Firefox Sync
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Firefox Sync Historically your Firefox profile and bookmarks have been located on GCFile (the M: drive), which has allowed you to access your Firefox bookmarks on multiple computers. To improve performance on GCFile, it was necessary to move your Firefox profile to your office computer’s hard drive (C: drive). If you need to access your Firefox bookmarks on multiple computers, Firefox Sync is a tool that will give you this option. Firefox Sync allows you to securely access your Firefox bookmarks, tabs, and history across multiple computers, as well as hand‐held devices. The following instructions will walk you through this process. For the purpose of these instructions, “Computer1” will refer to your office computer at Goshen College. “Computer2” will refer to any other computer, and “Device” will refer to any handheld device. Step 1 ‐ Download and Install the latest version of Firefox Firefox Sync is a new add‐on to Firefox, as of version 4. In order to use Firefox Sync, the computer that contains your Firefox bookmarks, tabs, and history, as well as any computer you wish to access your Firefox sync account, must be running Firefox 4.0 or later. To see if your Firefox is version 4 or later, start Firefox, and then go to the Help menu and click on About Firefox. If you are running a version earlier than version 4, go to http://www.mozilla.com/en‐US/firefox/fx/ and click the download button for Firefox. Once downloaded, run the executable and follow the prompts to install it on your computer. Do this for each computer that you use. (Note: GC lab computers and multi‐media classroom computers will already have the latest version of Firefox.) Step 2 ‐ Set Up A Sync Account On Computer1, start up Firefox, and click on the Tools and then click on Options (if you don't have the Tools menu, click on the Orange Firefox tab in the top left corner of Firefox, and then click on Options. Click on the Sync tab. Click on the Set Up Firefox Sync button. Click on the Create a New Account button. You will be prompted to create a Sync account. Put in your GC email address and create a password (For security reasons, DO NOT use your Goshen College password!) The Server should be “Firefox Sync Server”. Agree to the terms of service and then click on Next. Next you will be given a Sync Key. IT IS IMPORTANT that you keep this information for future reference. Please print it by clicking on the Print button, AND save it by clicking on the Save button. Save it to your M:\MyDocuments folder on the GC network. Click on the Next button. Confirm that you are not a robot by typing in the characters that are present on the screen. Then, click on Next. Click on Finish. Once your Sync account is created, all of your Firefox bookmarks, tabs, and history information on Computer1 will be uploaded into your Sync account. Now you’re ready to set up other computers and devices to be able to access your Firefox bookmarks, tabs, and history information from your Sync account. Step 3 ‐ Connect Your Other Computers or Devices Once you have a Sync account (from Step 2 above), you can begin connecting other computers and handheld devices to your Sync account so you can access your bookmarks, etc. that are on Computer1. Adding A Computer On Computer2, start Firefox and click on Tools, then click Options (if you don't have the Tools menu, click on the Orange Firefox tab in the top left corner of Firefox, and then click on Options. Click on the Sync tab. Click on the Set Up Firefox Sync button. Click on the Connect button. At the bottom of the window, click on “I don’t have the device with me” In the Account field, put in the email address you used when creating your Firefox Sync account (this should have been your GC email address), and then put in the password. In the Sync Key field, type in the Sync Key that you received when you created your Firefox Sync account. (You would have printed this out, and saved it to the M:\MyDocuments folder.) Click on Next. If Computer2 already has some bookmarks that you have created, click on the Sync Options button. Then choose the option to “Merge this computer’s data with my Sync data.” Then, click on Done, and then click on Finish. If Computer2 doesn’t already have some bookmarks that you created, click on Finish. Adding A Handheld Device Once you have a Sync Account set up on Computer1, you can connect handheld Device to your Sync Account. To get the mobile app for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, go to the iTunes store and search for “Firefox Home”, and then proceed to download Firefox Home to your device. If you don't have an iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone, go to http://www.mozilla.com/en‐US/mobile/platforms/ for a list of other supported devices and for instructions on how to get the mobile app for those other devices. Once your handheld Device has the mobile app, you can set it up to access your Firefox Sync account. Setting Up Firefox Home On Your Handheld Device On your handheld Device, open Firefox Home. Tap “I Have A Sync Account”. A Passcode will appear. Ignore this and touch the “I am not near my computer” button. In the Account field, put in the email address you used when you created your Firefox Sync account. (This should be your GC email address). In the password field, put in the password for your Firefox Sync account. In the Sync Key field, type in the Sync Key that you received when you created your Firefox Sync account. (You would have printed this out, and saved it to the M:\MyDocuments folder.) Touch Done. Your Firefox bookmarks, tabs and history will now sync to your Device. This may take a few minutes, depending on how much information needs to sync. Updating your Sync Account On a computer: If you have modified your Firefox bookmarks on Computer1 and want these to appear on Computer2; or if you have new tabs open or new history information in your Firefox on Computer1 that you want available on Computer2, you must run a Sync in Firefox on Computer1 so that this new data will get synced up to your Firefox Sync account. To run a Sync, open Firefox on Computer1, and then click on Tools, and then click on Sync Now (if you don't have the Tools menu, click on the Orange Firefox tab in the top left corner of Firefox, and then click on Sync Now). Note: depending on how much data is to be synced, there may be a delay in how soon your new sync will show up Computer2 or your Device. On a device: If you have modified your Firefox bookmarks on your Computer1 and want these to appear on your Device; or if you have new tabs open or new history information in your Firefox on Computer1 that you want available on your Device, you must run a Sync in Firefox on Computer1 so that this new data will get synced up to your Firefox Sync account. To run a Sync, open Firefox on Computer1, and then click on Tools, and then click on Sync Now (if you don't have the Tools menu, click on the Orange Firefox tab in the top left corner of Firefox, and then click on Sync Now). Then, On your Device, tap Firefox Home. Tap on Settings. Tap on the Refresh button. For additional support, see Firefox’s support page at http://support.mozilla.com/en‐US/sync .