Managing Bookmarks

Managing Bookmarks -- Revised Edition

Last Update: September 17, 1997

Since the Web is such a vast empire of information, it is easy to get lost. The guide on "How to search the web" provides good advice how to stay focused and how to find what you are looking for.

Now, suppose you have found an interesting site. Many site are huge, so you don't want to save everything, you may not even have the time to explore everything, you may be unsure whether the information is really useful, etc. The worst mistake that you can make is to forget to record the address of the site ("URL") so that you can easily get back, check again, save/print something that you now need, etc.

In theory, you could just write down the URL on a piece of paper, save this piece of paper, and then type in the URL the next time you want to visit. However, URL are often quite long and they are case-sensitive (meaning it makes a difference whether you use lower or upper case). If you get a tiny detail wrong, the URL won't work and you will be unable to revisit. So, you want to keep a bookmark file.

Generating and updating a book mark file

If you have your own computer at home, that's not much of a problem. Netscape automatically generates and updates your bookmark file. All you have to do is to open the "Bookmarks" pull-down menu and click on "Add Bookmark".

If you use computers at Hunter (or anywhere else where you don't have complete control over the work station), a few additional steps are necessary. Unfortunately, the details depend on what lab, what operating system, and what version of Netscape you are using. The descriptions below refer mostly to the Social Science lab (HW606/7) where our class meets, but apply for the most part also to the labs on the 10^th floor of HN (also known as the "ACS labs"). As I have explained in class, all these labs now give you a choice between running (booting) your station in

DOS/Win3.1 or
Win95

Some software products (including WordPerfect, SPSS, and MS Word) are no longer upgraded in Win3.x version. To be able to use the recent version you must use Win95. Other software (including Netscape) still produces new versions that run under Win3.x - but they are typically released at a later time or they do not have the full set of features that the Win95 version has. For this reason, I had planned to use Win95 for this class only. However, given that the Win95 version of an important teaching tool (LANSCHOOL - which enables an instructor to demonstrate important steps on his/her station broadcasting it to all student stations) is not yet available at Hunter, I will have to fall back to the old Win3.1 environment whenever possible. Student can do their web searches with Netscape either under Win3.1 or Win95 - as long as they are not visiting sites that make use of advanced features like java applets. For this reason, I will describe the use of bookmark files under both environments, Win3.1 and Win95. After some additional testing and some changes in the lab settings (done this week), I strongly recommend that students use the Win95 environment

Win3.1 environment

In the lab setting, Netscape generates a brand new book mark file any time you start Netscape (or a Windows installation including Netscape) from the blue (Novell menu). So, even if you happen to sit at exactly the same station you sat two days ago when you found and book marked all these terrific web sites, your bookmarks are gone (unless you took the precautions discussed below). So, you need to keep your bookmark file on a diskette.

Before you actually start Netscape (but with the "Program Manager" window established on your screen), you need to copy the bookmark file from your diskette to the hard drive of the station. More specifically, you need to copy your bookmark file (which should be named 'bookmark.htm') from your diskette to c:\files.

Using a DOS prompt. (For reasons beyond my comprehension this has been made rather difficult in the ACS labs; the MS-DOS icon is not available there.) Click on MS-DOS icon, usually found in the "Main" program group. This will give a DOS prompt (black screen with an entry like c:\windows>. Then use the following commands

c:
cd \files
copy a:bookmark.htm
y (if told that file already exists and whether you want to overwrite)
exit

Using File manager. This program can be found in the "Main" program group, it's icon is a yellow file cabinet. Start 'file manager' (double click on the icon), then click on the icon for the a: drive (assuming your diskette is inserted into the a: drive), then click on the line that says 'bookmark.htm'. Pull-down the 'file' menu and select 'copy'. In the pop-up window, enter c:\files (c:\netscape -- when in the SS lab, HW 606) in the "To:" field and click the OK button.

Depending on the lab, when you start Netscape it will use your bookmark file instead of the default or you have to switch to your bookmark. Click on "Go to Bookmarks ..." from the "Bookmarks" pull-down menu. If you see your book mar file, you are okay. If you don't, open the "File", click on "open", then fill in the details about the location of your bookmark file in the pop-up window. Make sure to set the drive to "c:" and the directory to "c:\files".

