Private Browsing and Browser Plug-ins

Private Browsing

Private browsing is a privacy feature available in most web browser apps. When operating in private mode, the browser creates a temporary session that is isolated from the browser's main session and user data. What this means is that, the browsing history is not saved, and local data associated with the session, such as cookies, are cleared when the session is closed, information entered into forms are not saved. These modes are designed primarily to prevent data and history associated with a particular browsing session from being persisting on the device, or being discovered by another user of the same device.

Private browsing modes can be used to hides undesirable content from the browsing history (such as visits to adult-oriented websites), performing web searches that are not algorithmically influenced by prior browsing habits or the user's recorded interests, providing a "clean" temporary session for a guest user (such as when using a public computer), and using websites with multiple accounts simultaneously. Private browsing has also been used as a means to circumvent metered paywalls on some websites.

To create a private browsing window, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the browser Menu button or Setting Button, depending on the browser you are using.
   

   Google Chrome Browser Menu



2. Depending on the browser again, click on either New Incognito Window, New Private Window, or New InPrivate Window.
   Chrome Browser Private Command



3. A new Private window will open, where you can browse privately. While you are browsing, you will notice the Private icon in the address bar, mostly by the right side of the address bar.
   Google Chrome Private browsing mode



4. To stop browsing privately, simply close the Private window.

Once you closed the private browsing window, all the data and information you used while browsing will gone forever from that device.

Notes:

Private browsing modes do not necessarily protect you from being tracked by other websites or by your Internet service provider (ISP). Furthermore, there is a possibility that identifiable traces of activity could be leaked from private browsing sessions by means of the operating system, security flaws in the browser, or via malicious browser extensions, and it has been found that certain HTML5 APIs can be used to detect the presence of private browsing modes due to differences in behaviour. So, with this in our mind, we shouldn’t be confused private browsing feature with a virtual private network (VPN). The latter is just a feature in browser app that doesn’t store your browsing history and cookies data persistently in your device storage location while the former is an online service that will allow you to connect the Internet anonymously.

Browser Plug-ins

Plug-ins also called add-ons, add-in or extensions, are small programs that add features to the browser app and enhanced or modify the way web pages are being displayed. Some extensions were designed to let you protect passwords, download videos, find deals, block annoying ads, change how your browser looks, and much more. These small software programs are often developed by a third party from the browser app company.

To find and add an extensions in your browser, follow the instruction:

For Google Chrome browser:

1. Visit the Google extension web page below:
   https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions
   Chrome Extensions page



2. Search the name of the extension you want to install.
3. Click on the name of the extension, a new page containing information on the extension will displayed.
4. Click on the Add to Chrome, and confirm by clicking the Add extension button.
5. The extension will be installed and ready to be use by Chrome browser.

For Firefox browser:

1. Visit the Firefox Add-on web address below:
   https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
   Mozilla Firefox Extensions page



2. Search the name of the add-on you want to install for the Firefox.
3. Click on the name of the Add-on, a new page containing information on the extension will be displayed.
4. Click on the Add to Firefox, and confirm by clicking the Add button
5. The extension will be installed and ready to be use by Firefox browser.

For Microsoft Edge browser:

1. Access the Extensions through the browser App Menu or visit the Edge Add-on web address:
   https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/Microsoft-Edge-Extensions-Home
   Microsoft Edge Extensions page



2. Search the name of the add-on you want to install for the Edge inside the box
3. Click on the name of the extension, a new page containing information on the extension will opened
4. Click on the Get button by the top right side of the browser, and confirm by clicking on the Add extension button
5. The extension will be installed and ready to be use by the Edge browser.

To manage add-ons:

If you don't like an add-on, the Manage Add-ons feature allows you to disable or remove it from browser. You can search the already installed extensions and make the necessary changes to the extension you want to update.

NOTE:

It's important to note that add-ons are not necessarily created or approved by browser manufacturers. Many are created by third-party providers or even individual users, so they may not always be safe to install. I recommend reading the reviews from the user carefully, before installing any add-on.

To Save and Print a Webpage

In the process of browsing a Web, you might come across a page that grabs your attention. Maybe it’s a step on how to make recipe or a details description of something that caught your attention; or, perhaps you simply want to print out directions from an online Maps on how to get to a destination. Using the printing feature of a browser will go a long way in allowing you to get what you have seen on the browsing screen to be printed on paper or saved as PDF for reading the page later when you are offline. The steps for printing and saving webpage as PDF is almost similar among the browsers. For this, we would show two ways that you can follow for that:

1. By using a keyboard shortcut, and
2. By accessing the printing feature through the browser menu

Using a Keyboard shortcut to print or save webpage as PDF:

1. Have the web page you wish to print open in your browser.
2. Press Ctrl+P (for PC) or ⌘ Command+P (for Mac). This will open up the Printing window. A preview of the printed version of the page will be display.
   Printing a Web Page

   
   NOTE:
   Because websites are made to be viewed on the screen, the printed version may look different than it does in your browser. Scroll through the preview to see what the print-out will look like, and then continue with the following methods to make any necessary changes.
3. Select the Printer: If the printer you want to use is not already selected, select it now, or you can decide to select Save As Pdf to save the page as pdf for reading offline or sharing it with other people.
4. Page Setup: You can change the settings on how you want the page to look after it has been print out on paper, such as changing the paging scale, margin, range of pages you want, paper size and page orientation.
5. Click Print/Save. This will send the pages to the selected printer. You can also click on Save if you have already selected Save to PDF in the Printer selection option at the top of the preview page, to save the webpage as pdf file.

Using the browser menu to print or save webpage as PDF:

The difference between this method with the first one is only in the second step. Instead of using the keyboard shortcut to access the print feature, we are going to use the browser menu to have access to the print feature. Follow the steps below to see how you can achieve that:

1. Have the web page you wish to print open in your browser.
2. Click Menu: Most browser application’s Menu is represented by either three small vertical or horizontal lines or dots, or as a small gear icon in the top righthand corner of the browser. Under the Menu, you can locate the sub-menu Print command. 3 - Click Print: After clicking the Print command, the preview window of the page will be open.
3. Select a printer: If the printer you want to use is not already selected, select it now.
4. Page Setup: You can change the settings on how you want the page to looks after it has been printed out on paper, such as changing the paging scale, margin, range of pages you want, paper size and page orientation.
5. Click Print/Save: This will send the pages to the selected printer. You can also click on Save if you have already selected Save to PDF in the Printer selection option at the top of the preview page, to save the webpage as pdf file.

After you have saved the webpage as pdf, you can use any pdf application reader to read it offline either on your personal computer or on your smartphone/Tablet.

Browser apps play a very important roles in today's world of information accessibility. It serves as a window for web users and developers, that creates the connection among them to share any information that was in a digital format.

However, some decent recent browser apps could serve basic functionalities of an operating system that can let you to run/executes hundreds of other programs within its window environment. These programs are most of the time hosted on the browser app company’s web server machine that provides the services to their users. For instance, if you’re using chrome web browser and have an active google account, you can use several of these programs for your productivity such as Google Word Doc for word processing activities or Google Sheets for spreadsheet functionalities. Hence, a reason why the developers at Google sometime called their browser as Chrome OS, even though there is complete operating system developed and named Chrome OS.

The browser app features we have listed here are a fraction of what are currently available on the recently developed browser applications around the globe. There are several other several operations that you can use your browser app for. Also, developers are always coming up with new extensions for all the major browsers that could compliment the functionality of the browsers. If you’re using computer to access the web, you can try some of the plug-ins that suite your area of expertise.

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