2004.06_Konqueror 3.2-Exploring the New Features.pdf

REVIEWS

Konqueror 3.2

The Browser Challenge

There have been a number of

enhancements to the latest version

of Konqueror, the KDE file manager

and browser. We took a detailed look

at this favorite tool to find out just

what the new functions are and to

show you how to get the best out of

the new features.

BY FRANK WIEDUWILT

pose Konqueror [1] browser, one of

the KDE core projects, has been

able to benefit from cooperating with

Apple, whose Safari browser [2] uses the

same code base.

Many of the enhancements introduced

by Apple developers have now found

their way into the new version of Kon-

queror. The browser renders web pages

far more quickly, with a noticeable

decrease in display errors. Beside the

improvements under the hood, there

have also been quite a few improve-

ments with regard to the GUI and ease

of use.

tab on the right. You can hold down the

middle mouse button to move a tab. The

dropdown menu, which pops up when

you press the right mouse button, allows

you to duplicate tabs. Unfortunately, the

Open in new tab item has disappeared

with version 3.2, so you will need to

configure Konqueror to open tabs in the

background, if you want to go on using

this function.

options here are Open new tab after

current active page which allows for

quick access to a selected link, and Open

as tab in existing Konqueror when URL is

called externally . This prevents the

desktop filling up with multiple windows

when you read news or just click on mail

links while reading news.

Dog-Ears

The developers have once more

enhanced the bookmark management in

Konqueror. You can now right click a

bookmark in the bookmark toolbar to

pop-up a menu where you can add a

bookmark for the current page to the

toolbar, add a bookmark for the current

page to the bookmark folder, or delete

the selected bookmark or bookmark

folder. In addition to this process, you

can use the dropdown menu to open the

bookmark folder in the bookmark editor,

where you can modify the folder. Unfor-

tunately, this does not seem to work if

you click on a bookmark folder in the

navigation area.

The ability to double-click to store any

tabs you have opened as bookmark fold-

ers is a useful function which Mozilla

Hidden Options

To tell Konqueror how to handle tabs,

call up the program settings in Settings /

Configure Konqueror , and set up the Web

behavior.

The options are slightly concealed. It

might be easier for users if the options

were accessible from a dialog box as is

the case with Mozilla. You can then tell

Konqueror to Open links in new tab

instead of in new window box , whenever

you click a link with the middle mouse

button. This greatly improves the usabil-

ity of the desktop.

Clicking on Advanced options takes

you to a dialog box that gives you more

granular control over tabbed browsing

(see Figure 1). The two most important

Browser Tabs

Konqueror has been capable of tabbed

browsing, the ability to display multiple

browser tabs within a single program

window, for quite a while now. In the

latest release, a number of functions

have been introduced to facilitate

working with multiple subordinate win-

dows.

The tab list below the toolbar includes

a button for opening a new tab on the

left, and a button for closing the current

June 2004

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Konqueror 3.2

F or the first time, the general pur-

Konqueror 3.2

REVIEWS

has had for quite a while now. To do so,

select Tab / Bookmark tabs as folder.. .

You are prompted to type a name for the

folder. After doing so, your links will be

available as bookmarks.

The Bookmark Editor has also been

enhanced. There is now a textbox below

the toolbar where you can type a search

key with which to search the bookmarks.

Pressing Enter starts the search; you can

continue the search by pressing Enter

again.

Below the tree view with your book-

marks there are a number of text boxes

where you can edit the properties of the

selected bookmark, the address, descrip-

tion, and a comment, without needing to

pop up a dialog box first. Bookmarks can

be sorted alphabetically by folder, or col-

lectively. The dropdown menu for the

bookmark folder allows you to select

folders to be displayed in the bookmark

toolbar.

There are new bookmark export fea-

tures. The Bookmark Editor can now

export your collection of bookmarks to

Opera and Internet Explorer formats. You

can even create a HTML file or print out

a list of bookmarks.

ly updated by the provider. Figure 2

shows an active sidebar displayed as an

example.

Konqueror displays sidebars in the

navigation area on the left of the main

window; you can use buttons for access.

There are two approaches to setting up

a sidebar. Often, the content provider

will have a link that points you to a

script, which in turn installs the sidebar.

Before adding a new tab, Konqueror

always asks if you want to do so.

The second approach is to click the

icon in the toolbar for the navigation

panel. Then select Add New / Web navi-

gation panel . A new button appears.

Right-click this button, and select Select

address in the dropdown menu. You can

then specify the address of the required

sidebar in the new dialog screen that

appears.

We experienced some occasional bugs

when adding Netscape sidebars. Some-

times Konqueror displayed nothing

at all, and on one occasion it simply

crashed while attempting to add a side-

bar.

INFO

[1] Konqueror: http://www.konqueror.org

[2] Safari: http://www.apple.com/de/safari/

form pops up a menu where you can opt

to perform a spelling check. A dialog box

suggests replacements for unknown

words. Any words in a form that the pro-

gram cannot find in the dictionary are

highlighted in red.

Another of Konqueror’s configuration

options allows the program to launch

more quickly. Select Settings / Configure

Konqueror… , and then click on Settings/

Performance . You can check Preload an

instance after KDE startup to launch a

copy of the program when you fire up

KDE, and this saves a lot of time when

you come to launch a copy of Konqueror.

The latest Konqueror release is

undoubtedly a big success. The browser

is extremely stable; it renders HTML

pages quickly and with a minimum of

errors. Our only complaint is that,

despite the clean-up operation, many

menus and dialogs are still a little over-

loaded, meaning that users can take a

while to find the commands they are

looking for.

Miscellaneous

Besides the major changes, there are a

number of minor improvements that

enhance browsing convenience. One

important addition is the ability to spell

check text entries within forms. Kon-

queror calls KDE’s spellchecker to do

this. Right-clicking a text box within a

Sidebars

The current version of Mozilla supports

Netscape compatible sidebars . Sidebars

or Web navigation panels are web pages

which have been optimized for viewing

in a narrow column, and are regular-

■

Figure 1: The Konqueror file manager acting as a web browser with different tabs while running under

KDE 3.2.

Figure 2: Konqueror showing the content of a

Mozilla sidebar.

www.linux-magazine.com

June 2004

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