Thanks to extensions, users can add new abilities and improve almost all the existing features of a browser – including bookmarking. If you are a Chrome user and you want to expand the ability of your browser’s bookmarking feature, you could try Quickmarks – an extension that will help you to quickly open and manage bookmarks in Chrome using simple keywords.

It Takes Two Steps

You could say that Quickmarks is a bookmark launcher, comparable to application launchers on your personal computer. You can get it by going to the Quickmarks page in the Chrome Web Store and clicking the “Install” button.

The extension will then be added to your browser and a notification window will pop up.

The basic usage of this extension is fairly simple. Just type “b” (sans quote) in the Chrome address bar (or the “omnibox” as some call it), click “Tab“, and type in the name of the bookmark you want to open. A list of possible bookmarks will appear as you type the name. You can navigate the list by using the up and down arrows on your keyboard. To choose an entry, hit “Enter“. Everything is done without the need to touch the mouse.

In the spirit of a mouse-free environment, some may ask how to get to the omnibox without using the mouse. You can use the tab button to move between the fields on the open page. By hitting tab repeatedly, you will finally arrive at the omnibox. But the simplest way is to use the “History – Home” menu (Ctrl + Shift + H on Windows or Command + Shift + H for Mac). This menu will put the focus on the omnibox so you can quickly type in the Quickmarks’ shortcut.

More Tricks Under The Sleeves

Even though the basic usage of Quickmarks is just “b – tab – name“, there are a few more tricks you could apply to make the whole process even swifter. The first one is adding shorter shortcuts to your bookmarks.

To do that, open “Bookmarks – Bookmark Manager” (or Control + Shift + B / Command + Option + B).

The Bookmark Manager will open in a new tab, and you can look or search for the page that you want. To assign new keyword(s) to your bookmarks, select one, and right click on it. After that, choose “Edit” from the pop-up window.

The bookmark name and URL will be editable. All you have to do to assign a keyword(s) to the bookmark is to add your preferred characters between square brackets. For example, I wanted to add “dk” as the keyword to summon the “Discovery Kids” page, so I added “[dk]” after the site name.

Using keywords like this, you can summon any bookmark page quicker by using “b – tab – keywords“. Still using the example above, if I wanted to open Discovery Kids, I only have to type “b – tab – dk” and hit “Enter“.

There’s another trick you could do with Quickmarks: to quickly summon bookmarklets. In Safari, users can open a bookmark/bookmarklet by using the shortcut keys Control + Number / Command + Number, where “Number” is the order of the bookmark location in the bookmark bar.

We can use Quickmarks to achieve the same thing. Just add a number as the keyword for your bookmarklet, and you can quickly summon it using the number.

For example, I added “[1]” to Quix. So every time I want to open Quix, I just use “b – tab – 1“. You can use the trick to open other useful bookmarklets like Joliprint, Instapaper, or Evernote.

Have you tried Quickmarks to manage bookmarks in Chrome? What do you think about it? Can you think of other practical ideas for Quickmarks? Please share using the comments below.

FireFox’s Awesome Bar “Frecency” (“frequency” + “recency”) algorithm has worked very well for quickly finding what I need and where I want to go:

Frecency is a score given to each unique URI in Places, encompassing bookmarks, history and tags. This score is determined by the amount of revisitation, the type of those visits, how recent they were, and whether the URI was bookmarked or tagged.

But even using it for ages, I wasn’t aware of the following Firefox Awesome Bar tips which make it even more awesome!

1. Three Awesome Awesome Bar Search Tips

Typing what you remember about the required URL is almost always enough to instantly find what you need but did you know that you can filter Awesome Bar suggestions by type?

Only Search Within Your Bookmarks

Type a single * and then your search term. Only bookmarked pages will be searched and, what’s more, the associated tags will be displayed and the tag names will also match your search (when possible):

Quick tip! Do you want to see the list of your most frequent and recent bookmarks? Just type a single * in the awesome bar and see the list!

Only Search Within Your History

Use ^ to filter search to your browser history (and exclude pages that have been given a star).

Quick tip! Use ^ ( without additional search terms) to find pages that you have visited frequently and recently to consider bookmarking and tagging them:

Only Search Within Your Tagged Pages

Use + that restricts the search to tagged pages (and search within tags as well).

2. Quickly Find Any Open Tab

If you are a fan of FireFox 4 “Switch to Tab” functionality that lets you quickly jump to a currently open tab (instead of loading the same page again in a new tab), you will love this tip.

To see the list of all currently open tabs in your browser, just type % in your Awesome bar and you’ll see the list and, what’s more, will get an option to jump to any of those:

Quick Tip! If you have too many tabs open, you can quickly find the one you have in mind: just start typing a related word after the %:

In case you are looking forward to more FireFox URL bar tips, here’s an old post we did on how to enhance productivity with FireFox’s Address bar that lists some handy keyboard shortcuts to activate and browse the Awesome Bar as well as some other tips and addons.

