text for the current tab or window To resize the text on only the Web sites you visit in the current tab or window, choose View Text Size and then choose Increase or Decrease accordingly. If the text still isn't as large or small as you'd like, you can continue resizing. Figure 19-1 shows Memeorandum (a great Web site for keeping up on what bloggers are talking about) at normal size, and Figure 19-2 shows the page after using the Increase command twice. Figure 19-1: Memeorandum at normal size. Figure 19-2: Memeorandum after increasing the text size twice. Tip On Windows, press Ctrl++ (that's Ctrl and the plus sign) to enlarge text and Ctrl+- (the minus sign) to shrink it. The Macintosh shortcuts are ++ and +-, respectively. Any Web sites you visit in the current tab or window use the new text size. To return to normal size, choose View Text Size Normal or press Ctrl+0 ( +0 on Macintosh). Of course, you could also just start browsing in a new tab or window. Resizing text permanently Resizing the text on all Web sites you visit involves more steps than resizing for a single window, but it's also permanent, so you only have to do it once: Click the Content icon at the top of the Options window. In the Fonts & Colors section at the bottom, ignore the Default Font settings and click Advanced to open the Fonts window. Default Font is just a subset of the options in the Fonts window, and you should set the options in the Fonts window to affect all sites. The Fonts window offers a variety of complicated options, but you don't need to worry about all of them right now. Basically, many different styles of text exist (such as Serif and Monospace), and the Web site designer picks a style. Firefox lets you control which font and size are used for each style. (Optional) Use any of the following techniques to resize text as needed: To override the font size on all pages, choose the new size from the Size drop-down lists next to Proportional and Monospace. Figure 19-3 illustrates the proper settings to use if you want Web sites to display text at size 18. Figure 19-3: To override text size, select a new size for both Proportional and Monospace. Here i use size 18. To set a minimum size, use the Minimum Font Size drop-down list. This is a good option if you're concerned about readability but don't need everything to be one particular size. (Optional) To override all Web page fonts, choose the new font from the Serif, Sans-Serif, and Monospace drop-down lists, and then deselect the Allow Pages to Choose Their Own Fonts check box. Because designers go to great trouble to design pixel-perfect Web sites, it's probably best to leave Web site fonts alone. Changing them could affect the readability or the attractiveness of pages you visit. Click OK to close the Fonts window. Click OK to save your changes and close the Options window.   Preventing annoying tricks Most sites on the Net are well-behaved, but as with anything, a few bad apples crop up. You've probably run into a couple during your online travels. Sometimes they use flashy tricks that distract you while you read the page. Certain Web sites, for example, scroll text in the Firefox Status Bar like those stock tickers in Times Square, or blink text to catch your eye again and again and again.