Firefox 3 themes preview
Firefox 3 Beta 1 shipped with no changes to the default theme so far in any platform. However, updates on their way and should be publicly available by Beta 2.
One of the main changes we will see is that Mozilla is breaking from the “same look in all platforms” mantra to a more relaxed “similar recognizable look in all platforms”. On the topic, Alex Faaborg, member of the Firefox UI (user interface) team, posted a long post a few days ago about what is the new approach for delivering a homogeneous look and feel among Windows, Mac and Linux platforms while fitting in each OS particular style.
In brief: UI elements color and texture will help OS integration while their shape and size will ensure a common aspect that users can recognize.
But that’s just part of the equation when it comes to touching Firefox default theme, or more properly, themes.
The other of course is usability. So the back button is getting bigger and the independent back and forward history menus could be merged into a single one placed between the back and forward buttons. The rational is simple, the back button is the most used button and it just makes sense to make it easier to reach.
The change will serve a second purpose: shape. Alex proposes the need for an easily recognizable shape in the same league as the iPod outline, the Coca-Cola bottle silhouette, or the Beetle shape. It would certainly help Firefox marketing efforts as it becomes part of its identity.
Here it is in Mac OS X silver, Vista glass and XP plastic textures and colors, just as promised. I like the fact that the Firefox logo and name could fit in this shape.
More changes: the home button is sent to the bookmarks toolbar by default; the go button appears only when you are entering an address in the location bar and replaces the star and feed icons if present for a cleaner look. The throbber, the little thingy in the far right edge of the menu toolbar that animates when loading the current page, will be moved to the site button so it is better associated with the site instead of the whole application.
The following sketch, provided by Alex, summarizes these and other changes that have already landed in Beta 1 like the star button and the site icon.
While these changes are yet to be implemented Mac OS X users can already see the work in progress via Proto 0.7, a Firefox for-Mac-only theme developed by Kevin Gerich, released along with Firefox 3 beta 1.
Beautiful, isn’t it? But not very Firefox-ish. Hopefully the shape trick will do the magic.
The Linux themes are progressing very well using Gnome’s Tango style.
For screenshots on other Linux variations, see this Ars Technica article.
Stay tuned for more on the development of Firefox 3.
Comments
Jeton
Those themes look yummi :D
And Mr.Faaborg definitely knows what what he is talking about. Some great explanations.
Thanks for sharing this.
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jeff
“the home button is sent to the bookmarks toolbar by default;”
grr. I disagree with that, and many others did when it was suggested before. It’s used a lot and needs to be on the main bar.
I hope “by default” means we can easily add it to the main bar as we can add other buttons… yes?
The two-sided back-forward button sounds like an interesting concept…
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Jason
Thank you. I am really happy that there is a theme that makes Firefox look closer to the system that it is on. Much appreciated work!
James Cleveland
I’m not sure if my comment got submitted last time (another page caused Firefox to crash), but I’d like to request that all of the themes are cross compatible, because often we dislike the OS default style (Luna is ugly) and would prefer to have the icons for an alternative platform (for instance, if you have patched your icons to look like the tango gnome style).
Also, a gnome-colored theme (ala the Gnome-Tango icons) would be excellent, if there is time :)
-V-
Sorry to dissapoint you Leo but Longhorn IS Vista, it was the codename for the beta version of vista before it was released.
pracas upreti
thanks for the firefox 3 . But same problems occurs everytime that my firefox crashes up in my system. The problem is from firefox 2.11 and still the same thing is happening.
and finally my request goes to kevin for creating and placing the firefox 3.0b2 theme.
Thanks
Pracas Upreti
Nepal
Jack Waddington
One of the first things I do upon opening Firefox is to select BBC “Latest Headlines”, but with this Beta version I have to go to the bottom and force it to “Open” in order to read the newest list. This is not necessary with Version 2 on the Mac using OS 10.4.11. Why is this so?
Otherwise, nice though the program is – it’s always been my preferred browser – it does not look a whole lot different to me. Oh, and I find Opera is MUCH faster at finding a file that I want downloaded. Again, I can’t figure out why.
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Ajit
I dont agree with putting the home button in the bookmarks toolbar. What’s the rationale behind it? I use the home button a lot because i use Google personal pages and from time to time i need to go back to it to check my email or read a news update.
Not having the home button sucked until i discovered where it had disappeared. Bring it back please!
The icons look like crap, absolutely no personality. Expect more from Firefox. i like the redesigned back button from a useability standpoint, but it doesnt look good.
Lex McPhail
“the home button is sent to the bookmarks toolbar by default” Is there any way to put the Home button back onto the Nav toolbar? I did not have the bookmarks toolbar visible and run the Nav toolbar with small icons. Customise Toolbar does not have the Home button listed.
I like the combined forward and back history.
Deb
To get the home button up to the main toolbar. first hit view and click to show the bookmarks toolbar now right click on the bookmarks toolbar and click customize, once that window open you can drag and drop the home button so just click it (hold) drag up to wherever you want it.
Richard Burdette
What happened to the Google tool bar? That was the only add on that was useful
Brad, ten year old blogger
Well, the Windows one looks a bit slab, though. I wish they could have that cool look on Windows XP as well.
Bamm
It may look fine in Ubuntu, but it looks horrible in Kubuntu. Any plans for making it look better in KDE?
johanMay 20th, 2008 at 7:12 am
The following article has some useful tips on getting KDE to look better (it’s geared towards OpenSuSE, but the general ideas remain the same): http://en.opensuse.org/Optimal_Use_of_Fonts_on_SuSE
The only aspect I had to change, was the Anti-Alias setting (my exclusion range is 0-7 pts). The whole discussion about 96 dots per inch is useful, but it’s really not essential to get the dpi as close to 96 as possible.
Firefox behavior is influenced quite substantially by the anti-alias setting, especially if you use smaller fonts (gmail comes to mind).
Dusan M. Stojanovic
Hi Everyone,
j find mozilla for one of the best browser on the web wordwide.
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Leo
Just I said before, the back button is not an original idea.
In fact, was a Microsoft idea when they were designing Longhorn, the Windows that never was.
Take a look:
http://members.iinet.com.au/~aaronharvey/Vista/DiamondBackButtons.PNG
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