TechBits

Changing where your downloads are saved

Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay

Many browsers are configured by default to download items to a "Downloads" folder, but what if you want your downloads to end up somewhere else?

Instead of having an extra step of moving the items from the Downloads folder to wherever you want them to go, it is possible to configure your browser to either 1) download them to a different location by default, or 2) ask you where to put each download.  Because I download items that need to go to many different locations, I've opted for the the 2nd option.

Here's how to adjust this setting in your browsers:

Firefox

1. In the Firefox "Options"
2. Search for "download" in the search box at the top
3. This should bring up a "Downloads" section where you can 1) specify exactly where you want to save files, or 2) have Firefox "Always ask you where to save files"

Chrome

1. In the Chrome "Settings"
2. Search for "download" in the search box at the top
3. This should bring up a "Downloads" section where you can 1) change the location where downloaded files are saved, or 2) have Firefox "Ask where to save each file before downloading"

Edge

1. In the Chrome "Settings"
2. Scroll down to the "Downloads" section
3. You can 1) choose where to save downloads, or 2) have Edge "Ask me what to do with each download"

Easy screen shots in Firefox

The Wisconsin State Law Library had a great tech tip a few weeks back about taking easy screenshots in Firefox. I hadn't realized that Firefox had a built-in way to take screenshots of browser content, so this was great news! (and good timing, given our recent ILS migration)

Firefox Monitor

Firefox Monitor is a free and easy way to find out if your email address has been exposed to an online data breach since 2007.  You can search for your email address from the web site at any time, or configure Firefox Monitor to send you alerts when your email is discovered to be part of a data breach.  You will need a Firefox account to set up alerts.

According to the FAQs, Firefox uses Have I Been Pwned as the source database provider for their service.  Their database is not totally comprehensive as it takes some time for some breaches to be discovered and they are not always given all the details of some breaches.  If you don't want your email address to be searchable on Have I Been Pwned, they do provide an opt-out link.

Important information about Firefox updates

When we moved to Koha SCLS developed what are called "profiles" in Firefox in order to make printing quicker and easier for libraries. So, for this reason, we always test Firefox updates because we know that having Firefox work correctly is very important for the libraries.  A few years ago when Mozilla, the developers of Firefox, moved to update Firefox every 6 - 8 weeks our ILS staff started testing the new version, before the libraries got it, to make sure that Koha functionality wasn't broken.  We even recruited a few libraries to also test the new Firefox version because the more testers there are the better.  When a version of Firefox is approved we then send it out to all the libraries, but before this update is sent out we always send out emails to keep libraries in the know.  When we send out these emails we always have an email subject that starts with "ALL STAFF - Firefox Upgrade".  It is in your library's best interest to read these emails carefully and not delete them.  Because if there are problems, that slip past all of our testers, these emails will contain information on how to fix the problem.  In the past, and even with the last update, we had problems with Koha that were caused by the Firefox update.  So these emails will keep you up-to-date on when a Firefox update is happening, if the update caused any problems with Koha and how to fix the problem.  If you do accidentally delete those emails you can also find information about Firefox updates on our SCLS Network PC Updates webpage.

Help Desk Tidbits

Early morning work on staff and patron PCs

When SCLS tech staff arrive in the morning they check on different things with both staff and patron PCs. Things like the status of the anti-virus and disk locking software. If we see a problem and we know the library isn't open yet, we will remote in to fix the problem. So if you are working and you see a PC move by itself that is just us working on it. Please don't shut off the PC thinking it has been hacked because we may be in the middle of fixing a problem. If the PC is rebooted it may cause more harm or we may have to start over and run the risk of still be working on the PC when you open. If you want to verify it is us you can always feel free to call the Help Desk and find out for sure.

Help Desk Portal gives "Connection not secure" error message

We've been getting a few calls lately reporting that when going to the Help Desk Portal people are getting an error message saying "Your connection is not secure." This is only with Firefox and is being caused by the fact that we secured the portal with a self-signed security certificate. We have a fix posted on our TechBits page and you read all about it by visiting this page.

Slow Staff PCs

We've been getting a lot of calls lately about slow staff PCs. Before you reboot those PCs, please call the Help Desk so we can remote in and hopefully see what is making the PC slow. Once we remote in what we'll probably do is run a virus/malware scan on the PC and this takes at least 20 minutes to complete. So hopefully you can be without the PC for a while as we look at it.

How to refresh your web browser without clearing your browsing history

Isn't it aggravating when you KNOW a webpage should be showing an update, but clicking the browser's "refresh" button (or hitting Ctrl + R) isn't showing the change? You might run across this when updating a website or even checking email.

Sure, you could log out, close all your tabs, and delete your browsing history to start completely fresh, but who wants to do that? Try these tips instead:

Hard Reload (two ways)
Ctrl + F5
or
Ctrl + Shift + R

Hold down the Control key and press F5. Or, hold down Control and Shift, and then press the R key. This will force the browser to reload and will work in Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

Empty Cache and Hard Reload (Chrome browser)

The "cache" is the group of images and files your browser saves to help load previously-visited web pages more quickly. Clearing cached files and then reloading forces the browser to get the most current versions of all those images and files.