Are you aware of any other awesome Awesome Bar search tips and shortcuts? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Are you ready to step into The Cloud? In this article I will show you how you can become largely independent of local data storage and store your data in the cloud. I will provide an overview of how the Internet can help you sync information across different software, platforms and devices to have your data accessible anytime, anywhere by you or by anyone you choose.

Cloud Messaging: Email

Whether you maintain a webmail account like Yahoo, Hotmail, or GMail or send and receive email via a desktop client, your messages inevitably pass through The Cloud and are stored on Internet servers, at least temporarily. The advantage of a webmail account that permanently stores your mails online, is that you cannot lose important messages and data. Some people even scan important documents and mail them to their own webmail account in order to have permanent access to them. It’s a thought worth tossing around.

Consider Google Mail for a permanent webmail account. Apart from over 7GB of free storage, it offers incredible features that will let you experience email in a whole new light.

MakeUseOf has covered GMail extensively. Here is a small selection:

• The Ultimate Guide To Gmail [PDF]
• How To Search Emails In Gmail Efficiently
• How to Turn Your Gmail into Awesome Storage Tool
• How To Quickly Find Messages With Attachments In Gmail
• 3 Things Pro Gmail Users Have Set Up In Their Accounts
• 4 Simple Steps To Achieving & Maintaining Inbox Zero In Gmail
• 3 Great Examples of Using Gmail Filters for Productivity

Online File Storage: Dropbox

At first sight, Dropbox is a harmless little folder that sits on your desktop and holds your files. What hides behind it however, is a nifty little sync tool that works in the background and never hassles you. Not only are files in your Dropbox automatically encrypted and synced to your online Dropbox account, you also have access to 30 days of undo history, you can share Dropbox subfolders with your friends, access your files online, or sync them to as many devices as you like. 2GB of this cloud storage madness is totally free.

Care to learn more about Dropbox? Check out these articles:

• The First Unofficial Guide To Dropbox
• 3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts
• How To Easily Synchronize Folders Outside Dropbox Using Symlinks

Brain Online: Evernote

Evernote is something like your online pinboard or fridge for useful bits and pieces of information, some even call it their external brain. Whether it’s business cards, recipes, ideas, pictures, or invitations, on Evernote you can store any piece of information you want to remember. Evernote will index text, even from scanned documents or pictures and whenever you need the information, you can easily search and access your data collection wherever you are.

Let us get you started on Evernote:

• 7 Ways To Make Use Of Evernote
• 6 Ways To Add Your Information To Evernote
• Evernote – The Killer App For The Android Mobile Phone

Passwords Anywhere: LastPass

What is the greatest annoyance when you quickly want to check your email on a friend’s computer or in an Internet café? After years of letting your browser store your password, you actually forget it! The same fate awaits those who reinstall their computer or set up a new device.

LastPass is a long term solution because it encrypts and stores your passwords online. It also offers extensions for all major browsers and mobile devices, allowing you to sync passwords across multiple browsers and operating systems and all your gadgets. In addition, LastPass provides a secure password generator, which creates nearly uncrackable passwords.

• Securely Synchronize Your Browser Passwords With LastPass

Bookmarks Sync: Xmarks

When we talk about The Cloud, we’re automatically talking about browsers and bookmarks. Browsers are our digital window into The Net and being the most important tool for accessing the Internet, many people are almost emotionally attached to their browser. While many browsers now offer syncing of personal data, what they all lack is cross-browser-syncing of bookmarks. What good are your bookmarks if you cannot access them anywhere?

• Xmarks Syncs Bookmarks & Passwords Between All Major Browsers

Note that Xmarks will no longer sync passwords. The company has acquired LastPass and is thus deprecating the password sync feature in Xmarks.

Cloud Entertainment: Amazon Cloud Drive & Player

Right now, Amazon Cloud Drive is nothing but yet another online storage space. However, with the introduction of its Cloud Player, it provides a glimpse into the future of digital entertainment. Soon, we will store our media files locally, they will all be located in the cloud and accessible through apps on our digital devices. You can text the future now by using the 5GB free space on Amazon Cloud Drive for your music (US only).

Do you now see how laptops in the future will be based on a browser rather than an operating system? If you’re all ears about The Cloud now, you might like these articles:

• How Does Cloud Computing Work?
• Build Yourself A Virtual Cloud To Fall Back On
• Do You Live In The Cloud? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Needless to say, an article like this can only scratch the surface and show the biggest and best cloud tools to store data in the cloud. There are many, many more and I’m sure you know one or the other. So are you floating freely in The Cloud already or is something holding you back? Please share your opinions in the comments!

Image credits: Lightspring

I’ve used the Google preview option before, but never really found the time to really dig into how much time the right website preview solution could save. Basically, I was too busy to discover how much time I could save – as ironic as that sounds. That is, until I discovered CoolPreview.

Using The CoolPreviews Firefox Plugin

Once you install the CoolPreviews plugin, the link preview feature is ready to go. Also, unlike Google Instant Preview, the CoolPreviews plugin will give you a link preview window everywhere you go on the Internet, regardless of what website you’re on. All you have to do is hover your mouse over any link at all, and you’ll see the CoolPreviews icon show up.

