Getting the best from Opera

[vasa1]

Originally Posted by sa1

I don't really remember the first one. I don't remember such an option in the installer but since I run the installer nearly every week for the weekly build I must say it has never done that(imported bookmarks from Firefox) for me.
Abut the third one, I am quite sure your ISP can't add that to your bill as your ISP should not even know that this traffic in the LAN exists. Though usually many usage meters (the ones on your comp and not the one with your ISP) measure both LAN and Internet outgoing traffic.

Okay, this is a lapse on my part.

First, both "Recent Headlines" and the Search for Unite users were on together and I switched both of them off without seeing which one was contributing to the download.

Second, the usage meter is that of the ISP. I sacrifice a bit of screen real estate to keep an eye on it.

[sa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

Okay, this is a lapse on my part.

First, both "Recent Headlines" and the Search for Unite users were on together and I switched both of them off without seeing which one was contributing to the download.

Second, the usage meter is that of the ISP. I sacrifice a bit of screen real estate to keep an eye on it.

I'm not sure how that usage meter works but many usage meters on the client computer simply measure the outgoing traffic not differentiating between LAN and internet traffic. Your ISP client software may be doing the same thing. I meant that the meter that the ISP keeps on its servers for measuring your usage would not be able to measure it.
Live bookmarks in Fx correspond to feeds in Opera. If you do not see a feeds entry in your menu, that will not take up network usage.
Many other things in Opera can take up network usage such as Opera checking for updates, or if you have enabled Opera Link, that one can.

[vasa1]

I've already come across web-pages that "work better" when Opera is identified as, or masked as, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

So what's the difference between "Identify as" and "Mask as"? Since Opera provides both options, there must be a functional difference. I looked on the Opera site and Googled but couldn't find the distinction.

[sa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

I've already come across web-pages that "work better" when Opera is identified as, or masked as, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

So what's the difference between "Identify as" and "Mask as"? Since Opera provides both options, there must be a functional difference. I looked on the Opera site and Googled but couldn't find the distinction.

Which sites, for e.g? Its helpful to report them via help>report a site problem . Opera actively patches many sites (via something called browser.js - Its a file updated every week.) that try to block Opera or send it code different from other browsers when even the standard code is working.
Identify as IE or Firefox retains Opera in the UA string so a site that is actively trying to detect Opera may still detect it. Mask as has a UA string identical to that of Firefox or IE.

[vasa1]

Originally Posted by sa1

Which sites, for e.g? Its helpful to report them via help>report a site problem...

First, thanks for explaining the distinction!

Second, here's one site:
http://selfcare.wdc.bsnl.co.in/irj/portal

It belongs to a Government of India concern, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). This link is to the login page and throws up the error. On someone's advice, I had identified as Internet Explorer and logged in successfully, but subsequently I could do nothing. Please see if you have the same experience at least in viewing the login page. I also understand that the site uses SAP which has some sort of adverse history with Opera.

I will try the mask trick and see if I get further. By the way, the site works fine with Firefox 3.6.3.

[vasa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

...
I will try the mask trick and see if I get further. By the way, the site works fine with Firefox 3.6.3.

Nope. The site still sticks. Looks like it throws up a Java error even though I haven't disabled Java and have JRE 19.

[sa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

Nope. The site still sticks. Looks like it throws up a Java error even though I haven't disabled Java and have JRE 19.

Login issues will be hard to debug if the Opera guys don't have a login. So I don't expect this to be solved unless someone co-operates with them with a login id. (This seems confidential data so I don't advise you to. ) Best to use Firefox for such sites.

[vasa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

Continuing with my whinge about setting the background color, I wonder how Opera achieved this:
Under View > Style, we get a drop-down menu. Keeping the Author Mode active, if one ticks High Contrast W/B that is pretty much what I want except that I would like a black font on a light grey background. There is some loss of functionality but it would work with sites I'm familiar with ...

Well, I got it going. I copied the contrastwb.css present in the Styles/User folder to the desktop. I then made only two changes (for now). I replaced the background color from black to #A8A8A8 and the text color from white to "black".

Then from within Opera, View > Styles > Manage Modes > Display tab > and pointed to the .css file on my desktop. I left everything else as default (I presume).

[sa1]

Originally Posted by vasa1

Well, I got it going. I copied the contrastwb.css present in the Styles/User folder to the desktop. I then made only two changes (for now). I replaced the background color from black to #A8A8A8 and the text color from white to "black".

Then from within Opera, View > Styles > Manage Modes > Display tab > and pointed to the .css file on my desktop. I left everything else as default (I presume).

Wait..I read somehere after that that if you place a new css file in the styles folder that too appears in the view menu. I haven't tried.
See this page: http://operawiki.info/OperaUserCSS