Tabs are usually located below the Address and Favorites bar.

Do you constantly have several Web pages open at the same time? Many an Internet user has ended a browsing sessions with multiple open windows spread across the screen. Avoid this madness with effective use of your web browser’s Tabs feature.

A browser’s Tabs feature allows you to open many different web pages, all within one browser window. Navigation bars for tabs are usually located at the top of the browser, below the favorites or bookmarks bar.

Tab basics
To open a new tab in Safari, Firefox, or Camino, simply click on File, then select New Tab. Two tabs now display below your bookmarks, one showing the currently active web page, and a second tab showing either your home page, or a blank page.  You can easily switch between the tabs by clicking on the web page titles below the bookmarks bar. There is no limit on the amount of tabs you can open within a Web browser, but be careful not to let your tabs become too unwieldy . To close a tab, simply click on the “x” that shows next to the tab’s title. (A guide to tabs in Internet Explorer can be found here.)

Advanced tabbing
Tabs can be useful in several different ways. For example, with gift giving season approaching, you can use tabs to comparison shop between major retailers. If you are looking for a new power drill, open one tab showing Sears.com, and another showing Lowes.com. Click through to the power tool pages for each retailer till you find comparable products. Now just click on the corresponding tabs to look at each product page. If you don’t like what you see, you can always open another tab showing Homedepot.com, and continue to add tabs for other stores.

All web browsers allow you to save Tab sets, so you can use them at any time. For example, I have tab settings for all of my banking and credit card web sites.  When bill-pay time comes around, I simply activate that tab set and click through to check balances and make payments. Depending on your security level comfort, you can also set your browser to remember log-in names and passwords, thus allowing one-click access to your sites.

If you spend large amounts of time surfing the web, or if your web-surfing sessions involve several web sites and windows, understanding tab functions can help you be more organized and efficient. If you haven’t yet done so, take a few minutes to get comfortable with tabs, or ask a web savvy friend to show you how they use tabs. You’ll find it well worth your time.

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Bonus web browsing tip: Say goodbye to “www” addresses

Are you still typing “www” and “.com” into your web address bar? No need to any longer, as today’s web browsers are smarter then ever. If you’re ready to surf any major retailer or media web site, simply type in the name of the company and hit the enter key. For example instead of typing (or googling) www.sears.com, simply type “sears” and hit the “enter” key. Try it also with any magazine, television network, or social media website.