Firefox 3.0 location bar showing the
Bookmarks Tag and Bookmark Star icons.
Trying to organize the web is not just for obsessive-compulsive types. With millions of websites existing worldwide (over 172 million according to the Netcraft June 2008 Web Server Survey) we are all just scratching the surface of the World Wide Web. And while hit-and-miss surfing on a small patch of the Internet works for the lot of us, trying to systematize a way to make heads-or-tails of your online experience is certainly a sound strategy for all of us webizens.
In other words, it is so much better to just click a link to get back to a specific website rather than searching for it all over again. Thus, the web browser bookmark is an important feature and an indispensable tool for online living.
This I bet -- if you haven't been using your web browser's bookmark much, you most likely ask yourself quite often "What's that site again?" You will then have to go through various search engines, trying out several keywords and going through several unwanted search results before finally reaching your destination website, if at all. Nevertheless, that's just half the story.
The more common problem is not the lack of usage for web bookmarks. Rather it's the proliferation of bookmarked sites all in a seemingly endless list. The absence of organization for bookmarked sites is as much confusing, perhaps even more so, as not using web bookmarks completely.
The latest Mozilla release of Firefox 3.0 (FF3) has impressive bookmarking features that goes beyond the usual folder groupings. Bookmark Tags, Smart Folders and Address Bar Integration makes a huge difference.
1. Single-click bookmarking automatically saves the link to an Unsorted Bookmarks folder. Located at the address bar (location bar) at the right end is the Bookmark Star icon. If it is grayed out, it means you have not bookmarked the site. Clicking on this star will automatically bookmark the current website to the Unsorted Bookmarks (some refer to it as Unfiled) folder where you can later sort it out. Once a website exists in your bookmarks the star becomes yellow. Re-clicking a yellow bookmark star will allow you to edit the bookmark -- move it to the appropriate folder and, as an option, you may also add a tag to it (See next item). Of course the browser standard shortcut for bookmarking, Ctrl+D still works and will bring up the Edit Bookmark dialog box so you can do to your bookmark as you will.
2. Bookmark Tags allow for more ways to organize your bookmarks. It used to be that you have to create a hierarchy of folders and sub-folders to help you unravel your favorite links. Apart from being grouped in folders, bookmarks may now be tagged. Bookmark tags act as keywords in search. Tagging works best when you use uncommon words, even names or personal codes. Tags are quite convenient when you use them alongside FF3's Smart Location Bar. Let's say you have several websites tagged as "mine". When you type that tag word in the location bar, FF3 will list down all your bookmarked sites with that tag. If your tag is an often used word, it may not show up as a suggested site on the Smart Location Bar due to it being a limited list. However, you can still access your tagged bookmarks from the Library (go to Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks) or from the Recent Tags Smart Bookmark Folder. "What's a Smart Bookmark Folder," you ask. Read on.
3. Smart Bookmark Folders automate bookmarking with keywords. Smart Bookmark Folders automatically categorizes your bookmarks according to search keywords that you use. If you're familiar with a saved search then you get the picture. What you do is perform a search under History or Bookmarks while you are in the Library and then save the results as a keyword, for example -- "tech". Next time you bookmark a site that refers in some way to your keyword it will automatically be placed on your Smart Bookmark Folder. Now that's convenient.
With Firefox 3.0's innovative bookmark functions, users enjoy ease of use and flexibility when organizing their web experience. In turn, this will allow us all to widen our Web horizons knowing we can always go back to our favorite sites easily through our well-organized bookmarks.
Oh! And don't forget to bookmark Sandbox Central. (wink!)