Hover your mouse over that icon, and the preview “window” pops up and shows you the webpage in a scrollable format. It’s actually like having an embedded browser window inside the existing browser window. You can explore the page, click on links and check out the site without ever leaving the current page that you’re on. If you like what you see, just click the button at the top of the window to open the site in a new tab. Don’t like it? Just close the window.

If you don’t want to bother with opening and closing the preview window every time you want to see a link, just click on the pin icon at the upper right corner of the screen and the preview window will stay available.

Just slide the preview window down to the corner of your browser window, and it’ll show you a quick preview of every link you hover your mouse over – a fast and easy way to browse the web from one browser window. Gone are the days of opening tab after tab just to check links.

As you browse through the Internet in one tab, you just glide your mouse over each link, glance at the site in the website preview pane, move on the the next link, and keep on rolling until you see the page that has the information you want. Then you can click to open it in a new tab (or just navigate the page from the preview window itself!)

It’s also really easy to customize the behavior and appearance of the preview window by clicking on the settings button. Change when the preview window appears, where it shows up on the browser window, and even the theme of the preview window.

Additional Features

Another really useful feature of CoolPreviews is the Google Images feature. When you search Google Images and hover your mouse over an image, a preview of the picture in its actual size will show up in the CoolPreviews window. If you want to see all of the images from the Google Image results in a clean and convenient slideshow gallery, just click on the Play button.

A large slideshow window will open with the selected image in the center pane, and a navigation slider at the bottom. Just click the arrow to browse through all of the Google Image results.

Another really cool feature of CoolPreviews is the Temporary Bookmark Stack. If you find a cool site that you want to bookmark for future reading, just tap the “Stack” button, and the add-on will toss the URL into a virtual stack of webpages.

You’ll see a small tab attached to the right side of the browser window which you can tap on to explore your stack of bookmarks whenever you like.

What’s the point of “temporary” bookmarks? Well, have you ever been researching a particular subject, and you wanted to just fly through search results and save the URL’s for deeper reading later? Basicaly, CoolPreviews lets you do three steps in one. You do a Google Search, hover over the links to see a page preview, and when you see something useful, you can bookmark it to read later. You can do all three steps with a single click.

CoolPreviews converted me to the world of “link previews” – and I’ve already started cutting down a lot of time off my research efforts. I’m confident it’ll do the same for you. Give it a try and let us know how you liked it in the comments section below!

In order to win back the hearts of its users, the latest version of the Fox offers many improvements and new features. One of the new features is “Firefox Sync” which will help users to synchronize their bookmarks across computers. While the feature might not be useful for users with one computer, those who work with multiple computers will really appreciate this ability.

Setting Up The Sync Environment

• To utilize the sync feature, make sure that all of your computers have Firefox 4 installed.  If your Firefox is still the older version, you need to download the latest version first.

• After Firefox 4 is installed, open it up and go to the “Set Up Sync” menu. In the Mac version, this menu is located under “Tools“; while in the Windows version, it’s under the “Firefox” menu.

• You can choose one of the computers to start setting up your Firefox Sync account and add the other computers to the account later. Click the “Create a New Account” button in the “Firefox Sync Setup” window.

• Continue by filling in your email address and chosen password in the Account Details.

• You will get the “Sync Key”. You will use the key to set up and add another computer to the sync account. Due to its importance, it’s advisable to save the key and keep it safe.

• The key will be saved as an HTML file. If you have a Dropbox account and have the application installed on the other computers that you use, it’s a good idea to save the Firefox Sync Key file in the Dropbox folder so you can access it easily.

• Now the set up process is complete. Click the “Done” button to wrap up.

Adding Other Firefoxes To The System

The next step is to add other Firefoxes in other computers to your account.

• Go to the “Set Up Sync” menu on the other Firefox and start the setup process again.

• But now click the “Connect” button instead of “Create A New Account“.

• You will see “Add a Device” window and you will have three sets of codes. Leave this window open for a while and go back to the first computer where you set up the Firefox Sync account.

• In the first computer, open “Preferences” and choose the “Sync” tab. Click the “Add a Device” link and write down the three codes that you got in the previous step.

• It’s possible that you may not have the first computer with you when you add another computer to your sync account. In this case, click the “I don’t have the device with me” link under the three sets of codes. This other option requires you to sign in with your Sync account. Type in your email address and password. Open the saved Firefox Sync Key HTML file and type in the Sync Key.

• And that’s it. You’ve just added another computer to your sync account. Repeat the process for other computers that you use and you are ready to sync your bookmarks across computers.

• To start syncing, open the Firefox menu and choose “Sync Now” under Windows or “Tools – Sync Now” under Mac.

If you are an Android phone user, you can also use the sync feature by installing Firefox on your phone. There’s no Firefox version available for iPhone, but iPhone users can use an app called Firefox Home that will sync and store your Firefox bookmarks.

What do you think of multi-computer bookmark sync systems? Do you use them? Do you prefer Firefox’s built-in system or do you have a better alternative that you use? Share your opinions and knowledge using the comments below.