Bookmark Management

[Kas]

I post this to inspire comment on controlling Bookmarks.

 

My chosen default browser is Chrome. I used Firefox for many years, but for the past 2-3 years have favored Chrome, which I find perfect  for all my requirements.

 

I still have Firefox as my second choice and IE8 which I never use, as a Windows necessity.

 

When I started with Chrome, I imported all my Bookmarks from Firefox and IE. This resulted in around 10,000 Bookmarks, most of them being duplicates. Even normal Bookmark usage can get out of hand and result in a massive list of them.

 

To cure this initial influx, I found a brilliant little program called AM Deadlink from -http://aignes.com/deadlink.htm. It worked superbly and with some caution I deleted all the duplicate Bookmarks and reduced my Chrome content to around 1,700. I use AMD now on a regular basis to control my Bookmarks. AMD contains a number of features which are extremely useful, including highlighting "errors".

 

I now have only 1,300 Bookmarks in Chrome. AMD also enables you to  select Firefox and IE.

 

[TheWebAtom]

I've been using Bookmark Sentry to achieve the same thing.

[Kas]

I've been using Bookmark Sentry to achieve the same thing.

Good. But millions of users just let Bookmarks grow into a colossal list. They do not even check it.

[hazelnut]

I don't want something else checking my bookmarks. I keep them under control myself.

[Kas]

I don't want something else checking my bookmarks. I keep them under control myself.

That is fine when you catch them early and maintain regular control, but when you get a vast influx as I described can happen and does, then your manual policy would be a life-time commitment and this thread is for those users who are not so diligent or even know how many Bookmarks they have.

[TheWebAtom]

Yeah, when you have 1,000's of bookmarks manually keeping them in order is not practical.

[Andavari]

I don't want something else checking my bookmarks. I keep them under control myself.

 

I also manually manage my bookmarks.

 

I don't have an excessive amount that would require any automation software looking for dead links in them.

 

It would be interesting if those automated systems could know if a site has went dead and has been taken over by a rogue. I've seen that all too often when a legit website gets abandoned by for example a software developer, and is then bought by someone up to no good.

[mta]

I've never had a requirement to bookmark a page.

But then I have a homepage along the lines of Fast Dial and Speed Dial that is just a HTML page I wrote that contains images with the necessary hyperlinks to the 20'odd sites I visit regularly.

 

I couldn't imagine having 1000's, or even 100's, of bookmarks, trying to find the site you bookmarked would be longer than simply re-searching for it.

[TheWebAtom]

Yes, you're right MTA. Thousands of bookmarks is horribly inefficient. I only have so many because there was time I had to check hundreds of sites and message boards for updates every day; and most of them were just static HTML.

 

These days I just use Feedbin and email subscriptions to keep track of things.

[Kas]

With a large Bookmark content, finding any subject you remember bookmarking is easy. With Chrome, just bring up Bookmark Manager, enter a keyword or part keyword relevant to the subject you are looking for in the search box and BINGO ! Up comes a list from which you eyeball for. No big deal.

 

You do not bookmark an item so that you can specifically find that item later. Items are bookmarked on a basis of subject. So when you search your bookmarks, all the items relevant to your chosen subject are listed.

Among these may be the specific item you actually remember bookmarking 5 years ago, if your memory is that good.

 

If it is that important, try another keyword.

[Andavari]

Among these may be the specific item you actually remember bookmarking 5 years ago, if your memory is that good.

 

With the way pages change nowadays I don't know, I'm not talking about something like www.piriform.com but lets say another page nestled in there such as a download page I wouldn't count on it being there in five years time because they will perhaps change it. I remember when pages rarely got moved about, can't rely upon that anymore not even with products sold on sites.

[Kas]

With the way pages change nowadays I don't know, I'm not talking about something like www.piriform.com but lets say another page nestled in there such as a download page I wouldn't count on it being there in five years time because they will perhaps change it. I remember when pages rarely got moved about, can't rely upon that anymore not even with products sold on sites.

Cases of redundant, outdated or non-existent links are a fundamental ingredient of Bookmark accumulation. When you save them and bring them up a long time later, the link shown is always the current one, not the old one saved yonks ago. If the link no longer exists, so what, it is gone.

 

The  screening out of these old and non-existent links is exactly what the Bookmark management programs do and really what this thread is all about.

