Features of the Opera web browser
This article details features of the Opera web browser.
Currently supported features
- Access recently closed pages
- Opera allows its users to retrieve all of the tabs or windows closed earlier in the current session from a list. Closed tabs can be recovered in the reverse sequence in which they were closed, by default this is achieved via the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + T. Users can also access recently closed tabs from other devices synced to their Opera account, including tablets and phones.
- Download manager
- Opera allows its users to pause, resume, or restart the transfer of files. It also keeps the history of downloaded files and allows opening the files—or the folder where the file has been downloaded to—from within the browser.[2] When a download begins, a pop-up and a button will appear at the top-right area of the interface to show the download progress.
- Extensions
- Extensions allow users to easily add functionality to their Opera browser, as well as share most APIs with the Chromium extension model. Developers can easily create extensions using open standards (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript) and specific extensions can be created to function as Speed Dial items.
- Image loading setting
- Opera offers the option to load a page without images, or to use only images already in the modemor on a slow wireless/cellular connection that may charge for the amounts of data downloaded.
- Mouse gestures
- Opera was one of the first browsers to support Fitts' Law).
Some of the default mouse gestures include:
- Back—right-clicking anywhere and dragging the mouse towards the left.
- Forward—right-clicking anywhere and dragging the mouse towards the right.
- New tab—right-click and dragging down.
- Close tab—right-click and making an L-shape movement (drag down, then right).
- CTRL keyand scrolling the mouse wheel. Scrolling up enlarges the page by 10% increments, and vice versa.
- Rocker gestures(i.e., flip back and forward)—hold the right-click mouse button and click left, and vice versa.
- Opera Turbo
- When Opera Turbo mode is enabled, Opera
Around April 2019, Opera removed this functionality in its desktop browsers and it's no longer supported on desktop. The fate of it on its mobile browsers is uncertain.
- Page zooming
- Opera offers full Scalable Vector Graphics to be increased or decreased in size (25% to 500%). Extensions may also be used to do this and to enable high contrast coloured fonts. Full page zooming prevents inconsistencies that occur when regular text enlargement forces the content to be bigger than its container. Zooming can be done using multi-touchpinching gestures on supported platforms.
- Password manager
- Each time a web page includes a password form, users have the option to store that password for later use. With the password manager, when a user re-visits these pages, the username and password fields will be already filled in.
- Pop-up blocking
- Opera allows its users to control whether web sites may open pop-up windows. By default, Opera blocks all unrequested pop-ups and the behavior may be set on a per-site basis. Windows that have been blocked may be later opened at the user's discretion.
- Private browsing
- Opera's privacy mode, Private Windows, allows users to surf the web without leaving traces of the browsing session in that special window.
Opera's original privacy feature, Private Tabs, allowed users to open a private browsing session in a tab in the current window, instead of a separate window. It would not record browsing history, use the web cache, or stored passwords, and would forget any information accessed in the Tab when it is closed. This feature was replaced by Private Windows in Opera 15.
- Safer address field
- Opera applies SSL or TLScertificates—for the particular page being visited.:
This tool is directly tied to
- Search engines
- Opera provides quick access to a variety of search engines and commerce sites, via the use of search plugins. The user can type the search string in the address field and it will display search suggestions for supported websites. Many search plugins are included with the browser, but they can also be user-defined or installed from external sources. Since Opera 9, a user can right-click a search field on a website and select the "create search" option to add it as a custom search engine. Additionally, with this function a user is able to translate a paragraph or look for the meaning of a word directly for example.
The user can select the desired search engine via a list or by using keywords in the address field. Example: Opera has a pre-set keyword for using the
- Snapshot tool
- Opera 49 added a screenshotting tool with editing features, including a selfie mode.[9]
Opera 49
- Speed Dial Browsing
- When a new tab is opened, the blank page is replaced with a page with slots that the user can set to contain webpage bookmarks. This feature is based on the speed-dial browsing previously introduced in Opera Mini.[10] New versions of Opera's Speed Dial improved the feature by allowing an unlimited number of speed dial entries, Speed Dial extensions, introducing groups, real-time search of entries, added support to user-defined backgrounds and different resolution display layouts (e.g. widescreen).
Users are able to save all the tabs in a window as a Speed Dial group, manage the saved links, and open them all later if wished. Opera 9.2, released 11 April 2007
- Standalone installation
- Opera's installer allows users the option to install the browser as a "Standalone Installation (USB)," which does not make any modifications to the system that it is executed on.[11]
- Tabbed browsing
- Opera supports tabbed browsing, which allows for multiple web pages to be opened within the same application window. The tabs can be managed in a tab bar (opening, closing, rearranging, etc.). The user is given options to perform actions such as cloning a tab with its complete history or pinning it. Notably, the part of the tab which displays a page's faviconis used as the indicator of the page loading progress. Also, open tabs can be previewed by hovering your mouse above the tab. This can be disabled through the settings menu.
- Task Manager
- As Opera is based on Chromium, the Chromium-Browsing-Task Manager, as known from Google Chrome, is also a part of Operas range of features. This is not part of the legacy features of Opera 12.17.
