Organize Bookmarks & Favorites

Here's a little tutorial, by popular request, to organize and track web sites you visit, so you can view them again. The topic arises every time I see a client write down a web address on a Post-it note and struggle to keep track of that sticky little note.

Wouldn't it be better to let the computer keep track of web sites you visit, in one well organized file?

Here's how...
In Netscape, you create a "bookmark." In Internet Explorer it's called a "favorite."

1. Depending on your browser, click Bookmarks or Favorites to add a site so you can access it again without typing in the address each time. You now have the web address listed in a file instead of on a scrap of paper, so we're off to a good start.

2. Take a moment to look through the Bookmark or Favorites folder and you'll see you can manage or organize them into folders. Instead of a long string of web addresses, you can create categories that make sense to you, such as: Reference, Travel, Investments, Sports, etc.

3. When you do back-ups of your data, you can also back up this file, as it grows in importance to you, just like you back up your e-mail address book. (You do, don't you???) In fact, by saving your bookmark file, you create a live file of hyperlinks you can use as a directory of your most-used web pages.

• In the Netscape's Bookmark folder, click Tools / Export and save the file in your desired folder.
• In Internet Explorer, click File / Import & Export and choose the Favorites folder. Save the resulting file as .html (hypertext markup language) and you'll be able to open it as a file from your backups or on your computer, and click the live links to go to desired web pages.

This is a good exercise if you want to learn more about your computer, where to save files, and how to open them. More importantly, though, it provides a neat example of how effective use of the computer saves you considerable time, makes your online experience more efficient, and cuts a level of clutter from your desk. Questions? Let me know at Helen@cclarity.com