007 Web Tools

I have long advocated using more than one browser at a time and I will frequently have both IE7 and Firefox open, sometime with multiple windows and always with multiple tabs. But it does play havoc with my bookmarks (called Favorites in Internet Explorer). Here are some tips and suggestions for mastering bookmarks and for clipping elements from webpages you find interesting.

Creating and organizing bookmarks
Most browsers provide tools for creating folders, and for moving and renaming bookmarks. It’s a good habit to frequently clear out old bookmarks and rename ones that no longer make any sense to you.

Sharing bookmarks between browsers
IE, Firefox and Safari all have options for either importing or exporting bookmarks (or both) among themselves or to an external file. It might help the clutter to save all your bookmarks to an external file — name it Bookmarks 2007 — and then delete all but the most essential reminders from your current list. When you need to go back and locate a URL from 2007, simply open that file from the browser using the Open File… option.

(Mac OS X only) AllBookmarks adds a new item to your Mac OS X menu bar giving you quick access to all your bookmarks. All your Safari, Firefox and Flock bookmarks are shown and can be selected.

Synchronizing bookmarks on several computers (Firefox)
The Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer automatically synchronizes your bookmarks between two or more computers running Firefox. It also lets you access your bookmarks from any computer anytime via my.foxmarks.com. An easy-to-use wizard guides you through the quick startup process. Then Foxmarks works silently in the background to keep your bookmarks up-to-date on all your computers. Simple. Solid. Free. And ready to use.

Access your bookmarks from any computer online
Google Bookmarks is an online service that lets you save your favorite sites and attach labels and annotations. Unlike the bookmark feature from your browser, bookmarks are stored securely online, so they are accessible even if you’re using other computers. The most important features that set Google Bookmark apart from other services is that all your bookmarks are private (nobody else can see them) and fully searchable. You are no longer restricted to the title of the page, the description and the URL - you can search the entire page. A similar service is the new version of Yahoo Bookmarks.

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website — the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders. You can also use del.icio.us to see the interesting links that your friends and other people bookmark, and share links with them in return. You can even browse and search del.icio.us to discover the cool and useful bookmarks that everyone else has saved — which is made easy with tags.

Clipping and sharing highlights from a page
Clipmarks lets you clip specific pieces of web pages, then share what you clip with your friends on Facebook, MySpace or anywhere else. Unlike bookmarks that let you share a link to an entire page, the free clip button lets you capture and share the highlights from the page. Clips can also be saved privately, emailed or printed.

With Google Notebook, you can browse, clip, and organize information from across the web in a single online location that’s accessible from any computer. Planning a course? Researching a lecture? Just add clippings to your notebook. You won’t ever have to leave your browser window. You can also quickly clip Google search results by clicking on the Note this link at the bottom of any search result.

Rick and I are sharing a Google Notebook to experiment with its features. Feel free to join us. Just comment to this blog or contact either one of us. Try out some of the other tools descried above and let us know what you think.

If you are like many of us, you may still be using an outdated browsers and searching techniques that you learn back in 1997. Over the next few posts, I would like to offer some simple tips for organizing, browsing, bookmarking and annotating web content so that it makes sense to you and you can find it when you need it.

Automatic updates:

First of all, make sure your operating system and browser are up-to-date. By spending just a few minutes each month updating your computer you will be protecting youself from viruses and malicious software and providing yourself with the most sophisticated software available. It is very easy to setup your system to automatically download updates whenever they are available.

Using multiple windows and tabs:

Some web sites and application work better for me using Firefox, others work better with Internet Explorer (or Safari on the Mac). I frequently have both open at the same time…and I always use multiple tabs within the browser. It allows me to keep several sites open at the same time and switch back and forth easily. Learn all you can about tabs and I’m sure you will find them very helpful. For instance:

• You can bookmark several tabs at once and easily return to your favorite set of sites.
• You can designate this favorite set of sites as your default setup.

I use Internet Explorer for Luminus (Pipeline), checking my 3900 calls and Google.
I use Mozilla Firefox for several blogs I am currently testing, Google Reader for RSS feeds, Meebo (web-based Instant Messaging) and the IWU Wiki.
And I may have another Firefox session (Window) open if I have a current project that requires several sites at a time.

To learn more about tabbed browsing, search the Help sections of your browser or search the internet for “tabbed browsing tips”. Let me know how it works out for you. We’ve setup a page on the campus Wiki to discuss your favorite 007 Web Tools.