How can I completly deactivate firebug without uninstalling it?
I installed firebug because there are some cool extensions like "Firepath" so you can read out the Xpath. However, there are also some missing features which are included in the normal dev console, e.g. manipulating the CSS of the currently selected element.
So to use these features I have to switch back to the normal developer console. However, firebug is still active after deactivating the addon.
Still appears in the menu at the top:
And if I press F12 then Firebug opens.
Normally, deactivating an extension within the Add-on Manager, like you did, completely deactivates it.
When it's still activated, it's a bug and you should file a bug report.
Having said that, note that Firebug's development is discontinued and it will not work anymore once multi-process Firefox is enabled. Furthermore, Mozilla plans to stop supporting extensions that are not based on the WebExtension framework starting from Firefox 57, which is released in November 2017. At latest at that point in time Firebug (as well as most existing Firefox extensions) definitely stops working.
Regarding the XPath features, there are several feature requests filed for the DevTools already asking to implement advanced XPath support.
Related
Recently my Firefox got updated to version 51.0.1. Initially it was showing some reminder check (I'm not clear with that) related to Firebug, but I ignored it. Now, the Firebug toolbar button is always shown deactivated.
I've reinstalled Firebug several times, but the result is always the same.
Is there any compatibility issue? How do I activate Firebug?
There is a solution to use Firebug version 2.0.18 in the latest version of Firefox (this time 51.0.1).
To enable the old Firebug:
In the address bar, enter about:config and
find browser.tabs.remote.autostart. Set it to false.
Also set browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1
and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 to false.
This is the new version of Firefox, and it is not working as intended and making the life of developers & designers even more difficult... look at the review, https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/reviews/?page=1.
This actually is Firefox DevTools as Firebug is no longer supported for future developments.
You can install the previous version to work with. I installed it and my problem was solved. I have my old version back...
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/versions/.
New version of it comes with some new features, but some handy features are also left out. It looks totally new to me. May be one day I have to get used to it. For now one can revert back to the old version.
This is because Firebug is integrated into the Firefox DevTools once multi-process Firefox is enabled, and it doesn't track the enabled state of those tools. This is a known bug.
Note that a click on the Firebug button with multi-process Firefox enabled actually opens the Firefox DevTools with a Firebug theme trying to make the transition a bit easier, because Firebug is officially discontinued.
If you want the old Firebug back and by that make the Firebug button work again as expected, you need to disabled multi-process Firefox as explained in an answer to a similar question by going to about:config and setting the preferences browser.tabs.remote.autostart, browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 to false. Though note that this is just a temporary workaround, because multi-process Firefox will be mandatory at some point.
Furthermore, the Firefox DevTools offer a lot more features than Firebug, but they are also lacking some Firebug had. Therefore, a bug is filed to close those gaps.
In the answer to a related question I've listed what your alternatives are.
If you want to stay with the Firefox DevTools, there is a migration guide for Firebug users.
Firebug seems to have activated for me after I got the Web Developer Add-On on Firefox.
Open the default Element Inspector, and click the settings icon.
Under the Themes section, you will see the Light option is checked. Change it to Firebug. Firebug will be activated automatically.
The best way to install FirePath and Firebug is to downgrade Firefox by downloading an older version of Firefox , like 31 from Firefox ftp.
I downloaded older version of Firefox from http://mozilla_firefox.en.downloadastro.com/old_versions/
After downgrading, go to menu option → Update and check "Never check for updates" checkbox
If the below setting has been made:
In address enter about:config, find
browser.tabs.remote.autostart set it false
browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 set it false
browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 set it false
Then reset firefox by typing 'about:support' in the address bar
Click "Reset Firefox"
By doing this, you should be able to install the FirePath and Firebug addons from the Mozilla addons page.
Since last few updates of Firefox our beloved Firebug is integrated into the Firefox Developer Tools and a lot of people including me don't like what happened to Firebug.
The built-in developer tools have a very ugly menu system and messed up usability.
So, what are the alternatives to the Firefox Developer Tools? Is there a tool with the same usability as Firebug?
Alternatives are:
Turn off multi-process Firefox. (Though that's only a temporary solution and doesn't bring back all functionality of Firebug. E.g. the Script panel is broken in current versions of Firefox.)
Install an old version of Firefox where Firebug still works and disable updates. (Also only a temporary solution, because you'll miss (security) bug fixes and new features.)
Wait until the gaps between Firebug and the Firefox DevTools are fixed. (Or even help them fixing them.)
Switch to another browser and use its developer tools.
Rework Firebug to make it compatible with multi-process Firefox (which is the main reason for the integration into the DevTools). Update: Starting with Firefox 57 only WebExtensions will be supported, meaning extensions work cross-browser and are more secure, but they also have limited APIs. So, a reworked Firebug would not have all the features the original Firebug had.
Following Sebastian's advice I've downloaded old Firefox portable v47 from here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Edition%2047.0.1/
and I'm using it with Firebug only for development. According to Firebug's website 47 is the last compatible version of Firefox:
https://getfirebug.com/downloads
To avoid compromising on security, for normal browsing I use updated version of Chrome.
