Sunday, July 31, 2011

Internet Explorer 9 - Where did all my tools go?

This hint applies to Windows 7 or Vista users

If you’ve upgraded your browser to
Internet Explorer 9 you will notice several changes.
Microsoft has uncluttered the browser by hiding many of the tools that were previously displayed. Listed below are a few of the changes.
  • Back button - this button used to have a down arrow next to it so that you could view and quickly return to any of the previous web pages in the current browsing session.  Now you just right-click on the Back button (arrow) and you will see the previous web pages.
  • Favorites and History - Click the Star icon in the top right corner of the browser.
  • Print, Save Web pages, and many other options - Click the Tools icon (next to the Star) in the top right corner of the browser.
  • Menu bar, Favorites bar, Command bar - Right click in a blank area next to the browser tabs and select the desired option.  Note: You can also right-click on the Home, Star, or Tools icon.
NEW - Windows 7 (this is cool!)
  • Pin a website to the Taskbar - Open Internet Explorer 9 and view the website you want to pin.  Click and drag the website icon from the address bar, down to the taskbar.  When you see the text, "Pin to taskbar", release the icon.  When you close the browser, the icon for the web page remains pinned to the taskbar.  Click once on the icon on the taskbar to view the webpage.

Friday, July 1, 2011

How to Insert a Logo or Picture into Your GMAIL Signature

If you have a Gmail account for email and you have set up a signature, you might want to insert a logo or picture along with your signature.  The following instructions explain how to do this.  It is a 2-step process.  First you must share the logo or picture on a public website.  I suggest: www.min.us .  Then you can copy and paste the link to the graphic into your Gmail settings.  Follow the steps below.

Setup Min.US Account & Upload Logo


1.       Go to www.min.us (use Firefox or Chrome browser, not Internet Explorer)

2.       Click Join, in the top right corner.

3.       Complete the required fields. 

4.       Click Start Sharing.

5.       Click Select. 

6.       Locate the logo or picture to upload.  Double-click on the file name.

7.       The logo is uploaded:


8.       Click Share.

9.       Select the link in the Direct Link box and copy it (Press Ctrl+c). 

10.   Log into your GMAIL account.

11.   Click on Settings> Mail Settings, in the upper right corner.  Scroll down to Signature.  (Note: These instructions assume you have already created an HTML or rich text Signature.)

12.   Click the cursor after your signature, where you want to place the logo/picture.

13.   Click the Add Image icon:

14.   Paste (click Ctrl+v) the Direct Link from above, into  the Image URL field

15.       Click OK.
16.       Scroll down on the Google Settings page and click Save Changes.
17.       Try it out!