Safari visited link colors

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djmitch

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I'm just getting used to using Safari after having used only Internet Explorer as a PC user, and I can't for the life of me find a way to get visited links to change color. For example, I did a Google search for something, clicked on one of the search results and read the page, but when I went back to the results page the link I just visited remained blue - in IE that visited link would have turned magenta.

This is frustrating because it's hard to see which links have been clicked vs. those that have not been. Any suggestions on how to change this in Safari?
 
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Safari does color followed liink, but the problem you describe does come up. I've seen that happen when a page gets cached, and you go back to it.

EX) Page A has a link to page B. You visit A, follow the link to B, and then click the Back button. The link to B is still colored as if it were unfollowed, unless you reload A.
 
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that happens on ie on my pc too. i dont think it is an apple problem.
 
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Try refreshing the page.. I think it's a caching issue. I am on broadband, so I make sure my cache is 0 and that it checks the server every time for a new version of the page.
 
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djmitch

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Murlyn said:
Try refreshing the page.. I think it's a caching issue. I am on broadband, so I make sure my cache is 0 and that it checks the server every time for a new version of the page.
Refreshing didn't work for me - still just a page of blue links even after I've clicked on one and gone back to the page the link was on.

Concerning the cache, are you suggesting I "Empty Cache" continually? I'm confused by how you "make sure my cache is 0".

One idea I thought of is creating a style sheet that will define the color of visited links and import it into Safari. I'll see how this works once I get around to creating one. Actually, it's the only way I can think of solving this issue! I'm not sure whether it's a bug in Safari or not.

And concerning an earlier post that suggested that it happens on PCs with IE, the Windows XP machines I use at work every day and my Windows 98 computer ALWAYS change link colors to magenta after they have been "visited" or clicked on. This suggests that it's definitely just an Apple/Safari problem.
 
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djmitch said:
And concerning an earlier post that suggested that it happens on PCs with IE, the Windows XP machines I use at work every day and my Windows 98 computer ALWAYS change link colors to magenta after they have been "visited" or clicked on. This suggests that it's definitely just an Apple/Safari problem.

Actually, I see the same thing happen on my PC at work as well. Either you or your employer may have caching set to a certain level with you PC's at work, hence the color change. It is a caching issue. It is not browser/OS specific. My visited links in Safari always reflect the color change. Now I have noticed in rare cases, that certain pages will override this, depending on how they were coded. Very few web designers do this however.
Depending on how your Safari is configured, and what if any pugins or extras you have installed with it, could also affect how you visited links are displayed. Two things you may want to check is that you are set to always accept cookies, the other is to download a plugin called Safari Enhancer. This plugin will allow you to easily set a desired link change color of your choice, and also allow you greater configuration with your cache settings. :black:
 
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yeah I wish I could remember how to set the cache in Safari. I know when I do searches on Google with Safari and hit the back button it shows the link as magenta, but I don't remember where I set the cache, especially since I do not use Safari Enhancer.. actually I don't even use Safari, but I tested the above and it works fine for me and I know I changed it somewhere in the past. *sigh* I really do not like Safari.. they don't make it easy apparently :(
 
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djmitch

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D3v1L80Y said:
Two things you may want to check is that you are set to always accept cookies, the other is to download a plugin called Safari Enhancer. This plugin will allow you to easily set a desired link change color of your choice, and also allow you greater configuration with your cache settings. :black:
I dowloaded version 2.6.1 since I have Tiger and it solved my problem - I'm so glad to be able to change visited link colors now! However, it still doesn't work with a Google search results listing so I'll have to play around more and see if I can fix this problem, too. However, I haven't chosen to always accept cookies - maybe this is the solution.

Of bigger concern right now is how to re-open Enhancer. I couldn't find it anywhere in my Safari menus and I shouldn't have to open the downloaded .dmg file once again, should I? It doesn't appear in the folder I chose to install it in as an .app file, either. Any suggestions about this?
 
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djmitch said:
I couldn't find it anywhere in my Safari menus and I shouldn't have to open the downloaded .dmg file once again, should I? It doesn't appear in the folder I chose to install it in as an .app file, either. Any suggestions about this?

Did you drag it to your Applications folder? Try running a search for it in Spotlight, you should be able to find where you actually saved the file. If you can't find it, then you might have to open the .dmg again. Just be sure to make a mental note where you drag and drop it to. :)
 
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djmitch

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Update

Just an update on the whole Safari Enhancer thing (ver. 2.6.1 for Tiger) ...

I successfully downloaded and installed it by first placing the safari_enhancer.dmg file into my Applications folder. When I opened it I was led to the window that allowed me to set my link and visited link colors, to choose to always empty cache, etc.

However, an option to re-open in Enhancer does not appear in Safari; I have to go to the Applications folder and open the .dmg file once again. The program documentation states that the Enhancer and Safari run independently so it does not mess up the operation of Safari - probably a pretty good idea, although inconvenient!

BUT IT DOES MESS SAFARI UP IN ONE WAY: Upon logging on after my computer's been in sleep mode, re-connecting to the Internet (I have dial-up), and opening Safari, I get a message telling me that whatever site I choose to open cannot be opened. After several hours of frustration one night trying to figure out what happened, I realized that Safari was automatically selecting a proxy server for me when I had specified in Safari Advanced Preferences that I wanted to "Manually" Configure Proxies.

So each time I start Safari after logging on, I have to go to Safari Preferences -> Advanced, then I choose to change proxy settings. I then have to de-select the proxy server that it is trying to configure for me (under "Select a proxy server to configure") and apply the change before I can open a web site.

If Safari only had the preferences offered by Enhancer already built-in then I wouldn't have had to go through this mess in the first place. Just a note for any Apple programmer who by the slightest chance may be reading this.
 

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