How do you modify IE7?

That's not much info. It's not designed for customization ala Avant or Firefox or Opera, so if that's your goal, better go run one of those browsers instead.

The best you can really hope for is switching the Toolbars so they appear above the Address Bar like and removing the main toolbar permanently like so:



As I just said, that's pretty much it. I use a brushed aluminum skin for XP x64 so that's why it has that appearance, also. I get the main toolbar/menu by pressing Alt, so you know, and it appears above the Links bar when necessary.
 
Sorry if this is perceived to be off-topic, but just what the hell do people mean when they say they want to make their web browser "look decent"? I just don't 'get' that.

A web browser is simply a couple of (or a few) bars across the top of the program window, for goodness sake. You're supposed to be looking at the web page, not at the browser.

In my own configuration I have the title bar, the address bar with search box beside it, and the tabs bar with a couple of tool icon dropdown menus beside it. On occasion I'll enable the 'Links' toolbar as well. But it's not as if that bit up top is something tyhere's any need to look at or enthuse about. It's just the basic set of pratical tools, is all.


Anyways, can somebody please enlighten me as to what this 'looking good' is all about?
 
If you don't "get it," you never will, Cat. It's not something that can be explained adequately, as in "Why do people climb Mt. Everest?" or "Why would anyone want to walk on the moon?"

The answers lie inside the mind of the person undertaking the task(s), and the rest of us typically stand around wondering, "Why would someone do that?"

I like the clean look on IE7 that I've created in the pic above; not everyone does, but I do and that's all that matters. But IE7 ain't that customizable sooo... I was offering a glimpse of what little you can actually do.

If you want real customization for the IE7 core, run Avant and then you can do most anything. You can find a lot of examples here:

http://skins.avantbrowser.com/

and browse through the postings.
 
You're correct. I've had a look at the 'skins' there, and I don't think I'll ever be able to understand how a 'skin' can be better than simply disabling the extraneous shit that doesn't get used. Simple is always best.



From that the full menu of controls and features is only a single keypress away. A couple of clicks adds the 'Links' bar of most frequently used urls if I'm conducting a browsing session which makes doing so worthwhile. The search box suffices for everything else, and offers a selection of numerous search engines to use.

Yours is even simpler still, ghost, but I'd find that to have, quite frankly, too much disabled to be still practically useful. Either way, though, I can't see how a 'skin' could ever, possibly, be an improvement upon plain old 'simplicity'.
 
What gives you the impression that anything is disabled on mine? I can do everything yours can do, and then some. But I don't use IE7 as my primary browser, I use Avant which is still what IE could be - and I still say Microsoft should hire Anderson Che as a one man browser crew since he's done more with Avant all by himself as the only coder for Avant than the entire IE team has done with their own product over the past decade.

I use everything that Avant can do, at least daily, and that's a fact.

Now that's saying something... :)
 
Disabled as in not on display and immediately available via the mouse pointer. Nothing actually 'disabled' on mine, either :D
 
But by saying...

Catweazle said:
From that the full menu of controls and features is only a single keypress away
Click to expand...

your setup falls into the exact same "disabled" category as mine, you realize. One press of the Alt key (and my left hand is always on the keyboard anyway, whereas my right jumps from the mouse to the keyboard and back as required) and I have the menus if needed. And my Links are always visible, yanno. :)

But since I don't use IE7 as the primary browser, all the links that I hit constantly are on the Avant Links bar anyway so that aspect doesn't matter. Avant takes the base components of IE7 and makes them better, that's all. More options, more functionality, and it's faster than vanilla IE7 by a wide margin also. Go figure...

Your statement that you don't "get" the extra stuff should have you absolutely giddy with delight at how clean I keep IE7, geez. :)
 
Not quite the same 'category' really. I almost never use the 'Alt' menu, because I find it quite cumbersome in comparison to use. The 'Print', 'Page' and 'Tools' icons on the tollbar are much easier and more comvenient, and accomodate the bulk of configuration and usage needs regularly used.
 
I would have thought, by now, that the two of you would have installed your forum ESP plug-in by now.
 
At the very least, is there a refresh button... ANYWHERE?

I kinda like the look of IE, but I'd like some added buttons, and the lack of a refresh buttons is a killer...

And companies want $5 for a refresh bar... WTF???
 
Godofdestrcution said:
At the very least, is there a refresh button... ANYWHERE?

I kinda like the look of IE, but I'd like some added buttons, and the lack of a refresh buttons is a killer...

And companies want $5 for a refresh bar... WTF???
Click to expand...

What company is charing you $5 for a refresh bar? Link me.

You've been the second person that has asked about a refresh button (one in person- and now you) in two weeks. I don't know why people fail to find it in the new location... You would think with everything moved around going from IE6-IE7, people would look for the refresh button just as they look for their other menus.
I guess some people are too quick and eager to form the "IE Sucks" initiative.
 
Godofdestrcution said:
At the very least, is there a refresh button... ANYWHERE?

I kinda like the look of IE, but I'd like some added buttons, and the lack of a refresh buttons is a killer...

And companies want $5 for a refresh bar... WTF???
Click to expand...

Do you use a keyboard?:p F5 works quite well for me...
 
bbz_Ghost said:
That's not much info. It's not designed for customization ala Avant or Firefox or Opera, so if that's your goal, better go run one of those browsers instead.

The best you can really hope for is switching the Toolbars so they appear above the Address Bar like and removing the main toolbar permanently like so:



As I just said, that's pretty much it. I use a brushed aluminum skin for XP x64 so that's why it has that appearance, also. I get the main toolbar/menu by pressing Alt, so you know, and it appears above the Links bar when necessary.
Click to expand...

