How to Block Websites on Firefox

Social networking sites may be a great way to connect to a lot of friends, relatives and other contacts in these busy times when calling or visiting don't come across as very viable options. However, what if these same websites get you addicted so much that you neglect other aspects of you life just to stay logged on? This concern assumes more serious proportions when you have kids in the house. These days, you'll find many parents complaining that their kids skip homework and play time just to be on the Internet, chatting, tweeting, scrapping and what not! Social networking sites are not completely to be blamed. There are many other entertainment websites that feature games, videos, music, etc., which often pose a distraction. Hell, who am I trying to fool? It is us who get hooked to all this stuff without even realizing, hence, it is ourselves that are to be blamed! One way to counter Internet addiction is to block certain sites. Let's check out how to block websites on Firefox.

Tips to Block Websites on Firefox

Wondering how to block websites on Firefox? Well, to begin with, let me tell you a unique thing about blocking websites on this particular browser. Unlike Internet Explorer, which has inbuilt website blocking capability in the form of Content Advisor (Tools → Internet Options → Content → Enable → Content Advisor) Firefox does not come with an inbuilt tool for disabling or blocking specific websites. Therefore, if you wish to block specific websites, you will have to choose from a wide variety of filtering engines, add-ons and extensions that are available for Firefox that can be downloaded and installed. Some such effective filtering engines, add-ons and extensions are:-

• BlockSite
• ProCon Latte
• NetDog (extremely effective in filtering pornographic websites)
• LeechBlock
• Adblock Plus (blocks and filters advertisements and fixes memory leak issues, giving your browser better speed)
• Fox Filter

Wondering how you can get these add-ons or filter engines? Well, here's how you go about it.

• Launch Mozilla Firefox web browser;
• Go to the Tools menu on the menu bar which is above the address bar;
• Click on Add-ons in the drop down menu;
• Click on Get Add-ons in the window that opens when you select Add-ons in the Tools menu;
• A list of recommended add-ons appears when you click on Get Add-ons;
• On the top right-hand corner of this list, there is a link that says Browse all add-ons. Click on it;
• A separate tab opens up displaying various available add-ons and a search field;
• Type in the name of the add-on you want in the search field and hit Enter or click on the search arrow beside the search field;
• Once the add-on is displayed below the search field, click on the Add to Firefox button. Some add-ons may have a Continue to Download button instead of the Add to Firefox button.

There, you have the tools you need to block whichever website you want on Firefox! Read more about unblocking the full potential of Firefox with plugins on Buzzle.

Blocking Sites Temporarily on Firefox

If it's a revocable option you are looking for, you can use the LeechBlock add-on. This extension gives you the option to block a particular site for a desired number of days or for a specific interval of time. BlockSite is another add-on that can be easily disabled and removed, hence, being a good option for blocking sites temporarily.

Blocking Websites with a Password

Password protection features are available with the LeechBlock, ProCon Latte and BlockSite add-ons. Also, you can use the NetDog and Fox Filter filtering engines to block any website on Mozilla Firefox using a password. However, using a password protected website blocking option is ideal if you wish to prevent someone else from accessing those websites. Your own addiction to a particular site can always get the better of you and lead you to enter the password and override the security of these add-ons. Therefore, if you are blocking certain sites in your own interest, it's best to get it done by someone else so that you are not aware of the password.

There is another way which is the most common answer to how to block a website on Firefox - via the HOSTS file in your Windows OS. You can go about it by opening the HOST on notepad and typing 127.0.0.1 URL of the website you wish to block under the 127.0.0.1 Localhost line that appears when the default Windows HOST open up. I would suggest that you add the URL twice, once with and once without www. to see which works. For example, try both 127.0.0.1 twitter.com and 127.0.0.1 www.twitter.com. Most people complain that this method doesn't work if you add www. in the beginning of the URL that is why it is advised to try it both ways. Select Yes after closing the notepad. You can block multiple sites this way by just typing their URLs in the same fashion. Try accessing these blocked sites after rebooting your system. You'll either get a Cannot find server message or a Page cannot be displayed DNS error message.

Now that you know how to block a website on Firefox, go ahead and try out these options. If you're blocking the sites so that someone else, say the kids, stay off them, then it's better to resort to the add-ons because if you block a website using the HOST file, it can easily be disabled by just deleting the lines containing name or URL of the particular website from it. Kids these days are very smart and tech savvy and it won't take them much time to figure out how to bend the barricade. As far as you are concerned, you'll be surprised by how much time you'll save for more fruitful pursuits by just keeping unhealthy distractions away!