Yosemite: Tweaking Safari’s URL bar settings
Safari in Yosemite is a familiar yet new beast. Among the interface changes, I really didn't like the way the URL bar behaved. In particular, these things bugged me:
- Not being able to see the full URL.
- The width of the URL entry box.
- The drop-down that appears when you click in the URL bar (when you have a page loaded).
Thankfully, the fixes for these three issues are easy, if not completely obvious.
Full URL not visible in URL bar
By default, Safari truncates URL to just the base "dot" address, regardless of where you are on a site. So if you're reading my hint about using a dark Dock, Safari's URL bar will display this:
But you're really on this page:
If you prefer knowing where you are in the site hierarchy at all times, the fix is simple. Open Safari's Preferences, go to Advanced, and add a checkmark next to "Show full website address."
The URL box will now show the full URL of the page you're viewing. Of course, that will lead to a second problem—the URL box isn't large enough to display much of the extended URL. Thankfully, that too is an easy fix.