about:blank as FF home page...

I have set about:blank as my home page. However, when I back all the way up FF (2.0.0.3) has "forgotten" about "about:blank" and ends up at the last real URL in the push down stack?

I know IE does this too but it annoys me leave an active web page in the stack. So I kill FF just to get rid of the last entry in the stack.

Is there any way to "work around" this so there is an inactive page as the last in the stack whether it is about:blank or not?

 

Doug,

By "the stack" do you mean History? If so, configure Fx to delete History on close. Tools | Options | Privacy | Private Data
Click on the "Settings" tab, and select "History "
You can also access this option in Tools | Clear Private Data

When you set the startup page, was that in Tools | Options | Main
Did you select: Startup | When Firefox starts: "Show a blank page "
Leaving the "Homepage" field blank?

I too use about:blank as my startup page, and have never experienced what you describe.

Accessing about:config these are my settings for startup:

browser.startup.homepage...........................user set.....string
browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone..user set.....string......rv:1.8.13
browser.startup.page....................................user set.....0

 

A push down stack is a list of "encounters" in chronological order, such as the list of URL's under the Back Button. When you click on the back button you are bringing up the pages in the exact reverse order that you encountered them. In other words, first in - last out (or last in - first out, same thing).

I would prefer not to clear history that way.

What I want is to start with a blank page when I start FF then go to a web site then click on the back button until I am back to the blank page that came up when FF was started. FF and IE both do not put the blank page as the first page in the list (stack). They both have the first real URL or page as the first item in that list. I start up FF with a blank page and I want to end up with that blank page when I click back through the Back Button list. Not too much to ask! Why display a blank page only on start up? Why not when we backtrack too?

I had Startup | When Firefox starts: "Show a blank page "
but I had the Homepage set to "about:blank "

I have changed the Homepage to no entry (left the field blank) but the result is the same.

I do not understand. If you leave the Homepage field empty, then where are you entering "about:blank "?

The $64 question: are you saying that when you click back through the Back Button list that you end up with the original blank page?

My settings are the same as yours now that I have left the Homepage empty. However, if I enter "about:blank" as my Homepage then the browser.startup.homepage entry is "about:blank" but the results of clicking the Back Button until the list is exhausted (no left arrow), the final page that is displayed is not a blank page. It is the first real web page I went to when I started browsing. I want it to be the blank page that I started up FF with. (dangling preposition and all <grin>)

 

No. I understand now where you were going, and we're on the same page. I believe you would have to do some hacking in order to be able to add about:blank to your History. Let me see if I can find a guru with about:config, and if this is even a possibility. It most definitely is not a default option.

 

Thanks, Ramona!

Having been a programmer in a past life ( ) I would have made the program end up exactly where it started (no matter where that was) when you click through the Back Button list, not one page short of where you started. That way you would truly start and end up at your Homepage. Homepage has little value when it is only displayed at FF start up.

 

A little testing has yielded an inelegant solution:

Tools>Options>Main:

set When Firefox Starts: to "Show my home page "
set Home page: to "127.0.0.1 "

When FF starts you get an "Unable to connect" screen. At least this screen stays within your PC as it is not connected to any web site. This was my real goal: to not be connected to any web site when I backed all the way out.

Now when you click the Back arrow you will end up back to this "Unable to connect" screen.

It would be far better if this worked for a home page of "about:blank" (or some other way to generate a blank screen) but it doesn't.

 

scout321x,

Very creative,

If this works for you, try:
1. Create a blank HTML file
2. Name and save the file you created as "My Home Page" ( or name of your choice )
3. Set the HTML file you created as you Home Page/Start Page in FF

Just MHO

regards:captjlddavis

 

Thanks!! I would like to try this but I don't know how to create an HTML file let alone a blank one. All help is appreciated!!

 

scout321x,

I use the Composer in Seamonkey - don't think FF or TB has an equal - but there may be something that will work.

as a last resort you can open Notepad and save the empty file as:
"My Home Page" or name of you choice as an HTML
eg
My Home Page.html

shud work.

regards:captjlddavis

 

I just created a blank html file with notepad. Unfortunately, FF comes up with an error message because it cannot resolve "My home Page" as a URL. I think I'll stick with a home page of 127.0.0.1 until FF get changed. Thanks for responding!!

 

Doug,

I tried the blank.html and it works great, however, you must also change your settings like this:

Open the blank.html file in a blank tab

Clear any other tabs which are open (if any)

In the Tab Settings, first change the Startup field to: Show my homepage

Next: Select the "Use Current Page" tab, which will enter the local path to the blank.html file.

It works, and very innovative of you, captjlddavis. I'm impressed by both of your ideas! Good to have a programmer around...

 

Yup, I got it working too. Kudos to captjlddavis! and Ramona!

Where there is a will, there is a way!

 

Amen to that, or necessity is the mother/father of invention!

 

This is really a great "fix ". I love it!

Ramona, I hope we can somehow preserve this "solution" for others instead of it disappearing in the archives.

 

Doug,

I can add it to my Firefox Solutions pages if you like...

 

Please do!

It sure seems to me to be a better solution than a) staying connected to a web site in the background or b) killing FF just to "leave" a web site to get it out of your system.

I do not like having active web sites in the background just because the browser cannot, as designed, rid itself of being attached. There is too much that hackers can do today that most average Jane/John Doe's haven't a clue about. I am all about being secure!!

 

scout321x,
I think you are concerned about nothing.

Various pages that you visit are stored in the program cache on your HD.
How the program communicates with the net is determined by what the setting for:
browser.cache.check_doc_frequency is set.

It is GUI set in seamonkey via edit-> preferences->advanced->cache

browser.cache.check_doc_frequency (Integer). The value entered specifies how often newer versions of cached files are check for. 0 checks once per session. 1 checks each time the webpage is loaded. 2 specifies that the cached version is used if it exists. While 3 checks automatically (Whenever it’s out of date).

I think in FF there is no GUI, and you must change/set it via "about: config "
(but I could be wrong)
I do not think that just because you had visited a site that it is still active and connected to the net. I beleive that the site must have the program focus

Google on
browser.cache.check_doc_frequency firefox to get more information on how this works.

HTH

regards:captjlddavis

 

You may very well be right but I know that blank page is within my PC and cannot make mischief. And I think it is just cleaner. Why be able to start out with a blank page and not end up at one if you like?

Thanks again for your help on this!!

 

Hi Doug,

I have FF open almost all the time I'm on my computer. Like you, I open FF with a blank page and, like you, prefer not to leave a page open when I'm temporarily done using FF.

It sounds as though you've found a solution that works for you, but I don't understand why you have the "problem" in the first place.

If you have FF's Tab Bar visible at all times, simply clicking on any tab's close button will blank the tab and, as far as I can tell, clear what you refer to as the "push down stack ".

 

Jim,

You are absolutely correct! I did not have the Always show the tab bar box checked. With it checked it works great.

Now we have a solution for all situations.