Keyboard shortcut to open a URL

Hi, James.

You could write an AppleScript to simply have Safari open a new browser window and then assign this AppleScript to a keyboard shortcut using a third-party utility like the shareware application iKey. Unfortunately, the Keyboard Shortcut preferences in Tiger don't permit you to assign an AppleScript to a keyboard shortcut: one has to use a utility like iKey.

EDIT: The following AppleScript causes Safari to open a new browser window. What you get in the window depends on your default preferences in Safari > Preferences > General > "New windows open with...", e.g. a set home page, blank window, etc.<pre> tell application "Safari"
activate
make new document
end tell</pre>I don't know if Safari supports this, but I use OmniWeb which, in the Services menu for all applications, (e.g. Finder > Services) offers the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-U to "Open URL in OmniWeb."

So, if I'm reading a document and want to open a hyperlink in such that is not a clickable link, I select the text of the link, press Command-Shift-U, and a new OmniWeb browser window opens loading the page whose URL was the selected text.

There is also a generic "Open URL" choice in the Services menu. You may be able to assign a keyboard shortcut to this using System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts, making it an option for all applications that offer the "Open URL" choice in the Services menu. You'd still have to select the text of the URL in the document (means using the mouse), as Services are only available (not greyed-out) if a selection is made and the service supports the selected object.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

James, if you grab the small icon to the left of the "http" in your Safari address bar and drag it onto your Dock next to the Trash, a spring appears which is a shortcut to the URL of your current page. Clicking once on this will open a new Safari window.

So if you choose a particular default page to start with, it will always be your new Safari window, via the spring - until you decide to replace it with a newer default page.

This seems a quick-ish way of doing it, if it's the sort of thing you mean.

Edit: And it works whether Safari is open or not.