SHORTCUTS CAN SPEED UP YOUR BROWSING

For many of us, there is no other computer activity -- aside, perhaps, from email -- that we spend more time on than Web browsing. If you log on to the Internet daily or spend any appreciable amount of time online, you should be making the most of your precious time. That means taking advantage of shortcuts and tuning up your browser to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

If you use Mozilla Firefox, try these tips and shortcuts and become an instant power user.

* Supercharge your bookmarks

1) The typical browser dropdown list of bookmarks is helpful, but it's more convenient -- and faster -- to click on an always-visible toolbar button to get to your favorite sites.

First, make sure your bookmarks toolbar is visible: Go to View, Toolbars and then check Bookmarks Toolbar. Next, go to the website you want to include and simply drag the site's icon that appears at the left of your browser address bar onto the bookmarks toolbar. The icon will turn into an instantly accessible clickable button.

Right-click on the new button, select Properties and in the Name field, make sure you enter a short title for the website so you can later squeeze as many additional buttons on the toolbar as possible. I have nearly 30 in a single row.

2) In the same Properties box, go to Keyword and enter a very short abbreviation for the site. Now, you can simply type that abbreviation in the browser address bar, click enter and get to your site fast.

3) Search websites fast by typing the Keyword in the address bar followed by a search term and hit enter. You'll be taken directly to the site and a search of the site will commence.

* Make Firefox your default browser

Do you click on Web links in email only to watch as Microsoft Internet Explorer fires up instead of Firefox? You're not alone. Fix it by making Firefox your default browser.

Go to Tools, Options, Advanced and under System defaults make sure the box stating "Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on start-up" is checked.

* Control font size fast

One of life's great pleasures is growing older and finding you can see nothing, read nothing, find nothing without a magnifying glass or your reading glasses. If you find yourself squinting at a Web page type size that seems like it's not much larger than bacteria, use one of these Firefox tricks to boost font size:

1) Press the Control + (plus) or Control - (minus) keys to enlarge or shrink type

2) If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, press the Control key and use the wheel to boost font size.

3) For a permanent fix, go to Tools, Options, Content and then click on the Advanced button next to Fonts and Colors. You can then select a minimum font size from the dropdown menu. Caution: increasing text size this way on some sites results in overlapping text, so this may not be the best approach for everyone.

* Speed up browser navigation

Here are some nifty shortcuts to help you get around your browser screen faster.

1) Control+L brings your cursor directly to the address bar and selects the current address so it will be erased with the first keystroke of your input.

2) Control+K brings your cursor to the browser's search field.

3) Click the star symbol in the address field to instantly bookmark a page.

4) Control+T opens a new tab with a blank page. Control+Shift T will reopen a Web page that you accidentally closed

5) Open a link in a new tab by hovering over it and clicking the middle mouse button.

* Find your back pages

Have you ever wished you could remember the site of a funny image or a great story you spotted days or weeks ago? Firefox remembers where you've been. Just type Control+H for a history of every site, including links, you visited going back months.

Credit: Questions or comments? Contact Peter Grad at the [email protected]