Chapter 4
Browsing the Web
If your Mac is connected to the Internet, you can use the Safari browser to navigate, or surf, websites. Safari offers features that make it easier to browse the web. For example, you can open multiple pages in a single Safari window and you can save your favorite sites for easier access.
Navigate with the History List
View Links Shared On Social Networks
Create a Web Page Reading List
Select a Link
Almost all web pages include links to other pages that contain related information. When you select a link, your web browser loads the other page. Web page links come in two forms: text and images. Text links consist of a word or phrase that usually appears underlined and in a different color from the rest of the page text. However, web page designers can control the look of their links, so text links may not always stand out in this way. Therefore, knowing which words, phrases, or images are links is not always obvious. The only way to tell for sure is to position the mouse over the text or image; if the mouse changes to a pointing finger, you know the item is a link.
Select a Link
In the Dock, click the Safari icon (
).
Position the mouse 
over the link ( changes to 
).
Click the text or image.
A The status bar shows the address of the linked page.
Note: The address shown in the status bar when you point at a link may be different from the one shown when the page is downloading. This occurs when the website redirects the link.
Note: If you do not see the status bar, click View and then click Show Status Bar.
The linked web page appears.
B The web page title and address change after the linked page is loaded.
Enter a Web Page Address
Every web page is uniquely identified by an address called the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. You can type the address into the web browser to display the page.
The URL is composed of four parts: the transfer method (usually HTTP, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol), the domain name, the directory where the web page is located on the server, and the filename. The domain name suffix most often used is .com (commercial), but other common suffixes include .gov (government), .org (nonprofit organization), .edu (education), and country domains such as .ca (Canada).
Enter a Web Page Address
Click inside the address bar.
Press 
to delete the existing address.
Type the address of the web page you want to visit.
Press 
.
A You can also click the site if it appears in the list of suggested sites.
The web page appears.
B The web page title changes after the page is loaded.
Open a Web Page in a Tab
You can make it easier to work with multiple web pages and sites simultaneously by opening each page in its own tab. As you surf the web, you may come upon a page that you want to keep available while you visit other sites. Instead of leaving the page and trying to find it again when you need it, Safari lets you leave the page open in a special section of the browser window called a tab. You can then use a second tab to visit your other sites, and to resume viewing the first site, you need only click its tab.
Open a Web Page in a Tab
Open a Link in a New Tab
Right-click the link you want to open.
Click Open Link in New Tab.
A A new tab appears with the page title.
Click the tab to display the page.
Create a New Tab
Click File.
Click New Tab.
B If you already have two or more tabs open, you can also click the Create a new tab icon (
).
C Safari creates a new tab and displays the Top Sites page.
After you have used Safari for a while, the Top Sites page lists the websites that you have visited most often.
Type the address of the page you want to load into the new tab.
Press .
D Safari displays the page in the tab.
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Are there any shortcuts I can use to open web pages in tabs?
Yes, here are a few useful keyboard techniques you can use:
• Press and hold 
and click a link to open the page in a tab.
• Type an address and then press + to open the page in a new tab.
• Press 
++
or ++
to cycle through the tabs.
• Press +
to close the current tab.
Navigate Web Pages
After you have visited several pages, you can return to a page you visited earlier. Instead of retyping the address or looking for the link, Safari gives you some easier methods. When you navigate from page to page, you create a kind of path through the web. Safari keeps track of this path by maintaining a list of the pages you visit. You can use that list to go back to a page you have visited. After you go back to a page you have visited, you can use the same list to go forward through the pages again.
Navigate Web Pages
Go Back One Page
Click the Previous Page icon (
).
The previous page you visited appears.
Go Back Several Pages
Click and hold down the mouse on .
Note: The list of visited pages is different for each tab that you have open. If you do not see the page you want, you may need to click a different tab.
A list of the pages you have visited appears.
Click the page you want to revisit.
The page appears.
Go Forward One Page
Click the Next Page icon (
).
The next page appears.
Note: If you are at the last page viewed up to that point, is not active.
Go Forward Several Pages
Click and hold down on .
A list of the pages you have visited appears.
Note: The list of visited pages is different for each tab that you have open. If you do not see the page you want, you may need to click a different tab.
