September 1999

Web Accessories for IE 5

With the introduction of Internet Explorer 5, Microsoft has created a browser to take us into the next millennium. But as good as this browser is out of the box, Microsoft has provided an outlet for enterprising developers to tweak IE 5, giving users greater flexibility to customize their browser environment. This outlet is the extensibility feature called Web Accessories. Web Accessories are browser enhancements for IE 5. In IE 4, Web Accessories were known as PowerToys. These PowerToys were created using script contained in an HTML file. However, in IE 5, developers can create accessories that are more powerful by using COM interfaces.

In this article, we'll look at some of the examples and benefits of Web Accessories. We'll also examine some existing Web Accessories available for download.

Why have Web Accessories?

As users become more Internet savvy, they often find themselves wishing for features or functions that their browser doesn't support. Microsoft, recognizing this trend, equipped IE 5 with a feature that allows customization of the browser interface. In the past, the only ways developers could enhance a browser were to host the WebBrowser control and design their own user interface, or to write their own browser software. This is no longer the case, thanks to Web Accessories.

Developers can now identify features that the user might wish for, and then create accessories that address these enhancements. The user can then add these accessories to his copy of IE 5.

Web Accessories range from mild to wild. According to the Microsoft Web site, some good examples of Web Accessory uses are the following:

These are just some of the possible applications for Web Accessories.

Ready-to-use Web Accessories

As exciting as it is to be able to modify IE 5, most of us don't have the time to develop our own Web Accessories. Lucky for us, there are a variety of accessories available for download on the World Wide Web. Some of the better ones are found on the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/webaccess/default.asp. From this site, you can download several ready-to-install Web Accessories to customize your IE 5 browser window. Let's take a look at what's offered.

Microsoft's Web Accessories

Microsoft's own software development team has created a package of accessories to make your Web-browsing life easier. See Table A for the utilities that are supported by Microsoft.

Table A: Microsoft's Web Accessories
Utility What it does
Open frame in new window Allows you to view a frame in its own window
Quick search Lets you reach your search engine of choice faster
Zoom in/zoom out Zooms in and out on any image on a Web page
Image toggler Turns images on and off with greater speed
Text highlighter Highlights text just as you would in Microsoft Word
Web search Allows for faster Web searches using keywords
Links list Displays a window listing every link on the Web page
Image list Shows image sizes and download times for various connection speeds

Other accessories

The Microsoft Web site offers some other Web Accessories, though they aren't supported by Microsoft. Let's take a look at them.

Toolbar wallpaper

Though this accessory may not improve your productivity, it can sure brighten your day, or at least your Web browser. Once you've downloaded this accessory, you can select Toolbar Wallpaper from the Tools menu in IE 5, and then select a wallpaper style. As easy as that, you've added some visual pizzazz to an otherwise boring window.

Power Tweaks Web Accessories

This interesting package of accessories is designed to make your life easier. It adds an Offline/Online button to the toolbar, which is very useful for laptop computer users. The package also provides restriction commands in the Tools menu to set sites as trusted or restricted, rather than having to use the control panel. Finally, with a simple right-click, you can copy a URL onto the clipboard and paste into any other document or email.

Explorer bars

An Explorer bar is a small frame in the browser window (usually placed at the bottom of the screen) that connects to a specific Web site and provides constantly updated information. Once you've downloaded and installed an Explorer bar, you may display it by selecting ViewExplorer Bar, and then selecting the name of the bar you wish to see. Next, we'll discuss the Explorer bars available from the Microsoft Web site.

Alexa Explorer bar

This accessory was developed by Alexa, a free Web navigation service. When you install and select it, this Explorer bar occupies the bottom of your browser window. When you select a Web site in the main browser window, the Alexa Explorer bar, shown in Figure A, displays information related to the site you chose, including:

This accessory allows you to surf the Web with greater speed and accuracy. You can navigate to related sites with ease and make better decisions about the value of a given site.

Figure A: The Alexa Explorer bar displays a variety of information.
[ Figure A ]

New York Times Explorer bar

Do you wish you had more time to read the newspaper? With the New York Times Explorer bar running in your IE 5 window, you'll have continuous access to all kinds of news; there are tabs for international, national, political, business, technology, and sports news. In addition, breaking news is updated every 10 minutes. Stock market information is also provided, and you can use a built in search engine to find a specific stock quote. If you like to stay in touch with what's happening in the world, this is an excellent Web Accessory for you. Figure B shows the New York Times bar in action.

Figure B: For current news and stock quotes, you can't beat the New York Times Explorer bar.
[ Figure B ]

AltaVista Explorer bar

Similar to the New York Times Explorer bar, the AV Tracker bar from AltaVista, shown in Figure C, provides instant access to news, sports, weather, stock quotes, and the AltaVista search engine. The shopping tab takes you to a page of shopping links for all you online spenders. And don't forget the feature that translates Web pages into five different languages. To change languages, select Tools AV Translate, then type the Web address you would like to translate. Already a powerful Web Accessory, a customizable AV Tracker will soon be available for download.

Figure C: This is the Alta Vista Explorer bar.
[ Figure C ]

Bloomberg Explorer bar

Let's face it--some of us are pretty concerned about our money. And with the stock market the strongest it's ever been, you may want to forgo other news and just concentrate on business news and stock quotes. If so, the Bloomberg Explorer bar is for you. The Bloomberg Web Accessory, shown in Figure D, takes selected content from the Bloomberg service, a 24-hour, real-time information network, as well as Bloomberg's many media products. This Explorer bar allows you to keep a close eye on the world of business while you surf the Web.

Figure D: Keep a close eye on the business world with the Bloomberg Explorer bar.
[ Figure D ]

Conclusion

In this article, we've looked at some of the Web Accessories available for IE 5. They provide the ability to customize your personal browser, while providing features that often increase your productivity. These accessories, and others, will keep IE 5 fresh for some time to come. Happy surfing!

Copyright © 1999, ZD Inc. All rights reserved. ZD Journals and the ZD Journals logo are trademarks of ZD Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of ZD Inc. is prohibited. All other product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.