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Have Firefox open with unique icons

  • 1 baphendule
  • 3 zinale nkinga
  • 16 views
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu the-edmeister

Babaj
Babaj
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Hello,

I've been struggling to get Firefox to open uniqe profiles with unique icons in the taskbar. ( using win 8.1 ).

My last approach has been to create copies of the firefox program folder(one that has pre-established profile names created with profile manager) with unique names.

For example : C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox 

                         C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox - Profile_A
                         C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox - Profile_B

Then say, from the "Mozilla Firefox - Profile_A" folder I make a shortcut of the firefox.exe file to the desktop.

In that shortcut I go to properties and in target add: -no-remote -p "Profile_A"

I then pin that shortcut to the taskbar and delete the shortcut.

I repeat the same process for "Profile_B"

But say I click on the taskbar icon for Profile_A, everything is fine. No extra icons appear in the taskbar and I can switch back and forth between different icons.

However, if I press the Profile_B icon it creates another additional icon in the taskbar with the standard firefox icon ( not the specific unique one I created for that profile).

It seems, no matter what approach I take I can't get different icons representing the different profiles in the taskbar without additional standard firefox icons populating the taskbar.

The whole purpose of this set up is to be able to switch between profiles in the task bar that are already open.

Can mozilla not code the broswer so that this is possible?

Hello, I've been struggling to get Firefox to open uniqe profiles with unique icons in the taskbar. ( using win 8.1 ). My last approach has been to create copies of the firefox program folder(one that has pre-established profile names created with profile manager) with unique names. For example : C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox - Profile_A C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox - Profile_B Then say, from the "Mozilla Firefox - Profile_A" folder I make a shortcut of the firefox.exe file to the desktop. In that shortcut I go to properties and in target add: -no-remote -p "Profile_A" I then pin that shortcut to the taskbar and delete the shortcut. I repeat the same process for "Profile_B" But say I click on the taskbar icon for Profile_A, everything is fine. No extra icons appear in the taskbar and I can switch back and forth between different icons. However, if I press the Profile_B icon it creates another additional icon in the taskbar with the standard firefox icon ( not the specific unique one I created for that profile). It seems, no matter what approach I take I can't get different icons representing the different profiles in the taskbar without additional standard firefox icons populating the taskbar. The whole purpose of this set up is to be able to switch between profiles in the task bar that are already open. Can mozilla not code the broswer so that this is possible?

All Replies (1)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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IMO, forget about trying to do that.

Over 10 years ago I was doing that "per Profile / program" desktop and System Tray unique icons via separate program files installations of Firefox; the same version or different versions installed for each icon / Profile that I wanted to change. The custom icon and the proper code to display a custom icon had to be in the Firefox program files; couldn't be done via the Profile itself or alone in the Profile folder to only affect that particular Profile.

And that stopped working around the Firefox 2.0 or Firefox 3.0 version (around 2006 - 2007) , and that was with Windows2000 and WinXP. I wasted many dozens of hours trying to "fix that" or find another work-around to no avail. And it wasn't just me, there were other users over at the mozillaZine forum who were trying to get around that change; users that I learned that "hack" from previously. This particular forum - SUMO - SUpportMozilla.Org - hadn't even been launched yet in those days

IMO, can't be done - something was changed in Firefox code a long time ago that "broke" the hacks that we had been using in the early days of Firefox.

edit for additional information:

And Windows 7 changed how System Tray icons are displayed for multiple separate windows for the same Firefox program files installation are displayed. WinXP and earlier showed a separate Firefox System Tray icon for each program files installation; Win7 groups them all in the same System Tray icon, but on hover a "popup window" shows from the System Tray that shows the separate Firefox windows available that are running from the same firefox.exe executable file. Plus, the user can "hack" the TitleBar name in the Profile to effect different Profile names; via Nightly Tester Tools extension is how I do that now. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nightly-tester-tools/

Hopefully Windows 8.1 works the same as my WIn7 OS does, because that about as close as a user can now get, IMHO. But I wouldn't be surprised if NTT disappears soon and doesn't "translate well" to the new WebExtensions format that Firefox is slowly being converted to.

Okulungisiwe ngu the-edmeister