get a viewable, easily used browser.) But I tried your suggestion to fix the tab width yesterday and couldn't get past about:config. Today I tried again and pasted about:config instead of typing it and it worked. Set my tabs to 125 and now I'm much happier. Thanks for the help. Maybe you can help me with another problem? Now the bookmarks toolbar is such a tiny font that my extremely challenged eyes have difficulty with it. Is there a fix to make the font larger? I'd be so grateful!! Oh, and ONE MORE THING. The old style FF had space running across the entire top of the page that you could grab with your mouse to move the window around. Now it's a teeny, tiny space that is only grabable where there is space in line with the address bar, search bar, etc. By adding flexible space to move the arrows to the right and to put space between the address and search bars I was able to free up 2 spots that I could grab to move the window, but it's extremely annoying to not be able to do it the way I could before. Hope you'll tell me there's a fix for this too!

It looks like the original question has been solved so I'm going to mark the reply by jscher2000 as the solution.

jmazzeo said

Now the bookmarks toolbar is such a tiny font that my extremely challenged eyes have difficulty with it. Is there a fix to make the font larger? I'd be so grateful!!

Firefox has a global zoom factor that applies to the user interface as well as to the content. If the only part of the UI that is too small is the text on the bookmarks toolbar, then perhaps a custom style rule would be preferable to a global change.

/* Change 12px font-size to 14px on Bookmarks Toolbar */
#PersonalToolbar, 
#PersonalToolbar .bookmark-item, 
#PersonalToolbar .openintabs-menuitem{
  font-size: 14px !important;
}

Oh, and ONE MORE THING. The old style FF had space running across the entire top of the page that you could grab with your mouse to move the window around. Now it's a teeny, tiny space that is only grabable where there is space in line with the address bar, search bar, etc. By adding flexible space to move the arrows to the right and to put space between the address and search bars I was able to free up 2 spots that I could grab to move the window, but it's extremely annoying to not be able to do it the way I could before. Hope you'll tell me there's a fix for this too!

Well, there is a space at the left end of the tab bar, but that's not up there now. I'm not sure of the best way to make space. I'll try to look into it; maybe if I can do it on Windows the same thing will work on Mac.

jmazzeo said

... Oh, and ONE MORE THING. The old style FF had space running across the entire top of the page that you could grab with your mouse to move the window around. Now it's a teeny, tiny space that is only grabable where there is space in line with the address bar, search bar, etc. By adding flexible space to move the arrows to the right and to put space between the address and search bars I was able to free up 2 spots that I could grab to move the window, but it's extremely annoying to not be able to do it the way I could before. Hope you'll tell me there's a fix for this too!

The Customize Option of Drag Space helps with that probably, but get this, you have to be in non-maximized mode to even check that box.