Six settings on how to enhance browsing in Safari

Apple's Safari browser for OS X offers a well-integrated and easy option for viewing Web content on a Mac. However, there are some default settings in Safari that, with a few tweaks, can offer some enhancements to your browsing experience.

1.   Set homepage options

   The first options are those you will see
   whenever you create a new Safari window
   or tab, and these are located in the
   General section of the Safari preferences.
   In here, you can choose to open new
   windows and tabs with an empty page,
   Safari's Top Sites view, the same page
   that was loaded on the last active tab or
   window, or a custom home page you
   specify in the Homepage field. In
   addition, you can choose to load an
   organized folder of tabs when you open a
   new window, which can be set up in
   Safari's bookmarks organization interface.
  
   If you use the Top Sites feature, you can
   also set the number of previews to show
   in the same preferences pane. By default
   it shows 12, but you can select either six
   or 24, depending on your needs.

2.    Block pop-up windows
  
   Older versions of Safari had an option to
   block pop-up windows in the program
   menu. Apple has removed this option
   from the menu, but the feature is still
   available. Now you need to enable it by
   checking the appropriate box in the
   Security pane of Safari's preferences.
   With it enabled, Web sites will be
   prevented from launching new browser
   windows, which on some spam sites can
   result in many windows opening at once
   and cluttering your display.

3.    Clear site-specific data

   Web sites you visit often store site-
   specific settings in cookies and caches. If
   this data is corrupted, then sites may not
   load properly, or show odd behavior like
   not accepting log-in credentials. Often
   when Web sites have such problems you
   can try clearing cookies and other site-
   specific data, but using the Reset Safari
   option will clear data from all of your
   Web sites, which may not be preferable.

   Instead, go to the Privacy section of
   Safari's preferences and click "Details,"
   under the option to remove all Web site
   data. In the panel that appears, you can
   search for a site you've visited to remove
   data for that site only.

4.    Manage site-specific plug-in options
  
   Similar to the management of site-specific
   data, the plug-ins that Web sites use to
   display content can be managed on a
   per-site basis. While Safari has an option
   in its Security preferences to allow or
   block plug-ins, next to this option is a
   "Manage Website Settings" button that
   will allow you to specify not only how
   Safari handles each plug-in globally, but
   also how Safari will do so for specific Web
   sites.
   To do this, after clicking the button, you
   can select a plug-in and choose the
   restriction level to use for other Web
   sites. This will bring up the global
   settings for the plug-in, as well as
   individual options for sites listed.

5.    Enable the Develop menu
   When troubleshooting Web sites in Safari,
   it may help to clear your browser's cache,
   or disable caches altogether. This way,
   content is always loaded directly from
   remote servers instead of from a local
   temporary store. This option is not
   available in Safari by default, but is
   supported if you enable the Develop
   menu. This menu can be activated by
   checking the corresponding box at the
   bottom of the Advanced section of
   Safari's preferences. In this menu, you
   will not only have options for managing
   Safari's cache, but also ones to enable
   WebGL, change user agent identifiers,
   and use developer tools such as
   JavaScript debugging panels, and HTML
   source code viewers and editors.

6.   Tab through all items on a page
  
   The last option is to be able to tab
   through all items on a page with which
   you can interact. By default, the Tab key
   will shift focus through various text fields
   and buttons, but if you hold the Option
   key while pressing Tab, Safari will
   highlight links and other objects, and
   pressing Enter will activate that link.
   While this is the default setup, you can
   reverse this behavior in the Advanced
   section of Safari's preferences by
   enabling "Press Tab to highlight each
   item on a webpage."

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