BargainBar Help (FIREFOX)
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NOTE: These Help topics are for the FIREFOX BargainBar.
If you're using the IE version, please click here.

Help Topics:


Introduction...

The BargainBar was designed with users in mind. Extensive industry research has shown repeatedly that typical surfers have three primary reasons for using the Internet:

  • Finding information (research and news)
  • Communicating efficiently (email)
  • Saving time and money (online shopping)

Sure, there are loads of other reasons people surf the Web -- interactive gaming, date hunting, etc. -- but Information, Communication and Money are the three "universals." Your BargainBar can help with all of these.

Also of concern to the ever-growing population of Internet users are the countless security threats lying in wait online -- in this case, something that we all surf IN SPITE of rather than because of. Viruses, worms, backdoors, hijacking programs and their ilk seem to lurk in every shadow. Again, you BargainBar will help you feel a little more secure.

You'll find a dedicated help section below for each of these subjects. You can read through it all now, explore specific topic(s) of immediate interest, or close this page and just use your new surfing enhancer, discovering it's hidden powers as you go along.


Basics...

We'll start at the beginning (going from left to right.)

The very first thing you'll see on your toolbar is the BargainBar Logo. Clicking it opens a sub-menu of general BargainBar items:

BB Home - BargainBar's homepage.

Help - Opens this Help page.

Privacy - Displays our Privacy Policy.

Uninstall - We don't know why you'd ever want to be without the BargainBar but, should you so decide, this will cleanly remove the toolbar from your system.

Share it! - (A much better choice than "Uninstall" above!) If you find your new toolbar to be helpful, don't keep it a secret; Tell your friends about the BargainBar and encourage them to enhance their surf-time too! Just click on "Share it!", enter their email address, send them a message telling them about this wonderful free tool, then sit back and wait for the "Thank You" notes to roll in.

Beside the logo you'll see a Bag of Money. It's your access to one of the most popular features for BargainBar users; Clicking on it will open today's Bargain Guide (compliments of our friends at BargainsYes.com,) listing fresh, new bargains available around the Web. From computers, electronics and home theaters to clothing, shoes, books, music and movies (in other words, a little bit of everything,) you'll find a tempting list of the hottest and most popular online bargains, updated each morning. Each will offer a concise description of the item, details of the the bargain, and precise instructions on how to score it for yourself. Savings from tens up to hundreds of dollars aren't at all uncommon... and you've got a fresh selection every day!

Bonus Surprise Giveaways - The moneybag is also where you'll find our unannounced, surprise giveaways! Once or twice each month, on no particular schedule, you'll find a chance for a surprise gift hiding in the day's Bargain Guide. Just click to enter... the winner(s) will be announced the following day.


Searching...

This is where the versatility of the BargainBar really shines... Search the Web faster, better, deeper and more efficiently than ever before.

Simply enter a term in the search box and press Enter or click on the Binoculars button to do a Google search. We use Google as the default search engine since it is the reigning "engine of choice" but, as you'll see, you aren't limited to just Google...

Before we explain your other search options, you should know that, besides typing a query directly into the box, you have a couple of other search methods available to you; Highlight any text on your current browser page and drag 'n drop it into the search box... you'll be all set to search it with any of the search choices available. Or, after highlighting a word or phrase, RIGHT-CLICK (click your right mouse button) and choose BargainBar search from the menu that opens to perform an instant Google search.

Search Choices: The drop-down arrow beside the binoculars greatly expands your search options:

Web: Opening the Web sub-menu will let you execute your search with any (or several) of these popular engines:

    • Google
    • Yahoo
    • A9
    • MSN
    • Open Directory
    • Alta Vista
    • Overture
    • Ask Jeeves
    • GuruNet

    Didn't find just what you were looking for with your first search? Choose one of the other engines and repeat your search, but this time with different results (each engine's perspective and criteria are slightly different.)

    Another feature of your BargainBar's Web searching utility: If you execute a search directly at one of the search sites from the list (for example, entering a search term directly into Yahoo's search box at www.yahoo.com), once you've executed your search, the term will auto populate itself into BargainBar's search field, enabling you to easily repeat your search on other engines if needed, no retyping necessary. (Note: This feature supports most direct searches at most of the supported engines. We'll continue working to make this even more universal.)

