Tips including mouse gestures, widgets, gnu aspell and much more!

Opera is a browser which people do not really pay much attention to since it only became an open source suite just four years ago, whilst rival browsers such as IE and Firefox were battling against each other for the number one spot. However, the pioneer of web browsing still caters for over 25 million users worldwide. One feature that stands out for me is the loading time, no other comes even close to touching the sheer speed of the browser’s speed.

We have a lot to thank Opera for since it shows off an authentic interface and before any other browsers did so. In addition they enabled bookmarking space and one-click links. Like Firefox they have an add-on system but Opera’s tend to be made by coders. Plugins include a download helper, audio and visual downloads, bookmark managers, in built mail feature, personal organiser, support for existing widgets and much more!

There are countless numbers of handy tips that are on offer when discussing the open source browser, all of which will improve your online experience dramatically and perhaps persuading you to change from Firefox 3.5 to Opera 9.64 or Opera 10 beta. Now, I will show you the top 10 tips to making your web experience more effective with a few little tweaks.

Check your mail with Opera’s built-in email client.

Opera’s built-in email client allows you to open all your email addresses from one application, deleting the need for another running application thus saving bandwidth and time! In order to get the client started simply follow these instructions:

• Firstly, you will be required to sign up for an account with Opera by going to the Tools Menu>>Mail and Chat accounts.
• Once at the set-up wizard, you have to select what kind of account you’d like to create whether it be e-mail, newsgroups or IRC chat.
• As with any other registration, you will be prompted to give your name and email address as well as an additional IMAP account set-up.
• Having triumphantly set up your account, you can see your mails inside your browser by using the panel and Mail menu that arises. In addition to the panels, the email application comes like a normal webpage with the flexibility of being able to arrange specific emails into particular folders.

Access your favourite websites via Speed dialling.

Speed dialling is possibly the most unique and effective feature that Opera specialises in. It allows you to initally choose a preferred webpage and then link it to that thumbnail ranging from 1-9. Opera either chooses your dials automatically by selecting your most visited sites or you can edit each dial manually! Each time you create a new tab, this speed dial will appear and you will be able to access nine different webpages with just one click!

The Speed dial feature is unique to Opera and has been around since 2007, thus other rival browsers such as Chrome have emulated the easy to use, time saving feature. Even Firefox have created an add-on for speed dialling. Thus, when using Opera, speed dialling is a must!

Opera’s widgets and little gadgets making your online experience awesome!

Opera also offers a widgets feature which gives you the option to have small, useful gizmos either on your browser or desktop. These widgets are available here.

All of the widgets are ordered into particular sections according to ones that are the highest-rated, ones recomended by peers, most downloaded and the newest widgets which are coming in all the time. In addition there is a category list down the left hand side giving you widgets for updating your facebook/twitter accounts, analog clock, google translator and many more! This effectively acts as firefox’s add-ons but for Opera. Extremely useful and almost knocks off the need for Firefox since their forte is their add-ons.

Have a bad time remembering login details? Never fear, Magic Wand is here!

Being a login invalid, I despise entering all my details to every site I go on a daily basis. Opera’s wand feature gives a password manager to all of the site you please, though if you do not agree with pop-ups, you will have to select yes for Wand to function properly.

If you want conifgure options which allow you to remember details for particular sites by going to Tools>>Advanced Options>>Wand Passwords. I favour this little tip it is secure, saves time and does not require too much effort.

Set-up Opera’s spell checker… GNU Aspell

In order to install the spell checker which surprisingly isn’t already in-built, you should first download GNU Aspell. Next, you should install this application via restarting the browser. From the same page you have to then install some Aspell dictionaries, all you need to do is find the English package, which don’t worry is FREE! Install the dictionaries and then restart the browser. Now on each webpage/webdocument, you can edit anything that is gramatically wrong, again making your life a whole lot easier since otherwise you would of had to copy/paste into word and then spell check it!

Manage your bookmarks effectively with Opera’s Bookmark Manager

Opera seems to be one of the very few browsers which thinks bookmarks are a really important part of making a complete online browsing experience. Thus, you should go to Bookmarks>>Manage Bookmarks where you can open new tabs showing your current favourites. In addition, you can:

• Add new addresses to your huge ongoing list.
• Create new folders so that your bookmarks stay organized.
• Arrange your personal favourite bookmarks below your address bar.

A very useful feature to have since there are over ten million sites which you cannot remember but you need in the future!

Is your download slow? Install Opera’s download manager

Many of you may have been downloading an application such as iTunes or an update for some software, and found it has either crashed or paused. Opera’s transfer panel ( available by going to Tools/Transfers) allows you to see all of your downloads in your history. Also, if one download has crashed, simply right click it and use the restart transfer option via the menu, making everything seem normal!

Command easy browser functions with Mouse Gestures.

Mouse gesture allows users to do simple browser functions with tiny,quick mouse movements. When you first use a gesture, you will be asked to turn the feature on, so beware of not selecting yes! Mouse gesture features include:

• Navigation gestures such as going to homepage, previous/next page in history.
• Link gestures such as opening link in foreground/background.
• Windows gestures like reloading, minimizing, opening/closing documents and duplicating windows.
• Wheel gestures like scrolling up/down and zooming in/out.

Customize your browser’s appearance by changing the skin.

If you do not like Opera’s interface or are just plain bored of it, you can change the appearance of the browser. In order to change the skin, go to Tools>>Appearance>>Find more skins. Are you not satisfied by just changing the colour scheme, remember you are able to edit various buttons and toolbars at the top.

Close a browser tab accidentally? Don’t worry, Tab trash is there!

Did you close a browser tab without noticing? Don’t worry because the tab trash can will definitely have it. The trash can is located in the top right hand corner and all you need to do is click on it, then all your recently closed tabs are there at your pleasure.

This concludes my post. Have you got any additional tips encouraging users to use Opera over other browsers? Please feel free to comment below!