Efficient browsing of forums (CivInfo)

Fedorov · 18th September 2006, 20:57

This feedback may or may not be of any use to anyone but I figured it might save some of you some precious surfing time if I can improve your workflow when trying to read the posts on here each day - I use this same method on all the forums I read each day and have found it to be the most efficient and least number of mouse movements/clicks.

I use Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ as my main browser, you could also use Opera or even the latest InternetExplorer 7 which now lets you do tabbed browsing - the timesaving feature!

From the Main forum page near the top click New Posts...

Now you see the huge advantages of tabbed browsing, no more clicking on ONE at a time, then having to hit your BACK button - simply Middle-click very quickly on the LastPost icon for each of the threads you wish to read...

Each thread you middle-click on will open in a NEW TAB in the background but you will still be on THIS SAME page...

Then just click the QuickLink to MARK the forums read ready for next time you start this process on your next visit...

After marking the forums as READ I now simply close this "New Posts" tab and begin reading each of the tabs already opened for me, one at a time...

Again, you can speed this process up, for example, in Firefox what you can do is learn to keep your left hand over CTRL-W while still able to scroll with your right-hand on your mouse/scrollwheel, soon as you've finished reading the "Sleep" thread in the example of tabs above you hit CTRL-W, that tab disappears and you are instantly onto your next tab/thread to read.

Mouse Gestures
I go one step faster than that in my everyday surfing habits and use mouse gestures - the Firefox extension I use is here: http://tinyurl.com/fdfdt

If you can have a little patience and try and learn to use a few basic mouse gestures then you can surf even faster.

What is a mouse gesture you ask?
It's basically a quick shape you draw on your screen while holding down your right mouse button, so instead of me having to hit CTRL-W or move my mouse down to the row of tabs to close one of them I just quickly hold my right button and swish my mouse DOWN, then RIGHT - an "L" shape. That is the "gesture" to close a tab

So imagine my workflow, I've middle-clicked on all the new posts I want to read, I'm sat here with a nice beer in my left-hand, and all I need in my right-hand is my mouse. I read the tab/thread titled "Sleep", a quick right-click swish of my mouse while drinking my beer and I'm onto the next post to read, read, swish, drink, read, swish drink..... burp!

Any questions feel free to ask away if anyone needs any help configuring any of this, or just tell me to get lost if you want to stick to doing it your old boring slow way

Bardley · 18th September 2006, 21:12

I do almost the same as you, but as I dont have a middle button I found a extensions for Firefox called Super Drag&Go, which means you click and drag a link to anywhere on the page and it opens in a background or foreground tab, predefined by you!

Really good that you wrote this, for people who may not realise, as on another forum I go to, I use to open all individual forums I wanted to read and then the posts in that section that I wanted, but you miss a lot doing it that way

Fedorov · 18th September 2006, 21:49

Thanks for pointing that extension out looks good and from what I read there is a better replacement for it that you maybe don't know about...
SuperDragAndGo http://superdragandgo.mozdev.org/ has now been replaced by http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=440259

Copycat · 19th September 2006, 06:35

Very good, seems efficient but why not click "Go to first new post" instead of the last one? More logical to go straight to the first new one, right? Left of the Post title, little arrow pointing down.

zippybungle · 19th September 2006, 09:03

Nice tips! Thanks for taking the time for the full explanation. Now I'll spend less time on the forum (yeah, right)

Fedorov · 19th September 2006, 09:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copycat

Very good, seems efficient but why not click "Go to first new post" instead of the last one? More logical to go straight to the first new one, right? Left of the Post title, little arrow pointing down.

Copycat you are right, maybe I should use that button rather than the "Last Post", I've probably been doing this same routine for so many years I don't think I've even noticed that the one on the left takes you to the 1st New post

Pottsy · 9th October 2006, 21:05

Some more bits:

For those worried about security, don't worry about clicking on the "remember me" button (unless you're on a public computer, and you have a poor memory). The forum will keep you logged in for 15 minutes since your last action. So if you read a thread, scrolling to the bottom, then you go off and make a coffee, and then get distracted by Judge Judy, then come back to the computer and type a "quick reply", press post and **** it complains you're not logged in and you have lost your post.

If you click remember me, a "cookie" is written which tells the forum that you want to stay logged in. So the above wouldn't happen, you'd just stay logged in. If you just close your browser, the cookie stays there, and next time you come to the forum you are logged in by magic. But if you click "log out", then the cookie is cleared and you'll have to log in again next time.

Some internet security programs block cookies, or set your browser to not save them. This is a PITA, but you can always re-enable them.

