Become One With Your Browser… (Mouse Gestures)

mouse gesturesMouse gestures have always been a “love it, or hate it” proposal.

For the uninitiated, mouse gestures refer to a process where quick flicks of a mouse perform basic functions in a program. (Think of it as shortcut-keys via mouse). While this may not sound appealing to many users, it something you really have to try to appreciate.

Mouse gesture programs come in all shapes and sizes, but this post will focus on the All-In-One Gestures extension in Firefox. (I’ve tried a bunch - loved this one the most).

This extension enables you to draw on your browser by holding down your right mouse button, and based on what you draw, your browser will perform a certain task.

Want to go back a page? Just draw a line to the left. Draw one the other way to go Forward.

gestures

Want to open a bunch of links? Draw a box around them. Simple.

This is not as daunting as it sounds as you can customise all the actions based on what you feel comfortable with.

For anyone interested, these are the settings which I use:

Open Link in New Tab = Down
Close Tab = Down Left
Undo Close Tab = Down Right
Back = Left
Forward = Right
Stop Loading page = Up
Reload Page = Up Down

My personal rule of thumb is keep it simple to draw, and only focus on your most common functions so it is truly intuitive to use.

This is a good example of what NOT to try:

gestures
Once again, this is something you to try to appreciate. For me, it has become second nature, and essential to how I browse with Firefox. Mouse Gestures. Do you love it or hate it? Would love to know what you think.

Related Links:

All-In-One Mouse Gestures Firefox Extension
Mouse Gestures on Answers.com
Built-In Mouse Gestures for Opera
StrokeIt Mouse Gestures for Windows

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    • 7 Responses to 'Become One With Your Browser… (Mouse Gestures)'

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    1. Paul -V- said,

      on January 25th, 2006 at 1:38 am

      I don’t know how I browsed the internet without Mouse Gestures. It is my favorite FF extension.

      On the downside, once you get used to it browsing on computers without it is frustrating.

    2. Serge Norguard said,

      on January 25th, 2006 at 8:15 am

      paul - put FF on a thumbdrive, that’s what i do. Never leave home without it.

      oh and here are some of my mouse gestures which i use.

      up = scroll up
      down = scroll down
      left = back
      right = forward
      up-down = refresh
      up-right-down =new blank page
      up-right = next tab
      up-left = previous tab
      down-right = close active tab
      down-left = close all inactive tab

    3. BawangMerah said,

      on January 25th, 2006 at 9:17 am

      Comes built in Opera. And have been using for a while. Definitely makes things easier to use.

    4. 黄德峻 said,

      on January 26th, 2006 at 10:50 pm

      trhis extension is so cute~!

    5. Alisa said,

      on September 18th, 2006 at 12:49 pm

      Hi, I too love All-In-One Gestures! I’m just curious, though, how you made a setting for “Open Link In New Tab” - The only option I can find is “Open Links In New Tab” - which isn’t what I was hoping for. (Sometimes the gesture overlaps more than one link when I do it, opening a bunch of tabs that i didn’t want.) Any tips? :)

    6. James Yeang said,

      on September 18th, 2006 at 2:09 pm

      Hi Alisa, asigning the gesture to ‘Open New Tab in Foreground’ or will open only the one link. Hope that helps.

    7. Ananth said,

      on November 29th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

      Mouse gestures is really an awesome contribution to the FF community. The best part is that it is so customizable that everyone can make it work the way they want it to.

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