Since Mosaic, the first web browser introduced in 1993, browsers have included bookmarking features that allow users to quickly return to favorite sites. Today, bookmarks are very important, especially on PCs and Macs, where the browser has become the most used software. It serves as a gateway to email, news, entertainment, video calls, shopping, banking and even word processing, graphics, tax preparation and much more. The browser is so important that Google even offers devices called Chromebooks, where the Chrome browser is actually the software most people use. That works because there are websites that allow you to do almost anything you can do with standalone software.
Browsers are less important on smartphones and tablets, where dedicated apps handle most of those tasks, but they are still used to visit sites and tasks where there is no dedicated app or you simply prefer to use a website instead of an app.
Editing bookmarks on computers and phones
Bookmarks are easy to use and very flexible when organized. Keep the sites you use most often front and center, and put the most visited pages in labeled folders, so they’re always easy to access without cluttering up your screen. Most browsers allow you to display a Bookmarks or Favorites bar just below the address bar or in the sidebar. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox, you can right-click on that bar to create folders, then drag the lock or site icon from the address bar directly to the appropriate bar or folder.
If you’re using Safari on a Mac, go to the site you want to save, click the Share button on the toolbar and choose Add Bookmark, then choose where you’d like it saved. You can also press Command-D to save the page quickly.
I keep folders labeled News, Money, AI and TV, which allows me to save a bunch of sites without going over the bookmarks bar.
You can carry bookmarks on your phone as well. In Chrome for iOS or Android, tap the three-dot menu and select Add to bookmarks. In Safari on iPhone, tap the share icon at the bottom of the screen and select Add Bookmark.
A better way to bookmark
Although I have a solid set of bookmarks, I recently started using a free service called Start.me to create a custom web page with links to my frequently used sites. What I like about Start.me is that it displays my bookmarks as large icons on a full web page and makes it very easy to add, remove or edit them.
Once you set up a free account and go to Start.me, you can click the plus sign and start adding bookmarks to your page. You can also add widgets. The ones I use the most are the basic bookmark widgets, where you can add individual bookmarks. Like my Favorites bar, I’ve created bookmark widgets for different categories or sites I visit. One of the things I like about Start.me is that you can set the size of the bookmarks within the widgets to small, medium or large, depending on how many you want in each section. Bookmarks have easy-to-see icons (which you can customize), so I use large icons for the sites I visit frequently and small ones for the categories I visit less often. If you use Chrome or Edge, you can add an extension that allows you to quickly bookmark any page without having to leave that page.
Works on all devices with browsers
Once you have an account, you can access your Start.me page from any browser on any device.
Once I got used to my Start.me page, I made it my homepage for both Chrome and Edge on my PC and Mac and my iPhone and configured my browser to open it automatically when I start a new tab. Although I still keep my browser’s favorites bar, I use Start.me a lot when surfing the web.
In addition to bookmark widgets, you can add specials, including notes, to-do lists and more in the ad-supported free version, or upgrade to the Pro version for $25 a year or $99 for lifetime access. The paid version removes ads and adds widgets like Google Calendar, Google Tasks, currency converter, photo gallery and more.
I recommend starting with the free version and then decide if you want to upgrade.
The free version of Start.me allows you to have up to 3 pages so, for example, you have one for home, one for work and maybe one for your hobbies. The Pro version gives you an unlimited number of pages. Even though I upgraded to Pro, I use one page to make life easier, but others may prefer to have more than one.
As I mentioned earlier, the basic preferences bar does a good job, but if you want a more flexible and attractive option, Start.me is a good place to start.
Larry Magid is a technology journalist and cyber security activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.
