Overwhelmed by my browser bookmarks

[johnkree]

Hello folks… I’m a little bit overwhelmed by how bookmarks on Mac are working. have about 380 bookmarks and all are in a clean folder system… and every time I’m trying to find something I just can’t find it and I usually just google for it because looking for it in my browsers bookmarks (Safari) just takes too long.

Now, I have read a lot about bookmark managers on reddit and everything I’ve found here recently. I’m trying Raindrop and Anybox right now but I’m not sure which one to use. Anybox feels just more native and is way faster (saving on the iPhone is slower with Raindrop), Raindrop has web access and saves everything like I’m used to, into folders.

But I’m not sure which one to choose. What do you prefer over the other? Or are you using anything else?

In Anybox should I just using tags or tags and folders? Both seems to be double the work with the same effect? How do you organize your bookmarks with your bookmark managers? I’m glad for any reply or idea that helps me with this stuff. Right now I just know that I’m not satisfied with the browser bookmarking system.

[Pupsino]

I guess my first comment is that if you can’t find anything, then your filing system probably isn’t right. You’re presumably not looking for a link in the location you think it should be, so you should think about how you actually look for your links and then move them to locations that match that. You should also name the links how you actually think of them, not whatever the website calls them. E.g. my bookmark for this forum is just “MPU”, that’s all I need. By the way, if you know what you call the link you’re looking for, you don’t need to manually navigate. If you type it in Safari, Safari will recommend it from the bookmarks list without you needing to open the menu.

[fuchsr]

I gave up maintaining bookmarks years ago. Impossible to maintain (too little value for the time investment needed). These days I’m happy to rely on my browser’s ability to remember sites I’ve visited and auto-extend URL’s I’m typing or I just do a quick Google search.

[WayneG]

@johnkree

I’m trying Raindrop and Anybox right now . . . But I’m not sure which one to choose. What do you prefer over the other? Or are you using anything else?

Anything that allows me to recall a website is all I need. So I just save a link in Google Keep the same as any other note. And AFAIK you could do the same with Apple Notes.

[Pupsino]

Yes, I did kind of want to say that over 300 bookmarks seems excessive to me, but I guess I have no idea how complicated some people’s work lives might be!

I’ve got maybe 100 bookmarks. Most I never look at, I saved them “just in case”, and they’re all in folders and easy to find. I have two groups that I use weekly, maybe 20 links in total.

[geoffaire]

If you bookmark them, there’s no need to manually search through the bookmarks, just start typing in the URL space and your bookmarks will appear.

[evanfuchs]

Organizing them was losing battle for me. I use pinboard with this Afred workflow on the Mac, and Pushpin on iOS. I use tags so I don’t have to think about filing anymore. There may be better solutions and better developers to support, but I haven’t touched this setup in years and it works great for me without the fuss.

[pantulis]

@johnkree

In Anybox should I just using tags or tags and folders? Both seems to be double the work with the same effect? How do you organize your bookmarks with your bookmark managers?

I use Anybox because it is a very polished Mac app and it’s a one time payment. I use Folders but that’s just because that’s how my brain works. I would recommend using either Fodlers or Tags, but not try to accommodate both.

I happen to have 3372 bookmarks. Of course most of the time I do not visit them (and the older ones come from Pinboard and most of them are broken links), but I keep a lot of reference stuff from work related documents so when I hit the jackpot and can find something useful in this archive of boomarks, well I consider the effort of archiving everything well paid.

[Nick]

I use Goodlinks. I used Anybox for quite a long time, and it is a terrific app. I changed to Goodlinks as it also downloads the page -almost like a read-it-later. My organisation on both was done with tags.

For Videos (particularly You Tube) I use Play. It is a universal app - the basic app is cheap, but there is a premium version for some channels shenanigans. It is a much easier to keep track of YouTube videos, which can be viewed in app or on Iina.

[sridhar]

I find Anybox superb.

F1 brings up the dialog to bookmark the current page. If the text I am going to likely use to look for it in the future is not there, I add it in the comment field or tags.

F2 brings up the search that filters as I type and ⏎ opens the page.

Super fast, out of the sight and works beautifully.

[SpivR]

Like others here, I don’t proactively maintain bookmarks and just use Safari url completion or Google search.

While I don’t need bookmarks per se, I found I need a way to remember a company or website name where the literal URL or name has no obvious meaning or link to what they do.

So I use my Devonthink database or favorite notes app.

[cwc]

A quick fix might be to use a launcher like Alfred, where you can type a bookmark’s name to quickly access it.

I’ve had a long struggle with bookmark management : from del.icio.us to Pinboard to Raindrop to Anybox, with possibly some detours along the way (DEVONthink). A few thoughts: figure out the folder/organizing principles first, the app second. I started using Johnny Decimal as an approach or structure to organize my folders last year, and it’s been really helpful, as I basically now organize folders the same way regardless of app.

