Keyboard shortcuts take on new meaning when surfing

A few of my previous columns have explained the usefulness of keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl-C to copy and Ctrl-V to paste.  Some of these common shortcuts have different functions when used from within a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, while others keep their common function.

Here is a list in alphabetical order.  Macintosh users should use the “Command” key – the one with the open apple and curly thing on it – instead of the Ctrl key.

Ctrl-A – Select all the text on a page
Ctrl-B – Open your bookmarks or favorites folder
Ctrl-C – Copy
Ctrl-D – Add the current web page to your bookmarks or favorites.  Note that this will not prompt you if you want it in a specific folder; it will just add the page to the bottom of the favorites list.
Ctrl-F – Find specific text on the current web page
Ctrl-H – Open the “history” bar
Ctrl-N – Open a new browser window.  This opens a whole new window, not just a new tab
Ctrl-O – Go to a new location; this will prompt you for a new web address or local document
Ctrl-P – Print the current page
Ctrl-R – Reload the current page
Ctrl-S – Save as
Ctrl-V – Paste
Ctrl-W – Close the current browser window
Ctrl-X – Cut
Ctrl-Z – Undo typing
Esc – Stop a page from loading
Space – Scroll to the end of a web page or page down
Tab – Move from link to link on a web page
Alt-left arrow – Back one page
Alt-right arrow – Forward one page
            Another helpful hint when using the internet is to search for information using a metacrawler or metasearch engine.  According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasearch_engine), a metasearch engine is “a search engine that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and returns the results from each one.”  The term metacrawler is actually a registered trademark (a brand name of a specific metasearch engine.  The idea is that you get the combination of the best of several search engines.  Some popular metasearch engines include:
           www.metacrawler.com
           www.dogpile.com
           www.go2net.com
           www.savvysearch.com
           www.mamma.com
           www.surfwax.com

by Carol Sabbar from the Kenosha News on 8-12-07