| About Opera | tells you which version of Opera you are currently using. |
| Enter URL directly (Direct Addressing) | type in the address you'd like to retrieve documents from. |
| Nickname | for ultra-quick retrieval of your favourite HotList entries. |
| HotList | opens and changes the hierarchical address list. CTRL-M opens the hotlist menu for editing. |
| Set home | is displayed when you wish to change either the window's homepage or the global homepage. |
| Unknown file type | appears when Opera retrieves a file of a type that it cannot itself display, and which is not associated with some action (ie save, show with plugin) via the 'Associate' dialog box. |
| Locked document | displayed when you try to retrieve a file or document that is password protected. |
| Troubleshooting | shown if a problem occurred during the last use of the program. |
Here you will see information on which version of Opera you have, plus some
additional information on the translation and licencing of other modules
for Opera. You are currently using Opera 3.50.
Enter URL directly (Direct Addressing or
Open Remote)
This dialog is used to retrieve documents where you already know the address. The Dialog box opens when you either click on the button showing a yellow pen pointing to a white page, choose 'Open Remote' from the 'Navigation'-menu or press the F2 key.
When the dialog box is displayed, you can type in the address, ie http://www.operasoftware.com and click on the OK button, or use the Return key. In the list box you can also choose one of the addresses you have visited earlier. In addition you can edit the address. You choose yourself how many addresses Opera should remember, by choosing under Generic Preferences in the 'Preferences 'menu.
TIP: You can also access your local hard disk by simply entering C:
and pressing [ENTER]. Opera will then display the content of the directories
and subdirectories.
Nickname
An easy way to quickly load bookmarked documents (HotList entries) is to use the nickname facility. The shortcut for that is SHIFT-F2. When you create a new HotList entry (Ctrl-T), enter a one-character nickname, ie 'n' for your favourite News site, or 's' for your favourite sports site. To retrieve that document, press Shift-F2 and 'n'. Your News Site will then be loaded.
The HotList (Bookmarks)
Opera has a sophisticated hot list. The hotlist is a plain text file with the extension ".adr", should you wish to back it up (which we warmly recommend).
It features multiple sub-levels, plus various instant sort options. You can also choose to open all bookmarks in a folder at once, or add all open documents as bookmarks to a selected folder.
The hotlist is available from three levels. You can either access it from the 'List' menu, via the 'book' icon on the tool bar (displays only the currently active hotlist) or you can enable the docked hotlist function (CTRL-F2, SHIFT-F7 or CTRL-Click on hotlist icon in the toolbar), so that the docked hotlist becomes visible on the workspace.
The hotlist can either be docked (attached) to the left side of the workspace, or be manually resized and freely positioned on the workspace. In the latter instance, it can either be 'always on top' or be covered by document windows. The hotlist 'status' can be changed by selecting 'View' from the right-mouse button menu.
Menu
The Hotlist menu has three top level items that are also displayed on each
sub-level popup menu. These items allow you to create bookmarks without having
to have the docked hotlist window open. This method is more convenient for
those working with the keyboard only and prefer the menu over the window.
The three options are:
Add Current Document Here
Adds the currently active document to the selected (sub)list.Set as Active Folder
The meaning of the 'Active Folder' is that it is accessible via the button bar icon. Remember that CTRL-T adds bookmarks to the currently active hotlist (sub-folder). With the new one, you can now add the bookmark to any folder with just a few clicks or/and mouse movements.The currently 'Active Folder' is marked with a little red triangular pointer on the left side of the respective hotlist menu item.
Open All Folder Items
Loads all bookmarks (documents) of that particular (sub-) folder in separate windows.
Docked hotlist
The new docked hotlist window is split into two windows. The top one displays
the root folder structure; the bottom one displays the items or sub-folders
in the currently active (marked) folder of the top window. Click on another
parent folder, and see its contents displayed in the bottom window. If the
folder has sub-folders, clicking on the [-] or [+] expands or collapses the
directory tree. The currently marked folder -- which is automatically the
active list appearing on the tool bar -- is displayed in bold. On the menu,
the active hotlist has a little red arrow next to it.
