Favorites/bookmarks

[Rusty]

I am keen to move away from IE to an alternative browser but there is one facility that I don't want to give up.I have made a registry change in IE that enables me to save my favourites directly to a folder on the file system (as an html file) instead of to the favourites database managed by IE. This allows me to manage my information better because all favorites and files etc are stored in a single place. (If only I could do the with my e-mails.)Does anyone know if any of the quality alternative browsers (Firefox, Opera, K-melion etc) allows you to do what I want?Thanks.

[zlim]

I just opened Firefox .9.3 Bookmarks, clicked on manage bookmarks, then File and I chose Export. It saves to a location of my choosing as an html file.I guess you would have to export your bookmarks if you want them in a particular location as html. So you would have an extra step of exporting your bookmarks every so ofen.

[GolfProRM]

Firefox creates a file (bookmarks.html) that handles all your bookmarks :)Its very easy to backup and restore as necessary... I've never tried directly editing the .html file though

[GolfProRM]

Liz... you don't actually have to export them... it stores them on the harddrive as an HTML file (in your profile folder)..

[epp_b]

I am keen to move away from IE to an alternative browser but there is one facility that I don't want to give up.I have made a registry change in IE that enables me to save my favourites directly to a folder on the file system (as an html file) instead of to the favourites database managed by IE. This allows me to manage my information better because all favorites and files etc are stored in a single place.

Actually, IE doesn't have a "database" of favorites. It stores them as normal files. All you did was change the location in which those files are stored. I've done the same thing.I'm not sure if Firefox has such an option. Perhaps you could try moving the profile folder and creating a shortcut to that folder in it's original location. Or on Linux, symlinks will certainly work for that.Mozilla might have this. See these links: http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/ns7moveprof.html http://www.moztips.com/wiki/index.pcgi?page=MoveProfile

(If only I could do the with my e-mails.)

There's a simple solution to this: it's called Eudora (I'm not sure, but I think TBird might be able to do this as well)OE can do this, but it's very cruddy. It only stores the mailboxes. The address book, settings, filters, options, etc, etc, etc, are all still stored in seemingly random locations on system drive

[James M. Fisher]

I know it's not what you are looking for, but for favorites management, try AMDeadlink: http://aignes.com/deadlink.htm (freeware).It will not only backup your favorites/bookmarks but will search for dead links as well.

[Ed_P]

With Netscape, and therefore with Mozilla, you can define where your Profile folder is located using the Profile Manager. The Profile folder includes your bookmarks, cookies, preferences and etc. Netscape also allows you to specify where you want your email stored. Thus both email and your Profile folder could be allocated in a subfolder of My Documents allowing you to keep all your files and etc in a single location.hth

[Rusty]

Many thanks to all contributors thus far.Maybe I need to clarify my requirements:I don't want to keep my favorites in the same database/file. I want to store them in the folders where I store other files on the same subject. So, for example, in my Suppliers folder I might have a sub-folder for the ACME company. I would keep notes, copies of correspondence etc for this supplier in this folder and it is where I would also like to keep relevant favorites. (It simplifies accessing relevant information and data backups.)Nor do I want to go through the extra steps involved in exporting pages to html files. The registry change that I mentioned enables me to use the IE Favorites facility to store each favorite in any folder of my choosing (not the same folder/file each time) without any extra steps.A common theme of the altenative browsers is the ability to customise their configuration. I am hoping that one of them allows what I want.Looking forward to further suggestions.

[James M. Fisher]

The registry change that I mentioned enables me to use the IE Favorites facility to store  each favorite in any folder of my choosing (not the same folder/file each time) without any extra steps.

Can you tell me where you found this reg hack?Thanks!

[Rusty]

Not sure where I got it from but I know it was available from several sites and probably still is.Here's what you do.1. Run Regedit.2. Access Hkey_Current_User; Software; Microsoft; Windows; Current Version; Explorer; User Shell Folders.3. Modify the Favorites key to the relevant path on the file system.That path will then be the root path for subsequent saves of favorites to the file system.Enjoy.

[James M. Fisher]

Not sure where I got it from but I know it was available from several sites and probably still is.Here's what you do.1. Run Regedit.2. Access Hkey_Current_User; Software; Microsoft; Windows; Current Version; Explorer; User Shell Folders.3. Modify the Favorites key to the relevant path on the file system.That path will then be the root path for subsequent saves of favorites to the file system.Enjoy.