Click the page you want to revisit.
The page appears.
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Are there any shortcuts I can use to navigate web pages?
Yes, a few useful keyboard shortcuts you can use are
• Press + to go back one page.
• Press + to go forward one page.
• Press ++
to return to the Safari home page (the first page you see when you open Safari).
Navigate with the History List
The Previous Page and Next Page buttons ( and ) enable you to navigate pages in the current browser session. To redisplay sites that you have visited in the past few days or weeks, you need to use the History list, which is a collection of the websites and pages you have visited over the past month.
If you visit sensitive places such as an Internet banking site or your corporate site, you can increase security by clearing the history list so that other people cannot see where you have been.
Navigate with the History List
Load a Page from the History List
Click History.
Click the date when you visited the page.
A submenu of pages that you visited during that day appears.
Click the page you want to revisit.
A The page appears.
Clear the History List
Click History.
Click Clear History.
Safari deletes all the pages from the history list.
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How can I control the length of time that Safari keeps track of the pages I visit?
In the menu bar, click Safari.
Click Preferences.
Click General.
Click the Remove history items pop-up menu (
) and then select the amount of time you want Safari to track your history.
Click 
.
Change Your Home Page
Your home page is the web page that appears when you first start Safari. The default home page is usually the Apple.com Start page, but you can change that to any other page you want, or even to an empty page. This is useful if you do not use the Apple.com Start page, or if there is another page that you always visit at the start of your browsing session. For example, if you have your own website, it might make sense to always begin there. Safari also comes with a command that enables you to view the home page at any time during your browsing session.
Change Your Home Page
Change the Home Page
Display the web page that you want to use as your home page.
Click Safari.
Click Preferences.
Click General.
Click Set to Current Page.
A Safari inserts the address of the current page in the Homepage text box.
Note: If your Mac is not currently connected to the Internet, you can also type the new home page address manually using the Homepage text box.
Click .
View the Home Page
Click History.
Click Home.
Note: You can also display the home page by pressing ++.
Safari displays the home page.
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How can I get Safari to open a new window without displaying the home page?
In the menu bar, click Safari.
Click Preferences.
Click General.
Click the New windows open with and then select Empty Page from the pop-up menu.
Click .
Bookmark Web Pages
If you have web pages that you visit frequently, you can save yourself time by storing those pages as bookmarks — also called favorites — within Safari. This enables you to display the pages with just a couple of mouse clicks.
The bookmark stores the name as well as the address of the page. Most bookmarks are stored on the Safari Bookmarks menu. However, Safari also offers the Favorites bar, which appears just below the address bar. You can put your favorite sites on the Favorites bar for easiest access.
Bookmark Web Pages
Bookmark a Web Page
Display the web page you want to save as a bookmark.
Click Bookmarks.
Click Add Bookmark.
A You can also run the Add Bookmark command by clicking Share (
) and then clicking Add Bookmark.
The Add Bookmark dialog appears.
Note: You can also display the Add Bookmark dialog by pressing +
.
Click and then click the location where you want to store the bookmark.
Edit the page name, if necessary.
Click Add.
Safari adds a bookmark for the page.
Display a Bookmarked Web Page
Click the Show all bookmarks button (
).
B If you added the bookmark to the Favorites bar, click the page name.
C If you added the bookmark to a folder, click the folder and then click the page name.
The Bookmarks sidebar appears.
Click the location of the bookmark, such as the Favorites Bar.
Click the folder that contains the bookmark you want to display.
Double-click the bookmark.
The web page appears.
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I use my Favorites bar a lot. Is there an easier way to display these pages?
Yes. Safari automatically assigns keyboard shortcuts to the first nine bookmarks, counting from left to right and not including folders. For example, you display the left-most bookmark by pressing +
. Moving to the right, the shortcuts are +
, +
, and so on.
How do I delete a bookmark?
If the site is on the Favorites bar, right-click the bookmark and then click Delete, or hold down and drag it off the bar. For all other bookmarks, click to display the Bookmarks sidebar. Locate the bookmark you want to remove, right-click the bookmark, and then click Delete. You can also click the bookmark and then press .
Search for Sites
If you need information on a specific topic, Safari has a built-in feature that enables you to quickly search the web for sites that have the information you require. The web has a number of sites called search engines that enable you to find what you are looking for. By default, Safari uses the Google search site (www.google.com). Simple, one-word searches often return tens of thousands of hits, or matching sites. To improve your searching, type multiple search terms that define what you are looking for. To search for a phrase, enclose the words in quotation marks.
Search for Sites
Click in the Address box.
Press to delete the address.
A You can click an item in this list to select the search engine you prefer to use.
Type a word, phrase, or question that represents the information you want to find.
B If you see the search text you want to use in the list of suggested searches, click the text and skip step 4.
Press .
C A list of pages that matches your search text appears.
Click a web page.
The page appears.
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Is there an easy way that I can rerun a recent search?
Yes. Follow these steps to quickly rerun your search:
Click History.
Click Search Results SnapBack.
You can also press 
++
.
Safari sends the search text to Google again.
Download a File
Some websites make files available for you to open on your Mac. To use these files, you can download them to your Mac using Safari. Saving data from the Internet to your computer is called downloading. For certain types of files, Safari may display the content right away instead of letting you download it. This happens for files such as text documents and PDF files. In any case, to use a file from a website, you must have an application designed to work with that particular file type. For example, if the file is an Excel workbook, you need either Excel for the Mac or a compatible program.
Download a File
Navigate to the page that contains the link to the file.
Scroll down and click the link to the file.
Safari downloads the file to your Mac.
A The Show Downloads button shows the progress of the download.
When the download is complete, click the Show Downloads button (
).
Right-click the file.
B You can also double-click the icon to the left of the file.
C You can click Show in Finder (
) to view the file in the Downloads folder.
Click Open.
The file opens in Finder (in the case of a compressed ZIP file, as shown here) or in the corresponding application.
View Links Shared On Social Networks
You can make your web surfing more interesting and your social networking more efficient by using Safari to directly access links shared by the people you follow. Social networks are about connecting with people, but a big part of that experience is sharing information, particularly links to interesting, useful, or entertaining web pages. You normally have to log in to the social network to see these links, but if you have used OS X to sign in to your accounts, you can use Safari to directly access links shared by your Twitter and LinkedIn connections. For more information on signing in to your social networking accounts, see Chapter 9.
View Links Shared On Social Networks
Click the Show all bookmarks button ().
The Bookmarks sidebar appears.
Click Shared Links.
Safari displays the Shared Links sidebar, which lists the most recent links shared by the people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Click the shared link you want to view.
A Safari displays the linked web page.
B For a Twitter link, if you want to retweet the link to your followers, click Retweet.
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How can I be sure that I am seeing the most recent shared links?
Safari usually updates the Shared Links list each time you open it. However, to be sure that you are seeing the most recent links shared by people you follow on Twitter or are connected to on LinkedIn, click the View menu and then click Update Shared Links.
How do I hide the Shared Links sidebar when I do not need it?
To give yourself more horizontal screen area for viewing pages, hide the sidebar by clicking the Show all bookmarks button () again. You can also toggle the Shared Links sidebar on and off by pressing 
++.
Create a Web Page Reading List
If you do not have time to read a web page now, you can add the page to your Reading List and then read the page later when you have time. You will often come upon a page with fascinating content that you want to read, but lack the time. You could bookmark the article, but bookmarks are really for pages you want to revisit often, not for those you might only read once. A better solution is to add the page to the Reading List, which is a simple list of pages you save to read later.
Create a Web Page Reading List
Add a Page to the Reading List
Navigate to the page you want to read later.
Click Bookmarks.
Click Add to Reading List.
Safari adds the page to the Reading List.
Select a Page from the Reading List
Click the Show all bookmarks button ().
The Bookmarks sidebar appears.
Click Reading List.
Click Unread.
A If you want to reread a page you have read previously, click All instead.
Click the page.
B Safari displays the page.
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Are there easier ways to add a web page to my Reading List?
Yes, Safari offers several shortcut methods you can use. The easiest is to navigate to the page and then click Add to Reading List (
) to the left of the Address bar. You can also add the current page to the Reading List by pressing ++. To add all open tabs to the Reading List, click Bookmarks and then click Add These Tabs to Reading List. To add a link to the Reading List, hold down and click the link.