Keep your bookmark folders synced with Foxmarks

Filed under: Utilities, Productivity, Web services

Keep your bookmark folders synced with Foxmarks

by Lisa Hoover May 22nd 2007

If I had to pick a Firefox extension that I simply couldn't live without, Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer would be my choice. This handy little tool makes browsing from multiple machines a snap and its web-based bookmark access feature has saved my bacon more than once.

Sure, you can carry Firefox and all its bookmarks (not to mention, an entire operating system) around on your thumb drive, but when all you want to do is grab a quick peek at your Firefox bookmark folder, Foxmarks is just what you need. Also, if you'd like your bookmarks folders to look the same on all the computers you regularly use (you want things you bookmarks at work to also be available at home, for example), then Foxmarks is just the ticket.

Let's take a closer look at what makes this nifty little app so irresistible and indispensable.

Foxmarks has two distinct features that serve different yet very useful purposes. First, Foxmarks syncs your Firefox bookmark folder between more then one computer so it's duplicated on every machine you use. Simply download the extension to each computer you wish to sync, set the password and update preferences, and Foxmarks will sync your bookmarks each time you shut down Firefox. no further tinkering necessary.

I have more than one computer that I use on a regular basis so keeping my bookmark folder synced between them is vital to my productivity (and sanity). With Foxmarks, any website I bookmark while working at one computer will automatically be accessible the next time I log on to any of my others. It doesn't get any cooler than that.

Oh, wait, yes it does. The "synchronize now" feature (accessed by clicking Bookmarks in the Firefox toolbar, then choosing Foxmarks) is a great little feature that I get a lot of mileage from. I often work from my MacBook so I can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine use my time most efficiently, and tend to amass quite a collection of websites that I plan to refer to later in the day.

When it's time to buckle down and start writing at my desk (inside, blah), I simply click on "Bookmark all tabs," and save to the toolbar. I tell Foxmarks to "synchronize now" in my laptop, then do the same on my desktop computer and - poof - my collection of tabs appear in a folder in the toolbar where it's easy to drag and drop links directly into the article I'm writing.

Foxmarks second main use is also perhaps the most understated: it's super-handy for accessing your bookmarks folder from any computer with Internet access. Simply log on to the website and grab what you need. Developers have also recently added a neat little feature that allows users to add new bookmarks directly to their folders right at the website, no download needed.

Foxmarks only does two main things but it does them really, really well and that's why it's on my must-have list of Firefox extensions. What's on yours?

Tags: Bookmarks, Firefox, Firefox extensions, FirefoxExtensions, Foxmarks

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

jeff said 12:52PM on 5-22-2007

...or you could just use the bookmarks module in netvibes and have your bookmarks synchronized regardless of what browser or computer you use, anywhere you go...

Truegod said 12:55PM on 5-22-2007

Foxmarks is pretty much my must have extension for Firefox too. It is always the first thing I install. I use to use Bookmarks Synchronizer which was nice because synchronized to what ever FTP account you wanted, but the developer isn't keeping it up to date.

A couple of other good are Greasemonkey and Status bar clock. Greasemonkey saved my sanity because I'm in college and use Myspace to stay in touch with my friends sometimes. I use a few Greasemonkey scripts to cut out all the muck on myspace and leave just the content (makes it seem a lot like Facebook only less useful).

Status bar clock (search Google for it because the Mozilla page doesn't have the latest version) is really useful when I'm on my XP machine because it keeps the time and date always in view.

Truegod said 1:03PM on 5-22-2007

@ Jeff

Does netvibes actually sync your bookmarks back to the browser? It would be really annoying to have to open there page every time I wanted to open a bookmark.

Claus said 1:26PM on 5-22-2007

Does anyone know how this service compares to Google's Browser Sync? Maybe someone who has tried them both?

http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/browsersync/index.html

Quoting: "Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions."

Seems like it does the same thing...and then some more. The FAQ ( http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/browsersync/faq.html ) also suggests they do SSL encryption of the bookmarks on the Google servers. I like the sound of that.

I've been dealing with this sync'ing Firefox bookmarks between machines by copying the bookmarks.html file back and forth between systems on my USB. Works...but is an awkward solution. I haven't had any personal experience just yet with either service.

