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  3. Here's a thread of cool things I found exploring the #Firefox Developer Tools!

Here's a thread of cool things I found exploring the #Firefox Developer Tools!

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  • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

    This is probably common knowledge, but I wasn't aware of it so far:

    The sun & moon icons in the "Rules" tab allow you to quickly force the site into light mode/dark mode! ☀️🌙

    Link Preview Image
    blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
    blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
    blinry@chaos.social
    wrote last edited by
    #7

    You can open the web console in a split view by pressing Esc!

    This is the same console as in the "Console" tab. And this works in any tab, not just the Inspector! Super useful if you wanna see more things at once!

    blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

      You can open the web console in a split view by pressing Esc!

      This is the same console as in the "Console" tab. And this works in any tab, not just the Inspector! Super useful if you wanna see more things at once!

      blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
      blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
      blinry@chaos.social
      wrote last edited by
      #8

      In the CSS pane, there's this little dashed box icon after CSS rules. Click it to permanently highlight the matching elements on the page!

      Here, I highlight a specific <p> element. The colors that are used correspond to the colors in the "Layout" tab, and show you the size of the margin, border, padding, and content area.

      Link Preview Image
      blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

        In the CSS pane, there's this little dashed box icon after CSS rules. Click it to permanently highlight the matching elements on the page!

        Here, I highlight a specific <p> element. The colors that are used correspond to the colors in the "Layout" tab, and show you the size of the margin, border, padding, and content area.

        Link Preview Image
        blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
        blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
        blinry@chaos.social
        wrote last edited by
        #9

        If you click on the dashed box after a more general rule, you'll get all matching elements highlighted.

        Here, I highlight all <p> elements of that toot.

        Link Preview Image
        blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
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        • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

          If you click on the dashed box after a more general rule, you'll get all matching elements highlighted.

          Here, I highlight all <p> elements of that toot.

          Link Preview Image
          blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
          blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
          blinry@chaos.social
          wrote last edited by
          #10

          In the Inspector, Ctrl+F jumps to the search box that allows you to find a tag or some content.

          I was always annoyed that F3 doesn't go to the next result. Turns out that the shortcut for that is:

          Enter!

          Link Preview Image
          greenskyoverme@ohai.socialG blinry@chaos.socialB 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

            In the Inspector, Ctrl+F jumps to the search box that allows you to find a tag or some content.

            I was always annoyed that F3 doesn't go to the next result. Turns out that the shortcut for that is:

            Enter!

            Link Preview Image
            greenskyoverme@ohai.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
            greenskyoverme@ohai.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
            greenskyoverme@ohai.social
            wrote last edited by
            #11

            @blinry Not very intuitive

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

              In the Inspector, Ctrl+F jumps to the search box that allows you to find a tag or some content.

              I was always annoyed that F3 doesn't go to the next result. Turns out that the shortcut for that is:

              Enter!

              Link Preview Image
              blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
              blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
              blinry@chaos.social
              wrote last edited by
              #12

              As you start modifying the CSS rules, and arrive at something you like, you can switch over to the "Changes" tab to find a summary of what you changed!

              You can also copy all of that into your clipboard, and then integrate it into the original CSS that you're working on!

              Until now, I always made changes in my source CSS files directly, and used some auto-refresh tool to preview it. But this workflow of modifying it directly, and copying out the required changes might be a bit smoother!

              Link Preview Image
              blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                As you start modifying the CSS rules, and arrive at something you like, you can switch over to the "Changes" tab to find a summary of what you changed!

                You can also copy all of that into your clipboard, and then integrate it into the original CSS that you're working on!

                Until now, I always made changes in my source CSS files directly, and used some auto-refresh tool to preview it. But this workflow of modifying it directly, and copying out the required changes might be a bit smoother!

                Link Preview Image
                blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                blinry@chaos.social
                wrote last edited by
                #13

                Next, I looked at the Console.

