Entries Tagged 'T & T' ↓

Smart Keywords is a pretty nifty feature of Mozilla Firefox. To understand how useful Smart Keywords are, consider this example. I frequently visit Technorati a lot of times to search for blog posts. Using a Smart Keyword I can search Technorati right from the Firefox address bar without the need to go to Technorati.com.

Creating a Smart Keyword

For creating a smart keyword :

1. Visit the page that has the search field that you search with.
2. Then right click on the search field. Choose Add a Keyword for this Search…
3. The Add Bookmark dialog will appear. Give the bookmark a name, e.g. “Search Technorati” and create a keyword for e.g. “technorati” and save the Bookmark.
4. Click OK.

Now enter Technorati <yoursearchterm> into the address bar and hit enter. For example if you want to search for “Microsoft” at Technorati.com type Technorati Microsoft and you will see Technorati search results for the term Microsoft.

Repeat the steps above for any website search you want to add.

Quick Tip : To avoid cluttering your bookmarks, create a separate folder in your bookmarks to store these “Smart Keywords”.

Almost every blog design uses unordered lists to display the different items in the sidebar. By default unordered lists have only three different types of bullets (disc, square and circle) which are not very good looking to the eye. By using custom bullets you can make your blog design unique and more appealing to your site’s visitors.

How To Use Custom Bullets

For using custom bullets you need to add a bit of CSS to your blog’s stylesheet.

Blogger users can add the following code bits just before the ]]></b:skin> tag and Wordpress users need to add the following code at the end of their template’s style.css file.

1. Disable the default bullets

The code is as following :

ul { list-style:none; margin:0 0 0; padding:0 0 0; }

The above code disables the default bullets and also makes indentations set by your template (if any) zero.

2. Add The Custom Bullets

The code is as follows:

ul li { background:url(arrow_right.png) no-repeat left center; padding-left:20px; margin-bottom:10px; }

Replace the url field with the location where you have placed the image to be used as bullet. To move the bullet up or down to align with the text properly, replace center in the above code by custom values (use 1px, 2px etc. and see which value works better).

For example,

background:url(arrow_right.png) no-repeat left 1px;

You can also increase the padding and margin values in the code above to space the individual items in the list a bit more elegantly.

Save your template and exit. View your blog, you should now have custom bullets in your blog.

Some Custom Bullets For Use

In case, you are wondering where you can get good bullets, then your problem is solved. Here are some icons from the fabulous famfamfam silk icons pack which you can use for your blog.

Just right click on the bullet you like and save.

Everyone knows about Mozilla Firefox and some of its popular extensions. But there are some other little known Firefox extensions which are useful but not so famous. Here is a list of 5 such useful Firefox extensions you probably had not heard of earlier.

5 Useful Firefox Extensions

1. Distrust

Hide surfing trails that the browser leaves behind or in two words it enables Private Browsing. Once turned on this extension monitors Firefox for its activities. Once turned off Distrust will remove history items cache and cookies that were used during the distrust session.

2. Speed Dial

Works very much like the speed dial available in mobile phones. The add-on is very simple to use. Download and install the add-on. Once you have installed, your Firefox toolbar shows the speed dial icons. Click the icon with + symbol to add a new website to the speed dial.

3. Linkification

Some wesbites like Wordpress blogs automatically convert web addresses to hyperlinks but not all sites (e.g. Blogger blogs) are this much kind. You have to copy the URL and then paste it in your address bar. Linkification does that job for you, it converts text links into genuine, clickable links.

4. Download Statusbar

It is irritating to see the Downloads windows of Firefox pop up everytime you click on a download link. Try Download Statusbar. It allows you to view and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar at the bottom of Firefox- without the download window getting in the way of your web browsing.

5. Stylish

This nifty little extension lets you customize the appearance of a web page. For an example of how Stylish can change websites drastically see the Google Reader Mac OS X skin. You can find scripts for Stylish extension at UserStyles.

Do you like these extensions ? Were you using them earlier ?

Ever find yourself struggling to explain in IM, what someone should do to fix a technical issue? If yes then this Yahoo Messenger Plugin is just for you. Unyte’s desktop sharing add-on for Skype is now available as a plugin Unyte Lyte, for Yahoo Messenger.

What does Unyte Lyte do ?

The Unyte Lyte plugin for YIM lets you see your friends desktop in real - time. The plugin should be installed on both yours and your friend’s computer to enable desktop sharing. After installing the plugin, open a chat window with the person whose desktop you want to see. Then click on Plugins — > My Plugins. Click on “Start” beside the “Unyte Lyte” plugin. The plugin will start and wait for your friend’s confirmation to start desktop sharing. The first person to start desktop sharing will be allowing his friend to see his desktop.

Be there, virtually! Easy, fast and free, Unyte Lyte provides 1:1 desktop sharing to Yahoo users. With one click invite contacts from your Yahoo! Messenger list to “see” your desktop. Review homework, play new games, co-browse, edit documents, demonstrate software, give presentations.

One of the drawbacks of Unyte Lyte is that, both you and your friend will not be able to see each others desktop at the same time. Here is a preview of how your friend’s desktop will look using the Unyte Lyte plugin,

You will only be able to see your friends desktop, not control it.

Download : Unyte Lyte Plugin For Yahoo Messenger

Nothing much to write here …

Stop-or-Reload is a simple little Firefox extension which combines the two buttons Stop & Reload in the Firefox browser into one button ( like Safari in Mac ). When the page is loading, the button is Stop and when the page finishes loading the button becomes Reload. As simple as that.

Get rid of one extra button in your Firefox browser. This is something that should have been built into the Firefox browser.

Download Stop - or - Reload Button