Mouse Configuration in Opera 10
October 17, 2009 - 4:57pm
I don't really know where to put this, but this seemed like as good of a spot as any.
After much frustration with broken forward and back buttons in Opera 10, and not finding a solution immediately on Google, I decided I'd share the neat new thing I've learned, so that less people have the same frustration that I did.
Why Opera?
I decided to try out Opera to see how the website rendered in another web browser. It was perfect, of course. The thing I noticed immediately was how fast Opera handled everything. The rendering capabilities of it were MUCH faster than they are in Firefox. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Firefox, because if it weren't for the Stumble button I would die of boredom, and the individual add-ons such as Ad-block Plus and such make it WELL worth it. However, for those of you who don't have any such add-on addiction, I'd suggest at least trying out Opera. It loads pages quickly, and is lightweight enough that it doesn't bog down the memory sticks like Firefox can.
So, now you've decided to try Opera. The current release is Opera 10. It's fast, it's competent, and it's easy to find themes for it if you're so inclined, and test them out without restarting the whole damn thing. I know I'm not the only one who finds THAT annoying. Instant gratification is much appreciated in this fast paced world of needing results immediately. After you've found a theme that you like, you can go to click the + button to open a new tab and save some "speed dial" links in the little windows. As you're doing all this, and using Google to find said websites, you might notice that your forward and back buttons aren't working. That's not to say you will instantly, most mice, especially in windows, do not have issues working straight off the bat. You might even notice something else that doesn't work the same way it does in Firefox. This can be irritating to say the least. We are creatures of habit. We want things to work like they did before. Change our habits? Blasphemous.
Fortunately Opera 10 has included a handy utility for exactly that. Go to Tools >> Preferences, or hit Alt P, and click the Advanced tab. At the bottom of the menu on the left, click Shortcuts. Make sure Mouse Standard is highlighted, and then hit Edit, at the top of the right set of buttons. This will take you to a configuration editor for every mouse control you could possibly want, or any you want to add. Hint: Forward and Back buttons are at the bottom of the list under Application. My personal issue was solved by changing these to 8 and 9, instead of the default 6 and 7. Also, you'll have to enable mouse gestures for any of the gestures to work.
I thought this tool was pretty neat, and I thought someone else might like to try it too. It's fun to look at all the stuff you can do anyway.
Note: To use mouse gestures, hold the right mouse button (Ctrl key on a Mac). The first time you do this, Opera will prompt you to enable them "officially" even if the enable box is already checked. After that, you can simply use mouse gestures to do a lot of handy things, which is ESPECIALLY handy if you don't even have forward and back buttons. There are at least two mouse gestures for each of those actions. It's up to you to figure them out.
After much frustration with broken forward and back buttons in Opera 10, and not finding a solution immediately on Google, I decided I'd share the neat new thing I've learned, so that less people have the same frustration that I did.
Why Opera?
I decided to try out Opera to see how the website rendered in another web browser. It was perfect, of course. The thing I noticed immediately was how fast Opera handled everything. The rendering capabilities of it were MUCH faster than they are in Firefox. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Firefox, because if it weren't for the Stumble button I would die of boredom, and the individual add-ons such as Ad-block Plus and such make it WELL worth it. However, for those of you who don't have any such add-on addiction, I'd suggest at least trying out Opera. It loads pages quickly, and is lightweight enough that it doesn't bog down the memory sticks like Firefox can.
So, now you've decided to try Opera. The current release is Opera 10. It's fast, it's competent, and it's easy to find themes for it if you're so inclined, and test them out without restarting the whole damn thing. I know I'm not the only one who finds THAT annoying. Instant gratification is much appreciated in this fast paced world of needing results immediately. After you've found a theme that you like, you can go to click the + button to open a new tab and save some "speed dial" links in the little windows. As you're doing all this, and using Google to find said websites, you might notice that your forward and back buttons aren't working. That's not to say you will instantly, most mice, especially in windows, do not have issues working straight off the bat. You might even notice something else that doesn't work the same way it does in Firefox. This can be irritating to say the least. We are creatures of habit. We want things to work like they did before. Change our habits? Blasphemous.
Fortunately Opera 10 has included a handy utility for exactly that. Go to Tools >> Preferences, or hit Alt P, and click the Advanced tab. At the bottom of the menu on the left, click Shortcuts. Make sure Mouse Standard is highlighted, and then hit Edit, at the top of the right set of buttons. This will take you to a configuration editor for every mouse control you could possibly want, or any you want to add. Hint: Forward and Back buttons are at the bottom of the list under Application. My personal issue was solved by changing these to 8 and 9, instead of the default 6 and 7. Also, you'll have to enable mouse gestures for any of the gestures to work.
I thought this tool was pretty neat, and I thought someone else might like to try it too. It's fun to look at all the stuff you can do anyway.
Note: To use mouse gestures, hold the right mouse button (Ctrl key on a Mac). The first time you do this, Opera will prompt you to enable them "officially" even if the enable box is already checked. After that, you can simply use mouse gestures to do a lot of handy things, which is ESPECIALLY handy if you don't even have forward and back buttons. There are at least two mouse gestures for each of those actions. It's up to you to figure them out.
