What webmail is it that won't work? You can trick the webmail into working with Firefox (also, your web devs are just being lazy, they don't need to do anything to make it work with each new version of Firefox if they build it properly).

First, update to Firefox 17.0.1. Update Firefox to the latest release Running 3.6 is leaving you HORRIBLY insecure, as well as using a buggy version of Firefox.

If that doesn't resolve the issue, then try to Reset Firefox. Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings

If your webmail program doesn't work after these two steps, let me know.

https://webmail.ufl.edu/ have e-mailed for help on this, but they only say they can't imagine why there are so many new versions and they have no plans to make webmail compatible with versions above 3.6. Using 12.0 I was unable to see info in sender or subject line columns, making it difficult to sort thru messages. the only "fix" they suggested was to downgrade to 3.6. If you go to the webmail site, you can see that it is run by a group called Shibboleth. I will try firefox reset. thanks for the help.

Ok, well try with Firefox 17.0.1 (if the webmail doesn't work there are ways we can trick it into working, just because they won't do their jobs doesn't mean your computer should be insecure).

So update to 17.0.1, then Reset Firefox.

And actually on that website you gave me it says that is works fine with all versions of Firefox:

Firefox (all versions) (Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows 7)

It's possible they have upgraded their software since you last tried Firefox 17. So updating becomes even more important.

Have updated to 17. again, same problems with webmail. sometimes sender info is not shown, sometimes subject line is blank. do you have a way to "trick" firefox, as you mentioned, to work with my webmail?

Did you try to Reset Firefox?

If that fails to work, install a User Agent Switcher such as https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-rg-ffox-update/, and use it to change the User Agent of Firefox to 3.6

Another thing you can do is leave Firefox installed as your Default for web browsing, and only for your webmail use a portable version of Firefox. You should also contact your School's IT department again, and if necessary direct them to me. By telling users to keep using Firefox 3.6 they are leaving all their users at risk for SERIOUS security holes, and it's actually something they can probably fix fairly easily one time on their end.

What is a User Agent and what does switching it do? I have tried the reset and will wait to see if new e-mails are shown correctly. previously received e-mails still are missing either sender or subject info. I will see if our webmail admins will contact you about fixes, but they don't seem agreeable to that. the fact that they don't mind us using 3.6 is troubling. However, I have to agree that the frequency of firefox updates is ridiculous.

A user Agent basically is a string that tells a website you go to what browser and version you are using. By switching it to an older version of Firefox you are telling a website you are using an older version of Firefox when you really aren't. It sometimes helps poorly designed websites work better.

As for the new versions of Firefox, this is a process called rapid release, where we release a new version of Firefox every 6 weeks. This is to help get new improvements to users as they are ready. This was, when we fix a bug in firefox, you can have that fix to you in 6 weeks, instead of 16 months as happened in pervious versions of Firefox.

There is no real technical reason why rapid release should be very painful for the IT department, unless they are using Old and arcane web dev techniques that require specific versions of Firefox. These methods of developing are out of date, and going to break sooner or later anyway, so it sounds like they just don't want to fix their house of cards more than anything, and thus are leaving you vulnerable to attack at the same time.

I have selected 3.6 under the firefox option of the user agent tool. how do I check to see if that is actually what is being used, since I don't see a difference in the webmail problems? I am very frustrated with Shibboleth or whoever is in charge, but they did not seem sympathetic to my request to update us so we can use the most secure browser updates.

OK, test messages sent to myself directly and also forwarded from another e-mail account have shown up in my inbox correctly, so maybe the user agent tool worked! thanks, I will post back if it goes back to not working correctly. If I understand you correctly, the user agent will only be active for THAT website and not for all websites I visit???

I'm glad it worked! The user Agent will apply to all websites you visit, but that usually isn't a big deal (some websites may show a warning that you are on an out of date version of Firefox, but you can ignore that warning.

Please feel free to contact your IT and direct them to me (click on my user name and you can view my email address) and I can help with any issues they are having on their end.

oops. wrote back too soon. altho the e-mails I sent to myself appeared correctly YOUR replies have not. same old problem. I will let our IT guys have your contact info, but I don't hold out much hope for change at their end.

Tried upgrading to the latest firefox and using the User Agent tool set at 3.6. haven't really seen a change in the way webmail works, but will give it a try for a few days. I really do not like the new version and maybe you can help me customize it to look like the old version. For one thing, the tool bar with function icons such as "go back", "home page" and "new tab" are grey. they used to be different colors, which made them faster to find. very drab. Also, when I select "new tab" instead of a blank page, I get a bunch of images from recent pages to pick from. This is VERY annoying. Have not found a way to change all these things back to the way I had them with 3.6. Any suggestions?

I can totally help you make Firefox 18 look like 3.6 :)

First, the new tab page is a very simple change. Open a new tab, and in the upper right hand corner of the page you'll see a small icon with 9 grey squares. Click that to toggle the page off. How do I turn the new tab page off?

To change the colors, try using an add-on or theme, such as https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/luddite-ui.

Thanks again for your suggestions about add-ons. Now that I've updated to the latest Firefox, even tho I have set the User Agent as 3.6, I got a warning message saying my browser version is not supported, when I tried to log onto myUFL which is a portal to many employee resources, such as benefits, time reporting, etc. If you get a chance, look at the website where I was directed in the warning message: https://wiki.helpdesk.ufl.edu/FAQs/MyUFLBrowserRequirements#chart

Did you set the user agent on purpose to a Firefox 3.6 version?

See:

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/websites-say-firefox-outdated-or-incompatible

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Resetting_your_useragent_string_to_its_compiled-in_default

Having read this thread and noted it relates to an educational establishment not wishing to support recent versions of Firefox & apparently unhappy with the rapid release cycle I wonder whether UFL have considered supporting and recommending ESR to students and staff.

• http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

edit in fact already suggested in a related thread /questions/925133#answer-325665