[mitchsc]

Regarding the drop down list of address bar history, I thought that Firefox sorts this list by most often visited sites.

This does not seem to be the case with mine. It seems random. I visit a particular site about twice a day, and it rarely shows up on this drop down list.

I can't seem to find a setting or add-on to change the sorting criteria. Would like to sort by either most often, or most recently visited.

Does anyone know how to do this?

There is an add-on, that seems to have this capability, but it does all sorts of other things as well. I just want to change the sorting criteria. I like the way IE7 does it. (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2300 . Just realized this only works with older versions of Firefox.)

Any suggestions?

Thanks...

[WallyHelps]

The Firefox address bar (AwesomeBar) does sort the list, but not quite like you expect. As you type into the bar, Firefox searches all the bookmarks and history for the characters you are typing. This means you don't even need to know the beginning of a URL to find it.

For example, if you know you watched a YouTube video that had the word "salad" in it, type "salad", and it will come up with "YouTube - Ross Sisters - Solid Potato Salad" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNR74UCidBI). This turns out to be very handy--just type any word you can remember and most of the time Firefox will find the URL. Sort of like Google for your bookmarks and browsing history.

Where the sorting comes into play is if there are multiple URLs that you've visited in the past with the word "salad" in them, Firefox will sort them by most frequently accessed first. Thus, over time you'll find that the URL you want most often will be the first one listed.

Here is a nice description of some tweaks to the AwesomeBar, look for "Customize Results". You might be able to get what you want by changing browser.urlbar.default.behavior.

I hope this helps,
WallyH

[mitchsc]

Thanks WallyH.

I didn't know that Firefox had an "intelligent" address bar. I saw the term "AwesomeBar" used in other forums, but didn't know what they were referring to.

I shall review your link and see if I can tweak the settings to sort to my preferences.

Thanks Again...
MitchSC

[mitchsc]

I tried the tweaks mentioned in WallyH's article, but realized that although it allows for filtering, there is still no way to ORDER the drop-down list from the address bar to those sites last visited.

No offense to Firefox, but I am trying to replicate the drop-down sorting of Internet Explorer, where it lists the sites in the order that they were last visited. I find this works best for me.

Any other suggestions here?

Thanks...

[WallyHelps]

I tried the tweaks mentioned in WallyH's article, but realized that although it allows for filtering, there is still no way to ORDER the drop-down list from the address bar to those sites last visited.

No offense to Firefox, but I am trying to replicate the drop-down sorting of Internet Explorer, where it lists the sites in the order that they were last visited. I find this works best for me.

Any other suggestions here?

Thanks...

You might try this... Go to Tools->Options->Privacy: tell Firefox to only search “History” instead of the default of “History and Bookmarks.”

This is strictly a guess, but if it just uses the sites you've been to and still sorts them by frequency, it might be what you want.

Good luck,
WallyH

[mitchsc]

It makes total sense, but unfortunately did not change anything on the drop-down menu.

Is it possible that I need to reboot the PC, or clear the browsing history after making this change?

[WallyHelps]

It makes total sense, but unfortunately did not change anything on the drop-down menu.

Is it possible that I need to reboot the PC, or clear the browsing history after making this change?

I doubt it, but it wouldn't hurt (assuming you don't mind losing your history).

Going back to browser.urlbar.default.behavior, it sure seems like a value of 17 or possibly 1 would do what you wanted. Did you try these values? Note that you might have to shut down Firefox to make this take effect.

You might also take a look at the Old Location Bar extension. It might give you the desired behavior.

Good luck,
WallyH

[mitchsc]

I tried (again) setting browser.urlbar.default.behavior to 17 and quitting Firefox. No difference.

I reread the article and I think I understand why.

Changing this value does not state that it changes the ORDER displayed on the drop-down list. It simply limits or filters what is displayed.

Such as 17 = sites previously visited, but excludes bookmarks, etc.

What I want is the list to be ordered with the most recent site visited at the top of the list, and so forth.

This experimental Add-On DOES indicate specifically that it can "order" in this manner, but I am hesitant to download an "experimental" add-on. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8659

Any other thoughts on this?

Thanks

[mitchsc]

WallyH,

Just read details of "Old Location Bar". Sounds like it might work.

Thanks.

PS: Is there any downside to installing an add-on to try it, and uninstalling it if it doesn't do what I want?

[WallyHelps]

WallyH,

Just read details of "Old Location Bar". Sounds like it might work.

Thanks.

PS: Is there any downside to installing an add-on to try it, and uninstalling it if it doesn't do what I want?

Not that I'm aware of. I don't go crazy installing add-ons, but I've never had any problem uninstalling them.

WallyH

[mitchsc]

Thanks WallyH. When I first switched to Firefox and was reading up on it, I remember someone commenting about how easy it is to get carried away with add-ons. I personally only have 4. I also hear they can slow down Firefox.

My philosophy is to keep my PC as "clean" as possible and only install programs and applications that I really need. It's worked out pretty well.

BTW, I just noticed you location as Kentucky. My best friend lives in Lexington...

[jlisenbe]

Mitch, I've had the same aggravation with Firefox. You can highlight an address on the dropdown and then delete it with the delete button, but it seems to do no good. Firefox will even "remember" some off the wall, one time visit to an obscure site, put it on the drop down list, and keep it there for months. However, a site you go to everyday might not ever show up. Really strange. I have never been able to find out what logic is used to populate that list.

[WallyHelps]

Mitch, I've had the same aggravation with Firefox. You can highlight an address on the dropdown and then delete it with the delete button, but it seems to do no good. Firefox will even "remember" some off the wall, one time visit to an obscure site, put it on the drop down list, and keep it there for months. However, a site you go to everyday might not ever show up. Really strange. I have never been able to find out what logic is used to populate that list.

To really remove the site, hit Ctrl-Del instead of just Del. I've not see the problem with everyday sites not being in the list.

WallyH

[mitchsc]

Jlisenbe - You described my experience with Firefox's drop-down address bar list to the tee. I have sites on there that, as you say, I have only visited once, and they are always on the list. More aggravating, are sites that I visit every day, that are never on the list. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

WallyH - Thanks for the tip on ctl-del to remove these obscure sites from the list. Question: if that site was deleted with this method, but later revisited, would it have the ability to be listed again on the drop-down?

Mitch...

[WallyHelps]

Jlisenbe - You described my experience with Firefox's drop-down address bar list to the tee. I have sites on there that, as you say, I have only visited once, and they are always on the list. More aggravating, are sites that I visit every day, that are never on the list. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

WallyH - Thanks for the tip on ctl-del to remove these obscure sites from the list. Question: if that site was deleted with this method, but later revisited, would it have the ability to be listed again on the drop-down?

Mitch...

That is my understanding, but I've not really tested that explicitly. It makes sense that the Ctrl-Del would just remove the site from the history database, and if you ever went back again, it would go back into the database.
WallyH

[mitchsc]

WallyH - Thanks for all of your help on this issue.

If anyone out there in cyber-space knows how to make Firefox's address bar drop down history behave like Internet Explorer (most recent sites visited), PLEASE let Jlisenbe and I know...

Thank you all

[jlisenbe]

Amen.