Mozilla finally seems to be making good progress on getting user interface items implemented into the Firefox 3 nightly builds. Last week they were able to get an early version of the new download manager incorporated into the browser. I didn’t think that it was all that bad, but then again I am a person who has their download history automatically cleared. When I was reading in the Firefox Builds Forum earlier I even noticed that some people were against the new download manager.
Towards the end of last week Mozilla had also implemented a smooth tab scrolling system that adds a little eye candy for those of you who often have dozens of tabs open. I put together a video demonstration of the feature so that you can see what it’s like.
Mozilla has now added one of the first visual pieces for Places into Firefox 3 nightlies, with the hope of shipping the next milestone prior to September 18th. The new bookmark system now supports tagging capabilities so that organizing your bookmarks will be a little easier. Right now you utilize this feature by double-clicking on the star located in the address bar or by pressing Ctrl+D on your keyboard. You’ll then be presented with a menu where you can enter the name of the bookmark, choose a folder to place it in, and add any tags that you want. Here are some things you should know about how it works:
- There are three folders by default: Bookmarks Menu puts the bookmarks in the drop-menu and in the sidebar, Bookmarks Toolbar puts the bookmarks in the toolbar, and All Bookmarks is the default location and doesn’t show up anywhere except for searches right now.
- There is no structure yet for viewing tagged bookmarks, and items not placed in a folder can only be found by performing a search in the sidebar.
- Multiple tags can be separated by commas, and existing tags can be seen by pressing the drop-down menu button next to the tag box.
So there is still quite a bit of work that needs to be done on the new system before it is ready for fulltime use, but it’s coming along quite nicely. I put together a quick 28-second video that shows you how the new system works:
There is no doubt that Mozilla needs to tidy up the interface for the new bookmarking system, but the important part is that they make it functional first. I’m excited to see what else the new Places will bring, and hopefully Mozilla sticks with their plan to create an easy-to-use API for the new bookmarking system. That way interaction with online services, such as Del.icio.us, will virtually be a painless process.
Source: Mozilla Links & Firefox Builds Forum
Thanks for the tip Oropher!
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Tags: Firefox, Freeware, Pre-Release, Software, Browser, Firefox 3
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I must admit, that looks pretty cool. I like that you know whether or not you’re on a bookmarked site. Also, looks like you can easily bookmark the site w/ default name/location w/ 1 click.
I too have my downloads auto clear, I don’t see the point of keeping a huge history of downloaded files. They removed the option for it in main options, well removed part of it, now its remember em all or none at all. There is a third option now only able to be set in about:config.
browser.download.manager.retention
When to remove downloaded files’ entries from the Download Manager
0 - Upon successful download
1 - When the browser exits
2 - Manually
I use a setting of 1.
On this new bookmarking system, I know places is a whole new and better storage format, but what was wrong with the bookmarking system now. This whole new implementation seems kinda not really necessary.
Yeah, it does have the 1-click access but that could lead to users having extremely cluttered bookmarks that are very unorganized.
Thanks for that tip! I think clearing the downloads when the browser exits is a great idea.
I actually think a system like this is very necessary. Tagging is becoming the hit craze these days, and it makes bookmark storage more efficient. With how they have this implemented other services, like Del.icio.us, should be able to easily integrate into the Firefox browser.
I personally don’t think they need to tweak the download manager that much. I have it set to not remember any downloads, so the search bar is unnecessary.
As for the bookmarks system, I’m with xpgeek. I like it how it is right now.
i said it once, and i will say it again:
1. they need to allow hierarchy of tags, and let the user choose if selecting a lower level tag, will also cause the bookmark to get all the upper level tags that leads to it.
2. they need to have autocomplete of tags, to speedup the process of tagging. and i am guessing the Find As You Type will still be used, like in todays bookmark system.
i am not quite sure why they have both folder and tags, cause in the same time a tag can be a folder (see 1), but i guess its just the late hour that stops me from finding the logic in it.
“All Bookmarks is the default location and doesn’t show up anywhere except for searches right now.”
I don’t understand what this is for? If a page bookmarked to All Bookmarks doesn’t show the bookmark anywhere then why should someone bookmark to nowhere? What does this mean?
For as much as I understand tags: If it would possible to save a new bookmark into many folders using checkboxes or keyboard to choose the folders where the new bookmark would be saved into, then tags and folders would be pretty much a same thing, or what?
Bookmark Tags extension, baby: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/998