Section 3.3. Sidebars

3.3. Sidebars

Sidebars have been around in web browsers for some time, but most people don't know about them or how to use them. Firefox includes this feature, and it can definitely make your web browsing experience nicer. Let's look at the Bookmarks and History Sidebars.

3.3.1. Bookmarks Sidebar

Most people access their bookmarks by using the Bookmarks menu, and while that's not a bad way, it does have a few disadvantages. For example, the list of bookmarks disappears once you've made your choice, and if you have bookmarks inside folders inside folders inside folders, selecting the bookmark you actually want without clicking on the wrong thing can be tricky.

The Bookmarks Sidebar, shown in [click here], helps solve these problems.

To open the Bookmarks Sidebar, go to View Sidebar Bookmarks, or press Ctrl+B on your keyboard. Your bookmarks will appear in a nice, easy-to-access, easy-to-manage list running down the side of your browser window. If you double-click on a bookmark, it will open in the active tab in the main browser window. If you right-click on a bookmark, the contextual menu will let you open it in a new tab or a new window, or delete it. If you choose Sort by Name, Firefox will put all the bookmarks in that folder into alphabetical order.

One of the nicest features is the Search box at the top of the Bookmarks Sidebar. If you know that a certain word is in a bookmark's name, but you can't remember where that bookmark is in your folder hierarchy, type that word in the Search box and press Enter on your keyboard. Only bookmarks matching your word will show up, making it easy to find exactly the bookmark you want.

Take that space back

After using the Bookmarks Sidebar, you'll probably want to close it, since it takes up room in your browser that could be used to display web pages. You can click the little "x" in the upper-right corner of the sidebar, but memorizing the keyboard command Ctrl+B will come in handypress Ctrl+B to display the sidebar, and then Ctrl+B again to close it.

3.3.2. History Sidebar

The Bookmarks Sidebar is handy if you want to access a web site that you've saved because you thought you might find it useful later. On the other hand, the History Sidebar is handy if you want to access a web site that you've visited and want to return to, but didn't bookmark because you didn't realize until later that it might be useful. To display the History Sidebar, shown in [click here], go to View Sidebar History or press Ctrl+H on your keyboard.

The items in the History Sidebar function pretty much like those in the Bookmarks Sidebar: you click on a file representing a web page, and it loads in the main browser window. Right-click, and you can choose Bookmark This Link, or Copy Link Location if you'd like to paste a link to the web page into an email.

By default, your browsing history is sorted in folders by date, but you can change that. If you select the View drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the sidebar, you can choose from the following sort options:

• By Date and Site

• By Site

• By Date (the default)

• By Most Visited

• By Last Visited

Personally, I find the By Date and Site option to be the most useful. The sites are still sorted chronologically, but a folder is created for each web site, with the web pages for that site listed in that folder. Try itI think you'll find that it makes sense to you to organize your browsing history that way too.

Make the sidebar disappear

The History Sidebar takes up a lot of room, just like the Bookmarks Sidebar, so you'll probably want to close it when you're done using it. Use the "x" in the upper-right corner of the sidebar, or memorize the Ctrl+H command for super-fast opening and closing sidebar action!