tech talk Firefox Tips Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@qwest.net This month we’ll take one more look at Firefox (FF) by add<strong>in</strong>g a few tips that I guarantee will make for easier and more efficient use, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g: specify<strong>in</strong>g multiple homepages, reopen<strong>in</strong>g closed tabs, really fast search tips, and all the keyboard shortcuts you’ll ever need to know (and then some). Specify<strong>in</strong>g Multiple Homepages If you want more than one homepage (is that an oxymoron?), go to “Tools > Options > Ma<strong>in</strong>,” 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. Add<strong>in</strong>g Address Prefix and Suffix Automatically In case you haven’t run across this timesav<strong>in</strong>g (and f<strong>in</strong>ger-sav<strong>in</strong>g) tip, you can drastically cut down typ<strong>in</strong>g with these shortcuts that will forever deliver you from hav<strong>in</strong>g to type http, www, .com, and all that other stuff on the address l<strong>in</strong>e. For example, type ccmag on the address l<strong>in</strong>e, and then press Ctrl+Enter; this will automatically display http://www.ccmag.com/ on the address l<strong>in</strong>e and take you there. Press<strong>in</strong>g Shft+Enter does the same for a net address, and Ctrl+ Shft+Enter does it for an org. Reopen<strong>in</strong>g 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 <strong>Christian</strong> Comput<strong>in</strong>g® Magaz<strong>in</strong>e any tab that is still open and select “Undo Close Tab” from the context menu. 2) Press Ctrl+Shift+T (th<strong>in</strong>k of it as the opposite of Ctrl+T, which opens a new tab). 3) Click the “History” item on the ma<strong>in</strong> menu, po<strong>in</strong>t at “Recently Closed Tabs,” and then click one of the last ten tabs previously opened. Who knew!!! Search<strong>in</strong>g a Site Before You Even Go There Normally, you have to go to a sight, click <strong>in</strong> the Search box, type a search str<strong>in</strong>g, yada, yada, yada. Try this <strong>in</strong>stead. 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 <strong>in</strong> the “Keyword” field (e.g. wiki), and then type an appropriate name <strong>in</strong> the “Name” box (e.g., Wikipedia Search). Third, click the list arrow at the far right and select a folder <strong>in</strong> 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 <strong>in</strong> the “Address Bar” (BTW, press Ctrl+L to go to the Address Bar”) followed by your search str<strong>in</strong>g (e.g.: wiki Charles Spurgeon), and press Enter. August 2008 18
<strong>Christian</strong> Comput<strong>in</strong>g® Magaz<strong>in</strong>e August 200819
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