Downgrading the version is not advisable, So instead of that go to the browser console and type your respective xpath in the mentioned syntax $x('path') to validate your XPath.
Or can find other similar plugin. So far I find the Plugin 'Xpather' in http://xpath.alephzarro.com/ link.
But I still would like to reactivate Firebug to rework by setting the preferences browser.tabs.remote.autostart,
browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and
browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2
to false via about:config.
I am using Firefox 50.0. After auto update of Firefox to version 50.0, Firebug has stopped working and attempting to use it is showing an inbuilt Firefox console while inspecting any DOM element.
Is there any patch to use Firebug on Firefox 50.0 version?
Solve The problem by Changing Mozilla Browser Configuration Settings.
Open A Blank Tab
type about:config in address bar then press enter (click on I accept the risk!)
find browser.tabs.remote.autostart
select the option then click the mouse right side
Turn The Option As False
Close the browser for restart browser
open browser again, inspect the element. I hope It Works Properly.
I manage to get Firebug work again, so here is what I done.
Everyone knows that Firebug isn't being developed or maintained any longer because it can't work with e10s, so here is my workaround:
Download Firefox Developer edition so you can allow XPI installation.
firefox-53.0a2.en-US.win64.installer.exe or
firefox-53.0a2.en-US.win32.installer.exe
Run Firefox developer edition after installing and go to the about:config (type in url bar)
Find xpinstall.signatures.required (set to false)
Find browser.tabs.remote.autostart (set all to false: browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2)
NOTE: The Multi-process architecture improves the browser's stability, performance and security by separating tasks into processes, you disabling it at own responsibility.
After that you need to restart the browser.
Now you can go at the Firebug repository and install desired version
Here you can find all Firebug installations
I chose latest firebug-2.0b8.xpi and it forking fine.
P.S. You can disable updates for Firefox Developer edition.
Hope it helps.
Head over to Firebug website, you can see following message:
The Firebug extension isn't being developed or maintained any longer. We invite you to use the Firefox built-in DevTools instead.
Also Sebastianz told me,
Firebug is discontinued. The team has split up, the former team leader Jan "Honza" Odvarko is working on the Firefox DevTools now.
As #Makyen said in his answer, Firebug does not work with multiprocess Firefox, so remove Firebug right now and try Firefox DevTools instead, it's not optional (sadly), unless you don't update Firefox :)
Update 1
Take a look # Why got Firebug removed after updating Firefox to version 50?
Update 2
Take a look # my answer here: how to revert firebug to old version
Firebug does not work with multiprocess Firefox
The Firebug site claims that:
Firebug 2.0.18 is compatible with Firefox 30 – 52
However, it also explains that [emphasis mine]:
Firebug 2.0.18 fixes issue 8030. The extension is marked as multi-process (e10s) compatible so, it isn’t blacklisted and users can continue installing it. This way Firebug can help users to easily migrate into built-in Firefox developer tools – in case it’s running in multi-process enabled browser. When opened in a multi-process Firefox, Firebug’s tools cannot be used. Firebug will then only assist the user with migration to Firefox’s built-in tools.
They also direct you to read: Unifying Firebug & Firefox DevTools
That page says that [emphasis mine]:
Firebug 2 doesn’t work in multi-process browsers (i.e. e10s) and converting it is too complex, so it will stop working when e10s is activated in Firefox. You will be able to disable e10s for a while to keep using Firebug 2, but this won’t last forever.
The fact that Firebug does not actually work in multiprocess Firefox will account for different people having different experiences with Firebug working or not working in a particular version of Firefox. Firefox automatically enabling multiprocess mode will depend on multiple factors, including what other add-ons are installed in the profile.
Using Firebug in newer versions of Firefox
Thus, to use Firebug in newer versions of Firefox, you will need to disable Firefox from entering multiprocess mode. This can be done from the about:preferences page (also available from Tools➞Options). This an option which is under the "General" tab as "Enable multi-process Firefox ...". If multiprocess is not available, this option will not be shown. This option can also be changed by adjusting the preference browser.tabs.remote.autostart from about:config. [Note: browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 also appear to be used to indicate default states, thus I suggest using the about:preferences page to change this option.]
You can determine if your Firefox is currently running in multiprocess mode by looking in about:support. The line "Multiprocess Windows" under "Application Basics" will state if multiprocess is enabled or disabled.
Set up profiles explicitly for testing
Personally, I have different profiles set up for each of multiprocess explicitly disabled and multiprocess explicitly enabled (set browser.tabs.remote.force-enable to true), so I can perform testing under both conditions, with the state of multiprocess being enabled/disabled being known in advance.
I had the same problem when I updated Firefox. I was so addicted to firebug but I moved on to Firefox developer edition - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/
It also comes with the firebug theme which resembles firebug UI and its efficient.Just install FDE and activate the firebug theme as shown in the image below :
I had the same unexpected surprise when ubuntu updated FFX and suddenly things like the script panel stopped working. Since I was in the middle of working on something with a short deadline, I was not going to have the luxury of learning the firefox developer toolset and desperately needed to get firebug working. The fix that finally worked for me was to set Firefox preferences not to update. Then download v 49.0.2
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-older-version-of-firefox
I also had to tell Ubuntu not to include firefox in it's upgrades.
