Eight easy extras for IE8
- — 08 October, 2009 16:30
Tweaking the appearance of the toolbars
The Use Large Icons option toggles the size of the icons, from standard to large and back. Show All Text Labels means that text appears on all the command buttons in the toolbars (some also have graphical icons); Show Selective Text means you'll see icons without text for the more obvious commands, such as Home; and Show Only Icons removes the text labels altogether.
You can also shift the Stop and Refresh buttons to the left of the Address Bar, where they're likely to feel a bit more at home. Select Add or Remove Commands, and you can add or remove functions from the Command Bar (the run of icons that appears to the right of the tabs).
Customizing the Command Bar in IE8
IE8 has been out only a few months, but as the default browser in the forthcoming Windows 7 and a recommended update in other versions of Windows, you can expect to start seeing it more and more. Master the eight features described above, and you'll find yourself ahead of the pack in this new browsing world.
Don't Forget these Keyboard Shortcuts
Getting tired of moving your hands from the keyboard to the mouse and back again for every little task? Learn these keyboard shortcuts to transform your browsing into an exercise in ninja-like efficiency.
Key Combination and Resulting Action
Ctrl+f Open the "Find in page" dialog
Ctrl++ (plus sign) Zoom in
Ctrl+- (minus sign) Zoom out
Ctrl+0 (zero) Return view to 100%
Ctrl+p Print page (check "Selection" to print only selected text)
Alt+Home Go to the home page
Alt+left arrow Back
Alt+right arrow Forward
Alt+d Select the Address Bar
Ctrl+e Select the Search Box
Alt+Enter Open Search Box results in new tab
Ctrl+click Open link in new background tab
Ctrl+Shift+click Open link in new foreground tab
Ctrl+w Close current tab
Ctrl+t Open new tab
Ctrl+n Open current tab in new window
Ctrl+Tab Switch to next tab
Ctrl+Shift+Tab Switch to previous tab
F4 Open list of previously typed URLs in Address Bar
F5 Refresh current tab
F7 Enable/disable Caret Browsing (toggle)
F11 Turn full-screen mode on and off (no toolbars)
Logan Kugler is a frequent Computerworld contributor. His most recent article was 6 timesaving tips for Word 2007.
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