Use the World Wide Web

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The World Wide Web (or just the Web) is the sum of all the web sites in the world—examples of which are CNN, EBay, and the Apple web site. The World Wide Web is what you can access with a web browser, such as Safari, which comes with Mac OS X and is Mac OS X’s default web browser.

Caution

Unless you use a custom redirection service such as Anonymizer (www.anonymizer.com), each web site you visit can learn your Mac’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, and your ISP keeps records of the IP address assigned to your Mac in your online sessions. Beyond this relatively straightforward, join-the-dots method of identification (which the FBI can subpoena from ISPs under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA), the National Security Agency (NSA) actively monitors massive amounts of worldwide Internet traffic.

Search the Internet

You can search the Internet in two ways: by using the search facility built into Safari (which is powered by Google, a major search site) and by using an independent search facility on the Web.

Search from Safari

To search using Safari’s built-in Google search facility:

1. Click the Safari icon on the Dock to start Safari.

   

2. Click in the Search text box in the upper-right corner of the Safari window.

   Tip

   Click the Erase Search Text icon (the X icon) in the Search text box to clear the box’s contents. To reuse one of your recent searches, click the arrow button at the left end of the box and choose the search from the pop-up menu.

3. Type what you want to search for.

   

4. Press return. Safari displays a web page of search results. Figure 4-5 shows an example.

   
   Figure 4-5: The results of a search using Safari’s builtin Google search facility

5. Click a result to display its page.

Quicksteps: Browsing the Internet

Browsing the Internet uses a browser, such as Safari, to go from one web site to another to see the sites’ contents. You can browse to a site by directly entering a site address, or URL (uniform resource locator), by navigating to a site from another site, or by using the browser controls. First, you must start the browser.

Starting a Browser

To start Safari, click the Safari icon on the Dock or activate the Finder, click Go | Applications, and double-click Safari.

Enter a Web Site Directly

To go directly to a web site:

1. Start Safari.

2. Click the icon at the left end of the Address text box to select the entire address.

3. Type the address of the web site you want to open and press return.

Using Site Navigation

Site navigation means to use a combination of links and menus on one web page to locate and open another web page, either in the same site or in another site.

• Links are words, phrases, sentences, or graphics that you click to display the linked pages. When you position the mouse pointer over a link, the pointer changes to display a hand icon with the forefinger pointing upward. Links are often underlined.

  

• Menus contain one or a few words, in either a horizontal or vertical list, that you click to display the linked pages.

  Use Browser Navigation

  Browser navigation means using the controls within your browser to go to another web page:

• Click the Back button to go to the previous page in the stack of pages you have viewed.

  

• Click the Forward button to move forward again.

• To navigate quickly, click the Back button or the Forward button and hold down the mouse button for a second to display a menu of the recent pages available. Drag down to select the page you want.

  

• Press delete to go back to the previous page. Press shift+delete to go forward to the next page.

  Use Windows and Tabs

  Safari lets you open multiple windows, so that you can view two or more web pages in different windows at the same time. With default settings, you can open a link in a new window by holding down z as you click a link.

  Safari also enables you to use multiple tabs in the same window. You must first enable tabbed browsing by choosing Safari | Preferences, clicking the Tabs button, selecting the Enable Tabbed Browsing check box, and clicking the Close button (the red button).

  Once you’ve done this, you can open a link on a new tab in the current window by holding down z as you click the link. (When you switch on tabbed browsing, this shortcut opens the link on a new tab instead of in a new window.) Safari selects the new tab.

  When you open the first new tab, Safari displays the tab bar below the Address bar and the Bookmarks bar. You can navigate to another tab by clicking it.

Search from an Internet Search Site

There are many independent Internet search sites. A popular one is Yahoo!

1. Click the Safari icon on the Dock to open Safari.

2. Click the icon at the left end of the Address text box (the blue icon in the example shown here) to select the address.

   

3. Type www.yahoo.com and press return to go to the Yahoo! site.

4. In the Search The Web text box on the Yahoo! site, type the text you want to search for.

5. Press return or click the Yahoo! Search button on the site. Safari displays a web page of search results.

6. Click the link of your choice to go to that page.

Keep Bookmarks of Your Favorite Sites

Sometimes you visit a site that you would like to return to quickly or often. Safari provides a feature called “bookmarks” that you can use to save markers to specific pages on sites so that you can access them quickly. You can access bookmarks via the Bookmarks bar, which Safari displays below the Address bar by default, the Bookmarks menu, or the Bookmarks window. You can add a limited number of bookmarks (a dozen or two) to the Bookmarks bar, which Safari displays below the Address bar by default. You can add more bookmarks to the Bookmarks menu, and an unlimited number to the Bookmarks window. Use the Bookmarks bar for your primary bookmarks, the Bookmarks menu for your secondary bookmarks, and the Bookmarks window for the remainder of them.

