How often do you use your Web browser? If the answer is constantly, then a few choice tips could save you loads of time and trouble. Here are some for Apple’s Safari 6.
1. Cut through your bookmarks clutter
Overwhelmed by bookmarks? The first step is to organize them into folders (Bookmarks > Add Bookmark Folder). The next step is to organize the bookmarks within the folders. It’s not hard if you use the Finder to alphabetize them.
Go to your bookmarks window (Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks or Command-Option-B), and drag a folder from the Bookmarks sidebar to the Desktop. This action copies the folder to the Desktop, and the contents automatically sort by name.
You can’t drag a folder directly into the Safari sidebar; so, instead, drop your sorted folder into the list area of the Bookmarks window, and then drag it from there to the sidebar. Unlike in the Finder, folders with the same name can exist in the same location in Safari, which means now you’ll have two. After you place the organized folder, delete the original.
2. Easily share pages through email
Safari 6 makes it simple to share content you see on the Web. Click the new Share button in the Safari 6 toolbar to do so quickly. There you have the option to email the page, add a bookmark, add the page to your Reading List, or send a link to it through Message, Twitter, or Facebook.
If you tend to email webpages, you might think this button offers little advantage over the File > Share submenu. When you use that menu, you can choose between mailing a webpage or just its link by pressing the Shift key while selecting. (If you’re using keyboard shortcuts, press Command-I or Command-Shift-I, respectively). But no matter how you start, you wind up in Apple’s Mail, where you can change your mind about how to send the page and choose from two more options.
In Mail, look above the message area to see the easy-to-miss ‘Send Web Content As’ menu on the right. This menu lets you send the webpage itself, a link to the page, a PDF of the page, or a version that matches what you see in Safari’s Reader window (View > Show Reader). The Reader version includes easy-to-read type, no ads, and multipage articles threaded together in a single document. The application remembers the option you choose for the next time you use the Share command. Note that the Reader option isn’t available for all webpages; if View > Show Reader works on the page in Safari, you’ll be able to send it that way, too.
3. Get what you want with modified clicks on links
Safari has long let you Command-click a link to open it in a tab. (This default behavior is set up in Safari > Preferences, under the Tabs pane.) Safari 6 adds two new link-clicking options: Shift-click to send the linked page to the Reading List, or Option-click to download it to your Downloads folder. But that’s just basic information.
Here’s the tip: Watch the status bar at the bottom of the window (choose View > Show Status Bar if it’s not there) to check what your modified click will do. This crib sheet is especially helpful when you’re adding the Shift key to a window- or tab-opening click to toggle between having the link open in the foreground or the background. There are a lot of modifier options to remember. If you give up on learning your modified-click behaviors even with the status-bar crib sheet, you can always Control-click a link to see a list of options.
4. Reverse your ‘never save password’ decision
You enter a password for a webpage, Safari asks if you want to save it, and you click ‘Never for this Website’. But what if you have second thoughts? You can rescind your decision because, although the password wasn’t saved, your “never” choice was. Choose Safari > Preferences, and click the Passwords tab. Select the site in the list (it will say ‘Passwords Never Saved’ in the User Name column) and click the Remove button. Visit the site again, and this time let Safari remember your password.