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Since last few updates of Firefox our beloved Firebug is integrated into the Firefox Developer Tools and a lot of people including me don't like what happened to Firebug.

The built-in developer tools have a very ugly menu system and messed up usability.

So, what are the alternatives to the Firefox Developer Tools? Is there a tool with the same usability as Firebug?

Sebastian Zartner
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sakhunzai
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  • @sakhunzai I worked with `Firebug` for years, switch to `Firefox Developer Tools` was really hard for me too, you right, there is some great features that `Firebug` has and `FFDT` doesn't, but trust me, there is some great features in `FFDT`. you can switch to `Chrome`, but I think you should trust `Firefox` team and keep using `Firefox` and report bugs/missed features to help them make `Firefox` better than ever.I'm now happy with `FFDT` as I was with `Firebug`. – Mehdi Dehghani Jan 28 '17 at 16:20
  • @sakhunzai Trust me, `FFDT` specially its Console is really better than `Chrome`'s one. of course `Chrome`'s one has really great tools that `FFDT` doesn't, but overall I think `FFDT` really better for develop, specially for `JavaScript` – Mehdi Dehghani Jan 28 '17 at 16:24
  • @Mehdi Deghgani is there any way to see HTTP requests in FFDT in the same way as in Firebug - in console there's an url with tabs: Params, Headers etc.? Also, object view in FFDT/Chrome is not that easy to read compared to Firebug. – Alan Jan 29 '17 at 08:52
  • @Alan `FFDT` have [Network Monitor](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Network_Monitor) _I'm sure you saw that_, I think it cover all you need to know about requests, isn't it? and about `XHR` in my opinion is better than `Firebug` – Mehdi Dehghani Jan 29 '17 at 09:15
  • Solution here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/41929647/firebug-is-always-showing-deactivated-on-firefox-version-51-0-1/41929822?noredirect=1#comment71040503_41929822 – Learning Jan 30 '17 at 06:36

4 Answers4

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Alternatives are:

  1. Turn off multi-process Firefox. (Though that's only a temporary solution and doesn't bring back all functionality of Firebug. E.g. the Script panel is broken in current versions of Firefox.)
  2. Install an old version of Firefox where Firebug still works and disable updates. (Also only a temporary solution, because you'll miss (security) bug fixes and new features.)
  3. Wait until the gaps between Firebug and the Firefox DevTools are fixed. (Or even help them fixing them.)
  4. Switch to another browser and use its developer tools.
  5. Rework Firebug to make it compatible with multi-process Firefox (which is the main reason for the integration into the DevTools). Update: Starting with Firefox 57 only WebExtensions will be supported, meaning extensions work cross-browser and are more secure, but they also have limited APIs. So, a reworked Firebug would not have all the features the original Firebug had.
Sebastian Zartner
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    thanks for your advice , but the only good thing with firefox was firebug – sakhunzai Jan 27 '17 at 09:44
  • Well, [Firebug's development is officially discontinued](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2016/12/firebug-lives-on-in-firefox-devtools/) and there is no other development tool offering all features Firebug had. So, I can't think of other alternative than the ones I mentioned. – Sebastian Zartner Jan 27 '17 at 09:50
  • its not your fault :) – sakhunzai Jan 27 '17 at 09:51
  • Just want to say that those are the alternatives you have. I've added a fourth option stating that you could also modify Firebug's code to let it work with multi-process Firefox. (Though that was the main reason the Firebug Working Group gave up its development, as that requires to rewrite most parts of the code, so it's not a realistic option.) – Sebastian Zartner Jan 27 '17 at 10:04
  • Also, note that [I've written a migration guide on MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Migrating_from_Firebug). – Sebastian Zartner Jan 27 '17 at 10:07
  • And I've added a fifth option stating that you could turn off multi-process Firefox as a temporary solution. – Sebastian Zartner Jan 27 '17 at 10:12
  • whatever the reason where behide the scene the existing web developer tools accessibility is pathetic , it never worked for me probably it will take another decade to get to the level where firebug was when it discontinued, thanks for your suggestion I appreciate that – sakhunzai Jan 27 '17 at 10:12
  • let me check your options – sakhunzai Jan 27 '17 at 10:13
  • The team behind the Firefox DevTools is much bigger than the one behind Firebug was, so if they put priority into it, I'm confident that they can catch up with accessibility and usability soon. And [bug 991806](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=991806) is there to push that. – Sebastian Zartner Jan 29 '17 at 10:37
  • Lastest Firefox that supports Firebug is 50.0.2. – Lord_Dracon Sep 13 '17 at 12:25
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Following Sebastian's advice I've downloaded old Firefox portable v47 from here:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Edition%2047.0.1/

and I'm using it with Firebug only for development. According to Firebug's website 47 is the last compatible version of Firefox:

https://getfirebug.com/downloads

To avoid compromising on security, for normal browsing I use updated version of Chrome.

Alan
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    I think it's not correct way to deal with Firefox's changes, if you want to work with Firefox, you should get familiar with its Developer Tools, Firebug was great tool, but there is some features that you need for develop, _such as JS profiling & ..._, also the team will add more features to `FFDT` that every developer should have on their toolbox. I recommended switch to `FFDT` or start working with `Chrome dev console`, but not `Firebug` anymore. – Mehdi Dehghani Jan 29 '17 at 09:20
  • @Mehdi Dehghani I think that forcing developers or telling them what tools they should use is counterproductive and undemocratic unless we are talking about a team. If a tool works and has large userbase then it 'should' be developed. In my case FFDT or ChDT are tools not good enough for some tasks to compete with Firebug. – Alan Jan 29 '17 at 10:09
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    Mehdi's comment should be seen as a recommendation. And staying with Firefox 47 is definitely not recommended as a long-term solution. You'll miss important security fixes and new engine features and Developer Tools features. – Sebastian Zartner Jan 29 '17 at 11:00
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    @Alan You right, I believe Firefox team should start merging Firebug & FFDT long time ago, before put users in this situation, but they didn't and now you should select best option between available options. as Sebastian said, maybe you disable Firefox update and stay with v47, but you miss lot of features & ..., you have to switch to FFDT or ChDT some day, why not today? – Mehdi Dehghani Jan 29 '17 at 13:55
  • @MehdiDehghani, SebastianZartner: I thought about it and I agree with you guys. I planned to use this configuration(FF47+FB) on one particular AJAX-heavy project but after playing with FFDT it seems fine. I'm still more comfortable with Firebug though because of its familiar user interface. – Alan Jan 29 '17 at 19:05
  • Lastest Firefox that supports Firebug is 50.0.2. – Lord_Dracon Sep 13 '17 at 12:27
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Downgrading the version is not advisable, So instead of that go to the browser console and type your respective xpath in the mentioned syntax $x('path') to validate your XPath.

Vasanth chakravarthy
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Or can find other similar plugin. So far I find the Plugin 'Xpather' in http://xpath.alephzarro.com/ link. But I still would like to reactivate Firebug to rework by setting the preferences browser.tabs.remote.autostart, browser.tabs.remote.autostart.1 and browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 to false via about:config.

Yang
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