Where do you go for (official) Firefox support?
Web browsers like Firefox or Chrome sometimes behave in a different way than expected, may throw error messages your way, or may look or function different than before. When it comes to Firefox, Nightly, Aurora and Beta versions are more likely to cause these issues than the stable version of the browser due to their faster release pacing.
The question of support may come up if you encounter such a situation. Where do you go or who do you contact if you run into issues in Firefox and need troubleshooting help?
While it is certainly possible to try and fix the issue by yourself, it may not always be possible to do so. It may depend largely on your expertise with computers and the browser in particular, but more often than not also on external factors that you may not be able to influence at all.
A basic example is Mozilla's intention to change the interface of the Firefox browser in one of the upcoming versions. If you are upgraded to it, you will notice that you cannot just change the browser back to the old interface, at least not by flipping a switch in the preferences of it.
Mozilla Support
Support is mostly web-based, there is no phone number that you can call for tech support. You do have other options at your disposal though including live chat with contributors. Below is the list of official Mozilla support channels on the Internet.
This is the Mozilla Support homepage. Select the Mozilla product that you need support for, e.g. Firefox for desktop or Android, and browse the available help topics here. The site lists hot topics that may address your issue, and topics that you can browse.
If you do not see your issue listed here, you may want to use the search on the page to search for it, as browsing may take quite some time due to the structure of the site.
If you cannot find help there, you may want to check out the support forum instead. Here you find user submitted support requests and answers. You can browse the selection by recency or by popularity.
You may find your issue listed here which may provide you with the answers you need to resolve it. This is not always the case though, and it may take some time before a solution is posted by another user or contributor.
You can monitor the topic either by email or by subscribing to its feed. To do so, click on Question Tools on the right and select the email or feed option to receive notifications whenever a reply is posted.
If your issue is not listed here, you may want to post it yourself instead. You do need an account on the site but that is the only requirement.
The bug tracking software offers information about most changes developers have made and issues that occurred to some users at one time or the other.
The main issue here is that the database is really big, and that you may get hundreds or even thousands of returns for your query.
You can use the basic search on the main page, or advanced search options that allow you to filter by product and status among other things.
If you prefer live chat, your best bet is to connect to IRC. There are a lot of channels, for instance for developers and project channels, channels in different languages, and for different locations.
Your best bet to get Firefox help is the #firefox channel. If you are new to IRC, check out Mozilla's extensive wiki page that lists clients that you can use and offers instructions on how to connect and use the system.
Mozilla Groups and mailing lists
Mailing lists and newsgroup channels are used extensively by Mozilla, for instance to discuss development of the browser. There are however end-user support groups available that provide troubleshooting assistance.
The main Firefox support group is not as well frequented as one would expect it to be, but that is largely because it is not linked directly on Mozilla's support website.
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https://support.mozilla.org/kb/get-community-support
Basically there is no support. You can get canned answers but no real help.
That is simply not true.
Have you ever tried?
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/get-community-support
Ok – so they have nothing to do with Mozilla – and so they aren’t “official” but you have to at least mention mozillaZine when discussing Firefox support! Their forums, with the many regular contributors, are an excellent source of information even if you never post anything yourself!
Mozillazine’s Knowledge Base (KB) articles are mostly pretty good too – their only problem is like the rest of us – keeping up with the rabid release cycle – come Tuesday its the new Firefox 24!
Heartily recommend visiting mozillaZine @ http://forums.mozillazine.org/ – their main Firefox Support board is very current and the two search boxes are essential given a huge database.
Perhaps also worth mentioning that Mozilla Support’s short name is SUMO (Support Mozilla) which often gets bandied about and can easily confuse newcomers. Also Bugzilla isn’t just used by Mozilla but other clients/software too, thus “Bugzilla@Mozilla” is @ https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/
PS. Firefox lovers in search of a more personal support experience might like to try its Pale Moon “cousin” (http://www.palemoon.org/) – one of the joys of which is a very engaged developer and a responsive forum @ http://forum.palemoon.org/index.php