Those darn Firefox bookmarks

One thing that’s proving to be a deal breaker for me with Firefox is the way it organizes bookmarks in the sidebar.

With Safari, when you click on a folder in the sidebar, you get a list of all its bookmarks in the main part of the window along with their URLs. Click on another folder, and the list instantly changes.

With Firefox, when you click on a folder, it toggles open and the bookmarks are listed below it. This isn’t so bad if the folder is near the top, but if it is in the middle or near the bottom, you wind up having to scroll to see the entire list. And if you want to switch to another folder, you first have to close the one you’re in or you’ll wind up with a real mess.

Clicking on bookmarks also brings different results. With Safari, the sidebar disappears and the entire browser window is devoted to the site you’re visiting. With Firefox, the sidebar remains in place, creating a cramped view of the site. Some might argue it’s handy to have the sidebar stick around if you’re visiting a lot of sites, but I prefer to have it get out of the way.

Another thing I appreciate about Safari is that each of the bookmarks has a favicon to the left of it instead of the generic icons shown by Firefox. It’s a small thing, but it’s one of those nice touches that you come to expect from Apple products.

Posted Thursday, July 2, 2009 in

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  1. May I ask why you’re constraining yourself to the sidebar instead of using the “Awesomebar” to open your bookmarks? It’s incredibly quick and easy to find what you’re after that way. (Look under Privacy in Preferences to customize results, or use wild card characters.) But even if you preferred to browse more visually, the Bookmarks menu and the Bookmarks Toolbar are both better alternatives. Even the Library – the closest thing to Safari’s bookmarks/history management, though it’s separated into its own window – is more convenient. I’d hazard to say that the sidebar is the worst and least user-friendly method of accessing websites in Firefox, so I can understand some of your frustration! I’m not even sure why it’s still part of the browser, except perhaps to assuage those few stalwarts who demand it because they’re accustomed to it. No offense intended if you’re among their number, but my point is that Firefox provides multiple superior alternatives. I’d encourage you to give them a try before you abandon the browser in disgust. :)

    Also, the only difference between Firefox and Safari regarding favicons is that Safari displays a globe instead of a blank page next to bookmarks which haven’t been visited or don’t supply favicons of their own. A stylistic difference, I’ll grant you, but not a substantive one.

    Jason M

  2. Lots of good points there, Jason. I guess I’m used to doing things a certain way in Safari, and don’t like Firefox’s equivalent. A problem I have with the awesome bar is that you need to have an idea of the name of the site you want. Sometimes I like to sift through some older bookmarks to remind myself of what I’m after. That said, I have by no means given up in disgust and continue to use Firefox from time to time. I’ll try your suggestions to see if I can get better results.

    Mark

  3. I can’t say I use my bookmarks other than my toolbar bookmarks now. Google Reader has largely made it obsolete for me. I still have a few comic sites I prefer to see the site for instead of the RSS Feed, but I keep that stuff in the Toolbar under a folder just called “Comics”. The other toolbar stuff is all shortcuts to Google Bookmarks and ways to share things out (Facebook, Tumblr, Gmail link).

    What browser I use depends more on available tools I want/need such as X-Marks (now for Safari I hear) and Adblock Plus, among others. And consistent keyboard shortcuts across platforms. But I have weird criteria. :)

    But I really can’t say I look at my bookmarks that much anymore at all.

    smallerdemon

  4. There is one thing that keeps me from using Safari and makes me stay with Firef***s, which I’m really starting to hate because it has more crashes in a day than a demolition derby (at least on my system). But Safari doesn’t support the use of a Socks proxy, and Firef*x does.

    (And if anyone from the Firefox camp reads this, please fix your damn crashing browser – it was great until about five or six versions ago, but you must have changed something because it’s been crashing multiple times daily ever since, and 3.5 is the worst of the bunch, crashing at least twice as often as previous versions!)

    Jack





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