Double-click on an entry to open that URL or local document, or mark multiple bookmark items according to the Windows convention using the Shift and Ctrl keys to mark jointed or disjointed items.
Hotlist sorting
The hotlist features some very nifty sorting orders. You can sort the hotlist
by clicking on the title bar of the appropriate columns, namely:
This feature has a toggle function. You will notice the small red indicator on the title bar itself. When it points down, the list is sorted from A-Z. When it points up, it is sorted from Z-A. If it shows three horizontal lines, it is not sorted at all. In this case, you can ALT-drag and drop any entry to the location you desire. In this setting (let's call it 'user preferences'), the hotlist entries are sorted according to ....the user's preferences.
The keyboard shortcuts for the three respective columns are ALT-1 (Title), ALT-2 (Last Visited) and ALT-3 (Created). Pressing them more than once cycles the column through the three sort options.
Docked hotlist-specific properties menu
You can also use the right mouse button (RMB) to open the hotlist-specific
menu. This menu has the following options:
Get
If you right-click on a folder in the top window and press on 'Get', it will open all folder items in that folder. If you press on it in the bottom window, only the currently selected item will be retrieved.Add Current
Adds the currently active document to the currently selected (and therefore automatically active) (sub)folder. A dialog box will open, asking you for some details. The nickname field is explained below.Add All
Adds all open documents to the selected folder.Cut
Cuts a folder entry to the clipboard for pasting to another locationCopy
Copies a folder entry to the clipboard for pasting to another locationPaste
Pastes a cut or copied hotlist entry into the selected folderDelete
Deletes the selected folder entry or entries. You can select more than one entry by using the Shift or Ctrl-key on the keyboard.Select All
Selects either all folders if you are in the top window or all folder items if you are in the bottom window.New
- Folder
Creates a new (sub-) folder in the currently selected hotlist. This folder will be inserted according to its alphabetical location.- Item
Creates a new item (bookmark) in the currently selected folder. A dialog box appears to enter details pertaining that entry.File
- New
Creates a new hotlist file (with the extension ".adr"). A dialog box opens, asking you to enter a name for the hotlist.- Open
Opens an Opera hotlist or Netscape bookmark file. A dialog box opens, prompting you to select the file you would like to open, according to the file type you have chosen.- Save Now
Allows you to instantaneously save your currently active hotlist file (usually opera3.adr)- Save As
Saves the currently open hotlist under a new name. A dialog box opens, prompting you to enter a new name, ending with the extension ".adr".- Save Selected Items as
Allows you to save only selected folders to a new file. A dialog box opens, prompting you to enter a new name, ending with the extension ".adr".- Insert File (Insert Netscape Bookmarks)
Inserts another Opera hotlist file into the currently open folder. This way you can merge various bookmark files into one.Netscape Bookmarks: If you would like to insert your Netscape bookmarks (bookmark.htm), please use this option by simply selecting the required file from the dialog box. Just change the file type to HTML to see all HTML files listed in the file box. Choose the one you want, and Opera will automatically insert the bookmarks into the current folder. Opera imports only NS 3 bookmarks right now. For NS 4 bookmark files, please use Columbine Bookmark Merge, a memorialware product from Gary Cramblitt. Alternatively, shareware products such as Kaylon's "Powermarks" or Daniel Liu's "Compass" are excellent tools for bookmark management.
- Insert Internet Explorer Favourites
Searches for your 'Favourites' folder and imports the bookmarks it finds in it.Properties
Accessed via the Hotlist Menu or by pressing ALT-ENTER while highlighting the hotlist item, a dialog box opens allowing you to modify the properties of this item (bookmark). You can change the description, the URL, give the bookmark a nickname for quick access and even enter a description for the item.View
If you right-click anywhere on the border of the docked hotlist, a menu will open, giving you the following options:
- Docking View
If you disable this option, the hotlist will change from 'docked' to 'floating' status, and can be freely moved around the workspace.