So when I started using Anybox, I just carried over my existing folder structure, and didn’t have to think about it too much: I know where to find things as it’s the same structure as other apps. I also really like how Anybox accepts URLs from other apps. For example, I have some nested folders in DEVONthink that are easier to access via Anybox bookmarks than going to the app, especially on an iPad or iPhone. I think tags in Anybox can be handy for statuses: “to read” “check out” "or something similars, but I prefer folders for most organization.

In any case, I think the figuring out the organizing structure takes precedence over the app.

[pantulis]

@cwc

A few thoughts: figure out the folder/organizing principles first, the app second.

This is key, and I embraced the approach when I learned about Johnny Decimal. Although I don’t strictly follow it, having a similar structure in all your apps makes everything easier.

[timlawson]

Another vote for using Alfred. It can index all your bookmarks in both Safari and Chrome. Very easy to launch and you never have to look in your bookmarks folder.

If you have them stored in sub-folders, that is shown in square brackets when you search. See example where my bookmark for Apple UK is in my ‘Tech’ folder.

[johnkree]

First of all, thank you for all the quality answers… I’m always astonished how friendly and nice this community is.

@Pupsino

I guess my first comment is that if you can’t find anything, then your filing system probably isn’t right

Yes, I should overthink my folders. Most of the time I just save a link, I don’t edit its name or anything. I even didn’t know that giving them a name and getting it recommended by Safari works. Awesome, thank you.

@fuchsr

I gave up maintaining bookmarks years ago. Impossible to maintain (too little value for the time investment needed). These days I’m happy to rely on my browser’s ability to remember sites I’ve visited and auto-extend URL’s I’m typing or I just do a quick Google search.

Yes, that’s the way I’ve done it for a very long time now and the thing is, I’m a teacher. So sometimes I research stuff in the evening… usually I just have a windows with tabs open, and there is an update or my kids are jumping around and the window gets closed. And I have to restore the closed tabs and stuff.
Or: I’m looking for that special website I stumbled upon during work and saved just in a blink of an eye. And I can’t find it anymore although I know it’s somewhere in my reading list. Or notes app. Or bookmarks…
I need to sort this mess out.

@geoffaire

If you bookmark them, there’s no need to manually search through the bookmarks, just start typing in the URL space and your bookmarks will appear.

Usually I have 9-10 tabs open with the important sites. I bookmark just sites that could be interesting in the future. Most of the time I can’t remember their name…

@evanfuchs

I use pinboard with this Afred workflow on the Mac, and Pushpin on iOS. I use tags so I don’t have to think about filing anymore.

Thank you, I should buy Alfred. I’m always planning to and then Apple updates Spotlight and I tell myself: soon…

@pantulis

I use Anybox because it is a very polished Mac app and it’s a one time payment. I use Folders but that’s just because that’s how my brain works. I would recommend using either Fodlers or Tags, but not try to accommodate both.

Thank you. I’m trying Anybox right now. It looks nice and it works. I’m not sure yet if it fits into my workflow. But I’m eager to give it a try. I’m also leaning more and more into just using tags. The thing is, links often have multiple categories. It’s hard to decide which one to sort it into.

@Nick

I use Goodlinks . I used Anybox for quite a long time, and it is a terrific app. I changed to Goodlinks as it also downloads the page -almost like a read-it-later. My organisation on both was done with tags.

For Videos (particularly You Tube) I use Play . It is a universal app - the basic app is cheap, but there is a premium version for some channels shenanigans. It is a much easier to keep track of YouTube videos, which can be viewed in app or on Iina.

Awesome. I got Goodlinks recommended on Reddit a lot. It looks almost similar to Anybox. It has a very clean UI. The download feature sounds nice. A problem I have - a lot - is saving a link to a website because it has important information for my job. And then, when I need it, the information isn’t there anymore, the link is dead or something like that. I have to look at Play. This is another thing that overwhelms me. All the 200 videos I saved on Youtube and cant find anymore.

@SpivR

So I use my Devonthink database or favorite notes app.

I can’t wrap my head around Devonthink. I tried several times to find out what it could do for me to enhance my workflow but I never get into it.

@cwc

I started using Johnny Decimal as an approach or structure to organize my folders last year, and it’s been really helpful, as I basically now organize folders the same way regardless of app.

I also started using Johnny Decimal but I’m at the very beginning. I never thought about using it for bookmarks. Nice, I have to try it. I like it so far. But it is a lot of work. My drive is a mess.

[rebornrock]

@johnkree

Yes, that’s the way I’ve done it for a very long time now and the thing is, I’m a teacher. So sometimes I research stuff in the evening… usually I just have a windows with tabs open, and there is an update or my kids are jumping around and the window gets closed. And I have to restore the closed tabs and stuff.