After you are done with Netscape for the day and if you have added bookmarks during this session, you need to copy the bookmark file on the hard drive (back) to your diskette. So, close Netscape, but do not exit Windows yet.

Using a DOS prompt. (Again, you can't do this in the HN labs.) Click on MS-DOS icon, usually found in the "Main" program group. This will give a DOS prompt (black screen with an entry like c:\windows>). Then use the following commands

c:
cd \files
copy bookmark.htm a:
y (if told that file already exists and whether you want to overwrite)
exit

Using File manager. Start 'file manager' , then click on the icon for the c: drive (may not be necessary, because the c: drive is shown already), then click on the yellow folder that says 'files' . Then, click on the line that says 'bookmark.htm'. Pull-down the 'file' menu and select 'copy'. In the pop-up window, enter a: in the "To:" field and click the OK button.

This will copy the updated/expanded bookmark file to your diskette.

Win95 environment

Additional testing suggests that it is safe (reliable) to work directly with a bookmark file on diskette -- in both the SS and the HN1001 labs. This, of course, makes things much simpler -- eliminating the need to copy to and from the diskette. Currently, the HN1001 labs still run the old 3.0 version of Netscape in contrast to the SS lab where the current 4.02 version is running. So, there are some minor differences in terms of where buttons are located and how they are labeled. However, you may see the recent Netscape version (still without the mail feature though) in the HN1001 labs before long.

Once Netscape is loaded, click on "Bookmarks", "Edit Bookmarks" ("Go to Bookmarks" in the 3.0 version), "File", "Open Bookmark File", and fill in the details about the location of your bookmark file: There is a box labeled "Look in" which should read "Floppy (A:)", and a box labeled "File name" that should read "bookmark.htm". This can be done in different ways: One possibility is to type "a:" in the "File name" (!) box and to press ENTER, this will bring up the desired entry in the "Look in" box. The other possibility is to click on the folder change button next to the "Look in" box and use the associated display of subfolder to get where you want to go (the a: drive). This second way is not yet implemented on all stations in the HN1001 labs. But depending on whether you are a "mouse" or "type" person, you may like the first way better anyway. -- In any case, once "Look in" box shows "Floppy (A:)", the contents of your diskette is displayed in the large box. And, provided you put the right diskette in the disk drive, one of the files should be your bookmark file (named "bookmark.htm"). Just click on this entry, and the "File name" box will fill with the desired entry. To complete, you click on the "open" button. Your bookmark file will show on the screen. Minimize it by clicking on the "_" button in the upper right corner. All changes you make to your bookmark file will be recorded on your diskette. At the end, simply make sure to remove your diskette from the drive!

Warning:

In contrast to Win3.1, the Win95 environment has a larger component that is stored locally on each station. Therefore, there is always a chance that a previous user has made changes that are still in effect -- even if you cold-boot the station. For example, while testing in the HN1001 labs I came across a station where some user had added an icon for Netscape on the desktop. This icon, however, started a wrong version of Netscape (for the technically inclined, the 16-bit version rather than the 32-bit version). So, when in the HN1001 labs, always go via the ACS menu to access any program.

Keeping a bookmark file neat

If your bookmark file is small, it is fine to keep all bookmarks in just one list. However, as your list of bookmarks grows -- and that happens faster than you think -- it's a good idea to subdivide your bookmark file into folders. Each folder then contains links to site that are thematically related. Within each folder you can have subfolder, and then subfolders of subfolders. But, let's not go overboard. One level of folders is probably enough for starters. The details for doing vary slightly between the two different Netscape versions (3.0 and 4.02), so I won't go into this. Anyway, this is something that you must try out for yourself, a lengthy description won't do much good.

Note, however, that Netscape 4 has a new option called "file bookmark" which allows you to put a bookmark to be saved into a specific folder. Previously, you had to specify the "new bookmark folder" first, using either "Go to Bookmarks" (version 3) or "edit bookmarks" (version 4).