@Nickzor:
Not so sure about that, didn't mess with any settings - so unless it comes like this out of the box (installation) I'm not so sure that's even an option.

Internet-TV

Thanks for this great tip! Now it looks better :)

Before the back button is even bigger in the beta 5, and has shrunk slightly in the RC1.

and @damiankrol
I don't think you can change the green/blue thing (well I suppose you could in the heaps of code) because there are some things changed from beta5 to RC1 regarding the skin and the address bar history/bookmarks.

I'm a mac user so the skin is grey, there's not even colour for the back button. On my home PC I think if I can remember correctly the back button is blue (Beta5) instead of the picture's green (RC1).

qugeist

I've just switched to FF3RC1.

I remember when I was testing beta2 a couple weeks ago, the skin was rather green than blue (I mean - the back/forward buttons; as it is shown on the picture above). Frankly, I don't like blue one as it is embedded into RC1. Green was better, I'm accustomed to it since the previous versions of FF (v1 and v2 were both green).

Do you know if there is a possibility to install that skin from FF3b2 to FF3RC1?

damiankrol

@Viajero: charlie brown

ender89

@Internet-TV: Maybe you were already using small icons before.

Nickzor

Good grief.

Viajero

I'm using the pre Release Candidate and I find it weird that the back button for me isn't oversized?

Internet-TV

The very first thing I've done every time I've installed Firefox is change to small icons. I have to maximize my viewing area, and I proceed to install AutoHideStatusBar and Hide Menubar so I can have as much screen real estate as possible.

Dignan17

And I was wondering why my FF didn't have the big button - I checked that option immediately after installing. I thought I was going crazy, with you all talking about some big fancy button...

Solus

Folks here seem to fond of keyboard application launchers, I'd think they'd want to memorize some Firefox keyboard shortcuts rather than going through the labor of moving a mouse a couple of centimeters and forcefully pressing down against a spring-loaded left click button.

[lifehacker.com]

Capone

Does it have a "native look" theme for folks who use the Windows classic theme? :)

Johnay

I just want my Tango icons back on my PC :(

DarKobra

> Hm...a Wireless Mouse with back and forward buttons?
I highly recommend the Logitech MX1000 laser mouse, which was available stand-alone or in the MX5000 combo pack.

It features Back and Forward buttons above the thumb, and wonderfully intuitive PageUp and PageDown buttons above and below the scroll wheel. Those Page buttons save me all kinds of time and arm-waving between the mouse and keyboard.

Throw in MouseImp, a free grab-and-drag tool for Windows, and you've got a document navigation paradise.

irkregent

haha wow I just made a small comment and it got turned into a lifehacker post, awesome!

zaxour

I've been running into the opposite problem. I like the big back button, but I *always* use small icons. Right now I have to choose between them. Is there any way to get small icons, but with the "keyhole shaped" back-forward button?

yehoni

anyway to get rid of the home button in the bookmark toolbar?

murph

@Tony of TonyandJuan.com: i, just like you, am really busy and have another life beyond coding and graphic design unfortunately...

i've asked about this upgrade 4 times now with no response, so i figured i'd chime in here too...

thanks for being a dick though. ;)

oh, and thanks for the tiny menu extension link(truly), that's nice...

sirfice

..or go in and customize the buttons to be 'text only'.

spr33

@Peter Kirn: Go to [bodizzlethemes.blogspot.com] and install the Aero theme for FF3. It definitely is the bodizzle for shizzle.

Ugh, yeah, I hate myself too.

arod

I wasn't a huge fan of the theme when I installed it to my Vista system, but I've come to like it after installing the Glasser extension: [forums.mozillazine.org]

jonny6pak

Right, you can remove the back/forward buttons and use the keyboard shortcuts or rocker switches.

But aesthetic complaints are pretty much my one remaining beef with FF3, at least with the hideous new Windows themes. I'm waiting for someone to build an FF3-compatible theme worth using so I can ditch this. (Separate post?)

Oh, and LH can be applauded for such a simple tip, because these buttons are *so* terrifyingly ugly that they can terrorize people into losing all rational thought.