- VR player
- Opera is the first web browser to provide support for 360-degree videos to be played directly into virtual reality headsets.[9]
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Legacy features
Many notable features, there were available in older versions of the Opera web browser, were removed when Opera switched from its legacy layout engine,
- Search engine aliases
- Typing an alias in the " respectively.
- BitTorrent
- Opera provides the ability to transfer files via a built-in BitTorrent client.
- Bookmarks
- In Opera 15, the classic bookmark functionality was supplanted by an improved Speed Dial and the introduction of the Stash feature. Many users did not find this to be adequate, and bookmarks returned in a later version[16]:
- Content blocker
- Flash), videos, scripts, styles, and other resources. To block content, a user must right-click on the page, and click "Block Content". It is then possible to simply select the elements one wishes to block. Users can also control how much they want to block expand using URL's with wildcards and such.
Opera stores its content-blocking URL list in a file called urlfilter.ini. Several internet sites provide a regularly updated urlfilter.ini already loaded with the web's most common advertisements so users can block ads using the built-in feature. The users are able to sync the content blocker list using
- Customization
- Users have the option of defining the appearance and functionality of every item on the UI with the exception of the minimize, maximize/restore, and exit buttons. Personal preferences for toolbar buttons and menus can be arranged with .ini filesallows one to create, define, or redefine buttons, menus tools and functions.
Skins: Opera supports customized user-interface skins, allowing users to change the style and size of toolbars, buttons and menus. A drag and drop functionality allows the user to easily place links and buttons on toolbars. The user is able to install custom skins, ranging from color changes to OS mimics to animated GIF images.[17]
Toolbars: Opera provides toolbars that display different menus and buttons. For example, the "start" toolbar is a drop-down toolbar which can be enabled to provide access to history and bookmarks when the user focuses the address field. Additionally a "view" toolbar includes multiple shortcuts to control the page exhibition and a find in page tool, a "navigation" toolbar can show commands to navigate through webpages, etc.
- Developer tools
- HTML DOM, JavaScript, CSS, and more. A user can set breakpoints and watches, alter scripts on-the-fly, execute statements in the current environment from a console, and audit page resources and local storage. Opera Dragonfly also allows debugging from a personal computer a webpage opened on a handheld or other device.
Dragonfly is written using standard web technology and the
- Fit to width
- Opera provides a fit-to-width feature that relies on technology similar to horizontal scrolling.
- Full text history search
- Words typed in the address field perform full-text searchin the browser history. This allows a user to find a page previously accessed by searching by part of the text of its content.
Opera 9.5, released 12 June 2008
- Hotclick
- Hotclick refers to double-clickingany word in a page and having it to open the context menu instantly, which in Opera includes commands for searching the selected text in search engines and built-in translation, encyclopedia and dictionary services. In addition to this, the Hotclick menu also gives access to the 'copy', 'copy to note' (Opera 7 and later), and 'Send by email' functions.
- Opera Panels
- Some tools relating to browsing and email functions are organized within Opera Panels. Users can add additional tools by downloading or creating their own. Examples of tools installed by default:
- Bookmarks—lists all the bookmark folders and the bookmarks they contain.
- Mail serves as access point for email accounts, folders, labels and news feeds.
- Contacts—email address book.
- History—provides a log of all pages accessed.
- Links—list of links available in the current page.
- Notes—displays all the notes folders and the notes they contain, it allows the user to edit pure text notes.
- Info—displays page-specific information, including its MIME type, local cache, size, security information, and encoding.
- Windows—provides management for all the tabs and windows open.
- Transfers—simplified view of the download manager.
- Privacy and security
- Opera can be configured to use proxy servers, and has a built-in cookie editor and web cache viewer. Also, the password manager integrated into the browser allows users to set a master password to protect against unauthorized tampering or access to stored passwords. Users have full control over data supplied to the W3C Geolocation API.
- Tooltips
- Tooltips, which users have the option to disable, are small info boxes that displayed some additional relevant information. Some of Tooltips features include:[18]
- Displaying the file size and the progress of the page that was loading
- Hovering the keystrokes, that one would have to press to execute the same action.
- Usability and accessibility
- Opera was designed to run well even on low-end and small computers, and with a commitment to computer accessibility for users who may have visual or mobility impairments.
It is possible to control all main functions of the browser using only the
Discontinued features
- BB-Code-Keystrokes
- A user was able to make a text bold, italic and underlined by adding [B][I][U]-tags around the selected text through keyboard shortcuts. If no text was selected, the text would appear where the mouse was.[citation needed]
- Mouse gestures (some)
- Opera used to offer some mouse gestures that are no longer available in the latest version as of now. These include:
- Scroll through tabs — hold right mouse button and roll wheel to cycle through the open tabs.
- Clone tab — right-click, drag down then up
- Opera Link
- ;Opera Link allowed users to synchronise their bookmarks, Speed Dial, notes, personal bar,[19] custom search engines, typed history,[20] and the content-blocker list across multiple computers and mobile devices (such as a copy of Opera Mini running on a mobile phone). Furthermore, the bookmarks, notes, and Speed Dial could be accessed through a web interface.[21]:
Opera Link servers left users with only a month to backup their bookmarks one by one, before the feature was discontinued in 2015.
