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Web Browser "About:" Keyword
The "about:" keyword activates special
functions and windows in the Firefox / Mozilla / Netscape family of browsers.
The early Netscape browsers started this trend with support for a wide range
of "about:" commands
that returned interesting information about your Internet browsing status
simply by entering the command into the address bar and pressing return. The
Mozilla and Firefox browsers,
coming from the same code base and tradition, still support several of these
commands, such as the powerful "about:config". For some unknown,
intriguing reason,
the Internet Explorer 5.x versions also recognize the about:mozilla command,
returning a blank blue page.
The known full range of "about:" commands can
be found below with an indication of which browsers support them. Please note
that even though the commands are given as links, almost none of them
work in that form, and in general these commands must be manually
entered in the address bar to work.
|
Command |
Result |
Browsers |
|
about: |
Netscape start
page |
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6
|
|
about:http://yahoo.com |
Gives that state
of a URL, including when it was last modified, as in
about:http://www.yahoo.com |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:blank |
Transfers to
a blank page but doesn't erase the current one |
- Firefox 1
- Internet
Explorer 6
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:cache |
Information on
current contents of cache |
- Firefox 1
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6
|
|
about:config |
Detailed configuration
of browser; can modify settings with right-click |
- FireFox 1
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:document |
Document structure
of last visited page |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:FeCoNtExT=123 |
Mystery command |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:fonts |
Installed Font
information |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:global |
Global history
-- record of visited URL's. |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:image-cache |
Image files in
current cache |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:javalogo |
Java logo |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:license |
Netscape license |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:logo |
Netscape logo |
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:memory-cache |
Current contents
of memory cache |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:mozilla |
[Internet Explorer]
Blank blue page
[FireFox & Mozilla] The Book of Mozilla, 7:15 (Note
1)
[Netscape] The
Book of Mozilla, 12:10 (Note 2)
|
- Firefox 1
- Internet Explorer 5.x
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:pics |
Pics information |
- Netscape < v6 |
|
about:plugins |
Plugin status |
- Firefox 1
- Mozilla 1.5
- Netscape |
|
about:rsalogo |
RSA logo |
- Netscape < v6 |
Netscape programmers. Several of the original Netscape programmers
had personal web page links built into the browser through the "about" command
as listed below. For the benefit of those without an older Netscape browser
(<v6) to retrieve these pages,
the
Team Member column provides the programmer's full name linked to their current
page or to a historical page retrieved
from Archive.org where
a current page could not be found.