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
Filed Under: Browser ¦ Lists of tools
Tags: bookmarks, browser tips, firefox tips, synchronize
FYI: ‘To Read Later’ is a different extension than ‘Read It Later’ (the one Mark reviewed).
speed dial is gr8
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).
I use Gmark - it’s nice plugin!)
i like the speed dial to get all my websites thumbnails
“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”
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
I use the Girafa toolbar for the thumbnails, and they have additional features that help you manage all your favorite websites.
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.
I just need a Google Bookmarks’ Bookmarklet
Love Foxmarks, works great.
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?
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.
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.
Yep Diigo all the way. Best bookmarking/annotation tool online.
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!
[...] 5 Excellent Firefox Extensions to Manage Your Bookmarks - from MakeUseOf.com, includes Foxmarks, Delicious Bookmarks and Speed Dial. Bookmark to: [...]
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.