[mattc986]

I, too, got used to the tabs on top. I don't understand why it can't be an on/off option in the preferences given that little application Safari 4 Modifier could do it.
However with the final release they added a menu bar button to hide the bookmark bar which saves space and I've found I like. Between Top Sites and the Hide/Show Bookmark Bar button I don't feel any slower than when the bookmark bar was there, and it gives just that much more space.
(to get the button you have to go under View>Customize Toolbar... and drag it in)

[whitedog]

DownLowSturgen said:

To add a page to Top Sites:

On the Top Sites page, click the Edit button. Then do any of the following:

- Open the webpage in a second Safari window, highlight the page?s address in the address field, and drag the address to the Top Sites page.
- Drag a link from an email message, text document, webpage, or other source to the Top Sites page.
- Type the address in a document, highlight it, and drag it to the Top Sites page.

When you are finished adding pages, click Done.

OK. But that requires two windows which are more awkward to manage than multiple tabs. There should be a more graceful solution - like a new Top Site URL filed in Edit mode where you could paste a URL, which would be a lot easier than dragging them between windows or programs. Come on Apple, you're supposed to be the purveyor of simplicity and elegance, not kludge and compromise. Something as useful as Top Sites could be should be more user friendly.

[EbE404]

whitedog said:

>

Quote

OK. But that requires two windows which are more awkward to manage than multiple tabs. There should be a more graceful solution - like a new Top Site URL filed in Edit mode where you could paste a URL, which would be a lot easier than dragging them between windows or programs. Come on Apple, you're supposed to be the purveyor of simplicity and elegance, not kludge and compromise. Something as useful as Top Sites could be should be more user friendly.

Alternately, you can click the Edit Button in Top Sites, then type the URL into the address bar and drag that into the Top Sites pane. You do need to make sure you get the "http://" yourself, and you need to highlight the entire URL.

Unfortunately, you can't drag addresses from the Bookmarks Bar, nor can you copy and past them. What you CAN do, is open a second tab to Bookmarks, copy the URL that you want, go to the first tab with Top Sites, paste the URL into the address bar, (don't hit Enter), highlight the whole thing, then drag it into Top Sites.

Less than elegant, but it works.

I imagine this could be solved relatively easily by making Safari not clear the address bar when toggling Top Sites on and off, but I guess we'll have to wait for that.

[BenG]

ktroske said:

One change I noticed from the Beta is the way Safari handles overflow tabs in a window. It used to push them off to the left or the right (which was a change from Safari 3) and when you clicked the overflow indicator on the right, you could see the list of them, with the tabs not visible in the window listed on a gray background. Now, the first tabs in the window stay fixed, but the overflow tabs rotate in and out of the last tab spot in the window, depending upon which one you click.

This is one change that is driving me mad. I kinda of liked the tabs on top, but I'm fine with them underneath too. However, the tab overflow handling is horrendous compared to what was in the beta. I often have 25+ tabs open in a window, and it was much more convenient to be able to have all the tabs slide over when switching from one tab to the next, instead of having 15 tabs only rotate through the last spot.

The change in tab handling in the beta is what finally got me to switch from Firefox to Safari, but if this can't be changed back using a hidden pref or something, I might have to switch back...

Anyone know the secret? Thanks!

[whitedog]

[quote name='EbE404']
>

whitedog said:

>
> OK. But that requires two windows which are more awkward to manage than multiple tabs. There should be a more graceful solution - like a new Top Site URL filed in Edit mode where you could paste a URL, which would be a lot easier than dragging them between windows or programs. Come on Apple, you're supposed to be the purveyor of simplicity and elegance, not kludge and compromise. Something as useful as Top Sites could be should be more user friendly.

Alternately, you can click the Edit Button in Top Sites, then type the URL into the address bar and drag that into the Top Sites pane. You do need to make sure you get the "http://" yourself, and you need to highlight the entire URL.

Unfortunately, you can't drag addresses from the Bookmarks Bar, nor can you copy and past them. What you CAN do, is open a second tab to Bookmarks, copy the URL that you want, go to the first tab with Top Sites, paste the URL into the address bar, (don't hit Enter), highlight the whole thing, then drag it into Top Sites.

Less than elegant, but it works.

I imagine this could be solved relatively easily by making Safari not clear the address bar when toggling Top Sites on and off, but I guess we'll have to wait for that.