1. In Chrome, press the F12 key. The DevTools menu will open.
2. Right click on the reload button and select Empty Cache and Hard Reload.
3. Breathe a sigh of relief that the page has refreshed, but all your tabs are still open and you are still logged into everything.
4. Hit F12 again to close DevTools.

Favorites Toolbar

Last fall I was working with a very smiley colleague on a large order when she noticed that I use folders on my web browsers favorites’ toolbar to group similar links. After I showed her how I created the folders we talked about how this might be something worth sharing with our readers.

For those that didn’t know Favorites Toolbars existed, I have to tell you, it’s incredibly convenient to have a few of my go-to favorites at the top of my browser where I can quickly go without having to click on dropdown menus. I found it frustrating when I had so many bookmarks in my toolbar that it became cluttered, which is where using folders to combine similar links can come in to help organize your toolbar.  For instance, I drive a lot, so I have a folder with my favorite travel advisory links so that I can quickly see if I should expect any travel delays. I also have a folder with a lot of Google doc links.

I mostly use Google Chrome and Firefox browsers, but you can also do this with Edge.

In Google Chrome, click the Customize and Control button (3 vertical dots) in the upper right hand corner. Hover your cursor over Bookmarks and select Show bookmarks bar. This will add the bookmarks bar if you don’t already have it. If you right-click in the bookmarks bar you will have an option to add a folder. Once you add and name a folder you can drag links into it.

In Firefox, click the menu button (Cheeseburger or 3 vertical lines) in the upper right-hand corner and choose Customize, click the Toolbars button at the bottom of the screen and select Bookmarks Toolbar. Just like with Chrome you can right-click in the bookmarks bar you will have an option to add a folder. Once you add and name a folder you can drag links into it.

I’ve also found that by having a visual of my favorite websites on my bookmarks toolbar I use them way more than I used my bookmarks menu at the top of my browser.

Convert web pages to PDF for printing/saving in Chrome and Firefox

Some time ago I came across a handy extension available for Chrome and Firefox called Print Friendly & PDF. You can use this extension to generate PDF files from web pages that can be used to either print or save the web page as a PDF file. However, I have noticed that the extension doesn't work exactly the same in both browsers. 

For example, when converting the scls.info home page in Chrome, the extension only picked up the one visible slide at the time that I did the conversion.

I then switched to Firefox, and found that in Firefox, the extension captured all of the slides in the slideshow in one PDF file. 

You can find these extensions in Chrome by going to the upper-right hand corner menu and going to More Tools>Extensions, and then searching the Chrome Web Store. In Firefox, go to the upper right-hand corner menu and choose Add-ons.

Given that the extension works differently in different browsers, I think it's a good rule of thumb to keep your options open when using browsers. If something doesn't look right or work well in one browser, try another browser.

More on HTTPS

Do you remember this TechBits post about http and https? If you have time, read it over again and be sure to watch the 3-minute CommonCraft video because you're going to be hearing a lot more about https in upcoming months.

What are the advantages of https?

• Confidentiality - information is passed securely between websites and browsers
• Authenticity - when you see that little lock, you know you're really talking to the website that belongs to that name
• Integrity - that lock indicates that the content of the site hasn't been changed by a 3rd party on its way to your browser

Chrome and Firefox are the browsers at the forefront of the push to move all sites to https. They already warn you that a page is "not secure" if it is http and prompting you to put in a username and password.  Very soon (July 2018 for Chrome), they will be alerting users that ALL http pages are "not secure."

The winds of change are blowing
As websites move to https, a couple of things will happen:

• Everyone with a website will be scrambling to configure their sites to be https
• Very old browsers may not be able to use https sites

SCLS has a team of folks looking at what needs to happen to move SCLS websites and SCLS-hosted library websites to https, and we and will be sharing more information on the SCLS Technology News blog and in Top 5 emails as we have more details. If your library has a website that isn't hosted with SCLS, you may need to look into what steps to take to enable https for your website.

In the meantime, if you're looking for some more in-depth information, try these posts:

• LITA Blog - HTTPS: It’s Way Past Time-A guest post from TJ Lamanna 
• CNET - Chrome soon will warn that lots more websites aren't secure

Firefox Screenshots

Recent versions of Firefox have included a new screenshot utility.  You might find it useful when you want to capture content within a web page.  With Firefox 57 or newer, click the Page Actions button at the right side of the Address Bar then click Take a screenshot.

At this point, you have four options for your screenshot. 

• Select a predefined section of the page
• Click-and-drag your mouse to capture a section of the page
• Capture the entire visible part of the web page
• Capture the entire page without scrolling

Now you can save the screenshot to your PC or you can have Mozilla save your screenshot in the cloud for a user-specified duration.  The screenshot will be given a unique URL that can be shared with others.

Mozilla has provided more information that you may find helpful.