Firefox is a web browser with some distinct features. By default, Firefox 3.0 has Gmail and Yahoo mail as the mail clients. So whenever you click on a mailto hyperlink (an email address given on a contact page of a website), the default email client i.e. Gmail or Yahoo mail whatever you have set as a default email client, is opened in the compose mode. Users of other mail accounts like Hotmail, Live mail will first have to add the respective mail applications to Firefox’s list before choosing either Hotmail or Live mail as a default email client.
For setting other email applications as default email client you need to edit ‘about: config’ entry in Firefox. “About: config” is a place where user preferences are stored.
How to open and modify entries in about: config.
Once you have the background information about what: config actually is; it is now it’s time to add a new email application in Firefox using these step by step instructions:
- Open about: config and search for “gecko” in the Filter field.
- Double click the first entry gecko.handlerService.allowRegisterFromDifferentHost to change the value to true. Now you can close the about: config.
- In order to install Hotmail mail application, go to a new tab and enter the following text into the address (location) bar and hit enter:
- NOTE: When you copy and paste the following lines of JavaScript in your browser, you may find that they do not work as intended. Replace the curly double quotes with simple ones, before you hit Enter.
- Javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler(“mailto”,”http://hotmail.msn.com/secure/start?action=compose&to=%s”,”Hotmail”)
- Even if you want to install a protocol handler for Live Mail then you can use the following command:
- Javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler(“mailto”,”http://mail.live.com/secure/start?action=compose&to=%s”,”Livemail”)
- Now click on “Add Application”. The Live mail protocol handler has been installed in your Firefox.
- Now you can go to Tools -> Options -> Applications. Scroll down the list by content type and find mailto. In the drop down menu to the right, select “Use Hotmail” or “Livemail” as per your desire.