Directory Tiles

Directory Tiles

For information about the progress and plans for Directory Tiles see the Content services page. This page is purely about the technical details of Directory Tiles.

Technical Details

This technical information on how Directory Tiles are saved and how you as a Firefox user change it designed for advanced users or enterprise implementers who want to get their hands dirty.

NOTE: If you're looking to customize your new tab page see the New Tab Page Customize support document.

Directory Tiles are currently shipped with Desktop Firefox Nightly for en-US builds in the chrome://global/content/directoryLinks.json location. You can open that link up in Firefox to see how it is currently formatted and filled.

Directory Tiles are only available to users with little or no history (new users) in their profile. Once you've used Firefox to view a number of sites your new tab page will no longer show Directory Tiles automatically.

Preferences

The main preference for Directory Tiles is this:

  browser.newtabpage.directorySource = chrome://global/content/directoryLinks.json

This preference tells Firefox where to locate the Directory Tiles to use.

Turning Directory Tiles Off

NOTE: If you're looking to customize your new tab page see the New Tab Page Customize support document.

If you wanted to turn off Directory Tiles through the preferences you could change the above preference to look like this:

  browser.newtabpage.directorySource =   data:application/json,{}

Changing to this preference will revert you to displaying all blank tiles on the new tab page.

Customizing Directory Tiles

If you wanted to have a different set of Directory Tiles for example for an Enterprise rollout you can also customize the links provided.

Here's an example of a custom directory tiles preference:

browser.newtabpage.directorySource

 data:application/json,{
 "en-US": [
   {
     "url" : "http://www.mozilla.org/",
     "bgColor" : "%234d4e54",
     "type": "custom",