                I learned that it has some predefined helper functions! You can use `$(selector)` as an abbreviation for `document.querySelector(selector)`.

                Similarly, `$$(selector)` is short for `document.querySelectorAll(selector)`!

                Even though this reeks of jQuery, I think these are fantastic in this context and I might use them *a lot*!

                Link Preview Image
                blinry@chaos.socialB adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA 2 Replies Last reply
                0
                • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                  Next, I looked at the Console.

                  I learned that it has some predefined helper functions! You can use `$(selector)` as an abbreviation for `document.querySelector(selector)`.

                  Similarly, `$$(selector)` is short for `document.querySelectorAll(selector)`!

                  Even though this reeks of jQuery, I think these are fantastic in this context and I might use them *a lot*!

                  Link Preview Image
                  blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                  blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                  blinry@chaos.social
                  wrote last edited by
                  #14

                  There are more "Console Helpers" in #firefox:

                  $_ is a shortcut to the result of the last expression you executed, allowing you to do some neat step-by-step exploration.

                  And $0 refers to the currently-inspected element on the page.

                  Link Preview Image
                  blinry@chaos.socialB martijn@mastodon.content.townM jetcool@mastodon.socialJ 3 Replies Last reply
                  0
                  • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                    There are more "Console Helpers" in #firefox:

                    $_ is a shortcut to the result of the last expression you executed, allowing you to do some neat step-by-step exploration.

                    And $0 refers to the currently-inspected element on the page.

                    Link Preview Image
                    blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                    blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                    blinry@chaos.social
                    wrote last edited by
                    #15

                    There's a couple more, like copy(), which copies its argument to your clipboard, or keys(), an abbreviation for Object.keys().

                    If you ever forget these console helpers, you can run :help to open the page of the documentation that explains them!

                    Link Preview Image
                    Web Console Helpers — Firefox Source Docs documentation

                    favicon

                    (firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org)

                    Link Preview Image
                    blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                      There's a couple more, like copy(), which copies its argument to your clipboard, or keys(), an abbreviation for Object.keys().

                      If you ever forget these console helpers, you can run :help to open the page of the documentation that explains them!

                      Link Preview Image
                      Web Console Helpers — Firefox Source Docs documentation

                      favicon

                      (firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org)

                      Link Preview Image
                      blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                      blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                      blinry@chaos.social
                      wrote last edited by
                      #16

                      There's a built-in multi-line editing mode! Press Ctrl+B to turn it on. Seems useful to write longer expressions.

                      This mode shares its history with the regular one-line mode.

                      Link Preview Image
                      blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                        There's a built-in multi-line editing mode! Press Ctrl+B to turn it on. Seems useful to write longer expressions.

                        This mode shares its history with the regular one-line mode.

                        Link Preview Image
                        blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                        blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                        blinry@chaos.social
                        wrote last edited by
                        #17

                        But also, I learned that the one-line mode tries to guess whether your command is incomplete when you press Enter, and then allows you to type a second line.

                        You can force a new line using Shift+Enter.

                        Link Preview Image
                        blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                          But also, I learned that the one-line mode tries to guess whether your command is incomplete when you press Enter, and then allows you to type a second line.

                          You can force a new line using Shift+Enter.

                          Link Preview Image
                          blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                          blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                          blinry@chaos.social
                          wrote last edited by
                          #18

                          That's all cool things I found in the Firefox DevTools today! Looking forward to check out the other tabs some other time.

                          It's kind of eye-opening for me how many convenient things a tool like that has. So far, when I opened the Toolbox, I usually quickly wanted to get something specific done, and didn't take the time to wander & explore…

                          What are your favorite built-in dev tools in Firefox? What did I miss in "Inspector" and "Console" today?

                          blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                            Next, I looked at the Console.

                            I learned that it has some predefined helper functions! You can use `$(selector)` as an abbreviation for `document.querySelector(selector)`.

