Many of us spend most of our time on the web, but all too often browsing sessions can descend into a sprawling mess of memory-hogging, audio-playing tabs that bring your computer and your productivity to a shuddering halt. It doesn’t have to be that way. These extensions and tricks can bring some simplicity back to your browsing.
#1 Stick to one browser tab
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Tabbed browsing has changed the way we navigate the web, but the evolution hasn’t been all for the better. If the number of tabs you’ve got open at any one time is in the single figures then consider yourself lucky. OneTab for Chrome and Firefox does exactly what it says, limiting you to a single tab to keep you focussed and save system memory.
#2 Keep your browser tabs in a queue
Image: Screenshot
If OneTab seems a bit on the draconian side for your needs, then we also like Tabs Limiter With Queue for Chrome. In this case the extension keeps your tabs in a queue rather than a list as OneTab does, so you don’t lose concentration but can still get around to other websites and pages when you’re ready. Tabs can still be opened as normal too, if needed.
#3 Use a browser without tabs
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Those of you who’ve had enough of the tab management and just want to ditch that approach altogether might be interested in Colibri, a new browser that gets rid of tabs completely. When you find a webpage that you want to get around to later, you add it to a bucket called Links, rather than a tab, and you can call up your Links list at any time.
#4 Use full-screen mode
Image: Screenshot
Most modern browser have a full-screen mode you can use to cut out distractions like other programs, menus and shortcuts. On Chrome you can hit F11 (Windows) or Cmd+Ctrl+F (Mac) and on Firefox you can use F11 (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+F (Mac). In Chrome, you can hide the tab and address bar too via the options on the View menu.
#5 Streamline websites as you visit them
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Your standard webpage comes with a whole host of extra code besides the actual content, and uBlock Origin for Chrome and Firefox strips down sites to their most essential elements. It can block ads, but that’s only part of what it does, and it’s very customisable. Don’t forget to whitelist ad panels on sites you want to support, such as Lifehacker.
#6 Use a read-it-later service
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Many of you will already have signed up to services such as Instapaper or Pocket, but if you haven’t, then now might be a good time to consider it. They keep longer reads safely saved away for when you’ve got time to get around to them, so your browsing isn’t interrupted. You can even catch up on dedicated mobile apps when your computer’s off.
#7 Cut out distracting websites
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Maybe your problem is you’re just too easily distracted by the wonders of the web when you should be working on something that doesn’t involve Facebook, Twitter or your favourite sports forum. If that’s you then again there are extensions to help: check out StayFocusd for Chrome or BlockSite for Firefox, both of which can be extensively customised.
#8 Cut down on on-screen clutter
Image: Screenshot
Today’s browsers do a pretty decent job of keeping a minimalist aesthetic by themselves, but you can probably still do some tidying up if you open the extensions page in your browser of choice. Hide any useful extensions that don’t always have to be on view, and uninstall completely any add-ons that you don’t really need. Your browser will thank you.
This article originally appeared on Gizmodo.
Comments
2 responses to “8 Ways To Make Your Favourite Websites Run Faster”
0. Block ads
Amen to ad block plus!
0.1 Avoid Flash/Java websites
I’ve used Adblock Plus a number of years now and not more distractions while I’m trying to type in my emails. The ads are so annoying and distracting from what you’re trying to think about. Why should I pay Microsoft $19.95 USD to keep ads out of my hotmails when Adblock Plus is free or you’re free to donate what you like?
I read an article that Chrome is trying to get rid of it.
Often I open multiple gizmodo/lifehacker articles in several tabs until I read them, and by the sounds of my laptop fan when I do so, it would seem to me that a whole bunch of javascript is constantly running in each tab rather than the focused tab.
Whatever monitoring/advertising redundant javascript code that is running could easily be optimised by the lifehacker/gizmodo server to only run in the focused tab or even to share the workload of background javascript across tabs.
It seems to me that Gawker could be more eco-friendly than it is at the moment.
My question is, is it really necessary to have Java script? I’ve always wondered about this.