Founder & Editor-in-Chief - Christian Computing Magazine

tech talk
Firefox Tips
Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@qwest.net
This month we’ll take one more look at Firefox (FF) by
adding a few tips that I guarantee will make for easier
and more efficient use, including: specifying multiple
homepages, reopening closed tabs, really fast search tips, and
all the keyboard shortcuts you’ll ever need to know (and then
some).
Specifying Multiple Homepages
If you want more than one homepage (is that
an oxymoron?), go to “Tools > Options > Main,”
and then just type however many pages you want
to open when FF starts separated by the vertical
bar ( | ), which is located above the backslash.
On startup, each will be on its own tab.
Adding Address Prefix and Suffix Automatically
In case you haven’t run across this timesaving
(and finger-saving) tip, you can drastically
cut down typing with these shortcuts that
will forever deliver you from having to type
http, www, .com, and all that other stuff on the
address line. For example, type ccmag on the address
line, and then press Ctrl+Enter; this will
automatically display http://www.ccmag.com/
on the address line and take you there. Pressing
Shft+Enter does the same for a net address, and
Ctrl+ Shft+Enter does it for an org.
Reopening Closed Tabs
Man, I sure like this one. Have you ever
closed a browser tab and then wanted it back?
There are three ways to do it. 1) Right-click on
Christian Computing® Magazine
any tab that is still open and select “Undo Close Tab”
from the context menu. 2) Press Ctrl+Shift+T (think of
it as the opposite of Ctrl+T, which opens a new tab). 3)
Click the “History” item on the main menu, point at “Recently
Closed Tabs,” and then click one of the last ten tabs
previously opened. Who knew!!!
Searching a Site Before You Even Go There
Normally, you have to go to a sight, click in the
Search box, type a search string, yada, yada, yada. Try this
instead. First, go to any site you use often (e.g., Wikipedia),
right-click the “Search” field and select “Add a
Keyword for This Search” from the context menu. This
opens the “Add Bookmark” dialog box. Second, pick
any short word or acronym and type it in the “Keyword”
field (e.g. wiki), and then type an appropriate name in
the “Name” box (e.g., Wikipedia Search). Third, click
the list arrow at the far right and select a folder in which
you want the bookmark stored (FF comes with a “Quick
Searches” folder so you might want to use that), and then
click “OK.” From now on, no matter where you are, you
can just type your acronym in the “Address Bar” (BTW,
press Ctrl+L to go to the Address Bar”) followed by your
search string (e.g.: wiki Charles Spurgeon), and press
Enter.
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