Frequently Asked Questions - User interface customization

How can I put the Adblock Plus icon on my toolbar?

Usually this icon is added automatically the first time you install Adblock Plus, but maybe it was removed somehow afterwards. In Firefox you can customize the toolbar, simply right-click on the toolbar and choose “Customize”. A window with icons will open, Adblock Plus icon should be one of them. Drag it with the mouse into the toolbar and place it where you want it to be. You can also reorder the toolbar icons by dragging them while the customization window is open.

How can I remove the Adblock Plus icon from my toolbar?

You don’t like the icon or need the space for more important things? Click the arrow at the icon, then choose “Options” and “Show in tool bar” from the menu. There is also an Options menu in the Preferences dialog — just in case you decide to restore the icon. And by the way, you can also use the toolbar customization that is built into Firefox.

How do I make the list of blockable items display at the side/at the top?

Do you prefer the list of blockable items on the left side of the browser window as it was before Adblock Plus 0.7.5? You can do this with this user style (requires Stylish). In this form the style will make sure the list displays on the left side of the browser window, like a sidebar. You can also remove one of the marked lines when prompted to add the style — then the list of blockable items will display on the right side or on the top.

Note: This doesn’t make the list of blockable items a real sidebar. It can be open at the same time as a sidebar like History.

Note: This style will only have effect on new browser windows.

How do I get text displayed in the status bar instead of an icon?

Previous versions of Adblock Plus used to display the word “Adblock” in the status bar. This text is still there, it is simply hidden. To show it you can use this user style (requires Stylish).

Note: This style will only have effect on new browser windows.

How can I move the Adblock Plus icon in the status bar to a different location?

Adblock Plus 0.5 used to allow dragging the icon in the status bar. For the following versions it was decided that this feature is rarely useful and shouldn’t be built in. An extension like Organize Status Bar can do a much better job here.

How do I remove Adblock Plus from the Tools menu?

To hide this menu item you can add the following element hiding filter to your filter list:

browser,navigator,messenger,rubberducky#menuitem(abp-menuitem)

Note: This filter will only have effect on new browser windows.

How do I remove Adblock Plus entries from the context menu?

This is a relatively unusual request but it makes sense when you install Adblock Plus on somebody’s computer, add a subscription and don’t want them to be bothered with Adblock Plus any more (“silent” mode). To hide the context menu items you can add the following element hiding filter to the filter list:

browser,navigator,messenger#menuitem(id^=abp-)(id$=-menuitem)

Note: This filter will only have effect on new browser windows.

How do I change the icons displayed by Adblock Plus?

If you prefer the icons used before Adblock Plus 0.7.2 (the cockroach), you can use this user style to restore it (best to be used with Stylish). But if you have a better icon, you can make your own style using this template:

@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul");

@-moz-document url("chrome://browser/content/browser.xul"),
      url("chrome://navigator/content/navigator.xul"),
      url("chrome://messenger/content/messenger.xul"),
      url("chrome://messenger/content/messageWindow.xul"),
      url("chrome://rubberducky/content/xul/mainwin.xul"),
      url("chrome://global/content/customizeToolbar.xul") {

  /* Small icons (16x16) */
  toolbar[iconsize="small"] #abp-toolbarbutton,
  #PersonalToolbar #abp-toolbarbutton,
  #abp-status image {
    /* Regular icon */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-enabled-16.png") !important;
  }
  toolbar[iconsize="small"] #abp-toolbarbutton[deactivated],
  #PersonalToolbar #abp-toolbarbutton[deactivated],
  #abp-status[deactivated] image {
    /* Adblock Plus is disabled */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-disabled-16.png") !important;
  }
  toolbar[iconsize="small"] #abp-toolbarbutton[whitelisted],
  #PersonalToolbar #abp-toolbarbutton[whitelisted],
  #abp-status[whitelisted] image {
    /* Adblock Plus has been disabled on current page */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-whitelisted-16.png") !important;
  }
  toolbar[iconsize="small"] #abp-toolbarbutton[disabled="true"],
  #PersonalToolbar #abp-toolbarbutton[disabled="true"],
  #abp-status[disabled="true"] image {
    /* Adblock Plus didn't load properly */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-defunc-16.png") !important;
  }

  /* Large icons (24x24) */
  #abp-toolbarbutton {
    /* Regular icon */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-enabled.png") !important;
  }
  #abp-toolbarbutton[deactivated] {
    /* Adblock Plus is disabled */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-disabled.png") !important;
  }
  #abp-toolbarbutton[whitelisted] {
    /* Adblock Plus has been disabled on current page */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-whitelisted.png") !important;
  }
  #abp-toolbarbutton[disabled="true"] {
    /* Adblock Plus didn't load properly */
    list-style-image: url("file:///c:/icons/abp-defunc.png") !important;
  }
}

Here the icons are assumed to be located in the directory c:\icons, so you might need to change the addresses. To apply this style you can either use Stylish or edit the file chrome/userChrome.css in your profile directory (where is my profile directory?) and add this code. If userChrome.css doesn’t exist yet you have to create it.

Note: The changes will take effect after you restart your browser.

How do I change the keyboard shortcut for … / add a keyboard shortcut for disabling Adblock Plus?

There are three hidden preferences that can be accessed via about:config that define the keyboard shortcuts for Adblock Plus: extensions.adblockplus.sidebar_key (open/close blockable elements), extensions.adblockplus.settings_key (open Preferences dialog), extensions.adblockplus.enable_key (enable/disable Adblock Plus). You can change those to your liking.

Note: The changes will take effect after you restart your browser.