Latest snapshot build of Opera 12, build 12.00 beta 1429, has added another useful feature for the developers. Now, users can set their own custom User-Agent string in Opera to deal with the sites involved in browser discrimination. It will also help developers to test their web sites and applications by setting custom user agent string in Opera.
Opera 12 is going to be the most feature-loaded release from Opera Software, with tons of new features. Read our special coverage here and here. This new addition is specially useful for the web developers and users to figure out cross-browser compatibility issues.
How to set Custom User-Agent in Opera?
Opera already has the option to spoof the user-agent string to the that of Firefox and Internet Explorer. Users can opt-in to identify their browser as Firefox or IE to ensure proper rendering of sites. This setting can be changed globally or per-site basis. Users can select this option by following these steps:
- Open “Preferences” window by pressing CTRL + F12.
- Move to “Advanced” tab, select the “Content” option.
- Now, click on the “Manage Site Preferences” button.
- Here, you can add and edit your preferences for individual websites.
- When adding preferences for a web site, move to “Network” tab – and select you choice for the option “Browser Identification” (see the following screenshot).
Alternatively for changing settings globally, type opera:config in the location bar and search for “Spoof UserAgent ID”. This setting accepts numerical values like this:
- Identify as Opera
- Identify as Firefox
- Identify as Internet Explorer
- Mask as Firefox
- Mask as Internet Explorer
The only limitation of this trick is that a user can’t enter own custom User-Agent string. Good news: In Opera 12, there is a new setting for this. To set your own custom string, type opera:config in the address bar and search for “Custom User-Agent” in the quick find box. This will open a input box where you can enter your user-agent string to spoof the settings:
Although, this feature may not be useful for a common end-user, it is certainly going to help advanced users and developers. For more new features and news related to Opera 12 “Wahoo”, visit this link. Latest snapshot build of Opera 12 can be downloaded from OperaNext portal.
