We’d be the first to admit using Apple’s iPad isn’t exactly rocket science, and we will also admit that Apple is at the top of its game when it comes to easy-to-use products.

But if you didn’t take the time to read the owner’s manual, we have some quick and neat tips and tricks that can help you get the most out of your tablet.

From managing the sound levels of your tunes, to organization your apps, to muting in the case of emergency, we have 10 handy hints for you to work your way to iPad ninja status.

Check out our tried and tested iPad tips, and impress your friends when they come to you for help with their iPad. Be sure to let us know if there are any shortcuts you’d like to share in the comments below.

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1. Open Safari Links in a New Page

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Remember that you can have multiple webpages loaded in Safari () simultaneously. So if you’re not sure about a link or want to keep your current page open, you can open the link in a new window (a little like tabbed browsing, but without the tabs).

To do this, rather than just tap the link, press and hold it until you see an option to “Open in New Page,” hit this, and Safari will open a new window and load that link.

To manage the pages you have open or to return to another page, look to the top of the browser and there you’ll see an icon that looks like two overlapping boxes or pages. If you press the icon, it will show you all the pages you have open (just like in the graphic below). From here you can tap any of the “X” buttons to close an individual page.

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2. Activate AutoFill in Safari

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The AutoFill option is a great time saver for anyone who knows and trusts anyone else who might use their iPad, as it automatically remembers your usernames and passwords for services.

To activate it, ensure your details are saved in “Contacts,” then head to “Settings,” choose “Safari,” and click “AutoFill” and then set both options to “On” and select your file from “Contacts” in the “My Info” field.

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3. Quick Mute Your iPad

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Although the iPad has no “mute” option, you can still quickly silence your device by pressing and holding the down volume button — this quickly drops the volume down to zero in about two seconds.

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4. Make Use of the Home Button

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The iPad’s “Home” button will take you to your homepage if pressed once, but it has a few other functions worth knowing about as well.

To access these functions, go to “Settings,” press “General,” then choose “Home.” Here you can select which function you’d like a double press of the button to carry out, such as opening up “Spotlight Search” or accessing the iPod.

From this area in “Settings” you can also set “iPod Controls” to “On,” which will mean when you have music playing and you’re in another program or app, a double press of the “Home” button will bring up basic music controls.

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5. Add a Website Shortcut to Your Home Screen

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Although you won’t need to do this for Mashable () (thanks to our free iPad app) there is a quick way to add shortcuts to your favorite sites directly to your home screen.

Head to the webpage you want to create the shortcut to, tap the “+” sign at the top of the page and select “Add to Home Screen.” This will then create a shortcut icon offering one-click access to your most-used sites.

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6. Make iBooks More User-Friendly

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The iBooks app’s swipe-to-turn the page function is really nice when you first play with it, but the truth is (and it’s especially true if you’re a fast reader) it gets a little old if you’re settling down to read more than a few pages.

You can tweak iBook’s settings to offer a shortcut to go to the next page, if you simply tap the left margin.

To make this the case, head to “Settings,” then under the “Apps ()” section, press “iBooks,” then “Tap Left Margin” and make sure “Next Page” is ticked, which will change it from the default option — the previous page.

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7. Activate iPod Sound Check

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You know how annoying it is when your songs play at different volume levels, leaving you either scrambling to get across the room to turn it down, or sighing with frustration as an inaudible track comes on? Well there’s a way to stop that from happening.

All you need do is navigate yourself to “Settings,” click “iPod” and then turn “Sound Check” to “On,” which will help regulate volume levels.

Oh, and while you’re there, take note of the “EQ” menu that offers a ton of different sound options depending on the style of music you’re listening to, or you can regulate sound levels for spoken words to help optimize sound for podcasts or audio-books.

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8. Squeeze Six Apps into the Dock

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Until iOS4.2 arrives in November, bringing with it the joy of folders, there are a few ways to help organize your apps and make items you use often more accessible.

