Last Re-Sort

I spent a good portion of the weekend attempting to re-organize my bookmarks.

I have a del.icio.us account, but I've found it almost too austere and utilitarian. That's right, it's simply designed and useful. That's why I hate it. So much of its functionality is hidden from users - how do I import my bookmarks? Can I have multiple word tags? Didn't see any obvious help available. Gave up solely because I demand instant gratification.

Ma.gnolia, on the other hand, creates a pretty page, but there's far too much whitespace. The space between bookmarks couldn't be reduced. Big and elegant and ugly.

I settled on Blinklist. These options drew me in: Multiple-word tags. Obvious way of importing bookmarks from browsers/other sites. Fairly sleek, easily-modified tags.

There are problems, however. My first attempt at importing my Firefox bookmarks was a flop. I got about half of them into my account. Then I had to edit the .html file, trim out what I already imported and re-import the rest. Even after that, I still suspect that not everything made it.

The second major problem is hopefully just a result of growing pains (though it could be a Firefox issue). Navigating my bookmarks would yield strange behaviors. Certain bookmarks would refuse to open up their info for editing; I'd have to open up the site in a new page, delete the old bookmark and re-Blink the site. Sometimes deleting pages would cause a fairly substantial delay or even freezing.

Then there's this: I'd open up my tag list, then choose a list I wanted to clean up. I'd get through the first page, then select to navigate to the next page and I'd get an error. Re-selecting that same tag would yield more links than were showing up previously. Add to that some random SQL errors.

I know, I've totally convinced you to try out a buggy new site when a stable solution already exists.

But it seems to work for me.

Now I just need to figure out how it's useful.

Sure, bookmarks anywhere, woohoo. Not really an issue; I rarely find a need to access bookmarks away from home. I suppose if I lose my data it will be helpful. So it's bookmark insurance.

As a bookmarking tool, however, it's useful on the way in but not the way out. That is, the ability to add a link, tag it and describe it is great if you take the time to do it while you surf.

But from the other direction it's not particularly useful. First off, it's a whole big page. It needs to be a small, hiding sidebar.

Also, the tags can be great, but I like folders, too. Folders allow me to spatially navigate my links. Tags force me to try and remember how I labeled the links.

That's the state of my organization. My actual bookmarks tag is a disorganized mess filled with broken links. My blinklist is filled and tagged and almost worthless to me.

I am complete.