Previously, the new tab page could be set using the browser.newtab.url value in the about:config. However, third party services began to exploit this setting, so the developers discontinued it for user security.

Unfortunately, there are no current plans to return this feature into Firefox, nor to create a new preference value to modify the new tab page. The only way to currently change the new tab page is through addons.

I also noticed that the New Tab Override addon is not functional with the latest version of Firefox. Since Firefox 43.0.1 was released today, the developer of that addon has most likely not had a chance to patch the addon yet. Addons are developed by developers that are not affiliated with Mozilla, so Mozilla cannot do anything about this issue.

Hopefully, the developer will fix the issue very soon. Sorry for any inconvenience in the meantime.

I am a big boy. I know what third party services I want to use and not. That however is 100% irrelevant. The default nature of the new tab should be without question, opening to whatever the user has set for his home page. That way if one person likes that god awful thumbnail screen then that is what a new tab opens. If someone else wants a specific page as his home screen then that is what will open for him. Nothing to set, nothing to change, nothing to exploit. The programmers looked at a baby with a dirty diaper and killed the baby rather than just simply change the diaper!

Stop being MicroSoft and trying to protect me form myself. That new tab thumbnail screen is only any good for touch screen devices. It is horrid for anyone who uses a desktop computer and works on a computer for a living. If I wanted to be using Chrome (which uses that horrid start page and interface) I'd be using it. It should be standard to open a new tab to whatever your home page is set to.

May I assume that your real issue is that the New Tab Override extension isn't working in Firefox 43? based upon your similar thread back in September - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1084993#answer-784907

The developer of that add-on is aware that it is broken - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/reviews/769315/ - and has said that he will fix it.

"The default nature of the new tab should be without question, opening to whatever the user has set for his home page."

You are entitled to your opinion about that, but Mozilla feels differently about what the default should be for the New Tab.

My opinion [which doesn't count either] is that it would be silly to have the users set "Homepage" to be the default for the New Tab page. How would that work when a user like me has two Homepages? Two New Tabs opening all the time? Or complicate the issue and only open the first Homepage for the New Tab instead?

You can update to version 2.2 of the New Tab Override extension.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/

the-edmeister said

May I assume that your real issue is that the New Tab Override extension isn't working in Firefox 43? based upon your similar thread back in September - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1084993#answer-784907 The developer of that add-on is aware that it is broken - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/reviews/769315/ - and has said that he will fix it.

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"The default nature of the new tab should be without question, opening to whatever the user has set for his home page."

You are entitled to your opinion about that, but Mozilla feels differently about what the default should be for the New Tab.

My opinion [which doesn't count either] is that it would be silly to have the users set "Homepage" to be the default for the New Tab page. How would that work when a user like me has two Homepages? Two New Tabs opening all the time? Or complicate the issue and only open the first Homepage for the New Tab instead?

There is no such thing as more than one home PAGE. A home PAGE by default is a singular entity. You and others may have bastardized the term to mean (loosely) "one or more pages you want to open automatically when you start your browser". But that is NOT what a home PAGE is. n that list of pages that you may want to open by default, your home PAGE would be the first one of those PAGES. I will assume you see the difference between a PAGE and a list of PAGES.

cor-el said

You can update to version 2.2 of the New Tab Override extension.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/

Thank you corel I appreciate the feedback and this is a temporary band aid to fix a weakness in an otherwise very good piece pf software. I am surprised that the dev team will not fix this bug, ofr in microsoft speak, an undocumented feature.

If version 2.2 of New Tab Override isn't working properly then try version 1.1 from the Versions page.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/versions/1.1

cor-el said

If version 2.2 of New Tab Override isn't working properly then try version 1.1 from the Versions page.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/versions/1.1

Thanks. New Tab Homepage 0.5.0 works. As I said above though. This should not even require a plug in or add on to fix. It should be the standard default functionality of the browser. It is blatantly absurd to have it any other way if the user has set a home page.