TOOLBAR ADVANTAGES
Using a toolbar certainly makes some search tasks much simpler. Instead of entering the search engine's URL or clicking on a favorite or bookmark, you just enter the query in the search box. Three toolbars—AltaVista, Google, and Dogpile—now include pop-up blockers. They have links to dictionary, phone number, thesaurus, acronym, currency, conversion, and other quick information look-up services. Highlight buttons mark the query terms in the displayed document.
For those who have not found another solution to the annoyance of pop-up and pop-under ads, this feature alone may warrant loading one of these toolbars. Turned on (the default setting), the blockers prevent unrequested pop-up windows, which are usually just ads. In the event it might be actual information content, click the button and the blocker is either turned off or will now allow pop-ups from this specific site. The toolbars like to count the number blocked and emit some sound (Dogpile's barking dog is the most annoying). But the sounds can be turned off and the counters re-set through the options configuration.
The site search capability of the Google and AltaVista toolbars is also a great convenience. Visiting a Web site where you can't find the document you expected to be there? Just enter a keyword or two in the toolbar search box. Instead of clicking "Search the Web," click the arrow to the right of it to choose the "Current Site" (Google) or "This Site" (AltaVista) search. Bear in mind that the site search is limited by which pages from the site are actually in the search engine's database. A local site search may be more comprehensive, but in a surprising number of cases, the search engine site search is more accurate and comprehensive than a local site search.
The Highlight and Find in Document functions are other nice conveniences. After entering a search query in the toolbar search box, the query words also appear on the toolbar. Clicking on any of the query words in the toolbar will jump to the first occurrence of that search word in the document currently being displayed. These words will stay in the toolbar until the next search is done, so even after browsing to a results page, they can still be used. AltaVista, Dogpile, and Google toolbars all offer this Find in Document feature. Of course, it could just as easily be accomplished with a Control-F or Find in Document function of the browser, but that usually requires re-typing the word.
Highlighting the query terms is a popular option available in toolbars. The ones from AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, Dogpile, Google, Teoma, and Yahoo! all have a button for it. Sometimes, the button is a toggle. Click the button once, and all future search terms will be highlighted until the button is clicked again. For others, the highlight button must be clicked each time the highlight function is needed.
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For those who have not found another solution to the annoyance of pop-up and pop-under ads, this feature alone may warrant loading one of these toolbars. Turned on (the default setting), the blockers prevent unrequested pop-up windows, which are usually just ads. In the event it might be actual information content, click the button and the blocker is either turned off or will now allow pop-ups from this specific site. The toolbars like to count the number blocked and emit some sound (Dogpile's barking dog is the most annoying). But the sounds can be turned off and the counters re-set through the options configuration.
The site search capability of the Google and AltaVista toolbars is also a great convenience. Visiting a Web site where you can't find the document you expected to be there? Just enter a keyword or two in the toolbar search box. Instead of clicking "Search the Web," click the arrow to the right of it to choose the "Current Site" (Google) or "This Site" (AltaVista) search. Bear in mind that the site search is limited by which pages from the site are actually in the search engine's database. A local site search may be more comprehensive, but in a surprising number of cases, the search engine site search is more accurate and comprehensive than a local site search.
The Highlight and Find in Document functions are other nice conveniences. After entering a search query in the toolbar search box, the query words also appear on the toolbar. Clicking on any of the query words in the toolbar will jump to the first occurrence of that search word in the document currently being displayed. These words will stay in the toolbar until the next search is done, so even after browsing to a results page, they can still be used. AltaVista, Dogpile, and Google toolbars all offer this Find in Document feature. Of course, it could just as easily be accomplished with a Control-F or Find in Document function of the browser, but that usually requires re-typing the word.
Highlighting the query terms is a popular option available in toolbars. The ones from AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, Dogpile, Google, Teoma, and Yahoo! all have a button for it. Sometimes, the button is a toggle. Click the button once, and all future search terms will be highlighted until the button is clicked again. For others, the highlight button must be clicked each time the highlight function is needed.
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Comments
These words will stay in the toolbar until the next search is done.