Safari blocked page Click to see a larger image

Setting Parental Controls for Safari is a two step process: Turning it on in System Preferences and then setting allowable websites in Safari itself.

To enable Parental Controls for Safari:

1. Go to System Preferences from the Dock or the Apple Menu.
2. Go to the Accounts area.
3. Click on the padlock on the lower left to authenticate. An Administrator's user name and password are required.
4. Choose the standard account that you want to set Parental Controls for. (You cannot set parental controls on an administrator account.).
5. Choose the Parental Controls tab.
6. Click on Safari.app. Clicking the Configure... button just tells you to go to Safari to set up the bookmarks.

To set allowable websites in Safari:

1. Log into the managed account where you are restricting websites for Safari.
2. Launch Safari.
3. The Bookmarks icon at the left end of the Bookmarks bar now has a padlock on it. Click on the padlock and enter an administrator's name and password.
4. Enter all allowable websites in the Collections pane . The easiest way to do this is to go to the website and then drag its address to the Collections pane.

Note that there is no Bookmarks menu, only the Bookmarks toolbar, so you will probably want to organize the Bookmarks toolbar to contain the most commonly used websites. Check out these tips on adding and removing items from the Bookmarks bar.

When you have added all allowable websites, click on the padlock again on the Bookmarks icon on the Bookmarks toolbar.

You can easily add new websites to the Bookmarks toolbar on the fly by clicking Add Website on the blocking page and entering an administrator's name and password.

A word of caution about Parental Controls

See all the tips in the User Accounts series

Related Items: Safari | Parental Controls