Font sizes [SOLVED]

[riki]

I am running 18.2 Mate 32 bit (Sylvia 18.3 is horrible, never had so many problems with other Linux OSs). Can somebody kindly tell me how to increase font sizes in menu bars on Firefox? I should be very grateful.

[kukamuumuka]

https://support.mozilla.org/fi/questions/1186162

Global Zoom Factor

This will enlarge both the toolbar area and the content area:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the filter box, type or paste pix and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click layout.css.devPixelsPerPx and change its value to 1.25 and click OK, which corresponds to 125% font size in Windows display settings. The toolbar area should enlarge after a few moments. Too small? Try 1.5 and see whether that suits you better. And so on. If you are on Mac and use a Retina display, anything below 2.0 may be smaller than what you started with, so start with 2.0.

Important: Do not go below 1.0 because it may become too tiny to edit.

[riki]

https://support.mozilla.org/fi/questions/1186162

Global Zoom Factor

This will enlarge both the toolbar area and the content area:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the filter box, type or paste pix and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click layout.css.devPixelsPerPx and change its value to 1.25 and click OK, which corresponds to 125% font size in Windows display settings. The toolbar area should enlarge after a few moments. Too small? Try 1.5 and see whether that suits you better. And so on. If you are on Mac and use a Retina display, anything below 2.0 may be smaller than what you started with, so start with 2.0.

Important: Do not go below 1.0 because it may become too tiny to edit.

Wow! Thanks a million!! The areas have enlarged significantly (1.50) although the fonts do not appear to have been altered. However, much better and I don't have to screw my eyes. Many thanks again.

[riki]

Sorry...I'm in trouble again through my own fault. I tried to change back the size of menu bars with about:config (pix> layout.css.devPixelsPerPx) from 1.50 to 1.25 but I typed 1.35 instead and now Firefox won't open. Is it fixable? Thanks.

[Flemur]

Sorry...I'm in trouble again through my own fault. I tried to change back from 1.50 to 1.25 but I typed 1.35 instead and now Firefox won't open. Is it fixable? Thanks.

Firefox has a very primitive, user-hostile procedure to change the fonts - create, if it's not there, and edit the css file:

Code: Select all

~/.mozilla/firefox/profile.default/chrome/userChrome.css

FWIW - there's some selective font-changing going on near the end, you need to find out their name for the GUI component you want to change (that was the hardest part):

Code: Select all

/** Do not remove the @namespace line -- it's required for correct functioning **/
/* set default namespace to XUL */
@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul");  

/* Change ALL the FF GUI fonts */
 *  {
    font-size:      10.5pt      !important;
#    font-family:    sans        !important;     /* */
    font:          "Liberation sans" !important;
    font-weight:    bold        !important;     /* */
    }

/* CHange TAB font and background color */
.tabbrowser-tab[fadein]:not([pinned])  {	min-width: 20px !important; }	/* ??? */
tab{	-moz-appearance: none !important;  }

/* Hide tab throbber and 'icon-image' (waste of space) */
.tabbrowser-tab 	  .tab-close-button 	{ display: none  !important; }	/* hide close button initially */
.tabbrowser-tab:hover .tab-close-button 	{ display: block !important; }	/* show close on hover */
.tabbrowser-tab 	  .tab-icon-image 		{ display: none  !important; }		/* */
.tabbrowser-tab 	  .tab-throbber 		{ display: none  !important; }		/* */
/* Hide tab throbber ... END */

/* change font on active tab */
tab[selected="true"] {						/* active */
	font-size: 		12px				!important;
	font-weight: 	bold  				!important;
	color: 			black  				!important;
}

tab:not([selected="true"]) {					/* inactive  */
	font-size: 		11px				!important;
	font-weight: 	bold 				!important;
	color: 			black				!important; 	
}

Edit: listing looks OK with tab=4 spaces.

[riki]

Thanks Flemur but your command doesn't work: "No such file or directory"

[Flemur]

Thanks Flemur but your command doesn't work: "No such file or directory"

I didn't suggest a given command, but
create, if it's not there, and edit the css file:

Before making esoteric changes, I'd also make a backup of ~/.mozilla in case you mess up:

Code: Select all

cp -r ~/.mozilla ~/.mozilla.save

[riki]

I appreciate your help Flemur but I am losing it...I was hoping that the task would be simpler...I'll keep trying. I have Firefox on two other machines so I haven't lost everything. Thanks again.

[Flemur]

I appreciate your help Flemur but I am losing it...I was hoping that the task would be simpler...

Oh, no, the task is extremely simple, but the method is a PITA.

With gedit (replace "gedit" with whatever editor you use)

Code: Select all

gedit ~/.mozilla/firefox/profile.default/chrome/userChrome.css

Go to that css code I showed you here, do "Select all" then "rt-click on it -> copy", then go back into gedit and paste all that code in, and then save the file. Restart firefox. See if anything looks different (You should have a smallish, bold font for all the GUI items). If you don't have the "Liberation" font installed (I think it is by default), use the commented-out line with "sans".

[riki]

Thanks again Flemur. One thought: if I uninstall/reinstall Firefox, would it solve the problem? I would of course first backup my home files. On this machine I am running a dual partition with 18.3 and 18.2. 18.2 is the one with the Firefox issue. Is Pluma the editor of Mate? Never used it. I very rarely have problems...

[kukamuumuka]

Thanks again Flemur. One thought: if I uninstall/reinstall Firefox, would it solve the problem? I would of course first backup my home files. On this machine I am running a dual partition with 18.3 and 18.2. 18.2 is the one with the Firefox issue. Is Pluma the editor of Mate? Never used it. I very rarely have problems...

Reinstallation does not help, because config-files are in the ~/.mozilla folder. Rename .mozilla folder, so you get the default settings.

Code: Select all

mv .mozilla .mozilla.orig 
rm -r .cache/mozilla

[Flemur]

Reinstallation does not help, because config-files are in the ~/.mozilla folder. Rename .mozilla folder, so you get the default settings.

Code: Select all

mv .mozilla .mozilla.orig 
rm -r .cache/mozilla

OP, if you do that "mv" instead of the "cp -r" you'll have to start firefox before editing the .css file so it can create a new .mozilla directory to put the file in.

Then, if you have any custom firefox stuff, like addons, saved passwords, etc., you'll have to save the copy (or mv) the .mozilla.orig back to .mozilla and re-do the changes to the userChrome.css file (or save that file outside of mozilla and copy it back to the new mozilla)

IOW, I think the "cp -r" is a lot easier than "mv" - after it's working you can just delete the .mozilla.save directory.

[riki]

I tried administrollaattori's commands and bingo it's all coming back. Many thanks to you both administrollaattori and Flemur...my headache is beginning to get better! Great stuff guys. Most appreciative.