Internet Bookmarks
Why you need them and how to create/edit/use them effectively
Why you need to use bookmarks
They take you straight to the page you want. If there are web pages you use regularly1 then you should create bookmarks to save yourself time and effort.
Creating Internet Bookmarks
Based on the statistics2, I’m going to deal only with how to create internet bookmarks on the following browser/device combinations:
Google Chrome on Desktop - click here
Google Chrome on Android Mobile / Tablet - click here
Safari on Desktop - click here
Safari on iPhone / iPad - click here for iPhone, here for iPad
Edge on Desktop (they call bookmarks ‘favourites’) - click here
Firefox on Desktop - click here
Organising Internet Bookmarks
When you create a bookmark it will be added to the bookmarks folder within the browser and can be accessed via the bookmarks menu in the browser.
If you have a lot of bookmarks then you’ll need to arrange them into sub-folders or sub-menus, so that you can find and access them quickly when you need them.
Instructions on how to organise bookmarks into sub-folders or sub-menus can be found at the browser/device links above.
Bookmark Bars
Several browsers allow you to place bookmarks (and bookmark folders) on a ‘bookmark bar’ that sits just below the address bar in your browser. This is a great feature and enables very fast access to your bookmarks when browsing the internet.
In some browsers the bookmark bar is disabled by default, and you need to go into the settings to enable it. If you’re not sure what to do, just try an internet search (replacing the terms in square brackets with the details specific to you) for “bookmark bar [browser] [device]” (for example: “bookmark bar chrome desktop”).
Organising Bookmarks on Tablets & Mobiles
Browser-based bookmarks are not quite so useful on tablets and mobiles3, and I think you should instead place the bookmarks on the home screen of your device and organise them there.
Placing a Bookmark on the Home Screen
To place a bookmark on the home screen, follow the instructions below:
Safari on iPhone / iPad - While viewing the website, tap this icon
in the menu bar, then tap Add to Home Screen.
Chrome on Android - While viewing the website, open Chrome’s Settings menu by tapping the three vertical dots found in the top-right corner. Select “Add to Home Screen” option.
Organise Home Screen Bookmarks into a Folder
To create a folder on the Home Screen, drag one shortcut on top of another shortcut and hold for a moment. A folder will be created (containing the two shortcuts) and you should be prompted to give the folder a name.
Once the folder is created you can add other bookmarks to the folder by dragging them on top of the folder and dropping them in it.
Within the folder itself you can arrange the bookmarks in whatever order you wish, just by dragging them around.
Hope that saves you some time!
For me that would be (1) Court Lists, (2) Court Rules, (3) Westlaw, (4) Bloomsbury, (5) vLexJustis, (6) Irish Statute Book, (7) Company Searching, (8) Judgments, (9) Law Reform Commission Revised Legislation, (10) Online Accounting Package, (11) Online Banking.
According to statcounter as of August 2023 the market share for:
devices is 54.46% mobile, 43.67% desktop, and 1.88% tablet.
operating systems is 39.2% Android, 30.12% Windows, 16.48% iOS, 8.77% OS X, 1.84% unknown, and 1.44% Chrome OS.
internet browsers is 63.56% Chrome, 19.85% Safari, 5.43% Edge, 2.94% Firefox, 2.74% Opera, and 2.33% Samsung Internet.
To my mind, bookmarks are there to save you time. On a tablet or phone, if the bookmarks are in your internet browser, you will have to open the browser, open the bookmarks tab, find the bookmark you want, and click it. Placing the bookmarks on the Home screen and organising them there will save you a lot of steps in the process.