18th September 2006, 20:57	#1 (permalink)
Fedorov Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 15th April 2006 Posts: 783 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Efficient browsing of forums (CivInfo) This feedback may or may not be of any use to anyone but I figured it might save some of you some precious surfing time if I can improve your workflow when trying to read the posts on here each day - I use this same method on all the forums I read each day and have found it to be the most efficient and least number of mouse movements/clicks. I use Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ as my main browser, you could also use Opera or even the latest InternetExplorer 7 which now lets you do tabbed browsing - the timesaving feature! From the Main forum page near the top click New Posts... Now you see the huge advantages of tabbed browsing, no more clicking on ONE at a time, then having to hit your BACK button - simply Middle-click very quickly on the LastPost icon for each of the threads you wish to read... Each thread you middle-click on will open in a NEW TAB in the background but you will still be on THIS SAME page... Then just click the QuickLink to MARK the forums read ready for next time you start this process on your next visit... After marking the forums as READ I now simply close this "New Posts" tab and begin reading each of the tabs already opened for me, one at a time... Again, you can speed this process up, for example, in Firefox what you can do is learn to keep your left hand over CTRL-W while still able to scroll with your right-hand on your mouse/scrollwheel, soon as you've finished reading the "Sleep" thread in the example of tabs above you hit CTRL-W, that tab disappears and you are instantly onto your next tab/thread to read. Mouse Gestures I go one step faster than that in my everyday surfing habits and use mouse gestures - the Firefox extension I use is here: http://tinyurl.com/fdfdt If you can have a little patience and try and learn to use a few basic mouse gestures then you can surf even faster. What is a mouse gesture you ask? It's basically a quick shape you draw on your screen while holding down your right mouse button, so instead of me having to hit CTRL-W or move my mouse down to the row of tabs to close one of them I just quickly hold my right button and swish my mouse DOWN, then RIGHT - an "L" shape. That is the "gesture" to close a tab So imagine my workflow, I've middle-clicked on all the new posts I want to read, I'm sat here with a nice beer in my left-hand, and all I need in my right-hand is my mouse. I read the tab/thread titled "Sleep", a quick right-click swish of my mouse while drinking my beer and I'm onto the next post to read, read, swish, drink, read, swish drink..... burp! Any questions feel free to ask away if anyone needs any help configuring any of this, or just tell me to get lost if you want to stick to doing it your old boring slow way

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This thread is about: Efficient browsing of forums (CivInfo), it's in Site suggestions, feedback and rules at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; This feedback may or may not be of any use to anyone but I figured it might save some of you some precious surfing time ...

18th September 2006, 21:12	#2 (permalink)
Bardley Supporter Wheelnut Join Date: 18th August 2006 Location: Bristol Posts: 77 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I do almost the same as you, but as I dont have a middle button I found a extensions for Firefox called Super Drag&Go, which means you click and drag a link to anywhere on the page and it opens in a background or foreground tab, predefined by you! Really good that you wrote this, for people who may not realise, as on another forum I go to, I use to open all individual forums I wanted to read and then the posts in that section that I wanted, but you miss a lot doing it that way

18th September 2006, 21:49	#3 (permalink)
Fedorov Supporter Magic Rear Seat Join Date: 15th April 2006 Posts: 783 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks for pointing that extension out looks good and from what I read there is a better replacement for it that you maybe don't know about... SuperDragAndGo http://superdragandgo.mozdev.org/ has now been replaced by http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=440259

19th September 2006, 06:35	#4 (permalink)
Copycat Galaxy class starship Rocketship door handle Join Date: 5th May 2006 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 1,050 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Very good, seems efficient but why not click "Go to first new post" instead of the last one? More logical to go straight to the first new one, right? Left of the Post title, little arrow pointing down.

19th September 2006, 09:03	#5 (permalink)
zippybungle Valve Cap Join Date: 21st August 2006 Location: Belfast Posts: 41 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Nice tips! Thanks for taking the time for the full explanation. Now I'll spend less time on the forum (yeah, right)

9th October 2006, 21:05	#7 (permalink)
Pottsy Administrator Civinfo guru Join Date: 10th April 2006 Location: Leics Posts: 4,976 Thanks: 8 Thanked 90 Times in 49 Posts	Some more bits: For those worried about security, don't worry about clicking on the "remember me" button (unless you're on a public computer, and you have a poor memory). The forum will keep you logged in for 15 minutes since your last action. So if you read a thread, scrolling to the bottom, then you go off and make a coffee, and then get distracted by Judge Judy, then come back to the computer and type a "quick reply", press post and **** it complains you're not logged in and you have lost your post. If you click remember me, a "cookie" is written which tells the forum that you want to stay logged in. So the above wouldn't happen, you'd just stay logged in. If you just close your browser, the cookie stays there, and next time you come to the forum you are logged in by magic. But if you click "log out", then the cookie is cleared and you'll have to log in again next time. Some internet security programs block cookies, or set your browser to not save them. This is a PITA, but you can always re-enable them.