5 Excellent Firefox Extensions to Manage your Bookmarks
If you browse the internet on a regular basis (and which Make Use Of reader doesn’t?), it doesn’t take long to stack up a big list of website URL’s that you will want to check up on later. The default bookmarking feature in the Firefox browser only takes you so far, so let’s take a look at some ways to better organize your growing bookmark collection, whether it’s synchronizing with another computer or just accessing the links a little bit easier.
1. Foxmarks : The Add-on Multiple Computer Users Can’t Live Without
Do you have multiple computers or multiple operating systems that use Firefox? If so, you need Foxmarks, a Firefox add-on that automatically synchronizes your bookmarks between multiple computers. It also allows you to access your bookmarks online. This is particularly useful if you often find yourself using public computers where you do not have administrative privileges to install anything. Foxmarks synchronizes your bookmarks by storing them on a remote server. With Foxmarks you no longer have to worry about backing up your bookmarks when reformatting or changing computers. If you are worried about security, there is an option to turn on encryption.
2. Speed Dial : See Thumbnail Views of Multiple Websites On One Page
Do you have a favorite set of websites you check daily? Would you like to be able to see thumbnails of them at the same time? Want to access frequently visited sites using ‘Ctrl+1/2/3/4…’ shortcuts? Speed Dial does just that. You can specify how many thumbnails it should show, organize thumbnails into multiple groups (sort of like tabs) and choose whether you want a thumbnail to be opened in new a tab or window.
Speed Dial is full of options that allow you to customize each thumbnail to your specifications. It even lets you set how often the thumbnail reloads. Speed Dial also provides an import/export feature which allows you to easily setup Speed Dial on multiple computers.
3. Delicious Bookmarks : Integrate Del.icio.us Account into Firefox
Are you a del.icio.us user? This add-on is not the standard del.icio.us button that every member already has. This add-on gives easier access to your del.icio.us bookmarks by integrating them directly into Firefox. You can easily add your existing Firefox bookmarks to del.icio.us and keep all of your bookmarks organized with tags. Also allows you to search your Del.icio.us tags from within Firefox.
4. GMarks: Integrate Google Bookmarks into Firefox
Are you an avid Google user? GMarks integrates your Google bookmarks right into the Firefox browser. GMarks allows easy migration to and from Google Bookmarks. Gmarks is completely separate from your existing Firefox bookmarks and does not remove or hide them.
5. Smart Bookmarks Bar: Helps Save Space On Your Bookmarks Tool Bar
Is your bookmarks toolbar overcrowded? Smart Bookmarks Bar is an add-on that helps ease the clutter by reducing the space each bookmark takes up on the bar. It does this by only showing the icon for each website. If a website does not have a specific icon, you can set one using the Favicon Picker 2 add-on. By default, when you hover your mouse over an icon, the name of that bookmark is shown. There is also a preference that allows you to auto hide the tool bar allowing for even more browser space.
Other
The following Firefox add-ons didn’t quite make our top 5 list, but we thought they were worth mentioning anyway:
To Read Later : This add-on allows you to temporarily bookmark a site so that you can read it later. Check out Mark’s Build an Online Reading List with “Read It Later” for more information.
Bookmark Duplicate Detector : Like the name implies, this add-on will check for duplicate URLs when you add new bookmarks. (WARNING: be sure to back up all of your bookmarks before deleting anything!)
What do you use to keep your bookmarks organized? Let us know in the comments!
(By) Michael & Eric are two college students who are balancing classes, work, and their personal lives. In their free time they enjoy relaxing and working on their blog http://wlmtips.com
FYI: ‘To Read Later’ is a different extension than ‘Read It Later’ (the one Mark reviewed).
(Comments wont nest below this level)speed dial is gr8
(Comments wont nest below this level)this type of feacture is also there in ie7 i think so….
but ie7 to slow as compar to firfox
Thanks Thomas for pointing that out. It seems that they are two different add-ons. Take a look at both since they both solve the same problem (just 2 different ways).
(Comments wont nest below this level)I use Gmark – it’s nice plugin!)
(Comments wont nest below this level)i like the speed dial to get all my websites thumbnails
(Comments wont nest below this level)“To Read Later” deletes all temporary bookmarks once you close FF (or as much as I know, it does) – A better alternative is “Read it Later”
(Comments wont nest below this level)Thanks for this.
Two of your suggestions actually make it to my 3 critical extensions!
http://zia.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-3-most-critical-firefox-extensions.html
(Comments wont nest below this level)I use the Girafa toolbar for the thumbnails, and they have additional features that help you manage all your favorite websites.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Just recently, I’ve uninstalled Foxmarks from 3 PCs (for the second time in the past 12 months). I’m not sure if my bookmark list is exceptionally large or what, but using Foxmarks as a sync/backup solution is painfully slow. It takes a really, really long time for Foxmarks to sync — to the point where it seems Firefox is in hang mode. The Foxmark sync activity has the undesirable trait of of sucking 100% of the cpu resources while doing its thing, thus making it impossible to do anything else on the PC. I really wanted this extension to work (that’s why I gave it a second chance) but it is either poorly written or the Foxmarks’ servers are maxed out.
Two Firefox bookmark extensions that I am very pleased with are “Enhanced Bookmark Search” and “Flat Bookmark Editing.” Both are simple to use and I swear the EBS extension actually speeds up the opening of the Firefox built-in “Organize Bookmark” function.
