Storing/Sharing Bookmarks On Line

September 12, 2005 11:53 AM

What's the best way to store "bookmarks"or "favorites" on line? I use Mozilla on three different machines and would like to store my bookmarks online so I can access them anywhere. I would also like to be able to update easily, and maybe even merge. I have seen some sites that look cumbersome but private. Others have a "social" aspect that is intriguing, but I wouldn't want all my bookmarks just "out there."
posted by swlabr to Computers & Internet (24 answers total)

Have you tried My Bookmarks?
posted by iconomy at 11:58 AM on September 12, 2005

del.icio.us
posted by neilkod at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2005

Response by poster: I looked at del.icio.us and at its FAQs, and I couldn't tell whether I could choose to keep some bookmarks private but let outhers out into the interesting social web they have there.
posted by swlabr at 12:03 PM on September 12, 2005

I know you dont want your bookmarks 'out there', but really,who cares. If you're worried about that, you can always create a sock puppet account. I use del.icio.us to store important things that nobody else would care about, such as my employer's timesheet application, my 401k login page, even my work's bugzilla-like app. Most browsers have extensions that will synchronize a local bookmarks menu with your delicious account.
posted by neilkod at 12:04 PM on September 12, 2005

Response by poster: And MyBookmarks doesn't seem to support Mozilla . . .
posted by swlabr at 12:04 PM on September 12, 2005

Until today, I used Bookmarks Synchronizer and a free WebDAV account (mine was at Sharemation), although an open FTP server would have been sufficient. But it's been so long since it was updated, and the extension no longer works in Firefox 1.5 Beta. And now that I look at it, I'm not sure it ever worked in Mozilla.
posted by Plutor at 12:04 PM on September 12, 2005

I'm using My Bookmarks right now, with Firefox. Another thing I do is email myself links. I have a huge repository of links in an ongoing gmail to myself.
posted by iconomy at 12:10 PM on September 12, 2005

I second Bookmarks Synchronizer (I use it with an FTP server and three computers) although the link that Plutor gave does not work for installing the extension. Try Extensions Mirror.

Also, he does have an updated version for the Deer Park Alpha.
posted by tuxster at 12:17 PM on September 12, 2005

Response by poster: Well, I got into del.icio.us and can see now that it is not designed for "private bookmarks," but I like other features. So I guess I better design a sock puppet. I am not much of a techie, but I did find this design.
posted by swlabr at 12:19 PM on September 12, 2005

My solution was to custom-code something (relatively) simple in Perl. You can add new sections/categories, and add links (with titles) to the sections. There's no browser integration, though; one of these days I may get around to hacking together a bookmarklet or something for it.
It's hosted on my 'personal' server, and it's protected with a basic Apache .htaccess authentication, just to make sure random people don't start editing or deleting my bookmarks.

If you felt so inclined (and knew some Perl or PHP), you could probably put something simple together rather quickly. Otherwise, I third the recommendation for del.icio.us.
posted by Godbert at 12:19 PM on September 12, 2005

There's also furl.net or spurl.net. I've had better luck with furl and the site seems to load faster. I believe both allow private to semi-private bookmarks and have Mozilla toolbars/buttons.
posted by dual_action at 12:20 PM on September 12, 2005

I use myHq. No complaints.
posted by robbie01 at 1:45 PM on September 12, 2005

Another vote for del.icio.us. Private bookmarks should be on the way, though the 'social' aspect is IMHO the best part.
posted by b. at 2:22 PM on September 12, 2005

The sock puppet is funny. You could always set up a blog and post links to it. Make it really boring and no one will ever notice it. I did that with some links and documentation I needed for work while at different locations. It doesn't get hits, except from me.
posted by theora55 at 2:40 PM on September 12, 2005

I know that Yahoo and Iwon allow you to have customized pages. I add links to that and just go to that page when I am on other computers.
posted by a3matrix at 2:43 PM on September 12, 2005

Response by poster: I wish del.icio.us would allow the wholesale uploading of my bookmarks file.

In this endeavor, I did come upon this "Bookmarks Synchronizer - Firefox Extension" but it is for uploading by ftp. :-(
posted by swlabr at 2:45 PM on September 12, 2005

Seriously you should do delicious. What I like is that when you add a link it gives you suggestions for tags based on what others have used, so you're not typing in tags constantly. I also have my wishlist there which I love, but if you want it private, I don't know how anyone would find it if you didn't tell them.
posted by scazza at 2:47 PM on September 12, 2005

I wish del.icio.us would allow the wholesale uploading of my bookmarks file.

Apparently this exists, "and one of them will even use your bookmark folder names as the tag for them" my SO says.
posted by scazza at 2:53 PM on September 12, 2005

del.icio.us loader
del.ico.us import script (Perl)
Mozilla bookmarks.html to del.icio.us (Ruby)
posted by b. at 3:34 PM on September 12, 2005

Dude, use delicious and just don't tell anyone your username. Nobody will ever know it's you.
posted by pwb503 at 5:42 PM on September 12, 2005

Response by poster: After some errors, or percieved errors, I found that if you enter this url, http://del.icio.us/settings/[PUT YOUR USERNAME HERE]/import, you will find an importer built in in to delicious, one that assigns popular tags to your uploaded bookmarks.

It worked for me. I think I will now just try to delete some of them.

Thanks for all the help. This may be a meaningful thing for me in the long run.

Cheers!
posted by swlabr at 6:16 AM on September 13, 2005

Response by poster: Now if only I could figure out an easy way to upload all my bookmarks from my other machine without having the delicious account full of duplications!
posted by swlabr at 7:09 AM on September 13, 2005

Two machines, duplicate bookmarks? Why don't you try exporting the bookmarks from one machine to Excel or something, then sort them alphabetically by the URL. Save the file, and send it to machine number 2 and do the same thing. It'll take a little time to compare the two files, but shouldn't take too long.

At that point, I'm not sure if you can import directly to delicious or if you'd need to export back to a bookmarks file, then export to delicious. Good luck.
posted by pwb503 at 10:38 AM on September 13, 2005

I'm another fan of My Bookmarks. I've never had a problem using it with Firefox, and if I'm away from home, I can access all my fun and information sites from any other computer.
posted by essexjan at 2:02 PM on September 13, 2005