Firefox vs Internet Explorer, eBusiness and Key Shortcuts

Some time late last year I took the plunge and "upgraded" from Internet Explorer to Firefox as my primary browser. I guess it took me longer than many because for so long Oracle eBusiness Suite was inherently tied to Internet Explorer. However, that happy union has been consigned to history, and now things have taken a major turn for the better.

A couple of the components I find absolutely essential are Firebug, Adblock with Adblock Filters and the built in RSS reader.

I've also been using a bunch of the key shortcuts in Firefox and I thought I'd note them down here for easy reference. Very handy whether I'm in surfing mode - left thumb on left alt, right hand on arrow keys or developer mode - home row position.

Ctrl + T Opens a new tab, and places focus in the location bar.

Ctrl + W Close the current tab.

Alt + D or Ctrl + L or F6 Go to the location bar, highlight the current address for overwrite.

Ctrl + K Go to the search bar, highlight the current search for overwrite.

Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl PgUp / Ctrl PgDn Cycles through the open tabs forward or backward.

Ctrl + plus / Ctrl + minus Scales text size up and down.

Ctrl + Numpad 0 "zero" Resets text size back to default.

Ctrl + Shift + C Opens/closes Firebug – gotta have for debugging CSS etc.

Ctrl + U View source.

Alt + LeftArrow Alternative to the Back button

Ctrl + Enter In address bar adds "http://www." To front and ".com" to end of what you entered.

Ctrl + Tab / Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl PgUp / Ctrl PgDn Cycles through the open tabs forward or backward

Ctrl + plus / Ctrl + minus Scales text size up and down.

Ctrl + Numpad 0 "zero" Resets text size back to default.

Ctrl + Shift + C Opens/closes Firebug – gotta have for debugging CSS etc.

Ctrl + U View source.

Alt + Left Arrow Alternative to the Back button.

Ctrl + Enter In address bar adds "http://www." To front and ".com" to end of what you entered.

Apparently there is a KeyConfig Extension that allows you to customize your keystrokes.

Also see Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts Wiki.