Wow, now that is Spartan! Very clean and uncluttered. I like!
 
zacdl said:
What company is charing you $5 for a refresh bar? Link me.

You've been the second person that has asked about a refresh button (one in person- and now you) in two weeks. I don't know why people fail to find it in the new location... You would think with everything moved around going from IE6-IE7, people would look for the refresh button just as they look for their other menus.
I guess some people are too quick and eager to form the "IE Sucks" initiative.
Click to expand...

The mentality comes from the "I must click" coalition, aka "We don't know any better."

Hordes of people out there can use the keyboard, or they can use the mouse, but they can't seem to use both at the same time. They either need to click on everything to do most anything, or they have to use the keyboard to do the same things.

Ever seen
someone in a chat
session on YIM or AIM
or IRC
that types like
this? And it
just fucking drives
you up
the
wall?

Yeah, I figured as much. I blame it on the "ICQ Generation" because they never realized you can just KEEP FUCKING TYPING and wordwrap takes care of it for you, so we have an entire generation now where the people
type a word
or two
on a line
and keep
hitting Enter over
and over
and
over.

If I had a time machine I'd go back and find the guy that created ICQ and beat the shit outta him with a keyboard, I swear I would. :)

But you know the people I'm talking about: those persons that don't know you can press Enter after typing a URL in a browser Address Bar and completely lose their minds when they can't find the Go button, etc. Yeah, those people.

We'll never be rid of them, ever.

Never
ever
ever. :D
 
bbz_Ghost said:
those persons that don't know you can press Enter after typing a URL in a browser Address Bar and completely lose their minds when they can't find the Go button, etc. Yeah, those people.
Click to expand...

Them loose THEIR minds? What about me?
 
You realize I come from using Firefox and not IE6, and I'm using this on Vista, so if I'm trying IE7 after all these years of not trying it, it probably means, I don't dislike IE7...

And I'm sorry, but refresh is in an extremelly strange place. If you had never told me, I would've never noticed it on my 24" widescreen monitor...
 
IE7 by default (if you don't have any crap toolbars installed) uses less screen real estate than anything I've used (can't vouch for Avant though). One of the cleanest looking browsers around- I don't know how you could "clean it up" anymore than it is without making everything harder in the long run to access.
 
It's just hard to get used to. It's made to be simple, but then, in firefox, all the icons are in front of you.

Then I go to try IE7 because it's faster and has less problems then Firefox, and OMG! all it has is a forward and back icon...
 
Godofdestrcution said:
Then I go to try IE7 because it's faster and has less problems then Firefox, and OMG! all it has is a forward and back icon...
Click to expand...

First 2 weeks or so I tried it I hated it as well.
It has everything IE6 has- just in different locations and utilizing less space (I personally think everything is more logically grouped for the more "challenged" users that don't hardley know how to turn a computer on).

It is faster- yes. I find not only the browser speed- but changing anything is quicker too. Adding a Fav takes 2 clicks. The Fav menu automatically closes when you click on a link- so it stays out of the way. I really just have no complaints other than the lack of plugins for it (For me personally- right now, this is the only advantage FF offers over IE at this point- add-ons and plugins).
 
Godofdestrcution said:
And I'm sorry, but refresh is in an extremelly strange place. If you had never told me, I would've never noticed it on my 24" widescreen monitor...
Click to expand...

I hope and pray to some higher power you're not using your browser full screen on that beast. :)

You might consider looking into using Avant as a "replacement" for vanilla IE. It offers more customization as I mentioned earlier, more solid popup blocking, adblocking, hell it does everything IE7 should do (again I say Microsoft should hire Anderson Che as a 1 man IE8 developer - he could do it right).

Worth checking into, regardless.

www.avantbrowser.com
 
My one single favorite feature of Avant: mouse rockers, and the only other browser that does it natively is Opera which I use as a test browser on some sites. I don't have any newfangled 4 or 5 button mouse anymore, no need for it when I can hold Left and click right to go Forward, or hold Right and click Left to go Back. Once you get accustomed to it you begin to wonder why every browser hasn't done this natively since the beginning. Go figure.

Firefox does it when you add the "All Mouse Gestures" extension, but Avant and Opera do it from the gitgo. It's just too convenient once you develop that habit, and when I do run IE7 sometimes it frustrates me to know end when I do the Back rocker motion and nothing happens but the menu. :)
 
IE7 is the same in both operating systems, all the functionality is the same across the board.
 
The OP was asking about ways to modify the layout or configuration of IE7 with similar concepts like the way you can do that with Firefox by using themes, etc. So far, I'm not aware of any themes or replacement UIs for IE7 that work or... well... I've just never heard of one, that's all. Avant and Maxthon offer more options, but since I've been using Avant for years (can't stand Maxthon in the testing I've done, I consider it a pale imitation of Avant), that's my browser of choice (even if it is just a shell add-on for the IE core).

I don't think IE7 was ever meant for the kind of customization that Avant/Opera/Firefox allow. Microsoft simply doesn't want people modifying it's "look and feel" regardless of how much the enthusiasts want the ability.
 
bbz...
any screenshots of Avant anywhere? It does seem to have some nifty features and I wouldn't be opposed to trying it out.
 
Although it does seem to have some needed features that IE needs to have- it seems quite a bit slower than IE7 for my tastes...
 
I've been using it for quite a while now... noticed bbz raving about it and figured, why not? So I gave it a shot on my XP machine and haven't really looked back since.. I like it a lot better than FF, and I just can't get used to IE7.. I try, but just can't seen to get the feel for it.
 
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