How to Install and Work With the Text Formatting Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox

How to Install and Work With the Text Formatting Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox
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Installing the Toolbar

One of the benefits of using Firefox as your web browser is that you can choose from an abundance of add-ons to install. Add-ons are small programs that enable you to change or augment the way your browser looks or behaves. One such add-on is the text formatting toolbar for Mozilla Firefox, which allows you to customize text you enter into certain online forms.

To install this add-on, find it on the Firefox Add-ons site and click the Add to Firefox button. If you receive an error stating that the toolbar is not compatible with your version of Firefox, you can download it directly from CodeFisher.org, the creator of the text formatting toolbar for Mozilla Firefox.

Once you have downloaded the toolbar, you will need to restart any Firefox browser windows you have open. If you are working on anything in your browser, save all changes before restarting Firefox. When your browser window reopens, a notification window will inform you that the toolbar has been successfully installed. You will see the new toolbar at the bottom of your Firefox toolbar, just above the browser tabs.

Using the Toolbar

Now that you have installed the text formatting toolbar for Mozilla Firefox you can get busy using it. Go to a website that has a text box you can type into, such as the comment section of a blog or a forum post. Click inside of the text box to enable the text formatting toolbar. Select the type of code you want to use from the menu on the right end of the text formatting toolbar. The default is BBCode, which stands for bulletin board code and is the HTML markup often used for forums and message boards. Your other options are HTML and Wiki Code.

Text Formatting Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox: Text Size Button

The first button on the toolbar is the Custom Tags button. Select this and choose Create or Edit Custom Tags if you wish to add custom buttons for the toolbar.

Next is the Text Size button, which enables you to change the size of your text.

Text Formatting Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox: Insert Image

The third and fourth buttons allow you to change your text to super- or sub-script, respectively. Use the button with an envelope icon to insert an email link.

The photo icon enables you to insert an image into the text form. Be prepared with the picture’s address, as there is no Browse option available.

The next two buttons permit you to add code to format text as a code block and add code to set the text color. Use the two list buttons to create an ordered or unordered list.

Text Formatting Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox: Quote

If you are quoting another person’s post, you can use the Add Code to Format Text as a Quote button. The rest of the buttons are typical formatting options, such as Strikethrough, Underline, Italics and Bold along with four alignment options.

When you are not using the toolbar you can easily hide it so that it takes up less space on your Firefox window. Simply right-click the upper area of the Firefox toolbar and click on Text Formatting Toolbar to clear the check mark beside it. Whenever you are ready to use the toolbar again, right-click the Firefox toolbar and select the option once more.

Screenshots courtesy of author.