There are a variety of ways in which you can personalize Visual Explorer version 2 to suit your needs. I've described a selection here to get you started.

Tab Views

You can arrange web page tabs and tile or cascade web page windows using the tab options. From the Window menu simply click Use Tab Groups to disable this option. All of your existing tabs will then be re-arranged as cascaded windows - you can re-position these windows to suit your needs. Alternatively, on the Window menu select Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically to automatically re-arrange the windows.

Menus and Toolbars

You can customize the menus and toolbars in Visual Explorer for faster access to commonly performed tasks. Some menu commands have icons next to them so you can quickly associate the command with the icon. Most menus are located on the Menu Bar, which is the toolbar at the top of the screen. Toolbars can contain buttons, menus, or a combination of both. Toolbars can be moved to any position within Visual Explorer, except for the Tab Bar, which can be docked at the top or bottom of the screen.

The Favorites Bar

The favorites bar provides instant access to your most visited web pages via the convenience of a toolbar, positioned by default between the Navigate Bar and Tab Bar.

The favorites items you see in Visual Explorer are shared with Internet Explorer. This means any changes you make to your favorites in one browser will be instantly replicated in the other.

Media Filter

The Media Filter in Visual Explorer lets you instantly block a variety of web page content from images, Flash animations and sounds to potentially harmful scripts and ActiveX applications. To block specific media content from displaying, select the Filter menu and click on the media item shown in the drop-down menu list to block it.

The full list of content that can be blocked is as follows:

• Images

• Flash Animations

• Animations (e.g. GIF animations)

• Sounds

• ActiveX (applications)

• Scripts

• Java Applets

Cloaking Device

This unique and innovative feature is designed to help ensure your privacy when browsing secure web pages. When enabled, the Cloaking Device will make Visual Explorer semi transparent so that casual observers cannot snoop on your browsing activities, particularly useful when entering personal or credit card related data online.

You can quickly turn the Cloaking Device on at any time by using the shortcut Ctrl+Enter or by selecting View menu, Toggle Transparency. Note the current transparency level will be applied (set to 75% by default). Note that a transparency value above 75% is not recommended if you want web pages to remain legible!

Search Bar

You can quickly and easily search for web pages on a particular topic just by typing a few words into the Visual Explorer search bar (located on the right of the Navigation toolbar).

For example, if you want to find information about Spanish villas:

• Click in the Search Bar

• Type the keywords Spanish villas (your typing will replace any text currently shown in the search bar)

• Press Return on the keyboard to perform the search

Search results for Spanish villas appear in a new Visual Explorer tab.

Themes and Skins

The appearance of Visual Explorer, in terms of its Graphical User Interface (GUI), can be modified to suit the different tastes of its users by applying a custom skin. Applications such as Visual Explorer, which are capable of having a skin applied, are referred to as being skinnable and the process of writing or applying such a skin is known as skinning. Some skins merely make the program more aesthetically pleasing, but others can rearrange elements of the interface, potentially making the software easier to use.

In addition to the default skins that may be found on your computer (commonly found in the Windows system folder, Resources, Themes or similar), any Microsoft based .msstyles visual style file or CodeJock based .cjstyles file can be loaded and used within Visual Explorer making the possibilities endless with how the application can be skinned.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can quickly accomplish tasks you perform frequently by using shortcut keys - one or more keys you press on the keyboard to complete a task.

For example, pressing Ctrl+T creates a new web page tab, just as clicking the New Tab button located to the right of the last tab or selecting File menu, New Tab.

Mouse Gestures

The mouse-oriented equivalent of keyboard shortcuts is mouse gestures. A mouse gesture is a way of combining mouse movements and clicks which Visual Explorer recognizes as a specific command.

For example, with mouse gestures enabled, you could navigate to the previously viewed page by pressing the left mouse button, moving the mouse briefly to the left, then releasing the button.

Add-ons

Add-ons, also known as ActiveX controls, browser extensions, browser helper objects, or toolbars can improve your browsing experience by adding additional functionality to Visual Explorer. They can also provide enhanced interaction with associated websites, such as the Google Toolbar add-on and the Google website.

Visual Explorer has been designed to support Internet Explorer add-ons.

There are thousands of Internet Explorer based add-ons available from resources such as Download.com and Ieaddons.com but please be aware - some add-ons can cause your computer to stop responding or display content that you don't want, such as pop-up ads. Therefore, it is always a good idea to read the user reviews about a particular add-on before deciding whether to install it or not.

Summary

Visual Explorer is the free full-featured web browser from BlueG. It includes advanced phishing filters, true WYSIWYG web page printing, plus instant Google searches with a single click. You can download Visual Explorer from Visual-Explorer.com

Author - Darren Bond, Creative Director, BlueG