Internet bookmark

Internet bookmarks are stored Web page locations (URLs) that can be retrieved. As a feature of all modern Internet web browsers, their primary purpose is to easily catalog and access web pages that a user has visited and chosen to save. [ [http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=bookmark&i=38828,00.asp Definition of "bookmark"] , "PC Magazine"] Saved links are called "favorites" in Internet Explorer, and by virtue of the browser's large market share, the term "favorite" has been synonymous with "bookmark" since the early days of widely-distributed browsers. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E0D9133AF932A15751C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink "Travel Advisory: Cyberscout; Getting to Your Destination Without Drowning in Data"] by L. R. Shannon, February 21, 1999, "New York TImes"] Bookmarks are normally visible in a browser menu and stored on the user's computer, and commonly a folder metaphor is be used for organization. In addition to bookmarking methods within most browsers, many external applications exist for bookmark management.

Bookmarks have been incorporated in browsers since the Mosaic browser in 1993. [ [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.infosystems/browse_thread/thread/f39e59346ee6bc8d/563e36cb72f214d7?lnk=st&rnum=27#563e36cb72f214d7 "New X-based information systems browser available."] , post to "comp.infosystems" by Marc Andreeseen on February 16, 1993] Bookmark lists were called "Hotlists" in Mosaic [ [http://www.w3.org/News/9305.html "May World-Wide Web News"] in 2003 by Tim Berners-Lee] and in previous versions of Opera; this term has faded from common use. Other early web browsers such as ViolaWWW and Cello also had bookmarking features.

Bookmarks are a fundamental feature of web browsers, but some users have expressed frustration with bookmark collections that become disorganized and have looked for other tools to help manage their links. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/technology/circuits/22next.html?ex=1390194000&en=fc394945f0f548c6&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND "Now Where Was I? New Ways to Revisit Web Sites"] by Lisa Guernsey, January 22, 2004, "New York Times"] These tools include browser synchronizers and desktop applications.

With the advent of social bookmarking, shared bookmarks have become a means for users sharing similar interests to pool web resources, or to store their bookmarks in such a way that they are not tied to one specific computer or browser. Web-based bookmarking services let users save bookmarks on a remote web server, accessible from anywhere.

Newer browsers have expanded the "bookmark" feature to include variations on the concept of saving links. Mozilla Firefox introduced live bookmarks in 2004, [ [http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2004-11-09.html "Mozilla Foundation Releases the Highly Anticipated Mozilla Firefox 1.0 Web Browser"] , press release on November 9, 2004] which resemble standard bookmarks but contain a list of links to recent articles supplied by a news site or weblog, which is regularly updated via RSS feeds. Bookmarklets are small scripts stored as bookmarks that can be clicked to perform a function.

torage

Each browser has a built-in tool for managing the list of bookmarks. The list storage method varies, depending on the browser, its version, and the operating system on which it runs.

In Netscape-derived browsers, bookmarks are stored in the single HTML-coded file "bookmarks.html". This approach permits publication and printing of a categorized and indented catalog, and works across platforms. Bookmark names need not be unique. Editing this file outside of its native browser requires editing HTML.

Firefox 3 stores bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences in a transactionally secure database format (SQLite).

In Internet Explorer, "Favorites" (also "Internet Shortcuts") are stored as individual files named with the original link name, and the filename extension ".URL", for example "Home Page.URL". They are collected in a directory named "Favorites", which may have subdirectories. Bookmark names must be unique within a folder. Each file contains the original URL and Microsoft-specific metadata. Browsers have varying abilities to import and export bookmarks to favorites and vice versa. [ [http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/browser/external/overview/bookmark_file_format.asp Netscape Bookmark File Format] Microsoft] [ [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211089 How to import and export the Internet Explorer Favorites folder to a 32-bit version of Windows] Microsoft] [ [http://www.codeproject.com/KB/shell/iefavdecon.aspx How favorites are stored on Windows XP and Vista] Codeproject]

ee also

*Comparison of browser synchronizers
*Favicon
*Smart keyword
*XBEL

References

External links

* [http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Web_Applications/Bookmark_Managers/ Bookmark Managers] at the Open Directory Project