Here we are not talking about how to change the default browser, but about how you can make up and customize the browser used whatever it is, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Opera, Safari or others. There are many ways to customize appearance and functions of the program for surfing the internet, the browser, through various external plugins that expand the available options, allow you to change the behavior of websites and change the graphics and colors of the browser. The first thought about it immediately goes to extensions but there are several other ways to customize the browser and modify websites according to your preferences.Many still surf the internet passively, suffering the contents offered without thinking that they can instead be adapted according to different needs.
You can customize your Facebook profile, Youtube video page and many other applications such as Google Maps, Gmail, Google, Twitter and so on.
Absolutely and in a broad sense, there are 6 ways to customize your browser, add options and features, and edit websites:
1) Extensions
Extensions, also called add-ons or "add-ons" they are real additional plugins that can be installed in the browser to perform certain actions. Extensions can do almost anything: add new features to the interface, modify web pages, receive interactive information and notifications of new messages or new events. Extensions are basically programs that run inside the web browser. For this reason, you must always be careful not to overdo it in installing too many extensions because each of them takes up system resources and memory, always causing a small slowdown when the browser is loaded.
The most popular browsers are Google Chrome e Firefox: Chrome extensions can be found in the Chrome Web Store.
Firefox add-ons are collected on the add-ons in Mozilla.
For Microsoft Edge Chrome extensions work and there is also an Edge extensions site.
Also on Opera there are numerous Addons and extensions as well as for the Apple browser Safari.
Internet Explorer it is much less equipped with extensions and relies more on toolbars than anything else. There is however a gallery of extensions for Internet Explorer.
In other articles we have seen the selection of the best extensions for Chrome, the best add-ons for Firefox and extensions for the Microsoft Edge browser.
2) I Bookmarklet
For some functions, instead of adding the extension, it is better to use the Bookmarklets which are gods buttons to add to the favorites bar browser (works on all browsers). The bookmarklets do not occupy resources and act only when they are recalled. They are small pieces of JavaScript code (the code that runs on web pages), to be saved as a bookmark. When you click on the bookmark, the JavaScript code is executed on the web page you are on. Usually, bookmarklets are buttons that you drag using the mouse to the bookmarks bar to keep them close at hand.
In another article, the best most useful bookmarklets to boost your browser.
3) User Scripts
Among the extensions of Firefox most popular there is certainly Greasemonkey which allows you to install and run so-called User Scripts.
A script is like a bookmarklet that runs, this time automatically, when the target site is opened.
To use scripts in Firefox, you need to install the Greasemonkey addon.
On Chrome most user scripts work as if they were extensions, and there are extensions like Tampermonkey to install and manage scripts on Google Chrome.
In some cases, the scripts also work on Opera, but never on Internet Explorer.
In another article the best Greasemonkey scripts to be installed on Firefox and also on Chrome are reported.
The complete list of user scripts is on the Greasyfork website.
4) User Styles
User Styles allow modify the websites to your liking, on your browser.
They are not scripts, but CSS style sheets that are used to define the graphics of sites.
For example, you can install a user style that replaces the new Gmail look with the old Gmail look or you can change the Facebook profile colors and background with custom graphic templates.
When running extensions, scripts and user styles, don't fall into the trap of thinking you have modified a site like Facebook or Youtube (if the color of the bar is Blue, it will always be blue for everyone even if on my computer I can make it turn red) .
With User Styles you can therefore apply different themes and colors to websites.
Styles are associated with the extension Stylish per Firefox e per Chrome.
From our website UserStyles.org user-created styles can be searched and downloaded.
5) Temi
Themes are the official way to customize a browser, supported by developers. What you change is the color of the menus and the background of the home page.
You can read the article on Google Chrome themes to change graphics and colors or you can download them themes for firefox from the official gallery.
6) User Agent
In all browsers it is possible to change User Agent, that is the instruction that tells the browser to open such a site in the PC or mobile version.
In another article, how to change user agent to view sites in mobile version.
How do you customize your browser? Do you stick with extensions, or do you use bookmarklets, user scripts, and user styles, too? Leave a comment and let us know