I replaced bookmarks with Safari Tab Groups. Each tab group is named after a subject I’m researching or a recurring subject I come back too frequently. It works very well for me.

The best thing is the tabs are persistent even if you close the window.
As a bonus, they sync between devices with the same iCloud account.

[Bmosbacker]

This may not be helpful or germane, but I will offer a suggestion that I hope will be beneficial.

The biggest problem we sometimes run into is we do things too fast. To quote Benjamin Franklin’s well-known proverbial advice, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

If I want to save a bookmark, or anything for that matter, taking time at the front end to curate, correctly name, and save in a place where it can be easily found saves a great deal of stress and time later. Tools can help, but at the end of the day, it’s how we manage and work with those tools that make the biggest difference.

[margaretamartin]

Please update us as you evolve your methods to remember where stuff is on the web! It’s a constant challenge for me, so I always like to hear other people’s methods.

I work in Safari when I’m researching, so my bookmarks live there. I have tried several bookmark programs over the years, and none of them has stuck with me. I think it’s because they add too many steps and end up making more work than is necessary (for what I get out of it).

I have a lot of bookmarks in folders (because that’s how my brain works). I have 3 types of categories. Most of my folders contain web sites where I either purchase something or where the entire site has good information that I will return to. These are carefully curated, and when I’m in the mood I will check that they are still worth keeping.

Then I have a few folders related to current projects (work and personal), though these are slowly being removed in favor of Safari’s tab groups.

Finally, I have a folder called TEMP where I just throw things that think I want to remember but it’s not clear if it really belongs in the carefully curated section. Each month or two, I gather all of the latest bookmarks and move them into a folder inside TEMP that’s marked with the month and year that I moved them. During this, if I see bookmark that really belongs in the curated area, then I’ll move it. (This is rare.) I don’t even take the time to delete or rename these bookmarks. I keep about a year’s worth of bookmarks in these month-year folders, just in case I need them.

Why do I keep them? Because I sometimes want to return to them, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the site or how I found it in the first place. Usually this happens far enough back in time that it’s no longer in my history. So, I open up Edit Bookmarks so I can see the full page name and the full URL, and I’ll start with a search. If that fails then I’ll scan by eye. Usually I can find what I need; the bookmarks that come immediately before and after can often help my search.

Keeping these bookmarks in folders means that when I open TEMP, I’m not presented with an overwhelming list.

Another thing: if I run across a web page with useful information for any of my projects, I turn it into a PDF and save it. I don’t bookmark it. There are 2 reasons for this. The page may not be available in the future and I find it’s easier to locate the PDF than a bookmark. I use Houdah Spot.

[SpivR]

@johnkree

I can’t wrap my head around Devonthink. I tried several times to find out what it could do for me to enhance my workflow but I never get into it.

I originally started using Devonthink for two things and slowly grew as I became more comfortable:

Savings links to websites keeping an offline pdf version of the homepage using Devonthink browser plugin.

Organizing all my files, especially graphics/media and other non-text files, in a hierarchical folder structure using Devonthink replication.

Without going into all the DT details, “replication” is like symbolic file links.

I can put the same “item” (any kind of file) into multiple hierarchical structures without creating duplicates. Anywhere the item exists, it actually displays/opens the original.

In a sense, it is like using tags to organize files, but doing it entirely in a more natural (to me) folder structure.

Simple example:

I can put a saved web pdf about “configuring a UDM-Pro router” into multiple hierarchies:

Equipment > Hardware > Ubiquity > Routers
Configuration > Networking > Routing > Hardware > UDM-Pro
Networking concepts > routing vs bridges > Unifi equipment

In the future, I can drill down from multiple starting points and find what I want without searching and without having to remember if I did, or did not, tag the file properly, etc.

Totally a “works the way I work” thing, and I don’t care if Devonthink has tons of more features, the ability to match my desire for finding stuff has been valuable.

For website links, Devonthink has also become my launcher as a keyboard shortcut will open the original website itself in a browser, not just the pdf image.

So I can organize documents, pdfs, graphics, and other media and use DT “click to open” and the native editing app opens or the website without any additional effort.

[pantulis]

@johnkree

I’m also leaning more and more into just using tags. The thing is, links often have multiple categories. It’s hard to decide which one to sort it into.

This is a classic dilemma when managing knowledge, whether it is documents, bookmarks or photos or whatever. Tags offer more flexibility, for sure, but require more cognitive work when archiving: “Which tags should this item have?” If you just forget to add one tag, the system breaks. Also, if you decide you add a new tag that didn’t previously exist, would you have to review all your previous saved items to see if this new tag also applies to them?

I believe it’s a matter of preference, of course.