I like maximum real estate on my monitor. I also like to have my bookmarks toolbar displayed constantly, along with Google’s excellent toolbar for Firefox. That means nearly two inches of space off the top of the screen, when you count in the navigation, menu, tab, and title bars. Here’s how I have my cake and eat it, too. It’ll work with Fx 1.5. I’m not 100% sure it will work all the way with 1.0.7 and earlier, but most of it will.

If your Bookmark toolbar isn’t visible, click View/Toolbars/Bookmarks to get it on the screen, then Right-click the Menu bar and select “Customize.” First thing, check the box “Use Small Icons” at the bottom of the window. Then do however much of the following your version of Firefox will let you get away with.

Drag the address window up to the Menu bar, along with any related buttons like New Tab, Go, etc. Then drag all the navigation buttons (Previous Page, Reload, Home…) up and put them to the left of the menus. If there’s anything on the bars you don’t especially want, drag it into the Customize window and let it go. It will be there later if you want it back. You’ll want to do that with the search window, for example, if you have the Google bar.

Now grab the Bookmark Toolbar Items and drag them up to the bar you just cleared. At this point you can close the Customize window, and go back into View and uncheck the Bookmarks toolbar. Take a look at the results. You should have all your menus and navigation stuff on the top bar, bookmarks (or lack thereof) on the second bar, and your Google bar, if you have one, on the bottom. Using the same basic techniques (always working with the Customize window open) you can move things around until you get the optimum arrangement for you.

Next time I’ll tell you how to tweak your Bookmarks toolbar to get the most out of it.

[tags]firefox,toolbar,bill webb,use small icons,browser management[/tags]