Welcome to Opera! For information on how to get started, open the Help System by pressing "F1" on your keyboard or selecting "Help/Contents..." from the menu. The Help offers a guide to the essentials of Opera.
If you'd rather not see the advertisement banner, located in the upper right corner of Opera, you can remove it by registering your copy of Opera. Select "Buy Opera" under "Help" on the main menu for more information.
Opera lets you customize advertising content so you only see ads for products and services that are of interest to you -- without compromising your privacy.
To access Opera's quick preferences, select "File/Quick preferences" from the menu, or press "F12" on the keyboard.
To access Opera's main preferences, select "File/Preferences..." from the menu, or press "Alt+P" on the keyboard.
Opera comes with a full-featured e-mail client. Go to "E-mail" in Opera's preferences to set up your account.
Opera's bookmark list is full of interesting links for you to enjoy. For information about how to add a site to the list, please write to "bookmarks@opera.com".
Try Opera's "Full Screen Mode". Pressing "F11" will toggle the mode.
You can zoom in and out of an entire Web page using the "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad. Pressing "*" returns to 100%.
To toggle the Hotlist window, press "F4" on the keyboard or click on the Hotlist button in the toolbar.
Under "Navigation/Set home page..." you can define a global home page.
To add a bookmark, just press "Ctrl+T" or select the option from the "Bookmarks" menu. The bookmark will be added to the currently active folder in Opera's Hotlist.
A quick and useful keyboard shortcut that speeds up surfing is "G". It toggles between three graphics modes: show all images, show no images, and show only previously shown images.
To open a document in the background, press "Shift+Ctrl+ Enter", or press "Shift+Ctrl" and use the mouse to click on a link.
Opera Software offers a free Web-based e-mail service called OperaMail. Please go to "http://www.operamail.com/" to open an account.
Right-click Opera's main bar to choose between the simplified button set (Simple) and a more complete set (Full).
One of Opera's unique features is its ability to remember the Web sites you were viewing before closing Opera, and bring you back to the same sites when you start up again. Select "Start and exit" in preferences, and enable both "Show saved windows" (under Start) and "Save windows" (under Exit).
Right-click a Hotlist tab and select "Get panels" to add new content to your Hotlist.
Press "H" to view a list of Web addresses you have typed in recently, or select "Window/Special/History" from the menu for a detailed list.
Press "Ctrl+B" to gain quick access to all of Opera's keyboard shortcuts. Using keyboard shortcuts can dramatically speed up the way you navigate Web pages.
Opera includes a set of powerful mouse gestures. Use them to perform most basic functions without touching the keyboard. View the help documentation for more information about these unique gestures.
Open "Personal information" in preferences to enter personal information for quick retrieval in forms via the right mouse button.
Opera's integrated search tool gives you direct access to on-line search engines. You can also use it to look up stock quotes and find music and video files.
To search Opera's Knowledge Base directly, type the letter "o" followed by a search word in Opera's address bar. For example, to search for information on skins, type "o skins".
Want to learn more about a particular word? Double-click on the word, and select "Dictionary" in the menu that appears.
Did you know that you can modify Opera's look and layout? Right-click the main bar and select "Browser look..." or "Browser layout..." to customize buttons, skins, fonts, colors, and toolbars.
MyOpera is a community where users can download skins and plug-ins for Opera, take part in discussions, and more. Visit the MyOpera community at "http://my.opera.com/".
Opera supports most plug-ins designed for use with Netscape Communicator; these include RealPlayer, Quicktime, and Adobe Acrobat. If you had these on your computer when you installed Opera, the browser will recognize and use them. Shockwave Flash comes integrated with Opera.
To have Opera alert you when it has finished loading a page or downloading a file, go to "Sounds" in Opera's preferences. Here you can determine which sound should be played.
Need to print a Web page? Press "P" to preview how it will appear when you print it.
If you have a computer with limited memory, turning "Avoid flicker" off from "Windows" in preferences may increase performance.
If you installed Opera after building a Favorites list in Internet Explorer, select "Auto imported items" in the bookmark list to view your favorites. To import Favorites manually, activate your Hotlist, select the bookmarks tab, press "Ctrl+M", and choose "File/Insert Internet Explorer Favorites..." from the menu.
To import your Netscape Bookmark files, activate your Hotlist, select the bookmarks tab, press "Ctrl+M", and choose "File/Insert bookmarks...".
Right-clicking and selecting "Open" on a folder in the bookmark list opens all bookmarks in that folder.
You can set Opera to connect to the instant messaging server automatically when you start the browser, allowing you to see friends and colleagues who are currently on-line. Select "Start and exit" in preferences, and enable the "Connect to instant messaging server" option.
If you come across a Web site that will not let you access its content, try pressing "F12" and telling Opera to identify itself as either "MSIE 5" (Internet Explorer) or "Mozilla" (Netscape). Then reload the page by pressing "F5".
You can drag and drop bookmarks from the Hotlist. Dropping a bookmark on a window will open the document in that window. Dropping bookmarks on Opera's work space will open the documents in new windows.
If you know your system well and want to fine-tune Opera for maximum performance, go to "History and cache" in Opera's preferences.
If you're concerned with your privacy on the Internet, please take the time to read the documents about security on Opera's Web site: http://www.opera.com/support/service/privacy/
Pressing "Alt+1" sorts your bookmarks according to name. Repeated pressing cycles through "Ascending", "Descending" and "User defined".
If you need technical support, please visit our support pages at "http://www.opera.com/support/".
"Ctrl+G" toggles between "Author mode" and "User mode", and can be a great way of making badly designed sites legible by using your own preferences rather than the document's preferences.
Opera can translate words and phrases into a different language. Select a phrase using your mouse, right-click on it, and select "Translate".
Opera can access encyclopedia services. Double-click on a word and choose the "Encyclopedia" option from the pop-up menu; this is a handy source of information on every topic imaginable.
Under "Default browser" in preferences you can select exactly which protocols and file types you would like Opera to handle by default.
Web developers may appreciate the option to display the window size. To enable this function, go to "Windows" in Opera's preferences.
Press "Ctrl+J" to list all links in a frame or document. You can copy them to the clipboard or insert them as a separate folder into the bookmark list.
You can create your own version of Opera, with your own customized button set, skins, and new Hotlist tabs. Visit the Opera Composer at "http://composer.opera.com/" for more information.
If you don't want other users that have access to your computer to see where you've been browsing, select "File/Delete private data" to remove all information about the sites you have visited.
Opera supports the most advanced security protocols available today, protecting your private information when you make on-line purchases.
To turn off this window, uncheck the box marked "Show tips at startup". To re-enable it, go to "Help/Tip of the day..." and check the box again.