Thanks! So using this hack I could move my Favorites folder to My Documents, if I understand correctly?

[Ed_P]

I don't want to keep my favorites in the same database/file. I want to store them in the folders where I store other files on the same subject.

3. Modify the Favorites key to the relevant path on the file system.

So you have Favorites stored in multiple folders?? And you switch folders by hacking the Registry each time? I'm confused.Netscape/Mozilla Profile Manager will let you specify where you store the Profile folder and will allow you to have multiple Profiles so you could position them in multiple places but you would have to switch Profiles before saving bookmarks to the different folders.Depending on how many folders you are talking about it could be an option. One for Work, one for Home. But if you had one for every vendor you sell to for example it would be burden some. imo

[Rusty]

No need to be confused. I do have Favorites stored in multiple folders - each in its proper place according to my record and document management policies. (I can go into the benefits of this approach later if you like.)But I don't do it by hacking the Registry each time. The registry change simply allows you to select any folder on your file system, below the root folder that you specify in the registry, instead of selecting a virtual folder in the favorites list as the favorite destination. It works exactly the same way to the user except that the favorite is being stored in a folder on the file system instead of the single file or folder used by most browsers.Still hoping that someone has a solution.Cheers.

[epp_b]

Can you tell me where you found this reg hack?Thanks!

Very easy. It's called TweakUI.Win9X:url:http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/dow...g/nttweakui.aspWin2k/XP:url: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspx

[Rusty]

Sorry, but I don't see how TweakUI helps.

[James M. Fisher]

Sorry, but I don't see how TweakUI helps.

It has this ability, although I have never used it to do this particular tweak:

[Rusty]

Thanks for the suggestion but...my guess is that TweakUI a., applies to IE only and b., simply changes the location of the single favorites repository rather than enabling favorites to be saved anywhere per the registry change.What I really want to do is achieve the desired result using an alternative browser but I am beginning to think it can't be done.

[nlinecomputers]

Rusty,I think you are a bit confused or you are not expressing yourself correctly. The registry change only moves ONE folder, the root folder of "favorites" to whatever location you wish. Internet Explorer does not and has never used a database to store favorites. They are stored as folders and shortcut icon files. The default location in XP is "C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Favorites\" If you go there you will find FILES not a database.Sounds like what you did was move your root favoriates folder to the same location as your documents folder. By doing so all your documents and your bookmarked sites show up in Internet Explorers favorites menu. They do so because explorer treats folders as items on the favorites menu because it uses folders for that function. Most other browsers use a single html file as a simple database. So no there is no way to do what you do in firefox.

[Ed_P]

Interesting. You are most likely correct nlinecomputers and Rusty's approach to integrating his Favorites and files is very clever.I never thought there was good use for IE's 1 URL/1 file format but I think Rusty has found it.

[nlinecomputers]

One must remember that Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer are the same program so of course it treats everything on a file/folder basis.

[Rusty]

Thank you Ed. At last someone understands me.Nathan you were correct. IE's favorites are saved as Windows shortcuts - not as html files.My problem remains. Do any of the alternative browsers save favorites/bookmarks as individual files and, if so, do they have configuration options that enable you to specify where they should be saved in an interactive manner?Thanks to all.

[Cluttermagnet]

Thank you Ed. At last someone understands me.Nathan you were correct. IE's favorites are saved as Windows shortcuts - not as html files.My problem remains. Do any of the alternative browsers save favorites/bookmarks as individual files and, if so, do they have configuration options that enable you to specify where they should be saved in an interactive manner?Thanks to all.

How about this one? Is Favorites View v.1.0 anything usable? It's a standalone exporting utility, not a browser component or add-on, however. By Nirsoft. Somebody reminded us of Nirsoft recently, He has quite a number of good freeware offerings on his website.

[Ed_P]

Thank you Ed. At last someone understands me.

Well somebody had to do it.

My problem remains. Do any of the alternative browsers save favorites/bookmarks as individual files and, if so, do they have configuration options that enable you to specify where they should be saved in an interactive manner?

None that I am aware of. However, you can click on a URL in the location bar and drag it to an open Explorer window to create a shortcut to the webpage with most browsers. It has the exact same effect as what you're doing with IE. Download an alternate browser; Netscape, Mozilla, FireFox or whatever try it. They will work with what you currently have set up, you just need to see how comfortable you are with dragging and dropping URLs into your folders to continue what you have.