Pasting into the blank Top Sites address field is a good idea. Perhaps that's the way it's supposed to work. That solution was niggling on the edge of my mind but hadn't quite made it out into conscious thought. Using bookmarks in a separate tab is also a good idea. Goodonya, as they say Down Under (good expressions are where you find them). ;-) It looks like you've got this nailed. Thanks again for the feedback. You ought to send this in to Mac OSX Hints. A way to make Top Sites more useful should be welcome there.

[whitedog]

{quote}This is one change that is driving me mad. I kinda of liked the tabs on top, but I'm fine with them underneath too. However, the tab overflow handling is horrendous compared to what was in the beta. I often have 25+ tabs open in a window, and it was much more convenient to be able to have all the tabs slide over when switching from one tab to the next, instead of having 15 tabs only rotate through the last spot.{quote}

This bothered me, too, until I figured out what was going on. At first I couldn't tell where my tabs were going. But, now that I know they rotate through the last tab (thanks to your complaint about it), I can live with it. In fact, it makes it easier to move a tab from near the end into the visible list. Of course, if you don't often move tabs, this won't be much of an advantage. Mostly, though, I think its just a matter of getting used to the new behavior. I realize, of course, that many people have their favorite ways of doing things and are annoyed and even angry when things change. The problem for Mac users is that when Apple changes something they often don't bother to explain it. We have to scour the blogs to find someone who has figured it out. Which is where Macworld comes in. Personally, I'd be lost without it.

[pinchies]

Personally, I much prefer the blue bar loading style and the tabs on top. The bar gives you a visual indication of exactly when safari has stalled loading a site. The tabs on top (as unconventional as they are) do save space, and also work well with the tab paradigm. WHY DID YOU REMOVE THE DEBUG OPTIONS APPLE?? :-(
I plan to keep using safari 4 beta with webkit until the options come back.

[DownLowSturgen]

Right-clicking the title in the title bar invokes history (same as holding down the back arrow key).

Also, I haven't gotten my added buttons to stick to the toolbar. Whenever I restart my computer, Safari's back to the default buttons. WTF

[flybynight]

In the beta there were command line things you could do to move the tabs back down and to return the progress bar. Any of these tricks work now in the final version?

[pandian]

However much everybody seem to adore Safari 4.0, I am still smarting from the fact that Safari cannot block put pop-up windows, and other moving objects from a web page like Camino can. I like to read a page without distracting movement of female forms or animals or vermin on the page, or unwanted ads popping up on the page! Am I the only one bothered?

[jschaffe]

Man I agree! Whenever possible I scroll the d@%m moving images images off the screen so I can concentrate on the subject of the page.

[whitedog]

pandian said:

However much everybody seem to adore Safari 4.0, I am still smarting from the fact that Safari cannot block put pop-up windows, and other moving objects from a web page like Camino can. I like to read a page without distracting movement of female forms or animals or vermin on the page, or unwanted ads popping up on the page! Am I the only one bothered?

Not by a long shot. Try ClickToFlash. I find it blocks most of these annoying flashing ads, which now use Flash instead of old-fashioned animated GIFs. For some reason it's not listed on Version Tracker (perhaps because it blocks Version Tracker's own obnoxious animated ads); I had to go to MacUpdate to find it. And it downloads better from the MacUpdate site than from the developer's page, where the download file decompresses as a folder rather than an installer package file.

ClickToFlash will also block Flash video on sites like uTube; but it provides options via right-clicking on the blocked image to allow Flash to run normally. Since I don't spend my day watching uTube videos I find this a small price to pay for having Flash ads blocked on other sites I visit.

I'm not against advertising on the web - it's a reasonable business model. Unfortunately, too many advertisers feel it's necessary to annoy the heck out of you in order to get your attention. Apparently they think the bad impression such ads create is outweighed by their "hook" value. Since they have no compunction about bugging me, I have no compunction about blocking them.

[pandian]

Whitedog wrote:
Not by a long shot. Try ClickToFlash. I find it blocks most of these annoying flashing ads, which now use Flash instead of old-fashioned animated GIFs. For some reason it's not listed on Version Tracker (perhaps because it blocks Version Tracker's own obnoxious animated ads); I had to go to MacUpdate to find it. And it downloads better from the MacUpdate site than from the developer's page, where the download file decompresses as a folder rather than an installer package file.

Thank you very much indeed.