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I'm trying it out for a while, having mostly used Chrome in recent years. Perhaps oddly it's climate change that has prompted this. Where I live each summer is

I'm trying it out for a while, having mostly used Chrome in recent years. Perhaps oddly it's climate change that has prompted this. Where I live each summer is hotter than the last, and Chrome's persistent high cpu use this year has been making my macbook worryingly hot. Safari is more efficient but lacks many useful extensions. Firefox is pleasing so far. The laptop is far quieter and cooler. I've found all the extensions I need. I like not being bound to an ad company's product. The one thing I do miss is good support for keyboard shortcuts.

cpeterso 10y ago
Which keyboard shortcuts do you miss from Chrome?
- crispinb 10y ago
  Two which spring to mind: (1) Email link. It has a menu item (File -> Email link) but no shortcut. Perhaps worse, the standard OSX means of adding a shortcut to a menu item (via System Prefs -> Keyboard) doesn't work with firefox. An assigned shortcut will very briefly flash the menu name, but doesn't then select the item. (2) Chrome has a general dialogue for assinging keyboard shortcuts to extensions. As firefox doesn't, the user is at the mercy of extension developers, many of whom seem to be mousers.
  - cpeterso 10y ago
    Unfortunately, Firefox doesn't currently support OS X's custom keyboard shortcuts for menus other than the Firefox application menu. I found a Firefox extension to customize keyboard shortcuts (ported from a Chrome extension). Unfortunately, the extension doesn't work in Firefox 51 or later (due to some unfortunate version checking logic in the extension itself). I left a message on the extension page, so perhaps the developer will update their extension. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shortkeys-custom-shortcuts/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shortkeys-cus...
    - crispinb 10y ago
      Thanks. I'll keep an eye on that extension. Do you happen to know if there's a bug logged for the custom keyboard shortcut lacuna? And/or for there not being a preset shortcut for emailing links? (Yes I'm being lazy here and will look myself if you don't know). The above two were top-of-mind examples, but, particularly with extensions, the lack of keyboard shortcuts does add quite a bit of friction to FF use for me. Perhaps not enough to send me back to Chrome (though today it cropped up often enough that I was tempted). Another example is I haven't found a satisfactory way to add a link to Pinboard from the keyboard. There are a bunch of Pinboard extensions, but the one I like best so far (https://github.com/Cito/Pinboard-Pin https://github.com/Cito/Pinboard-Pin) doesn't support shortcuts. In Chrome I would have been able to add my own.
      - cpeterso 10y ago
        > Do you happen to know if there's a bug logged for the custom keyboard shortcut lacuna? And/or for there not being a preset shortcut for emailing links? This is Firefox Bug 429824 - User-defined (custom, System Preferences) shortcuts don't work https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=429824 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=429824 I found this extension that lets you add or custom keyboard shortcuts for many Firefox menu items. It mentions the Email Link menu item, but I didn't dig much deeper. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-keyboard-navigator/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-keyboard-n... Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to assign shortcuts to extensions.
        crispinb 10y ago
        Thanks. I'll keep an eye out on 429824. Actually I'll need to as it turns out after a few hours more use that emailing links is something I use too much in the course of work to be willing to reach for the mouse (and the 'My Keyboard Navigator' doesn't work for this purpose on the mac). I wouldn't have known this without a few days experimentation, which in itself says something interesting about UX & (my) self-knowledge. For now, it'll have to be back to Chrome, with Safari as a back up for hot days.

cpeterso 10y ago

Which keyboard shortcuts do you miss from Chrome?

crispinb 10y ago
Two which spring to mind: (1) Email link. It has a menu item (File -> Email link) but no shortcut. Perhaps worse, the standard OSX means of adding a shortcut to a menu item (via System Prefs -> Keyboard) doesn't work with firefox. An assigned shortcut will very briefly flash the menu name, but doesn't then select the item. (2) Chrome has a general dialogue for assinging keyboard shortcuts to extensions. As firefox doesn't, the user is at the mercy of extension developers, many of whom seem to be mousers.
- cpeterso 10y ago
  Unfortunately, Firefox doesn't currently support OS X's custom keyboard shortcuts for menus other than the Firefox application menu. I found a Firefox extension to customize keyboard shortcuts (ported from a Chrome extension). Unfortunately, the extension doesn't work in Firefox 51 or later (due to some unfortunate version checking logic in the extension itself). I left a message on the extension page, so perhaps the developer will update their extension. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shortkeys-custom-shortcuts/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shortkeys-cus...
  - crispinb 10y ago
    Thanks. I'll keep an eye on that extension. Do you happen to know if there's a bug logged for the custom keyboard shortcut lacuna? And/or for there not being a preset shortcut for emailing links? (Yes I'm being lazy here and will look myself if you don't know). The above two were top-of-mind examples, but, particularly with extensions, the lack of keyboard shortcuts does add quite a bit of friction to FF use for me. Perhaps not enough to send me back to Chrome (though today it cropped up often enough that I was tempted). Another example is I haven't found a satisfactory way to add a link to Pinboard from the keyboard. There are a bunch of Pinboard extensions, but the one I like best so far (https://github.com/Cito/Pinboard-Pin https://github.com/Cito/Pinboard-Pin) doesn't support shortcuts. In Chrome I would have been able to add my own.
    - cpeterso 10y ago
      > Do you happen to know if there's a bug logged for the custom keyboard shortcut lacuna? And/or for there not being a preset shortcut for emailing links? This is Firefox Bug 429824 - User-defined (custom, System Preferences) shortcuts don't work https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=429824 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=429824 I found this extension that lets you add or custom keyboard shortcuts for many Firefox menu items. It mentions the Email Link menu item, but I didn't dig much deeper. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-keyboard-navigator/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/my-keyboard-n... Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to assign shortcuts to extensions.
      - crispinb 10y ago
        Thanks. I'll keep an eye out on 429824. Actually I'll need to as it turns out after a few hours more use that emailing links is something I use too much in the course of work to be willing to reach for the mouse (and the 'My Keyboard Navigator' doesn't work for this purpose on the mac). I wouldn't have known this without a few days experimentation, which in itself says something interesting about UX & (my) self-knowledge. For now, it'll have to be back to Chrome, with Safari as a back up for hot days.