Hi john-marshall, is the problem with Firefox's built-in home page or new tab page, in the "Top Sites" section?

Normally that list would be preserved through updates, but if your Firefox performed a "Refresh" then the list might be lost. After a Refresh, a new folder named Old Firefox Data should appear on the desktop. If you see that, hang onto it as we may be able to restore some data from there.

Another possibility is that you were using a different home/new tab page, like a speed dial add-on. Does that sound like a possibility?

Anyway, if you still have your history, Firefox often can get you to a site if you start typing part of the page title or URL in the address bar. The drop-down below the bar should show bookmarked pages (star icon) and pages from history, as well as Google search suggestions.

You also can search your history using the Library window. You can open that using either:

• Ctrl+Shift+h
• "3-bar" menu button > Library > History > Show All History

In the search box at the upper right, type part of the page title or URL of the site where you need to go to edit, and it should show up in the search results. To open a page from history in a new tab, you can right-click > Open in a New Tab.

Can you get where you need to go?

I click on the Firefox icon on my desktop, and am taken to the Firefox home page.

I see 6 or 8 icons about 1” square being the “Top Sites”. All but one of these are of sites I have never visited so I assume they are “Top” because they pay to be Top.

Before Firefox “improved” their site I could click on the other one, which gave me entry to either of my sites. I have changed nothing at my end.

Now the other one will let me go to one of my sites to view it, but not to amend it.

If I put the name of my site in the address bar at the top, I am taken to a Google page listing sites about building a web-page.

If I go to the History (click-h) on the left of the screen I am given a list, some of which will allow me (via Google) to view my site but not to amend it.

Normally, your Top Sites list is preserved from one update to the next. You didn't find an Old Firefox Data folder?

Presumably in order to edit your web page you need to log in to your hosting service or blog dashboard. Is there a link for that on your page or do you need to go to a different site to log in?

Thank you for trying to help me: it must be very frustrating. I found the old Firefox data and some of the addresses permitted me to VIEW my website but not to enter. My only course is to forget Firefox and try to find an alternative route Thank you again John

john-marshall said

I found the old Firefox data and some of the addresses permitted me to VIEW my website but not to enter.

Hi John, I'm not sure what you were using from the folder. if you have an Old Firefox Data folder, and you have recently updated files inside, you can try to resurrect your old profile as your active profile. There are many steps, but it would in theory be a complete roll-back to your old setup.

Restoring an Old Profile

Check inside the "Old Firefox Data" folder that Refresh adds to your desktop for a folder with a semi-randomized name. If there's only one, that probably has your old settings and add-ons. If there's more than one, you'll want to work with the one that was updated most recently.

Once you have identified the profile folder you want to restore, here is my suggested "old profile resurrection procedure":

Overview

These are the steps described in more detail below:

1. Create a new Firefox profile folder
2. Remove everything from that new profile folder
3. Copy in everything from the old profile folder

Create a New Profile

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Click the Create a New Profile button, then click Next. Assign a name like OldSettings, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Set as default profile button below that profile, then scroll back up and click the Restart normally button. (There are some other buttons, but please ignore them.)

Firefox should exit and then start up using the new profile, which will just look brand new. Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system as we are going to flush these settings anyway.

Open the New Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Open Folder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Exit using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it using the Task bar.

Copy Old Data in Place of New

In that new profile folder you just popped open -- NOT the one on your desktop -- select all the contents (you can use Ctrl+a) and delete (you can press the Delete key on the keyboard).

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. At this level you should see a folder named bookmarkbackups among other things.

Select everything (Ctrl+a) and Copy (either right-click > Copy or Ctrl+c).

Switch to the empty new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Ctrl+v). This may take a minute since some of the files are large.

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that "new" profile with the resurrected old profile data. Success?

My only course is to forget Firefox and try to find an alternative route

Once you figure out the correct URL and login to edit your site, you should be able to use any browser you like.

I do spiritual healing. My website is not secure, because it doesn't need to be. I don't collect data, apart from email addresses through Mailchimp. I don't sell anything direct from my website. It's just a shop window. I'm trying to access WORDPRESS for God's sake, not some hole in the wall gang. Yet I can't and I'm really "piffed" about it...

SJQ said

My website is not secure, because it doesn't need to be.

Hi SJQ, Firefox can still display non-secure sites. What is the problem you're having? For example, you want to access your site without encryption using an address like

http://www.example.com/

but you are forced to use a secure (HTTPS) connection

https://www.example.com/

and then Firefox displays a full page error?

Could you copy/paste the contents of the error page into a reply. If there is a gray "Advanced" button, click that and copy/paste the technical detail.