Create a Bookmark on the Bookmarks Bar

To create a bookmark on the Bookmarks bar:

1. Navigate to the web page you want to bookmark.

2. Drag the icon at the left end of the Address text box to the Bookmarks bar.

   

3. Safari will display a naming sheet showing the page’s title. Type the name you want (keep it short so that it doesn’t waste space on the Bookmarks bar), and click OK.

Create a Bookmark

To create a bookmark:

1. Navigate to the web page you want to bookmark.

2. Choose Bookmarks | Add Bookmark. Safari will display a naming sheet showing the page’s title.

   

3. Edit the name or type a new name. Make the name as compact yet descriptive as possible so that you can grasp instantly what the web page contains.

4. Use the drop-down list box to specify where to save the bookmark:

   

   • Choose Bookmarks Menu to create the bookmark as an entry on the Bookmarks menu. Doing this makes the bookmark quickly accessible, but your Bookmarks menu will soon grow long.

   • Choose a folder or subfolder to create the bookmark in that folder. You can then access the bookmark through the Bookmarks window.

5. Click Add.

Rearrange Bookmarks on the Bookmarks Bar

To move a bookmark on the Bookmarks bar, drag it to the new position.

To remove a bookmark from the Bookmarks bar, drag it into the Safari window.

Open a Bookmarked Page

To open a bookmarked page:

• Click the appropriate button on the Bookmarks bar.

  –Or–

• Open Bookmarks and click the bookmark’s item.

  –Or–

• Display the Bookmarks window, select the category, and double-click the bookmark.

Use the Bookmarks Window

To see all your bookmarks, open Bookmarks and click Show All Bookmarks. Safari displays the Bookmarks window (see Figure 4-6).

Figure 4-6: Use the Bookmarks window to navigate through and manage your full set of bookmarks.

Click a collection in the Collections pane to display its contents. Then:

• Double-click a bookmark to open it.

  –Or–

• control+click or right-click a bookmark and choose Delete to delete it.

To leave the Bookmarks window, open Bookmarks and click Hide All Bookmarks.

Change Your Home Page

Each time you start Safari, it automatically opens a specific web page called your “home page.” (You can also display your home page by clicking the Home icon on the toolbar. If this icon doesn’t appear on the toolbar, open View and click Home to add it.) To change your home page:

Tip

If you have a slow connection, there’s a tab trick you can benefit from: Hold down z+shift as you click a link to open the linked page on a new tab but keep the current tab displayed. When you’re ready, click the new tab to switch to it.

To close a tab, click the X button on it. option+click a tab’s X button to close all the other tabs.

1. Click the Safari icon on the Dock to open Safari.

2. Go to the page you want to use as your home page.

3. Choose Safari | Preferences. The Preferences window will open.

4. Click the General button. The General sheet will be displayed.

   

5. Click Set To Current Page to make the current page your home page.

6. Click the Close button (the red button) to close the Preferences window.

   
   Figure 4-7: Use the options on the Security sheet of Safari’s Preferences window to control how Safari handles cookies, web content, and pop-up windows.

Quicksteps: Controlling Internet Security

Safari allows you to control several aspects of Internet security to help keep your browsing sessions safe. To configure settings for these features, display the Security sheet of the Preferences window:

1. Click the Safari button on the Dock. Safari will launch.

2. Choose Safari | Preferences. The Preferences window will be displayed.

3. Click the Security button. The Security sheet will be displayed (see Figure 4-7).

Handle Cookies

Cookies are small files containing text data that web sites store on your computer so that they can identify your Mac when you return to the web site. Cookies have a positive side: they can save you from having to enter your name and ID frequently. Many e-commerce web sites (sites where you can execute a payment transaction over the Web) require cookies for their shopping carts and payment mechanisms to work at all.

Cookies can also be dangerous, enabling web sites to identify you when you do not want them to be able to do so, and potentially letting outsiders access sensitive information on your Mac. Safari lets you choose whether to accept or reject requests to store cookies on your Mac.

To determine whether Safari accepts cookies, select the Always option button, the Never option button, or the Only From Sites You Navigate To option button in the Accept Cookies area of the Security sheet.

