Web Browsing

Tasktop is a fully functional web browser.  The Tasktop browser is an enhanced version if Internet Explorer but can manage web sites for you, those you would usually have to bookmark and manager yourself. Return to a previously active task with a click of a button watch as all your important web sites are restored for you leaving you right were you last left off.  To get started, activate a task and open a new browser tab ((Window > New Browser Tab).  Enter a web site address of your choice into the navigation toolbar and press enter. See an overview of each site you have visited as part of this task within the Navigator:

Deactivate the task and the web pages are closed and your Tasktop is ready for the next task. Re-activate the previous task and watch as your browsing context is restored in the Navigator and your most recently viewed pages are restored for viewing.

For those with multiple monitors, it is often desirable to browse the web on one screen while working on another. Tasktop supports this mode of operation in two different ways:

  1. From main toolbar menu's browser launch drop down menu choose "New Focused Browser Window". This will open a secondary window that acts as a browser but is aware of the active task (so the pages you visit are added to the task).

  2. The second option is to launch a "New Browser Window" which acts as a regular browser and is not aware of your task activity. Pages viewed in this browser window are not added to the active task nor become part of your browsing history.

 

The location bar of any browser tab in Tasktop supports entering search text.

Upon entering search terms in the location bar, pressing enter will result in execution of your search with your default search engine (configurable via Windows > Preferences > Tasktop > Web Browsing).


When navigating the web, if you stumble upon a page that can be a task in your Task List (i.e. a JIRA issue), a button will appear beside the location bar in the browser tab. When this button is clicked, Tasktop will open the rich editor for the Task in question. If this task is not in your Task List, there will be a hyperlink in the header of the editor that informs you that the task is not in your tasklist and that you can click the link to add it.

Open Task

Password Management

Tasktop's web browser provides simple password management to ensure that you don't need to repeatedly enter login credentials for protected sites. When logging into a new website, Tasktop will ask if you would like to save your credentials. On subsequent visits, Tasktop will automatically enter in your previously saved credentials.  When multiple accounts exist for the same web site, Tasktop will prompt you to choose which account to use.

 

Web Search

To quickly execute a search,  enter search terms in the Web Search box in the top right corner of your Tasktop application window and either click the magnifying glass or press enter.

You can select your default search engine right within the search selection popup. Open the popup by clicking the search engine icon to the right of the web search text box. In the top right of the launch popup you will see a combo box from which you can choose your default search engine.

Temporarily search using an alternate search engine, Wikipedia for example, by clicking the search engine icon and choosing Wikipedia from the Launch popup. Execute this same search but using a keyboard shortcut by pressing Right-Arrow, w, Enter. Click the Configure link at the bottom of the popup to open the Configuration Perspective and start adding your own engines to the list via the Web Applications view.

 

Web Bookmarks

There are times when you want to create an explicit bookmark and have it easily accessible from any task. For this reason, all your existing Firefox and Internet Explorer bookmarks are readily available within Tasktop. Additionally you can create new Tasktop bookmarks via the Send To button on the Browser navigation toolbar.

 

del.icio.us Bookmarks

Setting up your del.icio.us account

                                   

Adding a bookmark

                         

Removing a bookmark tag

Tip: URLs can be long and illegible if a title is not provided within the page contents. You can rename bookmarks within the Navigator by right-clicking and viewing the bookmark's properties page or pressing F2 on the bookmark.

 

Starring Web Sites

Sites you access regularly as part of your work day should be easily accessible. To facilitate this, you can 'Star' web sites through the popup menu in the Navigator view or via the Send To button in the browser toolbar. Starred web pages are available under the Starred node in the Navigator. The list of starred sites is a flat list (no folders) unlike bookmarks that can be organized into folders. The default location of the starred list is at the bottom of the Navigator view. You also the have the option of the starred list displayed as a window trim by going to Tasktop->Web Browsing and select Show starred list on window trim.

 

Send To

The Send To button in the browser navigation toolbar gives you quick access to common actions when web browsing including:

 

Firefox Add-On

Tasktop

Connect Firefox to Tasktop

Getting Started with Focused Firefox Browsing