I also wonder how well they would work between build versions for Firefox...as I jump between 2.0.x and 3.0x (nightlies) pretty regularly.

Thanks for any insights and for bringing Foxmarks to my attention!

BolderX said 1:39PM on 5-22-2007

I just looked at Netvibes and my first impression was that it looked a lot like MyYahoo pages. I didn't much care for the Yahoo stuff and I don't see how Netvibes even comes close to a bookmark sync solution. It does look like they managed to copy the MyYahoo concept quite well, if that's what you are looking for.
Foxmarks has the right idea but there is a need for a cross platform cross browser solution for those who work on multiple machines from multiple locations. I wouldn't have a problem going to a website to sync the bookmarks but I have no need to have a bunch of other crap thrown at me on the website that I'm not interested in. Learn from Google, keep it simple.

Mark G said 1:43PM on 5-22-2007

Isn't the eventual grand plan for Mitch Kapor or whoever is behind foxmarks to eventually use the aggregated bookmark data as a search engine?

zkam said 2:11PM on 5-22-2007

I use Yahoo bookmarks. That way I can use any browser (including IE) to access my bookmarks on any computer. It so happens that I also use the Yahoo toolbar, so it's easy to access and add bookmarks, but in the rare case that I'm on someone else's machine (and actually need to look up one of my bookmarks), I can still get to them.

Google has bookmarks in their toolbar, too.

Lisa said 2:53PM on 5-22-2007

@ Mark G: You may be right about that because their website alludes to that.

@ Claus: I'm not sure how the two compare but I'd be interested to know. I also came across this little tool that puts a Foxmarks widget into iGoogle:

http://bob.lent.googlepages.com/my.foxmarks.com.xml

Lisa

Iggy Sol said 3:14PM on 5-22-2007

I used Google Browser Sync for a while and was very pleased with it. I hadn't heard of the Foxmarks add-on at that time. Now, unfortunately, I'm forced to use IE at work, so those solutions won't work for me. However, I plan to start dual booting between XP and Ubuntu and using one of these solutions to keep Firefox up-to-date no matter which OS I'm in.

Ray Balhorn said 5:56PM on 5-22-2007

or you can bypass using a third party hosting site and do it on your own web space (which virtually everyone has)

Bookmark Sync and Sort
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2367

Dan said 8:19PM on 5-22-2007

You can change the server info with Foxmarks and have it point to an FTP site just like the old Bookmark Sync.

Richard in Asia said 1:04AM on 5-23-2007

Sharing bookmarks across multiple computers has been FAR too troublesome for quite awhile. I agree - Foxmarks is a MUST have for me.

What makes it stand out as the best? I love it because it scores high on KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. :) I believe technology should serve us, not the other way around.

www.bamboo-adventure.com

David said 5:54AM on 5-23-2007

Google browser sync is excellent, but i have to use IE at work, I know use Zinkmo which works for IE and Firefox but is a little buggy at the moment. It also allows you to access the bookmarks on the web (Google browser sync doesn't, you have to use another Google service for this) but it is also a little buggy and very slow as it reloads the whole page whenever you click on anything. Still looking for a dream bookmark syncing solution, but this is the best one i've found.

tayete said 6:15AM on 5-23-2007

I have used both Google sync and Foxmarks.
I abandoned the first, as it suddenly one day triplicated all my bookmarkes, messing everything and making me spend a lot of time deleting things around.

Fomarks is great, but it spends a lot of time downloading the sync file, and when that happens you cannot use the browser at all. When you are like me, with thousands of bookmarks, it simply isn't operative, so I abandoned it too.

So now I rely on Simpy, which allows me to keep all my bookmarks online and forget about them. Furthermore, I can add tags and the such, which is a nice way of working.

Dan said 10:40PM on 8-10-2007

A late addition to this discussion:

I've used Google's browser-sync for Firefox, and with Firefox 2+, it works great across both Mac and Windows (only have tried with XP Windows). Two nice features (for me) are:
-- syncs more than just bookmarks.
and
-- uses same Google account as other Google apps (such as the Google calendar, which is shaping up to be rather nice).

Dan said 10:43PM on 8-10-2007

oh.... and it's fast after the first time on each machine, because it just updates changes, not the entire set of data. (I just sync bookmarks and cookies, but other things, such as history, can also be sync'd).

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters