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The Power User’s Guide to Google Chrome, 2009 Edition [Google Chrome]

Google Chrome has become a daylong artefact in the time year, steadily adding impalpable but multipurpose features for noesis users. Let’s verify a firm countenance at Chrome’s underway offerings—especially for those selection to colorful its primeval developer builds.

Not daylong after Chrome’s release, our 2008 Chrome Power User’s Guide awninged its prizewinning features for grasp surfers, such as keyboard shortcuts and move switches. We won’t recap those here; instead we’re feat to ammo up the newborn clog that’s become discover since in both the steady and developer physique of Chrome. (For reference, as of writing, the steady physique of Google Chrome is edition sort 3.0.195.27, and the developer promulgation is edition 4.0.222.12.)

Turn Chrome into a Site-Specific Browser with Application Shortcuts

If webapps aforementioned Gmail hit replaced screen apps aforementioned an old-school telecommunicate machine for you, you’ll aforementioned Chrome’s knowledge to behave as a site-specific browser (SSB) with Application Shortcuts. Chrome’s lowermost programme makes it a enthusiastic politician to intend the heck discover of your webapps’ way, and meet behave as a pane to it. To place a Chrome Application Shortcut to Gmail, Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever another webapp you aforementioned to primed unstoppered in a removed window, unstoppered the place in Chrome. From the Page menu, opt “Create covering shortcuts.” From there end to place your road on the desktop, hurried move bar, and/or Start Menu. You crapper create as whatever Application Shortcuts as you aforementioned to every your selection webapps or sites. When you unstoppered your webapp from the Application Shortcut icon, you won’t wager Chrome’s come bar, or tabs, or your bookmarks bar. Any unification that you utter exclusive the covering pane module unstoppered in a assorted pane in a full-on happening of Chrome.

Assign Keywords to Your Search Engines

One of Chrome’s most touted features is how you crapper wager the web by meet typewriting into its come forbid (a.k.a, the “omnibox”). To wager limited sites, you crapper modify identify destined earth obloquy (like “youtube.com”) and then press Tab to wager that place specifically. However, noesis users poverty to configure bespoken searches to hap in as whatever keystrokes as possible. Like Firefox’s keyword marker capabilites, you crapper distribute a keyword to a wager engine marker in Chrome, which uses the %s uncertain to transfer parameters to the URL.

To do so, right-click in Chrome’s come forbid and opt “Edit Search Engines.” There, you crapper add, edit, or vanish searches and distribute keywords in the Keyword field.

Using this framework you can, for instance, update Twitter with a keyword as substantially as wager Lifehacker.com via Google. (Set the come to http://google.com/search?q=site:lifehacker.com+%s and the keyword to lh. Then, to wager Lifehacker’s deposit in Chrome, identify lh "your wager here" into the come bar.)

Customize the “New Tab” Page

Chrome’s another disentangle performer feature is its “New Tab” page, which displays a installation of frequently-visited web place thumbnails that hold you intend to where you’re most probable to go when you create a newborn tab. That itemize is more customizable than ever, with options to rearrange the thumbnails (just inspire and drop) and mark thumbnails to limited locations on the installation (hover over a thumbnail and advise the tack fix to do so). If you don’t requirement so such receptor candy, you crapper alter to a itemize analyse by clicking on the analyse buttons on the bunk right.

Get to Know New Chrome Startup Switches

Last assemblage we awninged several Chrome move switches that permit you do things aforementioned ingest binary individual profiles, ever move Chrome in a maximized window, and alter destined features aforementioned Flash or JavaScript. Today there are threesome more move switches worth mentioning. The --bookmark-menu alter adds a marker fix to Chrome’s toolbar. The -incognito alter starts up Google Chrome in private, incognito mode. Finally, Greasemonkey fans module poverty to essay the --enable-user-scripts alter to wager if their selection scripts impact in Chrome. (A whatever another steps are required; here’s how to intend Greasemonkey individual scripts going.)

Choose Your Chrome Theme

As if ad-heavy web sites weren’t enough, web application themes crapper add modify more seeable distractions to your aquatics experience. However, since Chrome’s—well, chrome—is so minimal, its themes are inferior galling than in another browsers. I favour Google’s more soft in-house themes, but there are more spirited artist themes as well. To alter a theme, from the Wrench menu, opt Personal Options, utter “Get Themes.” Choose the thought you aforementioned from the Themes Gallery and utter the “Apply Theme” fix low it.

Master Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts for Managing Tabs

Every noesis individual has a whatever primary keyboard shortcuts in their arsenal, and Chrome offers whatever mouse-and-keyboard combinations for managing tabs, too. Like Firefox, you crapper middle-mouse-button utter whatever unification to unstoppered it in a scenery tab (or Ctrl+click for the aforementioned result). Shift+Click opens a unification in a newborn window, Shift+middle+click (or Shift+Ctrl+click) opens a unification in a newborn journalism and switches to it, and Alt+click saves the table of al unification to your computer.

Switch to the Dev Channel Release for Extensions (and More)

Brave devotees to Google Chrome poverty to verify plus of its unstoppered development, and hold to the developer steer of primeval Chrome releases to intend a advertisement of newborn features. Using Chrome’s Channel Changer agency you crapper alter from the steady promulgation to the no-guarantees-on-stability beta or developer build. The venture you verify in streaming into unheralded bugs is worth it for features the primeval builds offer. In the underway Developer physique edition 4.0.222.12, you crapper sync your bookmarks, effort extensions, and mark tabs. (Also, Mac and UNIX users crapper eventually essay discover Chrome via the developer channel, as a steady promulgation is not ease available.)

(Dev Build Only) Synchronize Your Bookmarks

You ingest Chrome at bag and at the office, and you poverty your bookmarks synced in both places, In the dev physique of Chrome, from the Wrench menu, opt “Sync my bookmarks” to save your Chrome bookmarks in your Google account. (You’ll hit to clew in to move syncing.) If you’re already using the Xmarks spreading for Firefox or IE, you crapper use that in the dev physique of Chrome, which includes the groundwork of spreading hold with a whatever alpha add-ons primed for testing.

(Dev Build Only) Install Extensions

Chrome’s spreading hold is ease young, but individual alpha/beta extensions provide you a looking of Firefox-like spreading morality in Chrome. Here are a whatever of our selection Chrome extensions.

• Gmail Checker: While it doesn’t materialize to impact for Google Apps accounts (someone? establish me wrong?), the Gmail attender puts the sort of unread messages in your inbox on Chrome’s lowermost toolbar.
• Xmarks: Our selection marker syncing spreading for Firefox and IE is acquirable for Chrome dev physique testers as an alpha version. You staleness clew into Xmarks and clew up for the alpha effort to intend the Chrome extension.
• AdSweep and Adblock+: Scrub galling experience ads from your selection web sites.
• Session Saver: As previously covered, this spreading enables multi-tab action and reloading.
• WOT: Integrates web place estimation ratings ala Web of Trust into Google Chrome.
• LastPass: Adds deeper auto-fill countersign direction to Chrome.

To analyse and control what extensions you’ve got installed in Google Chrome, from the Wrench menu, opt Extensions to unstoppered the Extensions manager, where you crapper reload, disable, and uninstall extensions.

(Dev Build Only) Shrink and Affix Tabs with “Pin Tab” Option

Finally, a tiny lowercase journalism feature that everyone seems to fuck is acquirable in the dev physique of Chrome: the knowledge to diminish a journalism downbound to exclusive its favicon, and mark it to your journalism bar. Right-click on whatever journalism and opt “Pin tab” from the environment schedule to essay it out.

What another noesis tips for Chrome, steady or developer build, are discover there? Share your prizewinning ones in the comments.

Gina Trapani, Lifehacker’s origination editor, strongly suspects 2010 module be a bounteous assemblage for Google Chrome. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every weekday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware attach feed to intend newborn installments in your newsreader.

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