You can have 11 pages to arrange your apps on, so although there’s no way to make a games folder, for example, you could drag and drop all your games apps onto one page to create a themed “games” page.

Also, the dock can have up to six apps in it, so you can pick two more than the standard layout offers (just touch an app until it wiggles then drag it into the dock to move it) to make more items closer to hand from any screen.

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9. Use a Space Bar Trick

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In addition to the keyboard shortcuts, tips and tricks we have previously brought you for iOS devices, we have one more spacebar trick to share.

The spacebar will create as many spaces as there are fingers on it, so one finger will produce one space, two fingers two spaces and so on.

We can’t see that this is going to be the most useful trick you’ll ever learn, but it’s interesting if for no other reason than to see how the Apple engineers had fun with the display’s multi-touch capabilities.

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10. Download the iPad User Guide eBook

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Did you know you can download the official Apple iPad User Guide as an e-Book?

While available in Safari’s pre-loaded bookmarks, for offline access to the guide simply download it for free from the iBooks store, and search for “iPad”.

Web design, like every other form of design is ever-changing! Web designers thus need to be updated with the latest trends to be able to design creative websites. Web design has seen the emergence of new trends and new ideas in last few years. There was also the addition of website interactivity to web design. Newly designed sites are inclined towards displaying their content in an interactive way. Their focus while designing websites is beyond a creative canvas; it is more about attracting users and getting a user engaged on the site.

To understand and use these concepts, we can take a look at some of the most common design ideas to watch out for in the coming days. These highlight some important tips with examples that can be used for web design. I am sure, many talented designers are already aware about these tips; however, one tends to overlook them!

Use of attractive graphics and displays

There are many websites that stand apart from the rest. A web designer can use a creative layout and concept to attract users. This helps to capture the initial attention of users. Yet, one can never be sure whether it keeps a user on the page for a good amount of time to convey the intended message. In this case, website interactivity can help to engage users on a page. Users stay on a page when we provide them some actions to be performed to explore a site rather than providing simple text-based content. Using interactivity on a website helps to capture initial attention of users along with presenting information in a way which encourages user to perform desired action on the page.

For example, a product website can include quotes from customers that lend authenticity to a website. This gains faith from users. A common way to display the customer testimonials is through the use of quotes with the name and designation of the customer. Though the product has many good customer testimonials, this display cannot guarantee to capture the attention of the users. Instead, an interactivity that displays the quotes and customer photographs is surely an attention-grabbing idea. It would not only present the content in an engaging manner through the creative use of flash interactivity; but also give a personal touch to the existing customers which would encourage other customers to have their testimonials out there.

Another great example of engaging users to explore the website is Wrangler’s site. We all know about the popularity of the brand Wrangler. This website displays the products in a very unique way. It engages user to perform actions like unzip the jacket, drag a shirt to view the shirt design, etc. to browse the website further. The visuals then unfold in a very interesting manner. The collection can be viewed only after the user performs some action on the website!

A website can even enhance its display in a unique manner to connect with the users.

This website has made a creative combination of interactivity and animation to present information about the company. Buzz, the integrated design studio has displayed each and every section about the website in a unique interactive way. With every click, the animated figures amuse users while presenting the information.

Jim Carrey is a personality who needs no introduction. His website also reflects his unique, creative talent. There is an interesting use of displays in terms of photographs and forms.

The use of interactivity is done cleverly as with each click, something new unfolds on the page. To know more, you must explore it yourself!

So, have you already started thinking of something unique and different to allow users to explore your site? Well, just hold on a second! This is just the start. Read further to explore few more design trends which are picking up

Enhancing the common elements

It is also seen that creative websites have a great emphasis on color and layout. This means that there are many elements that may not even get that much attention, such as a site map that is not always presented in a creative way.

We can take another example which will highlight why one needs to enhance these finer elements on a website. A normal site map that is seen on most sites contains details in a text and link format.

The trick is to break away from this tradition. Present the site map details in a creative way with images and interactivity to make a user want to view the site map.

