Advanced Preferences

Please do not attempt to modify your Communicator preferences if you are not sure what you are doing. Please read the section on editing prefs.js first. There are many preferences that, if set under the wrong circumstances, or with the wrong values, can cause Communicator's functionality to be limited. I take no responsibility for lost preferences or other problems you have because you modified your preferences.

Network Related Preferences:

user_pref("network.max_connections", 4);

Sets the maximum number of simultaneous connections to open between Netscape and the network. The default value is 4.

user_pref("network.dnsTimout", 5000);

Controls the amount of time, in milliseconds Communicator waits when resolving a host name. The default is 5000 or 5 seconds. (4.5 or higher only)

user_pref("network.tcpbufsize", 32);

Sets the number of kilobytes of RAM to reserve for the TCP buffer. The default is 32. The range is from 1, upward. The recommended minimum is 32. A value of 0 causes Communicator to use an internal default of 10 kilobytes.

user_pref("network.tcptimeout", 35);

Sets the number of seconds to allow before automatically failing a connection request to a host. The range can be set from 30 to 240 seconds.

user_pref("network.speed_over_ui", true);

Controls whether priority is given to servicing network connections or updating activity in the user interface. The default is true, which favors the network connection. Set to false to give priority to the user interface.

user_pref("network.dnsCacheExpiration", 900);

Sets the number of seconds to allow before Navigator expires the DNS entry from the DNS lookup cache. The default is 900.

user_pref("network.wfe.use_async_dns", true);

Controls whether Navigator looks up hostnames through DNS asynchronously (while performing other tasks) or synchronously (doesn't proceed until the hostname is found).The default is true, which is asynchronous.

user_pref("network.sendRefererHeader", true);

Controls whether Navigator automatically sends a referring document's header information to a web site reached through a link from that document. The header data from a referring document includes its URL and a web site can use JavaScript's document.referrer property to capture this information and record the URL. Set to false to prevent sending the header information and make browsing more anonymous.

user_pref("network.file_sort_method", 0);

Controls how Navigator displays server directories and files. The default is 0, which displays directories and files alphabetically, by name. Other values are: 1, by type; 2, by size; 3, by date.

user_pref("network.enable_UrlMatch", true);

Enables or disables the AutoComplete feature, which attempts to automatically complete URLs typed in the Location field. The default is true, which is enabled. Set to false to disable.

Back to the top

Messenger Related Preferences

user_pref("mail.file_attach_binary", false);

Controls how Messenger attaches files to mail and newsgroup messages. The default settings is false. Set to true to cause all attachments that are of an unknown file type to be sent as application/octet-stream. It should be noted that setting this option to true will break forwarding messages as an attachment.

user_pref("mail.allow_at_sign_in_user_name", false);

Controls whether "at" symbols (@) are allowed in, or automatically removed from, users' mail server identities. Ordinarily, on intranets, the information following the @ sign in an email address is domain information the server doesn't require, and Messenger strips it away during client authentication. However, it can happen that users' individual identity strings contain legitimate "at" symbols that shouldn't be stripped out. The default is false, which doesn't leave the @ symbol in email IDs. Set to true to leave the @ symbols in the strings.

user_pref("mail.thread_without_re", true);

Disables messages with the same subjects, without leading Re:'s, to be threaded together. Please note that two unrelated messages will still be threaded together regardless of whether they are actually related if both have the same subject and one has an "Re:" preceding the subject. The default is true (threads all messages with the same subject regardless of whether they are really in the same thread). To disable, set to false.

user_pref("mailnews.reply_on_top", 1);

Controls whether Message Composer positions the cursor at the top of message replies, instead of at the end of the text of the previous message. Use this preference with mailnews.reply_with_extra_lines to set the number of blank lines between the cursor and text. The default is 1, which is the top. Other values are: 0, bottom; 2, bottom selected; 3, top selected. (This option is available through the GUI in 4.5 and up under Edit -> Preferences -> Mail & Newsgroups -> Messages).

user_pref("mailnews.reply_with_extra_lines", 2);

Controls how many blank lines appear between the cursor and the text of the previous message when composing replies. Use this preference with mailnews.reply_on_top to position the cursor in the reply. The default on Windows is 2 lines, and on Unix is 0 (no lines).

user_pref("mailnews.start_page.enabled", true);

Enables or disables the Messenger start page feature. The default is true.

user_pref("mailnews.start_page.url", "http://www.yahoo.com");

Sets the URL of the Messenger start page. Use this with mailnews.start_page.enabled = true. The default is http://home.netscape.com/bookmark/4_5/messengerstart.html.

user_pref("news.notify.on", true);

Enables or disables user notification when discussion group message header downloads would exceed the number specified by news.max_articles. The default is true, which enables notification (displays the Download Headers dialog box so the user can choose whether or how many to download). Set to false to automatically download all unread headers, regardless of number.

user_pref("SpellChecker.PersonalDictionary", "C:\\Office\\custom.dic");

Allows Messenger to use your MS Word dictionary to supplement Communicator's spelling dictionary. Adjust the path to your Word dictionary and be sure to use the double slashes in the path "\\".

Back to the top

Navigator Related Preferences

user_pref("browser.blink_allowed", true);

Enables or disables blinking for <BLINK> tagged text.

user_pref("images.dither", auto);

Controls image dithering on the Windows platform. The default string is auto, which dithers images as-needed based on the graphics present in the page. Other values are: yes, dither all images; no, never dither images

user_pref("images.incremental_display", true);

Controls the order of image display as a page is loaded. The default is true, which loads and displays images as they are encountered in the page. Set to false to load and display images after displaying the text in the page.

user_pref("browser.never_expire", false);

Controls whether visited links are allowed to expire. The default is false, which allows expiration to proceed according to browser.link_expiration. Set to true to prevent expiration and continue to accumulate visited link data. Note that when this preference is true, the netscape.hst file continues to grow.

user_pref("browser.wfe.ignore_def_check", false);

Enables or disables Communicator from checking to see if it is the default browser on start up.

user_pref("browser.personal_toolbar_button.max_chars", 25);

Sets the maximum number of characters that can appear on each button on your Personal Toolbar.

user_pref("network.search.url", "http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=");

Sets the search engine used when you type in a query in the location box. In this case, typing "?Computers" will search Yahoo just as if you had performed the search directly from Yahoo's search page.

Back to the top