When I used to use Firebugs inspect elements feature it displayed the results like this below. Nice, nested tags on the left...css style on the right.
Recently, however, when I try to inspect elements it always shows this:
I've tried reverting to older versions of FireBug (can't remember if it started after an update?).. I've poked around the settings... Can't find why it's different. The interface it's showing now is completely useless for figuring out what's going on in the html / css.
Try clicking on the HTML tab of your Firebug screen (Console HTML CSS Script DOM Net) ... you're in the DOM view right now.
The tab you are at is DOM, which displays variables created by javascript and stuff. You may want to change to the HTML tab to see the HTML and CSS.
If you have pingfire (Firefox) extension installed (for ping.fm) try to uninstall it (feedback provided from ALex).
Honza
I've got it!
I had this issue just a few minutes ago... what it is, is ... well... maybe it's easier to show. Tell firebug to load in a new window, and it should go away. If not, then read on and I'll try to describe what's going on.
You see how the correct view had two panes? A 'quickview' is on the right. What's happened, is that pane somehow go dragged all the way to the left. If you hover your mouse over on the left hand side of the pane, you should be able to drag the pane back to the right. The separator between the panes is almost invisible when you drag it to far to either side, so you just need to make sure you don't do it.
That said, it makes a great prank on other developers who don't notice it... mwahahahaha.