Info: Open the Info sub-menu to quickly search for specific types of information:

    • News (Search specific topics or use an empty search box for all current headlines)
    • Weather (Search a zip or city state for local weather)
    • Stocks (Search by ticker symbol for quotes and charts)
    • Spell Check (Look up any word for a quick spelling check)
    • Dictionary (Find the definition of a word or phrase)
    • Maps (Search city state zip or city state or zip for handy maps)
    • Images (Hunt in Google's web-wide image database)
    • Blogs: (Find blogs about any topic)
Below the Web and Info submenus, you'll find direct links to let you quickly and directly search some of the largest and most popular general online retailers:

Amazon: The Web's founding retailer. A bit like Marshall Fields online.

eBay: Everything under the sun, and then some...

Overstock: One of the most aggressive general merchandise discounters.

Walmart: The world's largest retailer, famous for competitive pricing.

Target: A bit more upscale than Walmart (but just a bit.)

Clickbank: 10,000+ of the Web's most popular downloadable products.

ePinions: Read reviews and compare prices

Froogle: Find sellers, check prices.

Again, these are among the largest and most reasonable sources for general merchandise online. They're you're best bets for quickly finding what you want at a good price. Have a bit more time or want to squeeze out every last cent of savings? Use your BargainBar's other tools (see the Shopping section below) for digging deeper.

Right beside the toolbar are a couple of other very helpful features:

Highlighter: Don't get lost in a long list of search results. Click the highlighter button to have the term(s) you searched appear with on the search results page... Makes it easy to pinpoint what you're looking for among all the results. (A tip: Highlighting is case sensitive. If you search for 'superman', it will highlight any occurrances of the word 'superman.' It will NOT highlight occurances of 'Superman.')

Magnifing Glasses: Examine any browser page in more detail or "pull back" to get a better overall view. Use the + Magnifier to blow up the page (including any images) for a more detailed view. Use the - Magnifier to shrink it. Any magnification (+ or -) will automatically be reset to normal on the next page loaded.

Hidden Bonuses: Thanks to the power of Google's search engine, your toolbar's search box has an extra function that can come in handy. Type any 10-digit formatted phone number, like 202-456-1111 and press Enter for the name and address it's registered to.

Communicating...

There are lots of ways to communicate online, but email is by far the most common. That's both its' strength (it's universal) and its' weakness (spam, hoaxes, privacy holes, etc.) This area of your toolbar is designed to make your message sending a little easier, a little more secure and a little more private.

Send from your client - Quick and convenient. This will just open a blank email message in your local email program, ready for filling out and sending.

Refer current URL - Found an interesting website or spotted a hot bargain that you'd like to let a friend know about? This option will open an email message with the link address of whatever page is currently displayed in your browser window already included in the body of the message. Just fill in the address(es) and quickly send your friends a link to whatever you're looking at.

Send anonymous email - Don't want the recipient to know where (or who) a message came from? Send it anonymously.

Web-based secure email - When you send an email message, it travels through several other computers (maybe even a dozen or more) before it reaches its' final destination. Anyone with administrative access to any of those machines could actually open and read your message if they wanted to. That's not much of much of a concern most of the time (people -- even crooks -- usually have better things to do than read about what you thought of the film you saw last night) but when a message includes any really sensitive information (financial, legal, private or otherwise,) sending it securely encrypted will prevent anyone other than the designated recipient from being able to open it. This option will take you to a service where you can set up a free account for sending occassional private, encrypted messages. (For most of us, their low-volume, free service is sufficient. If you have a regular need to send frequent secure messages, they offer a paid, premium service as well. Whether a free or paid account, you'll be able to log in here.)

Check temporary email - No-signup, instant anti-spam email. Here's how it works: You're on the web, at a party, or talking to your favorite insurance salesman. Someone asks for your email but you suspect that, if you give it, you're gambling with your privacy. On the other hand, you'd like to receive at least one message from that person or site. The answer is to give them a temporary, spur-of-the-moment address. No advance sign-up necessary... just make it up on the spot. Later, come here and check that account. The account will be created when mail arrives for it, then automatically deleted after a few hours. After you've gotten your message(s), just walk away and don't worry about it again. .

