Hints and Tips

From PluginWiki

Contents 1 Backing up 2 Reducing size of exported preferences 3 Using multiple machines 4 Sharing your settings 5 Updating 6 More than one moderator on the list using the plugin? 7 Making sure your computer is up to date as well 8 Some basic maintenance for PCs 8.1 Windows Update 8.2 Cleaning Up Your PC

Backing up

You can back up your preferences from the Features tab. If you're not sure how to find that, see here.

It's a good idea to do this fairly regularly regularly to speed up the scan time needed should you have to use the back up to restore your settings. (and always before updating either Firefox, or the plugin). The plugin will remind you every 7 days if you haven't done this, though if you like you can modify or turn that reminder off from More Advanced Features:

If you used to access a group, but no longer do so, then you can delete that group's cached data, which will make your preferences smaller and make Firefox faster. See Managing Preferences.

There's also an plugin which helps with this, FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension).FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox plugins. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your plugins individually into installable .xpi files. It means you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers. It backs up and restores your plugins, themes, and (optionally) your bookmarks, preferences, cookies and much more. It will run on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Linux and Mac and is compatible with Firefox2 and Firefox3 and can be found here

If you really want a belt and braces backup, then use Mozbackup (which will backup and restore bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, plugins, cache etc. for Firefox AND Thunderbird by backing up complete profiles). Find it here.

Reducing size of exported preferences

You can get a very large file if you export your preferences with the cache. To make it smaller (without reducing content), do the following:-

• export your prefs with cache, then go to manage preferences on the features page and clear preferences for all groups
  
• Reimport your saved file, then once loaded immediately export with the cache and save again.
  

The file size is reduced in the second export so that a file of say 196MB will be reduced to about 10MB.

Using multiple machines

If you use multiple machines, you can use the export/import function to configure the plugin on just one of them, and then move the settings to another.

Sharing your settings

You can use the save/load function to share your settings with other moderators - save on your machine and get them to load on theirs. This is particularly useful when you get a new moderator.

Before you do the save, clear out the box with the location of the debug file (there's no guarantee the other person will be able to have the same filepath as you on their system).

You're then taken to a new window where you can choose whether to include the following in your export

• Email settings
• Email password
• Group access key
• My moderator name
• The message cache

NOTE By default they are NOT included. Then save your preferences as a .txt file.

If you are loading someone else's preferences which have been sent to you as a zipped file, you must unzip the file first and save it as a .txt file before loading. You might also like to look at central rejection texts.

Loading someone else's preferences will cause the values in your preferences to be overwritten by theirs. If their preferences are a lot less detailed than yours, this can occasionally cause problems - if this is the case, then take a backup of your preferences, then click the "clear preferences" button and confirm you wish the clear to happen. You will then have a 'clean' plugin without any preferences and can load the other person's preferences onto your machine.

Updating

Before you update either Firefox, or the plugin - either by downloading a newer version of the .xpi file or by doing 'tools, add ons, find updates' - export a copy of your preferences as a .txt file. Updating has occasionally caused preferences to be lost. If that happens to you, and you've done an export, then it's a 2 second job to import them (and it will save you a lot of work).

More than one moderator on the list using the plugin?

If more than one Moderator on your list is using the plugin, it's important that everyone is on the 'same page' - using the same version. If not, then some features that one moderator has or is using, won't be available to the other moderators.

However, before getting everyone to update, it's suggested that one moderator be assigned as 'beta tester' for your group(s). He/She is the individual who downloads the latest version or update/beta and installs it, checks to make sure it works, sets all the new preferences and then exports those to the other members after they have updated.

In this way, you're sure that everyone has the same version and is seeing the same thing, but only one person has had to report problems back to the group, make all the necessary changes to options and so on. If one person is moderating the plugin group on Yahoo, he/she can ensure that any 'glitches' have been reported and any updates have been installed.

The easiest way to keep everyone up to date is to do two file attachments and send them to your other moderators - the first file of course is the latest update or beta, and the second is a zip file containing your exported preferences. It's suggested that each time you include instructions on how to install both the update/beta and the preferences, especially if you have less-than-computer-literate moderators, or it has been a while since your last upgrade.

Making sure your computer is up to date as well

The following is not as complex as you may think, it's just long winded to make it easy for you in the end.

Another way to ensure that your PC has the most up to date software installed to make sure that the plug-in and Firefox work correctly together is, go to the Filehippo Updater page and download and install the program - NOTE that you might possibly have to follow the link on the above page to download a 24MB Microsoft program for it to work, it can also be obtained from Microsoft.

What this program does is to scan your computer for FREE software that is already installed on it that is needed by all sorts of the programs you use. It then compares the versions of what you have on your computer against the list of the latest versions they have on Filehippo. It then displays a popup near the clock in the bottom right-hand side of your screen telling you how many new versions of software you need to update. Double clicking on the Hippo icon will open your default browser and take you to the Filehippo page showing you what you need to download.

On that web page you click on an arrow and it automatically downloads the new version of the program your computer needs, you will then need to install it when it's downloaded... You may well also be prompted to reboot your PC.

Some basic maintenance for PCs

Windows Update

If you use Windows, then it's a good idea to download Microsoft Update.  At a minimum you should download the security updates.

Most people will find the Windows/MS Update link from Start->Programs - it's at the very top. Clicking on it will open a Windows IE window and take you to the updates page on line... it's all self explanatory from there.

Cleaning Up Your PC

From Filehippo you can download a couple of good free programs that will help in keeping your PC running sweetly: Ccleaner and Defraggler.

Before running these, shut down everything else:

• By the clock in the bottom right of your screen next to the clock there are lots of icons; right click on each icon and select Exit/Quit as appropriate - some you won't be able to close but it doesn't matter too much.
  
• Close your browser and any other programs too.
  

Now:

• Now go to Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and click on Disk Clean Up.
  
• When it's running select the C drive and click Ok.
  
• Now make sure all boxes are ticked.
  
• Then <span style="font-weight: bold;"</span>click on the More Options tab on the top, and then click on the bottom Clean Up button for System Restore - on first click it might seem that it's frozen but it will just be doing a lot of work...
  
• Now click on Ok and then Ok again.
  

The program will clear out masses of unused stuff from your computer and will take a long time the first time it is run;subsequently it won't be as long.

Now run Ccleaner. This is a powerful program which can remove all sorts of things from your PC that you want to keep, so be careful.

• When you first run it just use the default setting until you get used to what it can do, but also add Old Prefetch Data and Hotfix Uninstaller and ignore the warning offered.
• Now click the Analyze button and wait for it to finish. Then click the Run button
• When that has finished click on the Registry button on the left and the Scan button there, then click the Fix button. Do this as many times as it takes to not find any more to remove.
• Close Ccleaner.

Now run Defraggler again:

• On the main window at the top you will see the Hard Drives on your PC. Right click on the C drive and choose Defrag Drive.
• This will take many </spanhours, so it's normally best to do this before you go to bed and leave it running overnight.

Now shut down and reboot your PC.