     "imageURI": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAALQAAABWCAQAAADMSHQwAAAFWklEQVR4AezBgQAAAACAoP2pF6kCAAAAAAAAAABgdu0sNqoyDOP4C1WWgCylKgqKoNRCqaxCiyx2bBGNAVrCJkRkUYFAMEGNVUjYRIIIuAYlBqKAUSBcWEUIBlDCBRU6pKINCAUU0CibbSyL9e%2FNmTdvpudMF2ZGj5nfc%2FcwyZCH6Xd6DlMXTGUbe1jEjYhJMgEK2M5WGiDYZDCJ1QTJRWId4f%2BTDwkpoanT5bKXcgDgEqJpyFrKCJmWGLr2ycNa4rQzQf1OY0RzFdTziaFrn41Yh%2FQTjSqnBaLZA2puYujaZy3Wt06bBepPkhFNIaj5iaFrn4FY0522F3boNohmE6gFiaHrkvmEbNQuw3PoDYlPdP0zmOWsYoRpunkOvT4xdDTj%2F6FpS3vESTo5ZNMBwaYBGeQQIBWJmNsZRB7DybJD1DvN6EE%2BraM0dGdyGct4HiMj3kM3pzdz%2BIzLnEIQ5lJKyC6ynVfdxFJOEPKd52%2Bqk9jNNUIq2MYYBJtxlNSQxc4%2F64t8ykEuAJB63UNns5ojWMdZRqv4DV0IahL7CTcN4UHOEO5rkhBsulOEm13Yn40CalKIICRhdbiOoZOYQRHufqFvvIZeTkgV7t7F3TLEpD%2FeLtIRcTKLmqxz5vk5KkM%2FQxmRXCU5PkPnUF%2BXzGf6VqqI5FeaOK98mer%2BxiqM6tDvUJMV8Rm6J%2BH28T5bwKXfQDHWPYiTHVgvkEZXXsLarJejMdiMJkAp1uyoDi2UgSpiDSvYjPV9fIZOw%2FqS3k6%2FAmunnmU%2Fgsp0uj5YeYiT8Vg9ENf0ohLUbiTKQ%2Fd1Xr2ENO2mgDpHo3gM3RnUAdMPAPWx6T8CNdDlAVAQMTkC9ux1STusq7SK%2BtDCVnbQLqyrJKSClvEYOhXUF6bPBDXd9B9UGzqJS56XyJWgziIuOYyVh8RgaLecJKQ8%2FkPvMn0WqHkeT9UGuJzyTyMm07A6IWFZhbUFifHQN9OF%2B%2BlPFmcJuUCzf3Po%2Fh5Dr6s29ONYwxCTfKyHEGyGYl0gKYZDj2U9pVRS3W808cfQz2IFIkyZj5i0oBJrEBKjoUdxFG9nuMEfQxdEmGsI1mjEZC%2FW60iMhp5HZKdo4I%2Bh50Q4Hh7Bsg88n8MqRWI0dIBwFfzECXOTdBzxx9ATI5zRo7AGYx%2FgWx1jNvRhrJX0ozUNSeEKIUf9MvQDWFMQk5lYd2h%2FGmsWEqOhO2EtNteHKkIO%2B2XoplwGtQgxeRvUSW0%2FwdqH1GvoSlI8hl6g7QisttrfBeqQX4YWPgf1FWJyDNR7TvckVhUpdRg6HdQ1bvG4Y12o7QSslq73oyX%2BGXoIVlePL8F0QxDuxKrkPqQOQ9%2BLlezx93rV4xqRqX17UBf9M7QQBHWeCbSmBeO4Uu3pXXNKsUrIYlhYRpLkOXQbz7vQt0Ad1LYb1iHnVO%2FFfqxh%2Fhk6FbAq%2BAPrvPPtueGA9RfVnaah59DCMaydPOz0U7FKWOt62T3PJnYQ7hyZfhlayMfbZdJqfpWagUQYugALtjl9S8I47zmO2gjGfuh0FD%2BYPtvjrq0QRQ5iEqAMN0G6mCcONWvlDG3dbb43egBcT%2BqJWPCafd4Y8b%2Foyuka%2B6E7UOwkyBrTdze9PQsXEtQ%2F6YnY0IjZFNmDgW94CjEZTHHEBHlTB91u%2BtsQM%2FUbVJj36Gt%2BqoIo1ms%2Fi9NYUEw%2FhNkAQIY%2Fv0DTiVzGMJps2iExSgqPMpknCJBCEmLSh%2FFMZgTpNDJtY%2FJZyga2spFXGKr9SIoYhfwXh%2F6nHToQAQAAAADkb73IbXCjR49u9OhGjx7d6NGNHj260aMbPXp0o0c3evToRo8OZGoOg%2BFHUXQAAAAASUVORK5CYII%3D",
     "title": "Mozilla%20Foundation"
   }
  ]
  }