                            Similarly, `$$(selector)` is short for `document.querySelectorAll(selector)`!

                            Even though this reeks of jQuery, I think these are fantastic in this context and I might use them *a lot*!

                            Link Preview Image
                            adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA This user is from outside of this forum
                            adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA This user is from outside of this forum
                            adamhotep@infosec.exchange
                            wrote last edited by
                            #19

                            @blinry what is the difference between $$(…) and $$$(…)? I didn't know about $$(…)

                            nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.socialN 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                              That's all cool things I found in the Firefox DevTools today! Looking forward to check out the other tabs some other time.

                              It's kind of eye-opening for me how many convenient things a tool like that has. So far, when I opened the Toolbox, I usually quickly wanted to get something specific done, and didn't take the time to wander & explore…

                              What are your favorite built-in dev tools in Firefox? What did I miss in "Inspector" and "Console" today?

                              blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                              blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                              blinry@chaos.social
                              wrote last edited by
                              #20

                              Ohh, the CSS pane helps you debug values of the "transform" property by showing you the box before and after the transformation!

                              Link Preview Image
                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA adamhotep@infosec.exchange

                                @blinry what is the difference between $$(…) and $$$(…)? I didn't know about $$(…)

                                nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.socialN This user is from outside of this forum
                                nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.socialN This user is from outside of this forum
                                nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.social
                                wrote last edited by
                                #21

                                @adamhotep @blinry $$$ will retrieve éléments in the shadow dom, which is not the case for $$ (see https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/web_console/helpers/ for the full doc)

                                blinry@chaos.socialB 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.socialN nicolaschevobbe@mastodon.social

                                  @adamhotep @blinry $$$ will retrieve éléments in the shadow dom, which is not the case for $$ (see https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/web_console/helpers/ for the full doc)

                                  blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                                  blinry@chaos.socialB This user is from outside of this forum
                                  blinry@chaos.social
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #22

                                  @nicolaschevobbe @adamhotep I also had to look that up, but here's an example where a shadow DOM is used: In MDN's web dev playground, they want to isolate the CSS you write to only act on "your" HTML, not on the entire site. So they put it in a shadow root.

                                  So $$ doesn't access the <h1> here, but $$$ does!

                                  Link Preview Image
                                  adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                                    @nicolaschevobbe @adamhotep I also had to look that up, but here's an example where a shadow DOM is used: In MDN's web dev playground, they want to isolate the CSS you write to only act on "your" HTML, not on the entire site. So they put it in a shadow root.

                                    So $$ doesn't access the <h1> here, but $$$ does!

                                    Link Preview Image
                                    adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA This user is from outside of this forum
                                    adamhotep@infosec.exchangeA This user is from outside of this forum
                                    adamhotep@infosec.exchange
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #23

                                    @blinry @nicolaschevobbe while I've got your attention, do you know how to inject helper JS code (just some functions) into a document for the Console? I only know how to do it in a UserScript, which means it's not available from the Console.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                                      There are more "Console Helpers" in #firefox:

                                      $_ is a shortcut to the result of the last expression you executed, allowing you to do some neat step-by-step exploration.

                                      And $0 refers to the currently-inspected element on the page.

                                      Link Preview Image
                                      martijn@mastodon.content.townM This user is from outside of this forum
                                      martijn@mastodon.content.townM This user is from outside of this forum
                                      martijn@mastodon.content.town
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #24

                                      @blinry That's very Perl-like!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • blinry@chaos.socialB blinry@chaos.social

                                        There are more "Console Helpers" in #firefox:

                                        $_ is a shortcut to the result of the last expression you executed, allowing you to do some neat step-by-step exploration.

                                        And $0 refers to the currently-inspected element on the page.

                                        Link Preview Image
                                        jetcool@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                        jetcool@mastodon.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                        jetcool@mastodon.social
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #25

                                        @blinry you can right-click an element and "Use in Console" will create a temporary variable with that element

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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