Hi Pieter  !

Maybe you'd be better off with the New Tab Override extension :

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/

Worth a try ......

The error was mentioned on the add-on’s review page more than once, unfortunately without developer feedback.

Basically you should contact the author for add-on issues, but you could try disabling all add-ons except New Tab Tools. If you no longer see the error, enable the other add-ons one by one. Chances are some other add-ons interfere with New Tab Tools.

Another thing you could try is create a fresh Firefox (test) profile by going to about:profiles in the address bar, set that newly created profile as default profile using the available button, restart Firefox, and install New Tab Tools only without adjusting anything (i.e. leave default settings in Firefox). If the issue still occurs, some other software, such as MalwareBytes or CCleaner or even security software, may be interfering with Firefox cookie behavior or other settings, blocking the ability to be read or modified by New Tab Tools. If you have an answer to that, set back the other profile back as default profile using about:profiles and fix that issue for the original profile, e.g. by adding an exception in that software.

Happy112 said

Hi Pieter  ! Maybe you'd be better off with the New Tab Override extension : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/ Worth a try ......

error is gone, but no top sites and no suggestions. So this add-on only takes the error out, both add-ons together are useless...

Tonnes said

The error was mentioned on the add-on’s review page more than once, unfortunately without developer feedback. Basically you should contact the author for add-on issues, but you could try disabling all add-ons except New Tab Tools. If you no longer see the error, enable the other add-ons one by one. Chances are some other add-ons interfere with New Tab Tools. Another thing you could try is create a fresh Firefox (test) profile by going to about:profiles in the address bar, set that newly created profile as default profile using the available button, restart Firefox, and install New Tab Tools only without adjusting anything (i.e. leave default settings in Firefox). If the issue still occurs, some other software, such as MalwareBytes or CCleaner or even security software, may be interfering with Firefox cookie behavior or other settings, blocking the ability to be read or modified by New Tab Tools. If you have an answer to that, set back the other profile back as default profile using about:profiles and fix that issue for the original profile, e.g. by adding an exception in that software.

Why contact the author of a useless add-on?? The principle error is created by Firefox: no top sites, no suggestions when typing. The add-on did not work, see also former reply.

By the way, as other users with the same problem noted: I have another identical PC, and there Firefox functions normally. All settings are identical.

The other suggestions are bringing me futher in the mudd, finding out my URLs without top-sites and suggestions is then less complicated.

Perhaps time for another browser, these problems created after 'improving' Firefox are ridiculous.

mmm, latest news in this soap: I removed both useless add-ons (see two replies back) and now the top sites are back! But suggestion still do not work (I miss the latest sites and also the sites which are shown by top sites)

Nice, but this does not give me the impression of stable software...

Hi again Pieter,

Question : did you install that add-on after your Top Sites had disappeared from the New Tab page, or because they had disappeared  ?

If the latter is the case : could it be that you had (inadvertently) set the
New Tab page to be blank  ?

See : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/hide-or-display-content-new-tab

Edit :

I just noticed that you posted while I was working on this reply   ....

Would you please take a look at this article : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customize-new-tab-page

Please try to remain positive on this forum, as it is not the place to vent frustrations about Firefox (that you may have been happy with for a long time) or any of its design changes, but intended to help you fix your issue in case support articles don’t help. As you see and given your last comment, the fault is not always with Firefox, and certainly not by default.

I now understand your original issue was with the Top Sites not displaying rather than that it would be an issue as a result of installing the add-on. For what it’s worth: I did not see the error message after installing the New Tab Tools add-on, so that could indicate something else is wrong in your profile, or as a result of another add-on or additional software as outlined above. Also, you probably understand that installing an add-on in order to fix any issues will not work in most cases - fixing the root is, which can be a minor issue.

Did you try to see if Top Sites work in Safe Mode or by creating another profile? (Less relevant after your last comment.)

Also have a look at the Customize your Firefox New Tab page and The thumbnails on the new tab page are missing - how to get them back articles.

As for suggestions in the location / address bar that you seem to refer to, they should be enabled in your Options - see the Use popular search suggestions in the Firefox Search bar and Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox support articles. Also remember that Top Sites is kind of a "learning" feature, and that you can modify whatever you want in most cases, even without add-ons.

You can also try to uninstall and reinstall the extension.

What you guys do not seem to understand is that as a normal user I don't have the time to explore all these suggestions. I am here at my job, that is why I have two identical PC's, one in my room, one in the lab. The fact that only one of them has these problems (also found by other users on this forum!) is still unexplained. By the way, most suggestions are about reading manuals, come on guys, like I have not checked these myself...

A web-browser should simply work, I guess you should solve this at Firefox, perhaps even withdraw the latest update, and test it more thoroughly before you distribute it. You only cause unnecessary frustrations, and I cannot avoid to vent these on this forum.

Would have been nice if you had answered my question (might be helpful to others) .....

What you probably don't to know : we, contributors on this support forum, are (for the main part) volunteers, users just like you, trying to help other users in our spare time - which involves a lot of reading and searching.
Not to mention typing these posts .....

Happy112 said

Question : did you install that add-on after your Top Sites had disappeared from the New Tab page, or because they had disappeared  ?

I did not answer this, because I do not understand the question. To summarize, this happened: Top sites ate there, but empty, also no suggestions (again: only on one of the two identical PC"s!!!). That is why I started this thread. You suggested an add-on, that resulted in error messages as shown before on this thread. Then an override was suggested and nothing showed up. After deleting both suggested add-ons top-sites works suddenly, but suggestions as you type are not complete.

pieterdewaard said

I did not answer this, because I do not understand the question.

I don't know how to make that question any clearer,   but that is neither here nor there anymore.

To summarize, this happened: Top sites ate there, but empty, also no suggestions (again: only on one of the two identical PC"s!!!). That is why I started this thread.

In the header of your question you say that the Top Sites have vanished, not that they were there, but empty .....

You suggested an add-on, that resulted in error messages as shown before on this thread.

As you mentioned that the add-on you installed wasn't working for you, the best thing to do was what 'Tonnes' suggested (contact the developer) and second best : suggest to try a different add-on.

My second question (the one I was really curious about) was :

"Could it be that you had (inadvertently) set the New Tab page to be blank  ? "

And then I added a link to an article ....

But as your problem is solved now : that must be a huge relief !

Enjoy the rest of your day  !