I am sure that there is no one here who does not know about J.K.Rowling and her famous Harry Potter series. Have you ever explored her site? Her site is also as creative as her Harry Potter books. Check out a screen shot of her website below.

The website contains a visually appealing layout as seen in the example. The elements that are spread out are keys to the site map. There is the use of many interactive features which contain details about the site.

The tabs such as Biography, Wizard of the Month, Tales of the Beedle and the Bard and even the contact tab are used very creatively into this layout.

In this website, one can witness a creative usage of product display. The product features are shown in a unique manner rather than the typical forms of layout.

The central portion can be moved around with a cursor which changes the placing of the light to display the various features of the product.

Dior is a brand that has a large fan-following. Their website itself reflects the exclusivity of the brand. This example showcases different Dior perfumes with a creative touch. Instead of showing the products in a regular manner, there is an interesting display of the fragrances.

The setting is quaint and makes a user want to explore the website further. The different elements are highlighted with the use of color and interactive elements.

Have you ever observed this kind of trend before? If not, start looking around. You would definitely find many such creative site maps.

Induce action from users

Even when a website is creatively designed, the final aim of the website is to make a user perform a desired action on the page. This action could be to register for a free trial or enquire about a service. This is when a web designer needs to think, ‘what next?’ to move on to the next level.

If you have a website which thrives on advertisement revenue, then it is quite probable that the page would have many advertisements. In such cases most of the advertisements fail to capture user attention in the crowd of advertisements. These become a blind spot for most of the users. This is when website interactivity can be used to capture the attention of the users.

You might be thinking how can interactivity helps in advertisements? Well, I have already said that now we need to think creatively! And nothing is impossible in the world of creativity!

Instead of having a plain banner, a user can be attracted to view it by having the banner designed as peel-off interactivity. This means, a user needs to peel off the first layer to reveal the message beneath. It can be very effective particularly for a teaser campaign.

Imagine your first layer of peel-off says “Please don’t look beneath me! It would be difficult for you to resist the offer!” Don’t you think a user would have an urge to see what is beneath? Definitely, at least I will! Once the user peels off the banner, it sees the actual advertisement of the offer or the service.

Mobile phones are a rage and everybody is on the lookout for an exclusive design. This example is about a website where one can create one’s own design and order for a mobile case based on the design. Therefore, this website uses interactivity to display the same.

All a user needs to do is click to select graphics, colors, etc. to create a mobile case of his/her choice. This is a unique idea to engage users whilst they try new designs and highlight the company profile.

This website showcases works of an interactive designer. The portfolio can be viewed by clicking and dragging, which makes a user perform an action on the page. The presentation is sleek which adds to the aura of the designer.

Engage users whilst they perform an action

There are numerous websites which provide various services for different kind of users. For example, if you go to a shopping website, there are all kinds of things which are sold on such sites. The website design for such topics may not direct users to appropriate items they are looking for.

A user may not have time or patience to look through various categories and find out the required information.

For example, a photography website can have tabs such as nature photography, useful cameras for nature photography, wildlife photography, etc. If these elements are presented together, it can make a user visit all the tabs in search for information.

A user thus gets engaged whilst referring to these tabs and is motivated enough to perform an action.

Let us look at a website which has used interaction to its best to showcase its summer and fall collections. Its collection is displayed through the circular leaf design on a plant.

Won’t you like to go through the complete collection by clicking its various circular leaves? This is a unique way to engage users to encourage them to go through the complete new collection! Isn’t it?

This website is creatively designed to bring about an interest amongst users to explore it further. Here, the F&N product flavors can be viewed with mere clicks. As a user clicks the can, the different flavors are revealed with each click. This turns out to be an engaging factor for users whilst the product information is shared.

Adding Interactivity to Websites

After reading through the above points you would have definitely agreed that interactivity is the way to achieve your aims for website design.

Interactivities are just great and they add the “WOW” factor on your website. But creating such interactions would take months and we don’t have that much time on hand, isn’t it? Well, then I have some good news to share with you!