- Opera Mail
- In addition to the IRCclient for online chat. (RSS Reader/News Client now available is modern opera)
- Private Tabs
- Opera's Private Tabs were introduced in Opera 10.50, allowing users to open a private browsing session in a tab in the current window, instead of a separate window. Private Tabs would not record browsing history, use the web cache, or stored passwords, and would forget any information accessed in the Tab when it is closed.
This feature was replaced by Private Windows in Opera 15.
- Sessions
- Opera allowed users to save all the open session. This set of pages could then be reopened later as they were previously organized or inserted into the current window. Opera could then also be set up to start with one of the saved sessions. A saved session includes the history of each tab and the settings each one had, such as scrolling position, images on/off, etc.
Since version 32 this feature can only be achieved with a combination of Speed Dial and Bookmarks, or more elegantly by installing a session-manager extension.[23][24]
- Tabbed browsing features
- Tabbed browsing features that were available in the older versions include:
- MDI: tabs can be resized, moved, tiled, and cascaded like normal application windows in the operating system.
- Tab-stacking - Since version 11.0, dragging one tab over another allows a user to create a group of tabs.
- Option to have the tab bar displayed on one of the sides of the window or at the bottom. This feature is set to return in an upcoming version.
- User JavaScript
- Opera supported User JavaScript (UserJS) extensions, which would execute JavaScript when pages were loaded in order to enhance site functionality. UserJS.org, which is currently inactive, was the unofficial central repository for Opera User JavaScripts.[25] Scripts designed for the Greasemonkey Firefox extension are listed on Userscripts.org, though many of them also work with Opera.[26] As of the latest version, extensions can make up for the need for UserJS.
- Widgets
- Opera Widgets were small standalone applications sitting on the desktop that used the browser's rendering engine. Widgets were phased out starting with Opera 12.[27]
- Other
- Save browsing history forever until manual deletion. (Chromium-Based browsers do erase old history automatically)
- Show page loading progress in the address bar (Size; Percentage; Number of loaded and total elements).
Compatibility
Common compatibility problems are caused by websites not following standards or using methods for
Later versions of Opera offered a limited method of cloaking allowing selection from a pre-defined range of options including Mozilla and Internet Explorer. If needed, Opera can mask completely as Internet Explorer or Mozilla, leaving out the reference to Opera in the UA string and JavaScript objects. Some sites test only for objects that are not present in Opera.
The version 8 of Opera introduced a further provision for dealing with faulty coding, by providing a set of scripts in BrowserJS that rewrites known broken pages as they are being opened. The closely related UserJS (similar to Mozilla's Greasemonkey), allows users to run their own code at various times in the processing of a page. These techniques have allowed many popular but incompatible sites to be used fully with Opera.[28]
Opera periodically updates itself with the latest version of BrowserJS and override_downloaded.ini files to keep more sites working correctly in the browser, respectively, they serve to patch websites which would otherwise have issues to run on Opera and to cloak the UA string by default for some website domains.
References
- ^ "Meet the new Opera brand identity - Blog". Opera News. 22 September 2015.
- ^ "Download manager in Opera". Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
- ^ "Images management in Opera". Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
- ^ Building a better computer mouse, Evan Hansen, October, 2002, retrieved on October 30, 2005
- ^ "Help". opera.com.
- ^ a b "Opera's company FAQ". Opera Software. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ^ "Opera Turbo". Opera Software. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ "Zooming in Opera". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
- ^ a b "Opera 49 adds snapshot tool with editing tools - Opera Desktop". Opera Desktop. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
- ^ ""Is that my blog on your Speed Dial?" - Desktop Team - by Desktop Team". opera.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007.
- ^ "The Portable Freeware Collection - Opera". Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Opera: Neu, Schön, ÜBerflüssig - German Page
- ^ Operas Changes: Chromium Striked and Changed everything
- ^ Opera 15 Launched: First Impressions
- ^ Opera 12 Security Update
- ^ Gjøsund, Alexander. "Opera Turns After Criticism; Brings Back Bookmarks". TechiFreak. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ Goldman, Daniel (2007-03-12). "Opera Skins will support animated GIF images". Opera Watch. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
- ^ Legacy Opera Feature: Tooltips
- ^ Kirk, Jeremy (2008-10-28). "Opera Beta Improves Syncin". PCWorld. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ "First 9.60 Snapshot!". Archived from the original on 2008-08-25. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
- ^ "Opera 9.5 -- a fine browsing alternative". TechChuck.com. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ "Sync browsing data in the Opera browser | Opera".
- ^ "Can't find save session option". Opera Forum. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Confusion with Opera Versions". Opera Forum. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Home". userjs.org.
- ^ "Userscripts.org: Power-ups for your browser". userscripts.org. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Teigene, Arnstein (24 April 2012). "Increased focus on Opera extensions and ending support for Unite applications and Widgets". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ "UserJS.org".