SeaMonkey/FAQ

Resources
SeaMonkey Homepage
FAQ / Help
Goals
Organization
QA
Supporters
Add-ons
Localization
Reasons
Branding
Release History
Tasks & Projects
IRC Chat Logs
Discussion
Suiterunner

SeaMonkey User FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Note:

• This page is also available in other languages: German (Deutsch), Spanish (Español)
• Since this is a Wiki page, anyone with an account can modify it. If you have questions of general interest but no answer yet, please add it to the Discussion page instead. Thanks!
• The user-centric SeaMonkey Help website, run by Chris Ilias, provides screen casts and explanations for many SeaMonkey-related issues. Check it out!

Updating

What should I do before updating?

You can backup your profile, just to be safe. But normally the update from one SeaMonkey version to more current version will work flawlessly.

It is a good idea to read the release notes before updating, as any known issues or additional steps will be documented there.

Is the update from SeaMonkey 2.0 to 2.x as complicated as the update from SeaMonkey 1.x to 2.0?

No. The update from SeaMonkey 2.0 to 2.x will just convert your bookmarks (silently and only once). The rest is mostly left untouched. In contrast the update to SeaMonkey 2.0 migrated (copied) the whole profile.

What happens if I go back to an older version after the update?

In most cases return to an older 2.x version will work without bigger problems. Some language packs, plugins and add-ons might also need a revert to an older version.

If you return to SeaMonkey 2.0, due to incompatible changes to the Places back-end, you will lose your browsing history and any changes made to bookmarks. When you go back to SeaMonkey 2.x again, you may recover your bookmarks using Tools/Restore from the Bookmarks Manager, though.

Since update I have some new problems with my SeaMonkey. Do workarounds exist?

Check SeaMonkey/Troubleshooting for help

General

What is the difference between Release Candidates and Beta-Versions?

With the adoption of the rapid release cycle, release candidates (RCs) have been replaced by beta versions. As such, beta versions now identify themselves as release versions, i.e. they cannot be distinguished from release versions and the final beta is equal to the final release. Consequently, users on the beta channel are not upgraded to the final release because they already have it when they upgrade to the final beta. Instead, they are upgraded to the first beta of the next release once released.

Which version of Firefox does SeaMonkey 2.x correspond with?

SeaMonkey 2.1 uses the same back-end as Firefox 4.0, Gecko 2.0. Starting with Firefox 5, Gecko versions equal the Firefox version. While Firefox (and Thunderbird) chose to increment the major number with each new release, SeaMonkey chose to increment the minor number only. In other words, Firefox 5 corresponds with SeaMonkey 2.2, Firefox 6 with SeaMonkey 2.3 and so on. Currently (October 2015) the SeaMonkey-version-"decimal" (2.38) corresponds with the "decimal+3" Version of Firefox (Firefox 41).

I have a question/problem. Where can I get help?

First try searching the help contents (press F1 in SeaMonkey). If that doesn't answer your question, get help from our community.

Where can I go for news about the SeaMonkey project?

The SeaMonkey Project News page and the SeaMonkey Blog are good resources for the latest SeaMonkey news. For all SeaMonkey enthusiasts, a good news source is the alt.comp.software.seamonkey newsgroup.

Add-ons (Extensions)

Some of my add-ons are not compatible with SeaMonkey 2.x anymore. What can I do?

Have a look at the AddonCompat page. Currently for SeaMonkey 2.39 and later we are workign on a more comfortable user interface of the SeaMonkey add-ons converter, for details see bug 1145026 AMO Add-On-Descriptions: Add link function leading to SeaMonkey add-on-converter and filling URL input pane

I need calendar integration. Which version of Lightning is compatible with SeaMonkey 2.x?

The recommended version is available from addons.mozilla.org (AMO).

I need PGP/GPG integration. Which version of Enigmail is compatible with SeaMonkey 2.x?

The recommended version is available from addons.mozilla.org (AMO).

Bookmarks

The bookmarks.html file is not updated anymore. What can I do?

The bookmarks.html is no longer used, see below!

What are the benefits of Places-based bookmarks?

Bookmarks are stored in a database now, together with your browsing history. This allows for better integration (Sync, the Location Bar and add-ons), automatic backups and the possibility to restore them, saving favicons with your bookmarks, and the ability to define tags.

Bookmarks in the Location Bar?

Yes. You can adapt the behavior using the browser.urlbar.default.behavior pref.

What happened to "Check this location for updates"?

This functionality is not available anymore, at least not out-of-the-box. You may try to find an add-on for that job.

What happened to groupmarks (clickable tab groups)?

Groupmarks have been converted to simple bookmarks folders, the contents of which can be opened in browser tabs using either the middle mouse button, Ctrl + click, or the Open All in Tabs menu item.

Browsing

I don't want Zoom to remember its state per site. What can I do?

