The entire reason we didn’t use sidebars for anything in web browsers years ago is simply because we didn’t have the screen real estate for it. We more or less always had the option, but it took too much away from web page viewing to be useful.

Since many people today use higher resolutions, we now can use bookmarks in the sidebar while still having plenty of space left over for web pages.

I use a 20-inch monitor with a 1680×1050 display. When I have my browser maximized I can easily enable the sidebar and it works out quite nicely, like this:

image

Above is the Firefox web browser, but this can be done in Internet Explorer or Opera as well.

There are three distinct advantages to using bookmarks the sidebar way.

Keyboard navigation

You can click in the sidebar area then use your up/down (and left/right for menu expansion), then press Enter for were you want to go quickly and easily.

Bookmark-only search (Firefox)

While it’s true you can use the address bar to search bookmarks, unfortunately this also mixes in your browser history in the search results. The bookmark search will only search bookmarks – a huge plus.

Easy drag-and-drop organization

Having bookmarks in the sidebar is by far the easiest way to organize your links. Just drag and drop them in whatever order you like. In Firefox you can add separator lines and folders easily as well.

If you’ve got the resolution to do it, try it out

Got the pixels available to go a little wider and enable sidebar bookmarks? Try it out – you’ve always had it available.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Do You Use Sidebar Bookmarks?