Working With Google Chrome

This posting will cover some important information and add-ons for using Google Chrome. Chrome is a recent addition to the selection of online browsers which has quickly gained momentum among it's competition; Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.  While Chrome boast noticeable faster web browsing and page loading it should be noted that there are some important add-ons to install before using Chrome on a regular basis.  I discuss these additional add-ons and extensions below...

To install Chrome on your home PC visit this link: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/

Installation is simple, just follow the screen prompts to go through the process.  You can even import your bookmarks from other web browsers and I recommend doing this so you don't have to start over again.  Once installed, you can visit the same link above to find more information and tips on how to use your new browser...

With Chrome installed on your computer we'll move on to discussing how to install add-ons and extensions, necessary for safe web browsing. So let's begin...

Finding Add-ons
To find add-ons for Chrome you'll need to access the "Chrome Webstore". You can do this in one of two ways, either by opening a new tab and clicking on the "Webstore" icon...

Or by clicking on the "Customize and control" icon...

and in the drop-down menu, clicking on "Settings" ...

Then clicking on "Extensions" in the left side list...

In this area you can see all of the extensions, currently installed on the browser, and find new extensions by clicking on the "Get more extensions" link at the bottom of the page... 

Once in the Extensions area of the Webstore, you can easily use the Search feature to find the extensions you're looking for by title or browse their extensive library of add-ons...

Installing Extensions
To install an extension on Chrome, begin by searching for the item you want by typing the title in the search box...

A list of results will show up from your search...

To choose and install the extension click on the "Add to Chrome" button next to the extension you want to install...

Recommended Extensions

WOT
WOT stands for Web of Trust and is a tool I've used for year now.  Using small color coded donut shaped icons, WOT easily shows you which sites are safe and which ones you want to avoid...

You can even participate in WOT by grading websites yourself. They base their ratings on 4 categories including...

Once installed, WOT is integrated into most commonly used platforms like Facebook and Twitter so that even bad links posted by innocent users can be easily avoided.

To install WOT, simply visit the "Extensions" section of the "Webstore" as described in previous steps and search for the title in the "Search" bar. A listing of options will appear... 

To find out more about WOT and to participate in their ratings program visit: www.mywot.com

Adblock Plus
Adblock Plus is another invaluable tool I've used for years.  While most visitors to commonly used website like Facebook are greeted by a barrage of online advertising, my sidebar areas areaclear as a noon sky and yours can be too...

To install Ad Blocker, simply visit the "Extensions" section of the "Webstore" as described in previous steps and search for the title in the "Search" bar. A listing of options will appear... 

While there are many ad blocking programs available, I recommend "Adblocker Plus" ~ I've used it for years and have found it to be a reliable and stable add-on.

DoNotTrackMe
One final tool I recommend is the DoNotTrackMe. Tracking was one of my greatest concerns in switching over to Google Chrome. It's commonly known that everything we do these days is tracked by many corporations but rogue sites can use this tool to gain personal information about you such as log-in and financial information.  For this reason I use DoNotTrackMe.  

To install this add-on simply type the title exactly as it appears above, into the search bar on the Extensions page, then click on the "Add to Chrome" button....

After installing this program you may want to make some tweaks to ensure you're able to view the websites you visit and use most often.  Case in point ~ I noticed the top navigation bar went missing on Blogger after installing the DoNotTrackMe add-on.  Through researching the issue I found it was necessary to change the settings for some Google sites so that they were not being blocked.
To access the settings for individual websites just click on the small icon for this program, highlighted in the screen shot below...

This opens a window where you can adjust the settings per site and even access an all inclusive list, by clicking on gear icon in the top right side, to turn the feature on and off for individual sites...

That's it!  I hope you've found this information helpful.  It's always important to get to know our browsers to help keep our information and our computers safe.  Beyond the important stuff there's a whole world of goodies to search through and explore including beautiful themes, helpful tools, and games.  So have fun!

Enjoy~