Go to about:config, search for browser.zoom.siteSpecific and toggle the value to false by double left clicking the result line.

I don't like Tabbed Browsing. What can I do?

Go to Preferences and change these settings:

• Browser, Tabbed Browsing:
  • Hide the tab bar when only one tab is open
• Browser, Link Behavior:
  • Open links meant to open a new window in: The current tab/window
  • When scripts want to open a new window: Always open new windows
  • Open links passed from other applications in: The Current tab/window

I'm getting a notification bar that reads "SeaMonkey prevented this page from automatically reloading." (or "SeaMonkey prevented this page from automatically redirecting to another page."). What can I do?

Go to Preferences, Appearance, Content and deselect the "Warn me when web sites try to redirect or reload the page" option.

I've set a Master Password, but now SeaMonkey asks for it every time I open the browser (start the application). What can I do?

It's not a bug, it's a feature. By default, SeaMonkey initializes MailNews in the background even if you just open the browser. This way it can check for new mail and notify you while you can start browsing right away and not be distracted too much by the MailNews window in case there is no new mail. You can disable this behavior by going to Preferences, Mail & Newsgroups and selecting "Only check for new mail after opening Mail & Newsgroups". Once you did that, the next time you restart SeaMonkey it will only start checking for new mail once you opened MailNews at least once during the browsing session.

The scrolling speed on Windows has changed. What can I do?

The scrolling speed can be configured through the Windows mouse settings. Many people do not know that, though. Starting with SeaMonkey 2.1, if you didn't change the Windows default, the scrolling of web pages has been changed to be twice as fast as before. If you want to revert that, go to about:config, search for "mousewheel.system_scroll_override_on_root_content.enabled" (without the quotes) and toggle the pref to false by double clicking the result line.

Middle-clicking a tab does not close it. Instead, the location bar changes! What can I do?

You are probably on Linux. Some settings depend on the platform, and on Linux the middle mouse button is commonly used for pasting what is currently on the clipboard. To change the behavior for SeaMonkey, go to about:config, search for "middlemouse.contentLoadURL" (without the quotes) and toggle the pref to false by double clicking the result line.

MailNews

I cannot create a new account. What can I do?

See bug 521861 comment 0 for a workaround.

The MailNews status bar is broken. What can I do?

This can be caused by incompatible add-ons that seem to otherwise work fine. One example is Mailbox Alert 0.14.5, which is really only compatible with SeaMonkey 2.0.

Managers

The new Data Manager doesn't show for which sites I have cookies or passwords stored. What can I do?

For passwords, see Ed Mullen's Password Viewing or use the Saved Password Editor add-on. For cookies there seems to be no working add-on. CookieSafe has been removed from repository by author.

Contribution to SeaMonkey Project

Bug Reports

I think I found a bug in SeaMonkey, but I am not familiar with the Bugzilla bug tracking system and have some questions. Where can I find information?

You can find information at

• Mozilla Bug writing guidelines for general questions
• SeaMonkey Bugzilla-FAQ for SeaMonkey specific questions
• At #SeaMonkey chat

How To Start Contributing Code

You are interested in contributing to SeaMonkey? Great! Currently it's a little difficult to to rate your interests and your experience, so this general introduction also migt contain some advice you do not need.

Some more information concerning the SeaMonkey project you can find here in the wiki.

If you don't already have your own plans how to start, you should do:

1. Install current stable SeaMonkey and additionally an (unofficial) latest Trunk Version will be required for Testing - simply unzip it. Also unofficial localized builds might be interesting for you.
2. Create a Bugzilla Account
3. Try to confirm some of the UNCONFIRMED Bug reports (only if you want, you also can pick a bug what seems interesting for you) or from here. That might help you to become more familiar with the SeaMonkey project. You can find HowTos in the Bug Triage Manual.
4. Please introduce yourself and tell some details concerning your skills (5 text lines or so, you can also do that a little more detailed in a wiki user account.
5. You will need a build environment, you find some hints at SeaMonkey:hg-based build and at Mercurial installing manuals
6. Following the unofficial SeaMonkey blog can help to keep you in touch with SeaMonkey.
7. Don't hesitate to contact me for any question you have.

If an obstacle (manual difficult to understand, something does not work as you expect, ...) hinders you to do the next step please ask for help in Newsgroup alt.comp.software.seamonkey or even better in irc://libera.chat/seamonkey

For Submitting Patches

1. Read How to submit a patch. Module owners who can be asked for a review can be found on Modules/SeaMonkey
2. Source code can be found at Mercurial, please read instructions.
3. Simple SeaMonkey build tells you how you can do own builds to test your patch.
4. How can I generate a patch for somebody else to check-in for me? also contains information how to gt a atch into SeaMonkey Code

Troubleshooting

See SeaMonkey/Troubleshooting