Soroush Javidi

If you visit Firefox's add-on website, you will see that there are mixed views about the del.icio.us Bookmarks extension by Yahoo! Inc. Some have found it to be useless and confusing while others think it's great. Here I will be writing about this extension and how to make the most of it by using del.icio.us' features right inside your browser. I'm not talking about

the "classic" del.icio.us extension. The "classic" extension provides two buttons for the toolbar, one for tagging a page and posting it to your del.icious account; the other for visting your account page. On the other hand, the del.icio.us Bookmarks extension replaces Firefox's bookmark manager, with one that is integrated with your del.icio.us account. Once I updated to Firefox 2, I installed del.icio.us Bookmarks instead of the "classic" one, mainly because I didn't realise that two versions were now available!

Using 'normal' bookmarks

On my older Firefox installation, I used the "classic" extension to quickly tag and post something to my del.icio.us account. I found this to be easier than copy+pasting URLs and description or using a bookmarklet. The 'new' extension came as a surprise to me when it said that it will replace my bookmarks, and I must admit it felt uncomfortable!

I have a set of bookmarks that are basically archives of resources, but my mostly used bookmarks are the toolbar bookmarks; where I store my daily visited websites and articles that I want to read at a later time. I wasn't happy that I wouldn't have my toolbar bookmarks the way I want them: I had several bookmarks (favicon only, no text) for emails, couple of folders with frequently visited blogs and a few more favicons. I had gotten used to it the way it was, ideal for my use. Well, habbits are hard to break!

Using 'online' bookmarks

Once I had downloaded the extension and restarted Firefox, the installation asked me to provide my del.icio.us account details, asked whether to upload my current bookmarks, and what tag to use when uploading them. It also said that I could revert back to 'normal' bookmarks if I didn't like the extension. Although, some people were complaining on the extension's page, saying they lost all their bookmarks once they uninstalled it.

I'll give a simple method further down for retrieving your normal bookmarks, if you had problems with the extension and want to go back. I uploaded my bookmarks (about 80) with the tag imported to my del.icio.us account.During the process, del.icio.us had tried to add tags that would be related to my bookmark. I have to say that it wasn't the best guesses in the world! It created inconsistencies (variations of a tag), used different languages (French, Chinese) and so I had to clean them up later. Thankfully there were only about 80! After having uploaded my bookmarks I was ready to use them, well sort of! I would add that, the option exsists to keep your imported bookmarks private.

Who is del.icio.us Bookmarks for?

Firstly, you should have a del.icio.us account! I think to truely appreciate this extension, you should have used del.icio.us and grown accustomed to storing your bookmarks online, posting links and using tags for quick retrieval. Otherwise, you'll just find it a waste of time and a hopeless pool of links! Personally, I wasn't sure about storing my bookmarks somewhere on the Internet, but later found to like it.

Making del.icio.us Bookmarks useful

This extension not only replaces the usual Firefox bookmark manager allowing you to manage everything online , but it also presents another way to display bookmarks on the toolbar. This is the bonus for using this extension over the "classic" one. There are two views called Bookmarks View and Tags View. Bookmarks View shows bookmarks relating to a tag in a row on the toolbar, whereas the Tags View shows a tag name and clicking it provides a drop-down list with bookmarks with that tag. In other words, Tags View is like using folders! (Think of Gamil and its labels) You might still be a bit confused (I was) from the description of these two views and their differences, but it'll become clear once you start to use it. So let's do that...

Creating a "daily" bookmark toolbar

I'm sure you store your daily visited websites on your toolbar. We can recreate the same thing suing del.icio.us Bookmarks. I added the tag firefox:toolbar to my stored bookmarks on del.icio.us to signify bookmarks that I use regularly on a daily basis. I also added firefox:tools to those bookmarks that I had in my previouly 'normal' bookmark folder names tools (in my case, used daily, contained bookmarklets). Both these tags didn't exsist on my bookmarks before therefore had to be added before doing anything with the extension. Now, click the del.icio.us icon on the bookmarks toolbar to be provided with a drop-down menu. Click on Manage Favourite Tags... and type firefox:toolbar in the textbox and click the Add Tag button.

