Digital Streets

Chrome is Google’s new sleek web browser. Even though it is only a beta version, it is an easy browser to like. With a streamlined design, fast rendering of webpages, ability to create web applications from any website, the list goes on and on. Here’s the list of tutorials that we’ve accumulated on Chrome, to this point:

1. Introduction to Google Chrome – If you’re not familiar with Chrome, abanks wrote a quick intro to get you started.

2. Put the Home Button on the Toolbar - By default, Google’s new web browser doesn’t give you a button on the toolbar to bring up your homepage. Here’s how to add the Home button so that the browser’s toolbar works like your other web browsers.

   

3. Make Any Website a Web Application - You can use Chrome to create a site specific browser that transforms sites like Gmail, Google Calendar, Yahoo! Mail, etc. into standalone web applications. Chrome will also create icons on the desktop, Start menu, and/or Quick Launch bar so you can easily access your newly created application. When opened, the application will appear in your taskbar like other programs do, and will go unaffected by actions that take place in a regular Chrome browser window.

4. Change the Default Search Engine - You can search by typing your search query directly into the address bar or by highlighting text on a webpage, right-clicking and selecting the search command. To change which search engine Chrome will use, follow these steps.

5. Change the Default Download Location - If you want to change where Chrome deposits downloaded files on your computer, you can change the default location or even have Chrome ask you where to save each file before it is downloaded.

6. Load Multiple Pages at Startup - If you’re like me, you visit the same pages everytime you open your browser. Chrome can be configured to load multiple pages at startup.

   

7. Using Chrome’s Task Manager to Kill Problematic Tabs - If you encounter a situation where one of the tabs in Google Chrome is causing you problems and won’t close, you don’t have to close the browser to get rid of your troubles. Chrome comes with its own Task Manager that shows you how much of available resources are used by any open pages and used plug-ins. It also allows you to end process on any open tab without having to shutdown the browser.

8. Clear History and Delete Your Browsing Data - If the computer you are using is accessed by people other than you, you probably do not want to disclose your browsing habits. By emptying your cache, deleting cookies, and clearing history, you can cover your tracks. Chrome makes this easy.

9. Use the Keyboard Shortcuts - As with other browsers, Chrome has keyboard shortcuts that allow you to easily get to variable places in the browser or to access additional functionality. In most cases, the keyboard shortcuts are more time efficient than relying on the mouse and interface. Here are the ones that I found to be most beneficial.

10. How to Delete Individual Cookies - If you need to delete a specific cookie but don’t want to remove all of them, you can access the Cookies list and remove them one-by-one. This is helpful if you are having problems with a cookie driven site or are developing a page that utilizes cookies.

11. How to Make Google Chrome the Default Browser - If you have fallen in love with Google’s web browser and are ready to use it all the time, here’s how to make it your default browser.

12. Force Restore Previous Session from Command Line - Did you accidentally close your browser and it wasn’t set to restore the pages that were open last? Instead of being frustrated, simply use a command line switch for Chrome and restore the previous session. I do this enough that I went ahead and made a Restore Session shortcut on my desktop that sits next to my regular Google Chrome shortcut.

13. Add a Print Button to the Bookmarks Bar - Most browsers have a print button so you don’t have to hunt for the correct menu selection or rely on remembering the keyboard combination. You can add a print button to your Bookmarks bar, making it easily accessible any time you need it.

14. Use Bookmarklets to Create a Customized Toolbar - By using bookmarklets, you can compensate for Chrome’s lack of support for extensions. You can create a customized toolbar to utilize the functionality of other sites like StumbleUpon, Delicious, Evernote, and others.

15. Make the Bookmarks Bar Display as Icons Only - By reducing your bookmarks to show only the icons, you can access more of them from the Bookmarks bar. This works great for sites with recognizable favicons like Gmail, Google Calendar, etc.

    

16. Add a Send Link Button to the Bookmarks Bar - Most browsers provide you with a way to easily email a link to the page you are currently viewing. When clicked, your default email application will produce a new message with the link in the body and the page title in the Subject line and the To field left blank for you to address. This functionality is missing from Chrome, but can easily added by creating a button on the Bookmarks bar.

17. Reopen Closed Tabs - You finally get to the webpage you’ve been surfing for and now you’ve accidentally closed the tab. This can be a very frustrating situation. Chrome is quite forgiving and allows you to easily reopen the closed tab, even if you’ve closed other tabs after it.

18. How to Change Icons on the Bookmarks bar - I added quite a few bookmarklets to my Bookmarks bar and was unhappy with the same default icon that showed for each one. There are no settings currently available within Chrome to change the icon, but there is a way to fix them that works quite well.