[d4nth3m4n]

i have a rather irate manager who loves her ibook, but hates the autofill feature, according to her, every time she types "www." this huge window pops up and lists every site in her history and bookmarks.

is there any piece of shareware or a hack that will disable this?

you know, this-

[- - e r i k - -]

This is not called autofill (as the function called that fills in your personal information in forms), but rather auto-complete. I never see it (probably because I type too fast), but it's supposed to be a time-saver and not a nuiscance. If you just continue typing the results will narrow or go away.

Some people just like to get annoyed at every little thing I guess.

[Thinine]

Yeah, what's the problem? Besides, who types all their URLs with www?

[d4nth3m4n]

she does, now how about something helpful?

[- - e r i k - -]

OK, I checked MacOSXhints where something like this is bound to show up if it's customizable, but no dice.

Here are some helpful tips you might try:
1) Clear history regularly (this will help keep the list down)
2) Start using bookmarks. A nice organized bookmark-collection will reduce the need for typing URLs. I have most of mine in folders in the bookmark-bar for easy access.
3) Type URLs without www in front. Most servers accept urls without the www. Again, keeping the result list to a minimum
4) Take a touch-typing class. The list only appears if you stop typing for a second or two. Typing faster removes it.
5) Stop getting all worked up over such trivialities.

[TETENAL]

6) Ignore the suggestions; type a space at the end

[d4nth3m4n]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

6) Ignore the suggestions; type a space at the end

that's what i do, i told her about that, but as luck would have it there is something about old dogs and new tricks...

[kcmac]

The typing www thing comes from the switchers. IE in windows sort of requires it.

[Love Calm Quiet]

On a related issue, is there a (simple) way to delete SINGLE addresses from the system's stored list for autocomplete? I have a couple in my list that I mis-typed in, got 404s, and am now stuck with at the top of my list because they start with 'a'.

Also: Anyone know why OCCASIONAL addresses don't seem to "take" - i.e., are NOT added to the autocomplete list even though I've typed them in?¿?

[- - e r i k - -]

Search for the address(es) in your history and delete them manually.

[- - e r i k - -]

Reasons why URLs might not show up in auto-complete
1) Secure URLs starting with https:// do not show up if you start typing with a http://
2) You had private browsing (aka porn-mode) on
3) You haven't visited the page for a while (dropped out of history)

[Love Calm Quiet]

Those are reasonable ideas, Erik. But the cases I'm thinking of don't apply: they are recent visits. (and not https) (and I never surf in 'private' mode - even for pron).

As for history: I can clear the ENTIRE history - and that does not affect the auto-complete. I *know* that autocomplete must store things elsewhere, since having a clear history still permits auto-complete: even to sites I haven't visited for MONTHS.

Anybody know where auto-complete info is stored? and how to edit?

EDIT:
PS: The places where'd I'd first look don't look like it: Not Library\Safari (only has History, Icons, Bookmarks, Downloads plists), not Library\Preferences, not Library\Application Support...

[megasad]

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet

Those are reasonable ideas, Erik. But the cases I'm thinking of don't apply: they are recent visits. (and not https) (and I never surf in 'private' mode - even for pron).

As for history: I can clear the ENTIRE history - and that does not affect the auto-complete. I *know* that autocomplete must store things elsewhere, since having a clear history still permits auto-complete: even to sites I haven't visited for MONTHS.

Anybody know where auto-complete info is stored? and how to edit?

EDIT:
PS: The places where'd I'd first look don't look like it: Not Library\Safari (only has History, Icons, Bookmarks, Downloads plists), not Library\Preferences, not Library\Application Support...

As well as the history, auto-complete in the address bar uses your bookmarks. That's how its finding stuff you haven't visited in months; you've probably bookmarked it.

[Love Calm Quiet]

That seems to be it. Thanks, megasad.

Unfortunately, I don't suppose there's a way to EXCLUDE any items in bookmarks from the autocomplete: rare items that I seldom want to visit, but want to keep on record.

I guess that would have to be a new-feature request - for which I may be the only one interested.

[megasad]

Originally Posted by d4nth3m4n

is there any piece of shareware or a hack that will disable this?

So long as your manager doesn't mind losing the history and bookmarks facility, you could try this:

First, Reset Safari. Then, Quit Safari. Then, go to ~/Library/Safari and delete everything. Then Open and Quit Safari. Then, back in that same folder, select the bookmarks and history files, Get Info on them, and Lock them.

I haven't tried it myself, but that seems like it would stop the autocomplete feature working. Crazy foolish, but it should work.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by kcmac

The typing www thing comes from the switchers. IE in windows sort of requires it.

Actually it doesn't. You can type "Google" in IE (Windows)'s address bar and it will find www.google.com without any fuss at all. In most browsers, if they don't get a match on the precise text in the address bar, they not only try adding "www" at the begining, but the "usual suspects" of domains (".com" ".org" etc.) as well.

What IS an issue is not trusting the computer to save your bookmarks, OR not wanting to carry around something that keeps your bookmarks in a portable form. If you use five different computers in a day, you get tired of depending on bookmakrs that aren't there. Some people just deelop the habit of typing in the URL because of this. Me, when I have to use a different computer, I type in the URL, but when I'm on one of my own computers, I have all the bookmarks synchronized (pretty well) so I don't have to type URLs. It's a flexibility thing, and flexibility takes some effort, which some people aren't willing to make.

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm with Thinine. Why would you always type www before an address? None of the sites I visit, at least, require it.

I'll admit, Safari's auto-completion has the annoying habit of sticking extra stuff onto the end of both my URLs and website search terms.

[OAW]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Actually it doesn't. You can type "Google" in IE (Windows)'s address bar and it will find www.google.com without any fuss at all. In most browsers, if they don't get a match on the precise text in the address bar, they not only try adding "www" at the begining, but the "usual suspects" of domains (".com" ".org" etc.) as well.

Are you sure you are referring to the standard IE on Windows and not a version with some sort of toolbar or other add-on in use? I have IE 6 on my Dell at work without any add-ons and simply typing "Google" or any other phrase does not result in "www" at the beginning and the "usual suspects" of domains at the end. What does happen is that the phrase is sent to Microsoft's search page and a result list is displayed. I absolutely detest this behavior which is one of the reasons why I use Firefox on Windows. I can certainly see how other Windows users might not like this IE behavior as well and consequently get in the habit of always typing "www" at the beginning of their URLs. So a switcher would very well continue to do this on the Mac until they realize that Mac browsers (and Firefox on Windows) don't require you to do all that unnecessary typing.

OAW