Facebook Photo Zoom

If you socialize with Facebook, you might have felt it irritating every time you have to click a photo - Profile Photo, Albums, Wall photos etc.,- to enlarge it and then hit the back button in the browser to continue. This can be easily fixed by customizing the browser by installing a Facebook Photo Zoom Plugin to it. After the installation, the browser starts showing the enlarged picture when you move the mouse pointer over the picture.


This Facebook Photo Zoom plugin is available for both Firefox and Google Chrome Browsers. If you are using any of these browsers install the plugins from the links given below which surely enhances the Facebook experience. 

Facebook Photo Zoom at Work

For Firefox you can click here, click "Add to Firefox" button and then restart the browser to start using this addon.
And for Google Chrome go here and click the "Install" button to enable the extension.

After using it for almost a month now, I find it very useful and addictive that I take my mouse over the thumbnails in other websites like Google images, imdb.com and expect them to show the enlarged picture.

Try these plugins in your browsers and give your feedback.


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until next time.

User Profiles for Web Browsers - Part II

Creating User Profiles in Google Chrome is not as simple as it was in Firefox which I explained in my previous post. You will have to manually create Profile folders and have to create a shortcut for chrome with the Path of the Profile in the command switch. I wonder why Google has made this option so complicated. Let us go to the steps now.

1. Open Windows Explorer and go to
 for Windows Vista and 7 : C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\
 for Windows XP : C:\Documents and Settings\xxxx\Application Data\Local Settings\Google\Chrome


Note:
xxxx is the Windows User in which you are Logged in.


2. Make a copy of the folder "Default" and Rename it any name you like. Of course, I should be your name. Now this will be the Profile folder for the New Profile we are about to create.

3. Now go to Start and then Press Run (or Windows Key + R). Type the command given below in the Run Dialog box.


chrome.exe --user-data-dir="C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\yyyy" -first-run

Note: 
a. Replace "xxxx" in the path with the Windows User Name and  "yyyy" with the name of the Profile folder Name you gave. 
b. The -first-run switch is used to take the New Profile to the Factory default Settings. 
c. The path should be with the double Quotes 
"C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\yyyy"
d. For Windows XP, use appropriate path.


4.  Create a new shortcut in the desktop and type 


C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe 
--user-data-dir="C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\yyyy"  




in the Location text box.


Note :
For Windows XP, User Appropriate path.


5. Name the Shortcut with the Profile Name and Close it.


From now every time you open the shortcut you created, a new Google Chrome browser will open with an entirely different settings from the Default Profile you are using right now.




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User Profiles for Web Browsers - Part I

This Post will take you through the steps on creating separate user profiles for different users of a common PC or a Laptop that is used by all the family members.

Yeah I can hear you saying "What is the need for a Separate Profile?" or "What is a User Profile?"


Let me answer these Questions before taking you through the steps.


User Profiles


We use User Profiles for User specific Data Storage and Settings. Or Simply put, you can have a user profile in your computer to have your documents, pictures, music, videos etc., for you. You can configure the desktop wallpaper and resolution that suits you. Put shortcuts of the Applications you use frequently to the desktop and you can also customize you start menu.


Meanwhile you can create create a separate User profile for your kids and family members so that they don't meddle with your official documents in your My Documents or change your Preferences like wallpaper.


User Profiles for Web Browsers


Why do we need Profiles for Browsers, anyway?


The answer is simple. Each one of us have different preferences and different patterns of browsing while browsing the internet. You may not want to share it with others or you may want your Browsing History and Bookmarks to be organized and you don't want that to be mixed with browsing data of others who are using your computer.




Now let us see how we can create profiles for different Browsers.


Internet Explorer

 There is no Specific option for creating a separate User profile in IE. But you can maintain a Separate login for individual users using your PC in your Windows operating system. Windows creates a Separate Browser(IE) preferences Folder for every user you create in Windows. This can be tedious, at times, because you will have to completely logout of the User profile you are working on and then login to a new User.


Mozilla Firefox

In Firefox, creating or modifying a User profile is made very simple compared to other browsers. To manage profiles in Firefox, first you will have to close all the Firefox windows. Then Click the Start button and click Run. If Run command is not available in start menu, simply press the Windows key + R on the keyboard. In the Run dialog box type "firefox.exe -ProfileManager" without the quote.

Click OK. Now you should get a dialog similar to the one given below.

Remove the tick mark in the Don't ask at startup check box. Now every-time you click on a firefox shortcut you will be provided with a dialog box like this so that you can select the necessary profile and start Firefox by clicking Start Firefox button.

Click create profile to create a profile. Click Next in the first page of the Wizard that comes up and in the Second page type the Profile name.

You also have an option to select the path for the Profile. This is the location where Firefox stores all your personal data. Click Finish and the new user will be listed in the Choose User Profile window.

You can also use this procedure to troubleshoot problems in Firefox as the new profile will not have any of the addons that you have installed in the previous user.


I will explain about User Profiles in Google Chrome in my next post as we will have to do some manual configuration in Chrome and So I am going to dedicate a complete Post for Chrome's User Profile.


To be continued................




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