It looks like firebug will no longer be maintained as a seperate project, so you will want to get familiar w/ the built in dev tools, but hopefully this buys you some time. Worth mentioning (if I'm reading this right, it sounds like it will be integrated into the native tools:
https://blog.getfirebug.com/2016/06/07/unifying-firebug-firefox-devtools/
https://github.com/firebug/firebug.next
Its working. You need to install one more add-on "Firepicker" and restart the Firefox.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firepicker/
I managed to resolve this issue by simply downgrading to mozilla old version using this url:
open https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/50.0/win64/en-US/
download and run the .exe setup
Go to Settings - > Add Ons
Click on extensions and search for firebug and firepath and then add those extensions
Hope this should resolve the issue. For those using Windows 32 machine can use the url
https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/50.0/win32/en-US/
http://toolsqa.com/selenium-webdriver/xpath-helper/
Open a new tab and navigate to any webpage. I have used www.DemoQA.com for demo.
Hit Ctrl-Shift-X (or Command-Shift-X on OS X), or click the XPath Helper button in the toolbar, to open the XPath Helper console.
Hold down Shift as you mouse over elements on the page. The query box will continuously update to show the XPath query for the element below the mouse pointer, and the results box will show the results for the current query.
If desired, edit the XPath query directly in the console. The results box will immediately reflect your changes.
Repeat step (2) to close the console.
After updating Firefox to version 50.0 my Firebug opens the default developer tools. The original Firebug doesn't work anymore.
I have always preferred Firebug as my default debugging tool. I want the original Firebug back in Firefox 50. How can I do that?
Firebug does not work anymore once multi-process Firefox (separate processes for the Firefox UI and the websites) is enabled. See the related post in the Firebug blog.
You may be able to reenable Firebug by setting the preferences browser.tabs.remote.autostart, browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 to false via about:config. Though at some point this preference will be removed.
So, you are advised to use the Firefox DevTools instead. I am writing a migration guide on MDN. Firebug features that are not in the DevTools are covered in a Firefox bug.
First remove new version of "firebug" and download old version of "Firebug(2.0.17)" from following URL:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/versions/
Uninstall Firefox completely including deleting the Mozilla folder within your APPDATA.
Then reinstall Firefox and add both Firebug and FireQuery.
After that everything should work as before.
You can also go on Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Refresh Firefox and install Firebug through http://addons.mozilla.org/
For all the folks out there, there is a good news..!! Firebug works great on these two Mozilla based browsers.
Cyberfox & Palemoon
Both are forks of forefox that uses code before the implementation multi-process. Cyberfox uses the more recent code fork compared to Palemoon.
Both browsers are well maintained and updated regularly.
Cyberfox announced its death on March 2017 but its still actively maintained [as of Dec 2017] and I still get update.
Both browsers support cross platform windows / Linux, on Linux you should have 64 bit distro to use cyberfox. Palemoon on the other hand works great on both the bits.
I've opened a Firefox today, hit the Firebug button and it showed me that in the new version it is integrated into the developer tools.
I hit ok and realized that it doesn't work at all (everytime using Inspect Element the <body> element is selected). So I would like to revert that setup back, but I cannot find where to switch it. I tried to reinstall Firebug, but that setup is stored somewhere so it automatically starts the DevTools instead of Firebug.
Any help how to revert back to the classic Firebug?
As I wrote in the Firebug discussion group, that the <body> element is selected first before the actual element you inspected is a bug and I've already filed a bug report for it.
There is also a bug related to the Inspect Element with Firebug option, which opens the DevTools, but doesn't actually select the inspected element. This bug got fixed in Firebug 2.0.19 by removing the option (so there's just the Inspect Element option left, which works as explained above).
As mentioned in my answer to a related thread, you may be able to reenable Firebug by setting the preferences browser.tabs.remote.autostart, browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 to false via about:config.
These settings control whether Firefox works in multi-process mode (separate processes for its UI and the websites). Unfortunately Firebug is incompatible with that mode.
Note: This is a temporary solution, because the multi-process mode will be mandatory at some point and the preference will be removed. Also, starting from Firefox 57 only WebExtensions will be supported and Firebug is based on different APIs, so it definitely won't work anymore at that point.
Another way is to install an old version of Firefox like 48, disable automatic updates and install Firebug there. Though, having said that, this option is not recommendable (at least not long term), because you will miss important (security) bug fixes and new features.
In additional to #Sebastian Zartner's answer, (from Firebug's website):
Firebug 2 doesn’t work in multi-process browsers (i.e. e10s) and converting it is too complex, so it will stop working when e10s is activated in Firefox. You will be able to disable e10s for a while to keep using Firebug 2, but this won’t last forever.
More about your question:
Firebug is not working with Firefox version 50.0
Why got Firebug removed after updating Firefox to version 50?