Speaking of which, I'm finding plug-in compatibility is falling into place very quickly now. I stuck with FF2 until RC1, but RC1 -- aside from its ugly buttons -- is really, really brilliant. Unbelievably fast and stable. And because RC1 is feature-frozen, plug-in compatibility should start to come together now. (In fact, case in point, a lot of plug-ins updated for the FF3 betas have had to be updated again -- so plug-in developers who waited for RC/feature freeze were just saving themselves some time.)

Peter Kirn

I too like the big back button, but it took me forever (and I can't remember for the life of me how I did it) to get the home button on the same tool bar. Someone even asked me how I did it and I was ashamed that I didn't know how, wah.

maven2k

Ever since Rocker, I haven't used back and forward buttons.

NikP

I always make the current Firefox buttons small. Takes up less real estate on the screen.

ww2db.com

@sirfice: Yeah, you know Lifehacker, they're probably sitting on their asses, not trying to update it, just thinking about how much they hate you specifically.

That has to be it.
(It's open source right? Why don't YOU update it?)

Tony Bullard

I noticed this smaller back button when I did the ol' Lifehacker Tiny Menu Reorganization.

[lifehacker.com]

It auto-miniaturizes the buttons when you move them. My mouth fell agape for a second. You know you're a geek when UI makes you gasp.

Tony Bullard

hasn't everyone been doing this since ff2

luke holder

how this gets its own topic but better gmail 2 not being updated for RC1 is beyond me...

sirfice

Jeez, I like the default theme and the big button, and decided to keep both. Am I the only one ._.?

SonicJ

Mouse Gestures addon = no nav buttons visible at all, taking up my 'precious real estate'.

[addons.mozilla.org]

Now, then, if only something similar existed for Windows... :P

cJw

I want the big back button, but alas the Hardy Heron won't let me have it. Any Ideas? There is no extra theme installed. I haven't tried turning off the Ubuntu Firefox extension, I'm sure it does more than reducing the size of one button...

cparker

The new default themes are horrendous. Luckily designers are slowly but surely coming out with decent themes to replace the default monstrosity.

xxdesmus

Anyway to use the non-native theme? For example the native Vista theme in XP?

brownsin07

Isn't it strange that "use small icons" simply changes the size of one icon? At least, on a Mac - don't know about the others. I'm a fan of big icons - they make easier targets - but Apple seems to be going in the direction of little tiny chiclet buttons & Firefox has followed suit.

Rhywun

Looks like FF3 would beat IE to pulp this time!

nikrox

(OK, not the "small buttons" box, exactly, but still...)

NineTailedFox

You get rid of the big button by checking the "small buttons" box!

Where would we be without you, lh? ;)

NineTailedFox

I have a normal mouse with a few extra buttons near my thumb. I've just mapped one of them to function as a "back"; another as a "Refresh". Works great!

For some reason my home and refresh buttons and back are on different toolbars in FF3. Any idea how to combine on 1 bar?

ErikH

This was an issue for me too. Although actually the whole FF3 thing is an issue--I'm going back to FF2 until my favorite add-ons are updated. Surfin' just ain't the same without 'em.

OX4

@aaron8301:
Hm...a Wireless Mouse with back and forward buttons? Could you recommend any good ones? I myself was thinking about buying a gaming mouse perhaps with similar features.

SonicJ

I got me a cheap wireless mouse combo from Wally World three years ago. Although it's amazing it still works, I have become accustomed to the back and forward buttons on the mouse, and now I use them for everything. I forgot there WERE back and forward buttons on the toolbar!

Heck, that should be a lifehacker article all by itself - extra keyboard and mouse buttons. They definitely make life easier.

aaron8301

I like the big back button, for purely aesthetic reasons (since I use backspace on my keyboard anyway).

It's nice that there's a way to remove it, though.

Lunarplasma

That's nice, but one thing I don't like about FF 2.xxx is that I can't move the "go" button! It's way on the other side of the screen, I loved FF 1.xxx because I could move it to the left side of the address bar.
Is this possibly changed in FF3?? (obviously haven't tried it yet)

guyincognito79

Hated the huge back button. Thanks. YES, it was an issue.

bachcottage

I don't use the default theme... i like the microfox theme, you get a lot more "real estate" up in the menubars with the teensy icons (of course, i'm on an 12" iBook, so real estate is at a premium)

ChefHacker

This was an issue? Wow.

quixiotic

Wow, great tip, although I sorta like the look of the new back/forward buttons :d

SonicJ