Send SMS - Need to reach someone before they're back at their desk? Send a free SMS message to their cell phone.

Security...

Security concerns (and preventitive measures) come in all shapes and sizes.

Surf Anonymously - When you visit a webpage, any webpage, the computer where that page resides (its' "server") can log several pieces of information about you, including YOUR computer's IP address, the host computer and its' location, what browser you're using and other information. An unscrupulous user, or even a hacker, could use that information to invade your privacy and, in some instances, even "backtrack" to your machine. The only way to prevent this data acquisition is to not let it ever originate by surfing via an "anonymous" remote server specifically designed so that your personal identifying info is never transmitted in the first place. If you're visiting a familiar site or a trusted merchant you should surf normally. But if you sometimes go off "exploring," remaining anonymous gives you another layer of "just in case" protection. As a rule of thumb, if you're unsure or uncomfortable before visiting a site, you can make your first contact anonymous. Once you're comfortable with their intentions, future visits can be made normally.

Online Virus Scan - "But, I already have an anti-virus program on my computer," you say? Congratulations and good for you! Everyone should have virus protection installed on their system but, of course, not everyone does. Even if you do, no anti-virus program is always 100% accurate and effective. Each program has small things it can miss. Each can give "false positives." The database of the program on your machine has to be regularly updated to catch the newest threats, sometimes even as often as multiple times in a single day. And it's even possible for the anti-virus program on your machine to be "disabled" by some viruses or, worse still, to become infected itself. For all these reasons and more, getting a "second opionion" occassionally is a good idea. Here you'll find access to free "remote" (online) virus checking that might spot something your "in-house" program missed. Plus, because it "lives" on a server at an company that specializes in virus protection, the database being used will always be up-to-date and clean.

Online Spyware Scan - Spyware is different than viruses. Fewer people have anti-spyware programs installed at home than have anti-virus programs. For all the same reasons outlined above in refernce to virsuses, running a remote spyware checking program, even if you have your own, can be helpful.

Online Trojan Scan - Although much closer to viruses than spyware is, trojans are still their own unique breed of malicious program. Even if your local protection measures include trojan hunting, running a remotely-hosted checker that specializes in recognizing trojans won't hurt.

Shopping...

The daily listing of new bargain sightings (see the moneybag near the beginning of this help page) represents the latest, hottest, most generally interesting bargains we've seen and confirmed. But there are lots more money-savers out there (the Net is pretty big!)

Newest Bargains - Open today's Bargain Guide, updated daily with the newest listing of the latest online bargains.

Archive - Don't see a bargain for just what you want in today's newest bargain listings? Browse our archive of recent and bargain reports.

Coupons - Find current discount coupon codes for popular online merchants.

Request-A-Bargain - Been hoping to score a bargain on something special but coming up empty? Ask others for their help... Post a message in our Requests area and let the community go to work. No guarantees of course, but having a few hundred extra eyes looking for you can't hurt!

Sunday ads - What's on sale at your local brick & mortor (i.e.; real-world) stores? Browse the latest ads from a large selection of national as well as local retailers here.

Consumer Center - Access more tools, tips and help for becoming an empowered consumer and a savy shopper. Visit often to see what's new, what's changed or what's gone.

Optional Registration...

The BargainBar is completely free for you to use and enjoy (we hope!), no strings attached.

No registration is required, but it IS stronly recommended...

BargainBar was developed to serve the needs of users. Based on the suggestions and comments of users, we frequently revise and update the toolbar adding new features, increasing flexibility, and finding more ways to help you save time and money. Registered users will receive prompt notification of any updates, tweaks, bug fixes, etc., so they'll always have the most recent, up-to-date tool available. (And, who knows... they might also occassionally find a few special registered-user-only savings surprises available!)

In short, if you're leery of being spammed, no, you don't have to register. But if you trust us enough to install our toolbar on your machine, we hope you'll also trust us with your email address... we promise to treat our registered users with the respect they deserve.
© BargainBar