| Bookmarks are a great way to organize your online | | | | hour you should have a lot of articles to look at. Now |
| life, whether you use them for work, play or just for | | | | you can go through each one in more depth and |
| interesting things you find on the web. Don't know | | | | because you've bookmarked them as favorites, you |
| what a bookmark is? It's basically a link to a specific | | | | can spend more time reading each one or come back |
| website or page that you save either on your | | | | to them the next day. This method of gathering |
| browser or through online services. Once you've | | | | information also works great for inspiration for craft |
| saved a bookmark, you can then easily and quickly | | | | projects, decorating and DIY, recipe ideas and |
| find that website again - you don't need to try and | | | | vacation plans. |
| remember the url or trawl through your browser's | | | | Next time you're trying to find a lasagna recipe for |
| history. 'Favorites' is another popular term for | | | | example, spend 15 minutes finding 5 different recipes |
| bookmarks. | | | | - bookmarking each one. Then you can quickly |
| There are loads of uses for bookmarks; one of them | | | | compare each one for the best recipe and even |
| is to keep track of all your favorite sites. By | | | | combine information from multiple examples. If you |
| bookmarking your favorite websites, you'll save time | | | | aren't using bookmarks or favorites, you're missing |
| by having all your favorites readily available to you. | | | | out on a very effective tool for organizing the |
| You won't have to search for Facebook or eBay - | | | | information overload we're subjected to daily on the |
| just click the bookmark and it'll take you straight to | | | | internet. |
| that page. | | | | However, this brings up the very important point of |
| However there are other uses for bookmarks. You | | | | organizing your bookmarks. If you don't organize |
| can bookmark things you want to buy - gift ideas for | | | | your bookmarks you might find it really hard to find |
| birthdays. We all know how time consuming trying to | | | | the webpages you've saved previously. Imagine |
| find the perfect gift is and how annoying it is to | | | | having 500 favorites bookmarked but how can you |
| forget the name and price of a present you want to | | | | find that website you're after? Traditionally, |
| buy. What I normally do is search through different | | | | bookmarks and favorites are organized by folders. |
| online stores, bookmarking about 10 choices. I then | | | | This is what your web browser does. So, if you're |
| have a lot more time to think about what it is | | | | bookmarking websites for a project on ancient |
| exactly that I want to buy, weighing up pros and | | | | Greek history, it's best to save them all in one folder |
| cons. I don't have to worry about forgetting any of | | | | called 'Ancient Greek History'. If you're saving ideas |
| the items or not remembering where I saw them | | | | for a holiday, bookmark your favorites into a folder |
| because with a bookmark, you can always easily | | | | called 'Spain Holiday 2010' and you'll have a much |
| navigate back to those pages. Bookmarking like this | | | | easier job finding the pages you need. |
| is a smart way to maximise your time and increase | | | | However, there's a new way to organize your |
| your productivity - it works great for cars, | | | | favorites currently unsupported by browsers and |
| properties, holidays and so on. | | | | that's tagging. Some online services allow you to tag |
| Another great tip for favorites and bookmarks is | | | | your bookmarks which is a different way of |
| using them for research. The internet is normally the | | | | organizing them and one that is really fun and |
| first place everyone starts their research but with | | | | interesting to use. Instead of saving a bookmark into |
| billions of webpages on the web, finding what you | | | | a folder, you 'tag' a bookmark with a category or |
| want and keeping track of it can become a difficult | | | | label. For example, you're on the eBay website and |
| task. So, bookmark as you go along. Spend 30 | | | | you favorite it - you can tag it 'shopping', 'online |
| minutes or an hour doing internet searches. Don't | | | | store', 'online auction', 'Susan's Birthday Gift Idea' and |
| spend time looking at specific webpages. It's easy to | | | | so on. Tagging is a great way to organize your |
| get distracted and then you're focused on something | | | | bookmarks and it'll be interesting to see if browsers |
| else. Instead, find a webpage or an online news | | | | eventually adopt the tagging method of organization |
| article, briefly read it to make sure it's relevant, then | | | | that many internet services are now utilizing. |
| simply bookmark it and carry on searching. After an | | | | |