Don't Like The New Firefox Button? Then Change It!

Martin Brinkmann
Feb 12, 2011
Updated • Feb 23, 2014
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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Firefox 3 users who switch to Firefox 4 for the first time need to get used to several interface changes that the developers have made. If you have followed the development from the first beta on you may have noticed that some of the design choices have been removed and replaced with something more Firefox-3 like. The mouse-over url information for instance were initially placed in the Firefox address bar but have been moved back to the bottom of the Firefox interface in the latest beta.

The Firefox button on the other hand is still there. The button that replaced the Firefox menu bar has been placed in the title bar. It is rather big and clunky and looks misplaced there. It is however not possible to move the button to another location. The only available option is to display the old menu of the browser instead of it.

The Firefox add-on Movable Firefox Button has two interesting features. It can be used to resize and move the Firefox button from the title bar to another location.

smaller firefox button

The extension places a resized version of the Firefox button automatically into the tab bar from where it can be moved via drag and drop by selecting View > Toolbars > Customize.

It is possible to restore the button to its original location and size by disabling or uninstalling the add-on.

Movable Firefox Button is in many regards comparable to Firefox 3 add-ons such as Compact Menu which reduce the size requirements of the menu as well. The add-on is only available for Windows. (via)

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Comments

  1. ally said on November 8, 2012 at 5:14 am
    Reply

    But what if I followed your instructions, and now want to CHANGE IT BACK??? Thanks for your response.

  2. nimd4 said on July 29, 2012 at 7:52 pm
    Reply

    0r, without an add-on: trishtech.com/internet/change_color_and_label_of_orange_button_in_firefox_4.php

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on July 29, 2012 at 9:00 pm
      Reply

      Thanks for posting.

  3. Kecko said on March 23, 2011 at 9:56 pm
    Reply

    >The add-on is only available for Windows.
    That’s not correct. I just installed it in Linux and it works great!
    Thanks a lot!

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on March 23, 2011 at 9:59 pm
      Reply

      Kecko thanks for the confirmation.

  4. Squeeky said on March 14, 2011 at 1:13 am
    Reply

    @Threshold

    You are incorrect about the space saving features of the new Firefox Button. The new button fits within the title bar (which can’t be eliminated), and does not increase the height of the Title Bar. OTOH, by putting the button in the title bar, it allows the elimination of the Menu Bar, thus increasing the amount of visible web page real estate by the height of the (extinguished) Menu Bar.

    This extension (moving the FF Button) makes absolutely no change in the amount of usable web page real estate (either pro or con). It doesn’t “correct” anything. It simply allows repositioning the button for aesthetic reasons.

    1. Aminifu said on March 20, 2011 at 9:11 pm
      Reply

      Speaking of aesthetics, remember FF Personas customizing. It lets you wallpaper the area behind the UI elements. Well, the translucent tabs on top of the wallpaper I use makes the tabs hard to read. Is there a way to change the level of transparency or do I have to give up my wallpaper?

      With the trend toward reducing UI elements, I no longer can see much of the wallpaper anyway.

  5. Threshold said on February 13, 2011 at 4:59 am
    Reply

    Sometimes you seriously wonder what goes into the developer’s head and this is one of those cases.
    Why remove the Menu Bar to replace it with a button that takes the exact same space but forces users to go through a gymkhana of submenus to access the different instances?

    What exactly is the benefit of this?

    I honestly have no idea and fortunately there are people who develop extensions like this one to correct such absurdities.

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