Do a similar thing with firefox:tools. If you now click on Bookmarks View, you will see that you have recreated your daily bookmarks (image below). On that note, you may want to give another tag instead of firefox:toolbar, up to you!

If you click Tags View, you'll be presented with two drop-down menus that hold your bookmarks... just like a folder! Very neat! See image below:

You can continue to add tags in the Manage Favourite Tags dialogue in the same way. For example, try adding your mostly read blogs. Remember that whatever you want to add has to exist in your account and have an appropriate tag. But it doesn't stop there... 

Mix and match

Just as you can search for a combination of tags on your del.icio.us account (e.g. blog+tech), you can create toolbar bookmarks based based on a mix of tags. This is useful for creating virtual folders (i.e. in Tag View) of blogs, separated by subject. Lots of different variations based on your needs and how you've used tags when posting your items.

Dynamic Bookmark Toolbar

It's very easy to switch from one set of bookmarks to another in the Bookmarks View. Just click the tag name and choose another tag from the drop-down. Your toolbar will instantaneously be replaced with another row of bookmarks. Dynamic bookmarks!

Synchronise your bookmarks on several computers

With this extension you can also synchronise your bookmarks. How? Well, you are storing your bookmarks on del.icio.us and by installing the extension on all Firefox browsers that you use, you can access the same bookmarks. Hitting two birds with one stone!

Save link for later reading

There has been times that I have found several interesting articles that I want to read, but am short of time. It may also be that you're at work, and can't spend time reading an article that you stumbled upon. There's a handy way to save this for later reading!

Basically, you can use the synchronising behaviour of this extension. When you want to save an article for later viewing, tag it (using the big tag button on the toolbar or Bookmark This Page right-click menu) as toread (or something meaningful to you). Now if you add a tag to your toolbar bookmarks with that name, and you'll be able to read it later on. This can be added to, for example, your home computer where you'll read the article and decide to keep it (where you'll add more useful tags and remove toread), or delete it.

del.icio.us Bookmarks does Keywords and Bookmarklets

That's right, just like the 'normal' bookmarks, you can add keywords that will make searching website easier. Right-click a search box, and click Add a Keyword for this Search. You'll be able to add your keyword through the dialogue box that pops up. The same applies with bookmarklets. You can save and tag bookmarklets and use them when necessary. Just add a meaningful name so that you'd be able to see them on your bokmarks toolbar.

Searching for Bookmarks

But what about all those other stored bookmarks on your del.icio.us account? You can quickly search then from the Firefox toolbar by clicking the big del.icio.us icon and typing your search term. Searching happens as soon as you typing showing relevant results. You can again type a tag for a link you have in mind and narrow it down by adding more tags (eg. reference+programming). Middle clicking a result will open it in a new tab, which is handy. Once a link is loaded, either from the toolbar or via search, the favicon (if it exists) will be shown with the link the next time round which is a good visual aid for finding a bookmark. If you are using Firefox on a Mac, you can enable favicons on the toolbar by adding some lines of code to your profile. I have detailed that previously (see tip number 5).

What happened to my old bookmarks?

I wrote above that you may want to retrieve your old bookmarks and go back to using the default firefox bookmark manager. You can find a backup copy of your old bookmarks in your profile, which is located at Library > Application Support > Firefox > Profiles > xxx.default if you are using a Mac and in %AppData% > Mozilla > Profiles. The backup is named bk_bookmarks.html. I would add that I have only tried this on a Mac, but it should be found with the same name in a Windows installation as well. In case you forgot to backup a copy of your bookmarks before installing this extension, then you'll find a backup here.

Summary

I hope I've been able to give some interesting insight into this useful, but under-rated (rating of 2.17 currently from users) extension. I'm sure that for avid del.icio.us users who are patient enough to get used to this new way of Firefox bookmarking; del.icio.us Bookmarks will provide a more flexible way to store and retrieve bookmarks. So go and download the extension now, use it and share your tips on it usage here.