Toolbars Galore
Source of Recipe
email
In case you haven't noticed, Windows 98 and Internet Explorer 4 add several new toolbars to the Windows environment. Here's how to put these additions to work for you.
Your Choices
To catch toolbar fever, right-click an empty area of the taskbar or one of its toolbars, select Toolbars, and choose one or more of the following options:
Address gives you a handy command line for accessing Web sites, opening folders, and launching applications.
Links is a good place to drag and drop favorite Web addresses and other objects. This toolbar also appears within IE.
Quick Launch can hold the Show Desktop button and Shortcuts in any app or file.
Desktop provides a quick way to access desktop objects when the desktop itself is obscured by open windows.
New Toolbar creates a toolbar to show the contents of any folder.
Turn Off What You Don't Need
The Links and the Quick Launch toolbars do basically the same thing: They hold program or folder Shortcuts and Web links. Drag the best items from one onto the other, then nix the empty one. (You remove a toolbar by right-clicking the taskbar, choosing Toolbars, and unchecking the toolbar's name.)
And what about that Desktop toolbar? If it's cramping your taskbar, check out these alternatives for getting to the desktop.
Go Vertical
If you need to see two or three toolbars at the same time, save space on the taskbar by dragging one or more of the toolbars to another edge of your screen. For example, you might keep the taskbar and the Quick Launch bar in a single vertical column on the left or right margin. But move the Address toolbar, which needs a lot of horizontal space, to either the top or bottom of your screen. To save screen real estate, right-click each toolbar, select Properties, and check the AutoHide option. The toolbars will only pop up when you move your pointer towards the edge of the screen where they reside.
Float Them
If screen real estate isn't an issue, you can simplify the taskbar by turning toolbars into floating palettes. Just position the pointer near the toolbar's title (or where the title would be, if you've hidden it) and drag and drop to the desktop.
Keep Oft-Used Toolbars on Top
If you frequently use objects on a floating palette, you can keep the palette accessible by right-clicking it and choosing Always on Top. Though toolbars lack Minimize buttons, clicking the Show Desktop button on the taskbar will hide floating palettes (except those set to be Always on Top). The palettes will reappear the next time you restore a window or click Show Desktop.
Create a Folder Toolbar
If you regularly access a folder containing files, you can transform the entire folder into a toolbar with icons representing each file within. Drag the folder (or its Shortcut) to any edge of your screen to create an instant toolbar displaying its contents.
Shrink Icons and Remove Labels
Right-click any toolbar and choose View, Small to shrink the icons, or uncheck Show Title to eliminate the toolbar's title.
You can also save a lot of space by hiding the name of each toolbar icon: Right-click the toolbar and then choose Show Text to uncheck this option. If you need to know what an icon does, just hover the pointer over it until its explanatory tool tip appears.
Hide What You Don't Need
If you have additional toolbars on different edges of your screen, you can minimize clutter and gain space by right-clicking a toolbar and choosing Auto Hide. The toolbar will disappear when its not in use, but will pop back into view when you move your pointer to its edge of the screen.
Combine Two or More
If you want to see multiple toolbars without cluttering your desktop, drag one onto an existing palette. The two toolbars will become a single connected palette while maintaining their own attributes (icon size, visible titles or text, and so on). Drag the separator to adjust the space each gets, or drag any edge to resize the entire palette.
Note: You can't drag two floating toolbars together to form a single floating palette, but you can drag a toolbar from the taskbar and drop it onto a floating palette to create a connected floating palette.
Rearrange Buttons to Suit Your Needs
Don't rely on anyone else to put your toolbar buttons in the order that's fastest or most logical to you. You can rearrange the buttons on any toolbar or palette just by dragging them. In fact, you can do the same for anything on the Start menu.
|
|
member logon
