My OperaSome personal touches on customization of Opera
Saturday, October 10, 2009 10:32:12 PM
Alright i know many people are sitting here wondering about all of this now. But there is a few tricks that can be done to Opera jsut like it can be done to Firefox to allow for Opera to get customized and work nicely.
Opera uses Javascripts instead of Extensions. In this aspect things are done a bit differently. But not really so much that it makes life difficult.
First you create a folder for the Javascript files you want to use. Most of the time it is suggested you create it at:
But i prefer to have it with my Opera Profile. So i create mine here:
Load up Opera and select Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Content -> JavaScript Options. Add the location of your newly created script directory to My JavaScript files.
Now from here check out the list located in the Opera Forums.
FAQ - User JavaScript - Opera Community
They have links to all the JS files. Just find the file, right click and save linked content as to save the .js file as it is. Can also just open the file up, copy all the contents to notepad and save it as the file.js and do it that way as well.
Now There is a JS Manager as well. Very first thing linked in that thread. I dont use it personally but it would be of great value.
Also if you use this script aagmfunctions.js that is a Greasmonkey clone for Opera. Not all Greasemonkey Scripts will work. But many do.
There is site specific scripts for places like YouTube, Google, Experts-Exchange and such to get rid of stuff or even add in stuff. There are scripts for FlashBlock just like it is in Firefox, BlockIt is like No Script. There are so many more among the internet as well. I found a few other sites.
There is some other tweaks out there as well to get the browser to look the way you want. Take mine for example.
Take a look at that screen shot. You will notice that it is very different from the stock shots of Opera you see around. The Address Bar is at the top instead of the menu bar, the personal bar is next and then the tab bar.
This is not a default setting. But it can be achieved easily. The sidebar is also nice. Right click on it and select Customize and you can add web panels to it. TinyURL is a nice one to have. Just click it and bam, TinURL's page loads in the sidebar ready for use. No need to even scroll away from your current page.
The other ones that are Stars are things for Web Development. Quick references and such. But there is so much more available.
Now at the top next to that Key you see a Up and a Down arrow. Those are top and bottom buttons. They do exactly what that sounds like. Top of page or bottom of page.
In the Tab Bar right next to the tab for this site you see a icon there. That is the Menu Bar. It is a mini menu. Everything is there for use.
So as you see there is much more that can be done with Opera. Aside from just changing the theme and a few basic settings. There is so much more that can be done. I have just barely scratched the surface of everything this browser can do.
To express this even further let me show you something that i found recently.
This is a thread in the BST area. Not to pick on AP4LIFETN but his was the first example i found. Now you will notice that viewing this breaks teh forum skin.
So i hover over the image for a second and what pops up....
Look at that a little Zoom box. I can adjust the picture size without having to do anything but click a button. So I click on the - for the images and wouldnt you know it....
The site skin is fixed. All of that just cause i used the Zoom Image User JS for Opera. It even has a Greasemonkey Part.
So yes folks there is a lot that can be done. I know several are sitting here going but Firefox...yeah. But this is just one example. I have over 50 JS Scripts now. Easily. This was just a fun one to show.
To continue this expose i now present 2 new things i have found.
The first is how to use Opera to view pages in IE within the Opera Browser.
On this page here you will see that there is options to view a page in IE from within Opera or to open with various other browsers. To use the view with IE you need another application install.
MeadCo's Neptune is what it is called.
Install that, restart Opera and add that button. Click on it and it will open a new tab in IE Mode so you can view it and do as you wish. Granted it is a bit slower than just opening IE. but it is useful none the less. The next addition is also very useful.
Browse your hard drives via the browser window. Now people familiar with Linux and Konqueror know of this since Konqueror is a file viewer as well as a browser. Now Opera can do it as well.
This page here shows a bunch of buttons. The last one listed is the Drive Browser.
Click on it to install the button, place it where you want and once clicked will give you a layout like this:
Click me to see image
this is more of a FTP software layout. But if you just need to get a quick glance of a file or something like that. This is perfect.
