Firefox and DE

[Renaissance Mom]

I use the latest version of Firefox on my Vista-running laptop. When I open any Locklizard document, it goes through the whole "download" process (locally, albeit) and puts the doc in my downloads folder. I have to then double click on it in the downloads folder to actually open it. It seems crazy to me to click to open a file in my DE interface and then have to click that same file in the downloads folder again to actually open it to view it. Is there a way to set something so that when I click to open a file through my DE interface that it actually just opens instead of downloading locally first? Or should I just download and use Explorer or some other browser?

Thanks,
Monica

[Alex@TOG]

Hello Monica!

What you described as having to save a file to downloads and then open from your downloads window is the process that Firefox uses to open files stored on your computer. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there isn't a setting to change that in Firefox. However, Internet Explorer does open those files directly if you would prefer to use that browser instead. The only thing to be aware of with IE is that it blocks certain content on the DE page whenever you open the program. It should show a message at the top or bottom of the screen when it does so, so all you need to do is click that message and allow the blocked content.

I hope that was helpful for you! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Renaissance Mom]

Thank you, Alex. I use IE on my pc but Firefox on my laptop. I like some aspects of each but also find inconveniences in each. Oh well. Such is life! Thanks for your help!

Monica

[Happyhomemama]

Wow, am I doing things the hard way? I have always used Firefox and never access DE pages that I have already downloaded through the interface (because they just download again). I move them from the downloads folder in to folders I have made for the year plans and access them from there but of course there is the main year plan, the Writing Aids, the Map Aids all in their own folders. Basically for regular use I go through my computer files not the interface. So are you saying if I use DE with IE and say I click on a week plan from the interface that I have clicked on previously it does not re-download it? It just finds it on my computer somewhere? I was also wondering why I download content upon purchase but then when I click a week in the year plan it says it is downloading it.

Thanks!

[Alex@TOG]

Hello Deanna!

Yes, Internet Explorer will open the files it has found stored on your computer. When you first installed the DE, you did download the content and it is stored on your computer (in the "C:\Program Files(x86)\Tapestry of Grace\" directory to be exact). The way that Firefox works is when you click the link in the Interface to open one of those files, it finds it on your computer, creates a copy of it, and places it in your Downloads folder. So even though it appears that Firefox is downloading the file again, it is really just re-saving it in a different location. Internet Explorer, since it is built into the operating system, can open files directly without the whole download process that Firefox uses.

[Happyhomemama]

Thank you for explaining that Alex! I've been using IE since I read this and it is so much easier, I did it the hard way for to long.

[PinkyInOK]

Question- I also used firefox on the last laptop, and never had this happen- I just clicked on the week, document or whatever and it opened.

So which is the best browser to use DE in- Chrome or Firefox?

[Alex@TOG]

Hello Sheila!

Each of those two browsers has its own quirks. Firefox (on its latest version) asks for every link whether you would like to save the file, then it opens the Downloads window and you can double-click the file to open it. When you click on the page links in Chrome, it automatically saves the file to a bar on the bottom of the screen for you to click on. However, we have seen Chrome has difficulty with opening the Loom. Due to that problem we do suggest Firefox, but if you prefer Chrome then there is a workaround to get the Loom to work with it.

[H Coffman]

There is a work around for the Loom in Chrome? What, pray tell, is it?

[Alex@TOG]

Certainly! If you open your DE with Chrome, go to the address bar at the top and replace whatever is after the last slash (usually "index.htm" or "u#.htm") with "loom.htm". This will give a basic version of the loom with all the links available, and you can bookmark this page to get back to it whenever you'd like to access the Loom.