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Bookmarks aren't much help if they're all tossed into the same long list.
   technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Tips and tricks for organizing bookmarks


May 28, 2000

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers

   Bookmarks are great. When you create a bookmark in your Web browser, you're saving the location of a Web site so you can get back to it later without a hassle.
   Netscape uses bookmarks that are called, naturally enough, "bookmarks." Microsoft calls its bookmarks "favorites," but they work the same way. And America Online uses the term "favorites" for its bookmarks. Save a bookmark or favorite for a particular Web page and you can quickly open that page at another time just by clicking the bookmark or favorite.
   In this week's bookmarking tips, I'm faced with a minor dilemma. Let me explain.
   I know that most Windows owners use Internet Explorer. It's supplied free with Windows. Many Windows users -- perhaps most of them -- might not realize that other Web browsers exist. Yet I've tried to warn Windows users that Internet Explorer is unsafe, especially when used with Microsoft's ubiquitous e-mail program, Outlook Express. Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are so unsafe that I don't allow them to be used on any of the computers we have in our home.
   So as I was organizing this article, I realized that writing tips on how to get the most out of Internet Explorer's favorites would make me seem like a halfwit. If I told you in one sentence that skateboards were unsafe and then, in the next breath, gave you tips on how to make your skateboard roll faster, you'd think I was a nut.
   So I offer my apologies to Windows fans who use Internet Explorer and want to stick with it. Windows users who are concerned about the safety of their data should consider one of the non-Microsoft browsers. For a free free alternative, try Netscape Navigator. Download the browser, Netscape Navigator, or the full suite called Netscape Communicator from http://www.netscape.com. Another good browser is Opera, downloadable from http://www.operasoft.com. (Opera is not free.)
   Bookmarks aren't much help if they're all tossed into the same long list. If you need to save a bookmark in a hurry, don't bother being neat about it. Just save it in the main bookmark folder. Your browser probably has a shortcut key for this (a key you can press to get the same effect as clicking the menu item). Usually, shortcut keys are shown in the menus.
   But if you're not in a hurry, organize your bookmarks as you save them. Create folders within your bookmarks named for the categories of sites you visit or named for the information they contain. For example, my main bookmarks list has a dozen or so main folders. All the main folders have subfolders inside them.
    I have a "Shopping" folder that contains "Cameras," "DVD players" and "hard drives," for example. (Let's face it. I'm a nerd.) I have a "Freeware" folder with a "Windows" subfolder and a "Mac" subfolder. You get the idea.
   Your browser might let you put bookmarks right in the browser's main toolbar. This is easier than it seems. In Netscape, I just click a green "Location:" button at the left of the address line and drag it to the "Personal Toolbar" located just below the address line near the top of the screen. (Your 14-year-old kid can drag the toolbar to any other location, so don't despair if it's not where I say it is.)
   That's cool. But I have something even better. This toolbar can hold entire folders. You can drag bookmark folders there or create them there.
   To do this, you have to run your browser's bookmarks editor. You should be able to create new folders or subfolders and drag them around to new locations in your bookmarks.
   Doing this makes everything neater looking, but that's not the purpose of organizing your bookmarks. If they're not organized, you won't find what you really need. Leaving them in a chaotic state is worse than not having them at all, since all you're really doing is wasting your time.