[Andavari]

Eventually over time that bookmark manager will be removing everything, as websites go kaput and new ones take their place.

[Kas]

Eventually over time that bookmark manager will be removing everything, as websites go kaput and new ones take their place.

Not "everything". The Internet is so infinitely large that the attrition to which you refer will make no difference whatsoever to the subject of Bookmarks. As some websites go kaput as you say, other websites will take their place in abundance. The Internet growth rate is unstoppable It conforms to the pattern of natural phenomena for growth and decay, to which life itself conforms - some you lose and some you gain.

[TheWebAtom]

As I said, newer sites are easier to track with tools like Evernote or RSS readers. The need for bookmarks is heavily reduced these days. As Andavari said, over time I expect my bookmark manager to wipe my collection clean.

[Kas]

As I said, newer sites are easier to track with tools like Evernote or RSS readers. The need for bookmarks is heavily reduced these days. As Andavari said, over time I expect my bookmark manager to wipe my collection clean.

A fallacy ! The Bookmark population will remain the same as it is today - HIGH ! And the need for management tools will also remain the same. Like I said - SOME YOU LOSE AND SOME YOU GAIN - the population pattern conforms to the natural format of the degree of growth and decay. You can relate it to the population of your country in terms of forecast and prediction.

 

The need for Bookmarks has no bearing whatsoever on statistics, it is USERS who determine demand and that characteristic will remain as constant with time as it is now.

 

Verdict ?  No change.

[TheWebAtom]

Except the decline in bookmark usage is a fact. Check out the feature usage stats of the browsers that reveal such information (Firefox, Opera, Chrome)

 

Opera actually removed bookmark support (although they later restored it to appeal the vocal minority) because their usage stats suggested very few people actually use them these days.

 

Don't fall into the trap of thinking the way you (and I, for that matter) use a product is the same as the majority of others.

[Kas]

Except the decline in bookmark usage is a fact. Check out the feature usage stats of the browsers that reveal such information (Firefox, Opera, Chrome)

 

Opera actually removed bookmark support (although they later restored it to appeal the vocal minority) because their usage stats suggested very few people actually use them these days.

 

Don't fall into the trap of thinking the way you (and I, for that matter) use a product is the same as the majority of others.

Pure speculation or opinion, not a population behavior.

[TheWebAtom]

Usage stats are not "speculation." Making an assumption about the usage patterns of billions of users using your own personal behaviour, is speculation.

[Kas]

Usage stats are not "speculation." Making an assumption about the usage patterns of billions of users using your own personal behaviour, is speculation.

We agree to disagree, but no hard feelings. Everybody is entitled to their own  opinion.

[TheWebAtom]

In the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts"

[Kas]

In the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts"

AMEN

[Kas]

I've been using Bookmark Sentry to achieve the same thing.

I added Bookmark Sentry to Chrome and gave it a go.

 

It resulted in a list which is more complicated and colorful to read and implement than AM Deadlink. In fact I found it confusing.

AM Deadlink is simple, much more user friendly, less cluttered and infinitely easier to use. So although BS is stylish and somewhat impressive in design and layout, I  dumped it in favor of simple efficiency.

 

AMD has cleaned my Chrome up to only 1,300 Bookmarks. My Firefox has 5,000 bookmarks, but I do not use this browser very often and have no wish to waste my time cleaning up the Bookmarks. Let them rot until such time as I find it necessary to clean them up.

 

Whether one needs so many Bookmarks is irrelevant and of only cosmetic consideration. I chose to save them, so until I  choose to delete them, they stay.

 

Whilst browsers include a Bookmark Save button as a user facility, then the unstoppable Tsunami of Bookmarks will continue. It is solely  dependent on user behavior and nothing else. No market forces, no reduction in demand, no epidemic of link deaths, no bogey man - just the habitual mouse clicks of countless millions of users throughout the world.

 

The presence of huge Bookmark lists on a users PC is not a science. You do not need a Masters Degree to decide whether to Bookmark an item, it is simply a  compulsive attitude on the part of users. Purely "Oh, that`s interesting, I`ll Bookmark it" and unknowingly, before long you have several thousand stashed away.

Have space - will fill.

[Corona]

SuperFast?

[hazelnut]

No it isn't. Perhaps a distant cousin on the tabs side.