JSON Format

The JSON format is fairly simple, the top level needs to be a locale that Firefox understands. This allows you to offer multiple locales in a single JSON file.

At a high level the data format looks like this:

  { "LOCALE" : [ ARRAY OF DIRECTORY TILE OBJECTS ] }

You can have many locales if you want to support multiple languages.

e.g.

  { "en-US" : [ ARRAY OF US DIRECTORY TILES ], "en-CA" : [ ARRAY OF CA DIRECTORY TILES ] }

Each Directory Tile object requires a few items, most of which are self explanatory.

   {
     "url" : "http://www.mozilla.org/",
     "bgColor" : "%234d4e54",
     "type": "custom",
     "imageURI": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAALQAAABWCAQAAADMSHQwAAAFWklEQVR4AezBgQAAAACAoP2pF6kCAAAAAAAAAABgdu0sNqoyDOP4C1WWgCylKgqKoNRCqaxCiyx2bBGNAVrCJkRkUYFAMEGNVUjYRIIIuAYlBqKAUSBcWEUIBlDCBRU6pKINCAUU0CibbSyL9e%2FNmTdvpudMF2ZGj5nfc%2FcwyZCH6Xd6DlMXTGUbe1jEjYhJMgEK2M5WGiDYZDCJ1QTJRWId4f%2BTDwkpoanT5bKXcgDgEqJpyFrKCJmWGLr2ycNa4rQzQf1OY0RzFdTziaFrn41Yh%2FQTjSqnBaLZA2puYujaZy3Wt06bBepPkhFNIaj5iaFrn4FY0522F3boNohmE6gFiaHrkvmEbNQuw3PoDYlPdP0zmOWsYoRpunkOvT4xdDTj%2F6FpS3vESTo5ZNMBwaYBGeQQIBWJmNsZRB7DybJD1DvN6EE%2BraM0dGdyGct4HiMj3kM3pzdz%2BIzLnEIQ5lJKyC6ynVfdxFJOEPKd52%2Bqk9jNNUIq2MYYBJtxlNSQxc4%2F64t8ykEuAJB63UNns5ojWMdZRqv4DV0IahL7CTcN4UHOEO5rkhBsulOEm13Yn40CalKIICRhdbiOoZOYQRHufqFvvIZeTkgV7t7F3TLEpD%2FeLtIRcTKLmqxz5vk5KkM%2FQxmRXCU5PkPnUF%2BXzGf6VqqI5FeaOK98mer%2BxiqM6tDvUJMV8Rm6J%2BH28T5bwKXfQDHWPYiTHVgvkEZXXsLarJejMdiMJkAp1uyoDi2UgSpiDSvYjPV9fIZOw%2FqS3k6%2FAmunnmU%2Fgsp0uj5YeYiT8Vg9ENf0ohLUbiTKQ%2Fd1Xr2ENO2mgDpHo3gM3RnUAdMPAPWx6T8CNdDlAVAQMTkC9ux1STusq7SK%2BtDCVnbQLqyrJKSClvEYOhXUF6bPBDXd9B9UGzqJS56XyJWgziIuOYyVh8RgaLecJKQ8%2FkPvMn0WqHkeT9UGuJzyTyMm07A6IWFZhbUFifHQN9OF%2B%2BlPFmcJuUCzf3Po%2Fh5Dr6s29ONYwxCTfKyHEGyGYl0gKYZDj2U9pVRS3W808cfQz2IFIkyZj5i0oBJrEBKjoUdxFG9nuMEfQxdEmGsI1mjEZC%2FW60iMhp5HZKdo4I%2Bh50Q4Hh7Bsg88n8MqRWI0dIBwFfzECXOTdBzxx9ATI5zRo7AGYx%2FgWx1jNvRhrJX0ozUNSeEKIUf9MvQDWFMQk5lYd2h%2FGmsWEqOhO2EtNteHKkIO%2B2XoplwGtQgxeRvUSW0%2FwdqH1GvoSlI8hl6g7QisttrfBeqQX4YWPgf1FWJyDNR7TvckVhUpdRg6HdQ1bvG4Y12o7QSslq73oyX%2BGXoIVlePL8F0QxDuxKrkPqQOQ9%2BLlezx93rV4xqRqX17UBf9M7QQBHWeCbSmBeO4Uu3pXXNKsUrIYlhYRpLkOXQbz7vQt0Ad1LYb1iHnVO%2FFfqxh%2Fhk6FbAq%2BAPrvPPtueGA9RfVnaah59DCMaydPOz0U7FKWOt62T3PJnYQ7hyZfhlayMfbZdJqfpWagUQYugALtjl9S8I47zmO2gjGfuh0FD%2BYPtvjrq0QRQ5iEqAMN0G6mCcONWvlDG3dbb43egBcT%2BqJWPCafd4Y8b%2Foyuka%2B6E7UOwkyBrTdze9PQsXEtQ%2F6YnY0IjZFNmDgW94CjEZTHHEBHlTB91u%2BtsQM%2FUbVJj36Gt%2BqoIo1ms%2Fi9NYUEw%2FhNkAQIY%2Fv0DTiVzGMJps2iExSgqPMpknCJBCEmLSh%2FFMZgTpNDJtY%2FJZyga2spFXGKr9SIoYhfwXh%2F6nHToQAQAAAADkb73IbXCjR49u9OhGjx7d6NGNHj260aMbPXp0o0c3evToRo8OZGoOg%2BFHUXQAAAAASUVORK5CYII%3D",
     "title": "Mozilla%20Foundation"
   }

NOTE: You need to URL escape all the text, in the bgColor you'll see the # is replaced with %23 and the spaces are replaced with %20 in the title.

Directory Tiles Object Attributes

• url is the link you want the Tile to link to
• bgColor provides a background fill color in case the image doesn't fill the space
• type isn't necessary for custom tiles so please use the 'custom' attribute
• imageURI provides the full URL to the image you want centered. Images need to be properly sized for the Tiles and do not use remote 'http' images here, only data URIs.
• title provides the display text that will appear below the Tile and for the link title attribute.