Internet browser zoom function
View Patent ↗Methods are described to preload and display a plurality of webpages from a hyperlink list either previously saved or returned by one or more search engines, where said webpages are displayed in a web browser. The web browser has been augmented to display multiple webpages simultaneously and to allow changing the number of webpages displayed and their physical arrangement within the web browser display. Hyperlinks associated with any portion of this plurality of webpages can be saved as a list of hyperlinks (group bookmark) for later retrieval. Preloading may be dynamically altered to take advantage of network bandwidth availability and processor non-saturation. Descendant webpages of preloaded webpages may also be preloaded to further speed performance. The zoom factor for a displayed webpage may be altered by clicking on a zoom icon or alternately rotating a mouse wheel while the cursor is held over the zoom icon.
1. A method for a zoom function on a web browser, comprising:
presenting to a user an icon shown on a web browser display wherein said icon directly controls a zoom function (hereinafter: the zoom icon) for webpages displayed in at least an active window, wherein appearance of the zoom icon indicates a current zoom factor;
wherein a selection of said zoom icon directly causes the web browser to perform both the following actions:
changing zoom factor for one or more selected webpages displayed in said at least an active window; and
changing appearance of the zoom icon to indicate the current zoom factor for said one or more selected webpages.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the zoom icon is presented to the user by a software add-on to a web browser program wherein said browser is capable of interacting with webpages found on the Internet and presenting to a user an active window displaying a webpage, and wherein the software add-on provides the zoom function.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein selection of the zoom icon is performed by a mouse click by a user on said zoom icon.
4. The method for a zoom function on a web browser, comprising:
presenting to a user an icon shown on a web browser display wherein said icon directly controls a zoom function (hereinafter: the zoom icon) for webpages displayed in at least an active window;
wherein selection of the zoom icon directly causes a zoom factor for one or more selected webpages displayed in said at least an active window to change;
wherein selection of the zoom icon is performed by a user rotating a mouse wheel while a cursor is positioned over said zoom icon, and wherein the zoom factor for the one or more selected webpages changes in response to rotation of the mouse wheel while the cursor is positioned over said zoom icon, and
wherein rotation of the mouse wheel controls up/down scrolling for one or more webpages while the cursor is positioned over said at least an active window and not over said zoom icon.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the zoom icon changes appearance to indicate the current zoom factor for a displayed webpage.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the web browser display comprises a plurality of webpages displayed simultaneously in separate windows within the web browser display, and wherein selection of the zoom icon by a user causes the zoom factor to change for a selected webpage of the plurality of webpages.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the plurality of webpages within the web browser display are webpages from different websites having different domain URL locations.
8. The method of claim 4 wherein the selection of the zoom icon while placing the cursor over the zoom icon and rotating the mouse wheel comprises;
rotating the mouse wheel in a first direction to cause an increase in the zoom factor for selected webpages displayed in the at least an active window; and
rotating the mouse wheel in a second direction to cause a decrease in the zoom factor for selected webpages displayed in the at least an active window.
9. A method for a zoom function on a web browser, comprising:
presenting to a user an icon shown on a web browser display wherein said icon directly controls a zoom function (hereinafter: the zoom icon) for webpages displayed in at least an active window;
wherein the web browser display is divided into multiple separate windows and a plurality of webpages are simultaneously displayed within the multiple separate windows;
wherein appearance of the zoom icon indicates a current zoom factor;
wherein a single selection of said zoom icon directly causes the web browser to perform both of the following actions:
changing zoom factor for one or more selected webpages displayed in said at least an active window; and
changing appearance of the zoom icon to indicate the current zoom factor for said one or more selected webpages.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of webpages within the web browser display may be different from one another.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of webpages within the web browser display are webpages from different websites having different domain URL locations.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein the selection of the zoom icon comprises placing a cursor over the zoom icon and rotating a mouse wheel;
wherein rotation of the mouse wheel in a first direction while the cursor is over the zoom icon causes an increase in the zoom factor for selected webpages displayed in the at least an active window; and
wherein rotation of the mouse wheel in a second direction while the cursor is over the zoom icon causes a decrease in the zoom factor for selected webpages displayed in the at least an active window.
13. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of simultaneously displayed webpages are fully functional webpages, and any of said plurality of simultaneously displayed fully functional webpages may be operated on independently without altering the state of another of said plurality of simultaneously displayed fully functional webpages.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein rotation of the mouse wheel controls up/down scrolling for one or more webpages while the cursor is positioned over said at least an active window and not over said zoom icon.