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by Chris Chaplow
Toolbars for all
On a computer a toolbar is a row or a block of
onscreen buttons that when clicked, activate certain functions.
The first toolbar appeared on the
Xerox Alto computer in 1973. Nowadays, we use toolbars in common
applications such as
Microsoft Word where you can spend many happy hours customising
them to you suit your individual taste.
Usually, toolbars and add-ons for
web browsers such as
Internet Explorer and
Firefox are free. They are easy to download and install, even
for the most timid of computer users. However, having too many toolbars
can reduce the area in which you can view web pages so don't get
carried away and use more than two or three at once. Choose the
ones that will help you best.
The most popular toolbar that I use is the Google one.
Google Toolbar
The most useful function of the Google toolbar is being able to search the web without having to go first to Google’s website. This is quite a timesaver. In addition, you can search just within the website you are currently looking at or search news, maps, or images.
Another useful function is the spell check for the web page forms that you fill in. A “Pop-up blocker” allows only pop-ups you want, avoiding many of those irritating pop-up ads. Google also includes a page rank indicator of the web page you are looking at, which is the “Holy Grail” for those who care how highly their pages rank in Google. For the rest of the world, the one-to-ten scale simply gives an idea of how important Google thinks the page a certain page is. For example, the site bbc.co.uk gets a 9 out of 10. Well done!
Another function of the Google toolbar that I find useful is the ability to highlight a word that you have just searched within the displayed page. How often have you searched then not been able to find the word in a long page?
The toolbar is a free download from toolbar.google.com
Finally, one of the newest functions is the addition of extra buttons to the toolbar which let you quickly search within your favourite website. The list of websites that allow this option is growing fast so don’t forget to add the Andalucia.com button to your Google toolbar. To download this, go to www.andalucia.com/toolbars.htm
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