The default setting is Only From Sites You Navigate To, which makes Safari accept cookies from sites you actively navigate to (for example, by clicking a link) but reject cookies from other sites, such as advertisers on the sites you navigate to. Choosing the Never setting, which causes Safari to reject all cookies, protects your privacy but may prevent e-commerce sites from working. Choosing the Always setting is seldom a good idea.

Control Web Content

You can control the content that Safari allows to run by selecting or clearing the top three check boxes in the Web Content area of the Security sheet:

• Enable Plug-Ins Controls whether Safari runs contents that requires plug-ins, such as movie files that require a QuickTime plug-in. Plug-ins can potentially be used to execute malicious content, but they’re vital for watching movies and other content while browsing.

• Enable Java Controls whether Safari runs applets, or little applications, written in the Java programming language. Java operates in a security zone called a sandbox, so it’s usually safe to run Java applets. However, Java also has the potential for malicious misuse, which is why Safari lets you prevent Java from running.

• Enable JavaScript Controls whether Safari runs scripts (programs) written in the JavaScript scripting language. As with Java, JavaScript is widely used for positive purposes, but it can be misused by malefactors.

Block Pop-Up Windows

Web scripting (programming) languages enable web developers to automatically open extra windows, called pop-up windows, when you display a page or take actions on it (such as following a link or attempting to leave the page). Pop-up windows occasionally display helpful content, but they’re usually used to display ads or to show you content that you probably wouldn’t have chosen to see.

Safari enables you to block pop-up windows. To do so, select the Block Pop-Up Windows check box on the Security sheet of the Preferences window. You can also open the Safari menu and choose Block Pop-Up Windows to toggle blocking on and off. When it’s on, a check mark appears next to this menu item.

In most cases, there’s little downside to blocking block all pop-up windows. But occasionally you’ll find a web site that requires pop-up windows in order to work. If such a web site is well designed, it will display an error message telling you that you must allow pop-up windows for it to work; if not, it may simply fail to work. If you find a web page apparently not working, try temporarily enabling pop-up windows (choose Safari | Block Pop-Up Windows to toggle off the blocking) and see if it suddenly starts working.

Access Your Browsing History

Safari keeps a history of the web pages you visit so that you can easily return to a site you’ve visited in the past. Safari keeps about a week’s worth of history (the period will be shorter if you visit very many web pages each day). You can clear your history.

Use History

To use History, open History and choose the page from the History menu or from one of the submenus named by day and date.

Clear History

You may want to clear your history so that nobody who can access your Mac can see which pages you’ve visited. To clear your history, open History and click Clear History.

Use SnapBack

In addition to History, Safari provides SnapBack, a feature that lets you quickly return to the SnapBack page for each window. The SnapBack page is:

• The first page you opened in a window (until you change it)

• The last page you opened in this window by typing its address in the Address text box

• The last page you opened in this window from History or using a bookmark

• The last page you marked as a SnapBack page by choosing History | Mark Page For SnapBack

When a SnapBack page is available in a window, Safari displays an orange icon with a white arrow at the right end of the Address text box. Click this icon to return to the SnapBack page:

Copy Information from the Internet

You’ll sometimes find information on the Internet that you want to copy—a picture, some text, or a web page.

Copy a Picture from a Web Page

To copy a picture from the current web page to your hard disk:

1. control+click or right-click the picture and click Save Image As. Safari will display a Save As sheet.

   

2. In the Save As text box, change the picture’s default name if you want. (For example, you might assign a more descriptive name.)

3. In the Where drop-down list box, choose the folder in which you want to save the picture.

4. Click Save.

Copy Text from the Internet

To copy some text from the current web page to a text editor or word processor:

1. Drag across the text to select it.

2. control+click or right-click the selection, and choose Copy.

3. Open or switch to a text editing application (for example, Text Editor) or the word processor (for example, Microsoft Word).

4. control+click or right-click where you want the text to appear, and choose Paste.

Copy a Web Page from the Internet

To copy the current web page and store it on your hard disk:

1. Choose File | Save As. Safari will display a Save sheet.

2. In the Save As text box, change the page’s default name if you want. (For example, you might assign a more descriptive name to help you identify the page.)

3. In the Where drop-down list box, choose the folder in which you want to save the picture.

4. Click Save.

Caution

Material you copy from the Internet is normally protected by copyright; therefore, what you can do with it legally is limited. Basically, you can store it on your hard disk and refer to it. You cannot put it on your web site, sell it, copy it for distribution, or use it for a commercial purpose without the permission of the owner.

Play Internet Audio and Video

You can play audio and video from the Internet with Safari by clicking an audio or video link on a web page. Safari launches the appropriate plug-in or helper application for the content.

Chapter 7 discusses working with audio and video in depth.

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