(Comments wont nest below this level)I just need a Google Bookmarks’ Bookmarklet
(Comments wont nest below this level)Love Foxmarks, works great.
(Comments wont nest below this level)I love Foxmarks too. It is really handy since I a desktop and laptop that each have two operating systems. Then I also use a computer lab a few times a week where it is helpful to have my bookmarks. So far, Foxmarks has been nothing but great.
Anyone know of a mirror for Speed Dial?
(Comments wont nest below this level)Why? I just checked the link, it works fine from my end.
I like “google browser sync”. …suppose it works like forxmarks, maybe not as pretty online, but it syncs all my machines without having to sign up with a new service.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Google Browser Sync is awful and it gained the dubious honour of getting onto Mozilla’s “Problematic Extensions” page – http://kb.mozillazine.org/Problematic_extensions . Mozilla’s recommendation? Uninstall.
Ahh common, did you actually read the reason it’s in the list ?
” Causes excessive CPU usage in general or with GIF animations ”
” May cause notably increased disk usage (in gigabytes) by creating large log files. May cause periodic browser freezes. ”
I suppose your milage may vary depending on what kind of machine you have, but as long as you just sync your bookmarks (actually there’s nothing to do, it’s all transparent) and not sync your every click: cookies, tabs, windows, passwords, history, & whatnot (yup it does all this), i’m sure your good to go.
I have fallen in LOVE with Diigo.com
Easy to use and easy to bookmark.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Yep Diigo all the way. Best bookmarking/annotation tool online.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Anything that helps organize the hundreds of bookmarks I hva ewill help.
DOTTED:
http://www.newsdots.com/software/5-excellent-firefox-extensions-to-manage-your-bookmarks-makeuseof-com/
Added to TopStumbles:
http://www.topstumbles.com/software/5-excellent-firefox-extensions-to-manage-your-bookmarks-makeuseof-com/
STUMBLED!
(Comments wont nest below this level)I may be missing something. But. What I want is better organization. Firefox bookmarks orgainzation as is sucks.
1) The “Organize Bookmarks” section to remain unaffected by menu scroll-down. just like it is in Explorer.
2) I want to be able to delete a bookmark without the menu snapping back up so I lose my place–you often see an obsolete bookmark while scrolling to another one, so deletion should not abort the scroll position. Again, this feature is in Explorer.
3.) When I click “sort by name” I want ALL the bookmarks to be alphabetized. Now only some are and I cannot find a way to get ALL the books marks in the menu to “organize” by alphabet.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but you guys all seem pretty knowledgeable about Firefox so I thought I’d give it a shot.
I want to delete ALL of my bookmarks from Firefox AT ONCE.
I can’t find any valid information on this.
I found tons of stuff on how to KEEP your bookmarks when what I want is to get rid of the damn things! lol. =/
The few articles I’ve found that said anything about deleting them either told how to delete one at a time (DUH! -.-) or the techniques just plain didn’t work.
I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling and that didn’t work either. The bookmarks came right back with the new install! (which I don’t understand because other people complained that they lost all of theirs this way. Which is what I actually WANT and it won’t do it for me. Maybe Firefox just hates me. I never have been very fond of it [and NO, I do NOT prefer IE, I HATE IE.], but everyone always makes such a huge deal about it like it’s so fantastic, I thought I’d give it another chance and try the newer version. However, my bookmarks are so overcrowded with a bunch of outdated crap that I no longer want I can’t find anything else.
Anybody know a simple way (i.e. not overly technical as I am technologically-challenged) to resolve this? And please, someone who can explain it in English rather than computerese?
Thanks.
(Comments wont nest below this level)It’s actually quite easy
1. Open My Coputer Folder
2. Go to C drive
3. Documents and Settings
4. Select your username (or Administration)
5. Application Data (if you don’t see it it measn you need to enable hidden folders)
6. Then select Mozilla Firefox folder
7. Delete the bookmarks.htm file (save a copy of it o the desktop, just in case)
8. restart Firefox
@Aibek: that will work with FF2 but not FF3. in FF3 the bookmarks are now stored in an sqlite file … and they resist simple deletion.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Speed dial is cool! Thanks for sharing Thomas
(Comments wont nest below this level)Reyna – it’s pretty easy to delete all of your firefox 3 favorites. Open up firefox, go to your bookmarks menu, and click on organize bookmarks. Click on the bookmarks icon on the left (underneath all bookmarks). This should show you all of your bookmarks and folders. Use ctrl+A to select all folders and files … then push the delete key on your keyboard.
I’m looking for a good alternative to foxmarks, as it takes up too much cpu on my old laptop causing it to overheat. Haven’t found anything good yet.
(Comments wont nest below this level)I adore TidyFavorites. On the one hand, it’s like a SpeedDial – a custom home page with live screenshots; on the other hand, it allows to sync bookmarks between all major browsers and has a portability option. Very convenient!
(Comments wont nest below this level)продам Форд-Фокус 2008 года за 200 тр. торг возможет. срочно!!!
(Comments wont nest below this level)+7 960 200 9209
Very useful, I’m using smart bookmarks pro with favicon picker 2, both brilliant add-ons!
(Comments wont nest below this level)I just wish someone would update “BookmarksHome” to the new firefox. Makes a locally stored attractive page from your bookmarks, organize anyway you like using folders.
(Comments wont nest below this level)cool list thanks. To know more about bookmark add-ons visit ekoob
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