Note: as it is treated like any other window, it will also change shape if you have 'auto window tile' enabled, means the hotlist window will be tiled just like your other documents.Enabling Docking View again will remove the floating hotlist and dock it to the left side of the screen again.
- Stay on Top
Enabling this option will result in the hotlist staying permanently on top of open documents.- Close
Closes the docked hotlist. You can open it again with Shift-F7 or Ctrl-F2.
Tip: You can resize the 'Title' and 'Last Visited' fields by clicking on and dragging the line between the two headers. This way you will read more of the 'Title' and less of the 'Last Visited'.
Nickname
This feature (called up via SHIFT-F2) allows you to access bookmarks
with only a few keystrokes. This is particularly useful for handicapped users.
It works as follows: when you add a bookmark, Opera asks you some details
pertaining the title, nickname, URL and notes. Let's say your 'Alta Vista'
Search Engine bookmark entry has the nickname 'a'. If you now press SHIFT-F2
and press 'a', Opera will retrieve that bookmark with only two keystrokes.
Set home
You can set different home pages for different windows. This is done by accessing the Navigation entry on the menu bar, and then by clicking on 'Set Home'. The following options will be available to you:
Window Home
The local homepage for the active window. You can have one for each window.
Global home
The global homepage which is loaded when the active window does not have
its own homepage, and you click on the home button.
Unknown file type
When Opera comes across a file whose 'type' has not been associated with an action or another application via 'Preferences/Associate', this dialog box will show up. You can then decide what you would like to do with this file. In most cases, you are likely to save it on your hard disk, and open it with another application.
Unknown file type - type
Here is displayed what type of file is concerned if the type is known.
Unknown file type - view with
Here you can choose an external program to display the file. You can click
on the 'Browse' button to search for a program. When you have found the program,
you choose 'Display with' to see the file.
Unknown file type - button
With Opera - display the file in Opera. If the file type is unknown , the
file will display as text..
Save - save the file to disk.
Associate - change the association for the file type, so that it is either displayed with a particular program, or saved.
Help - display this help file.
Cancel - cancel the download.
This dialog box opens when you try to retrieve a protected document. You
must type in a user name and password to gain access. Take care that this
is not your normal user name and password. You should not use the same name
and password for different services.
Problem Dialog
Note: This window is displayed upon startup if Opera didn't exit properly the previous time.
Opera is configured to be fast and efficient. This requires that the underlying communications software is fully compliant with the winsock standard and that it is able to handle multiple connections simultaneously. With most winsock implementations this is not a problem, but some implementations are somewhat incomplete or unable to handle the load. In the worst case this will lead to a program crash. Then next time you start Opera, Opera will show this dialog. If the problem is infrequent, you can probably just press 'cancel' and continue. If not, you can try out some of the settings and see if that helps. If it does, you should save these settings in the advanced settings dialog (just open it and select 'OK').
NB: Most of the changes will lead to slower net access.
Do Not Load Documents at Startup - This choice enables you to start Opera without fetching any documents. You can then do any necessary changes to the advanced settings and thus solve the problem. This choice is needed if Opera will not start due to problems with the communications software. You may, however, also select any of the choices below. That may cure the problem as well.
Minimize number of simultaneous connections - Opera will by default fetch a great number of documents and images at the same time. Some communications programs (winsock) are unable to handle this. If this is a problem, you can reduce the number of simultaneous connections. This setting reduces the number of connections to 4. This setting is normally set in the advanced settings.
Minimize network buffer size - Some implementations of winsock require a certain size for a network buffer. This choice sets the size of the buffer to 1 kb. This setting is normally set in the advanced settings.
Synchronous DNS - Some implementations of winsock do not have support for asynchronous DNS (convention from names of machines to numbers). Changing this setting will make Opera work with these implementations.
If you are using Compuserve, you will probably have to enable Synchronous DNS.