Easy Mac OS X Lion - Kate Binder [43]
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Surfing in Safari
For many years, Mac web surfers had a simple choice of web browsers: Netscape or Internet Explorer. Then Apple trumped everyone with its very own, Mac-only browser, Safari. It’s fast, it’s smooth, and—best of all—it’s designed from the ground up to work the way a Mac should.
Start up Safari (in the Applications folder).
Click a link on your home page to go to another page.
Choose View, Show Toolbar if the toolbar isn’t already visible.
Type the URL in the address field on the toolbar for the site you want to visit.
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Tip: Two for the Price of One
If you want to view a new web page without getting rid of the one you’re looking at now, press or choose File, New Window to begin surfing in a new window while leaving the current window open in the background.
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Click the Previous Page and Next Page buttons to go back and forward through the web pages you’ve visited.
Click Reload to have Safari redisplay the page from scratch; this is how you can update pages that change every few minutes, such as online auction listings.
Type search terms in the Safari Search field and press Return to go to the Google site and initiate the search. If one of the search terms Safari suggests is correct, just click it to perform the search.
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Tip: Checking Your Status
Safari’s Status bar shows you when it’s contacting a web server, and it shows you the address behind any link you hold the mouse cursor over. To see the Status bar, choose View, Show Status Bar.
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Viewing an RSS Feed in safari
RSS stands for “really simple syndication,” and it’s an easy way for news organizations, bloggers, and others to offer a constantly updated stream of content. Safari can display RSS feeds for any website that offers one—you can tell by the RSS button next to the site’s web address.
Click the RSS button to see the site’s RSS feed.
Click Read More to see the rest of an article if it’s not all visible.
Type words in the Search Articles field to search for those terms in the site’s RSS articles.
Drag the slider to determine how much of each article shows in the window.
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Tip: That’s the Way I Like It
You can further customize your RSS display by choosing a different Sort By option (Date is the default) and by choosing which articles to view (All is the default).
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Tip: Time and Again
When you have a feed’s settings just the way you like them—including article length and sort order—you can bookmark it so that when you return, the display will be just the same. Click Add Bookmark under Actions.
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Subscribing to RSS Feeds in Mail
RSS is a technology for putting website content wherever you want it: on your screensaver, in your Dock, or even in Mail. If you check a particular website frequently for updates, try subscribing to its RSS feed so you can keep an eye on the site without having to switch to your web browser every few minutes.
In Mail, choose File, Add RSS Feeds.
Click a category on the left; then choose the feeds to which you want to subscribe.
Click Add.
In your new RSS mailbox, click an RSS message to read it.
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Tip: Feeding Yourself
If the feed you want isn’t listed, it’s easy enough to add it. In step 2, click the appropriate radio button and enter the URL for the feed you want. This information should be located on the site’s home page.
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Tip: A Word to the Wise
When you’re choosing RSS feeds, check the Show in Inbox box if you want to be sure you see all messages from a feed right away. Be warned, though—your Inbox may soon be chock-full of RSS messages.
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Organizing Bookmarks
Some people never bookmark anything. Others are sensible enough to bookmark only sites they know they’ll need again.