So there you go. Some more useful tips on how to customize your Opera Browser to work for you.
Opera uses Javascripts instead of Extensions. In this aspect things are done a bit differently. But not really so much that it makes life difficult.
First you create a folder for the Javascript files you want to use. Most of the time it is suggested you create it at:
C:\UserJS
But i prefer to have it with my Opera Profile. So i create mine here:
C:\User\<Username>\AppData\Raoming\Opera\Profile\userjs Note this is Vista/Win7 location C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\AppData\Opera\Profile\userjs Note this is the XP location
Load up Opera and select Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Content -> JavaScript Options. Add the location of your newly created script directory to My JavaScript files.
Now from here check out the list located in the Opera Forums.
FAQ - User JavaScript - Opera Community
They have links to all the JS files. Just find the file, right click and save linked content as to save the .js file as it is. Can also just open the file up, copy all the contents to notepad and save it as the file.js and do it that way as well.
Now There is a JS Manager as well. Very first thing linked in that thread. I dont use it personally but it would be of great value.
Also if you use this script aagmfunctions.js that is a Greasmonkey clone for Opera. Not all Greasemonkey Scripts will work. But many do.
There is site specific scripts for places like YouTube, Google, Experts-Exchange and such to get rid of stuff or even add in stuff. There are scripts for FlashBlock just like it is in Firefox, BlockIt is like No Script. There are so many more among the internet as well. I found a few other sites.
There is some other tweaks out there as well to get the browser to look the way you want. Take mine for example.
Take a look at that screen shot. You will notice that it is very different from the stock shots of Opera you see around. The Address Bar is at the top instead of the menu bar, the personal bar is next and then the tab bar.
This is not a default setting. But it can be achieved easily. The sidebar is also nice. Right click on it and select Customize and you can add web panels to it. TinyURL is a nice one to have. Just click it and bam, TinURL's page loads in the sidebar ready for use. No need to even scroll away from your current page.
The other ones that are Stars are things for Web Development. Quick references and such. But there is so much more available.
Now at the top next to that Key you see a Up and a Down arrow. Those are top and bottom buttons. They do exactly what that sounds like. Top of page or bottom of page.
In the Tab Bar right next to the tab for this site you see a icon there. That is the Menu Bar. It is a mini menu. Everything is there for use.
So as you see there is much more that can be done with Opera. Aside from just changing the theme and a few basic settings. There is so much more that can be done. I have just barely scratched the surface of everything this browser can do.
To express this even further let me show you something that i found recently.
This is a thread in the BST area. Not to pick on AP4LIFETN but his was the first example i found. Now you will notice that viewing this breaks teh forum skin.
So i hover over the image for a second and what pops up....
Look at that a little Zoom box. I can adjust the picture size without having to do anything but click a button. So I click on the - for the images and wouldnt you know it....
The site skin is fixed. All of that just cause i used the Zoom Image User JS for Opera. It even has a Greasemonkey Part.
So yes folks there is a lot that can be done. I know several are sitting here going but Firefox...yeah. But this is just one example. I have over 50 JS Scripts now. Easily. This was just a fun one to show.
To continue this expose i now present 2 new things i have found.
The first is how to use Opera to view pages in IE within the Opera Browser.
On this page here you will see that there is options to view a page in IE from within Opera or to open with various other browsers. To use the view with IE you need another application install.
MeadCo's Neptune is what it is called.
Install that, restart Opera and add that button. Click on it and it will open a new tab in IE Mode so you can view it and do as you wish. Granted it is a bit slower than just opening IE. but it is useful none the less. The next addition is also very useful.
Browse your hard drives via the browser window. Now people familiar with Linux and Konqueror know of this since Konqueror is a file viewer as well as a browser. Now Opera can do it as well.
This page here shows a bunch of buttons. The last one listed is the Drive Browser.
Click on it to install the button, place it where you want and once clicked will give you a layout like this:
Click me to see image
this is more of a FTP software layout. But if you just need to get a quick glance of a file or something like that. This is perfect.
So there you go. Some more useful tips on how to customize your Opera Browser to work for you.
