Search bookmarks in tags only
Hey there!
I used FF a lot in the 'old days', switched to chrome for a few years and now just switched back, primarily because of FF's bookmarking system, which is just a lot better.
I'm migrating all my bookmarks and one-by-one, I assign tags. Tags in general are not new to me, but it's the first time I use them in FF. Although I think, the 'add new bookmark' window could do with a little tweaking, it actually is miles ahead of Chrome...
What I don't get though, is how to properly search my bookmarks. I've read this link: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/awesome-bar-search-firefox-bookmarks-history-tabs?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=awesome-bar-find-your-bookmarks-history-and-tabs#w_changing-results-on-the-fly
Most of these work fine, but some are a bit off. For example: Add # to search for matches in page titles. It also shows me results where the search term is only in the tag.
This is somewhat annoying and feels rather buggy, but the thing I'm primarily asking about is tag search: Add + to search for matches in pages you've tagged.
This seems to be working as intended, because of the way it's phrased. But I don't get why it's done this way... I tagged a bunch of bookmarks with 'js'. Now, when I type:
+ js
I get a lot of result with different tags that have a 'js' in the title or URL. A lot of bookmarks have 'js' as part of their URL (without being tagged with 'js') and I don't know how to exclude them. This also is a problem with tags like 'html', 'pdf', 'php', etc... You get the point...
I can't just rename the tag as 'javascript', because my 'javascript'-tagged bookmarks would clutter my search when I try to find bookmarks tagged with just 'java'. This wouldn't be acceptable for the other examples either. I don't want tags like 'hypertextmarkuplanguage' just to exclude non-html-tagged bookmarks that link to html-sites.
I know, I can open the library, click on a tag and display all links, but that's really not ideal. I'd like to do this in the location bar, because it's faster and more flexible. Also I can search for more tags on the fly...
So, long story short, I'd like to find a way to search for terms only in tags, not in every part of tagged bookmarks. Preferably without any add-ons that come with a thousand functions from which I'd only need one...
Thank you for your time. :-)
All Replies (5)
Hi hejado,
TL:DR Try using the tag -js instead of js does that help as a simple workaround ?
I suspect a lot of people are not aware of that article and the method of searching. I find it useful and often use it.
- Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox_changing-results-on-the-fly
That seems odd
If I try a search for
+ js
I like you get a result that matches a bookmark title containing js That was unexpected. <== It should not have been unexpected if I had remembered the search now only includes tagged bookmarks. I do have a tagged bookmrk with js in it I do not have any tag js
On the other hand if I try
+ SHA-1
I only get items tagged with SHA-1 I do have a tag SHA-1 I do have bookmarks with SHA-1 in the title. They only show if I use
# SHA-1
I will try adding a tag js whilst writing this post and see what then happens. Yep still have a problem.
Not sure why. I did wonder if a tag search had a fall back and returned a title result if no tags. <== It is because it searches all tagged bookmarks Ok next I tried using the tag -js that seems to be a suitable workaround. ( -js just chosen as a short alternative tag, not containing a special charcter) Now if I search
+ -js
I get the bookmark tagged -js without the bookmark with js in the title.
At the moment I have not got a clue why there is a problem with this, and am not sure I wish to try to research it as an issue. Certainly not today & while I have a reasonable workaround. Does that work for you ?
Edit I was forgetting what the modifications actually do. So have added comments.
Modified by John99
This doesn't help me, I'm afraid... I'd have to do this for every tag like js, html, pdf, etc... Also, this isn't just an issue of file extensions... For example: Let's say google and wikipedia are not in your bookmarks. Then do the following:
- Add google.com as a bookmark, edit the title to "Google testbookmark" - Add wikipedia.com as bookmark, set the tag 'testbookmark'
Now search: + testbookmark, you will only find wikipedia, because the google bookmark isn't tagged. The problem is, the tag you have to set on the google bookmark doesn't matter.
- On the google bookmark, set a tag "somethingdifferent"
Now search: + testbookmark. You will now see both bookmarks.
However, because of the way the docs are phrased, I do think this is working as intended. But it's not a very useful way, at least not for me...
So you see, prefixing only a subset of bookmarks to avoid this issue doesn't help... - I'd have to remember which tags are prefixed - I have to pick a prefix that's globally unique, so that there will never be a bookmark that's coincidentally matching
I guess I could just prefix every tag with two !! or something like that. And then search "!!label !!anotherlabel"... Maybe this way, I wouldn't need the +... I'd have to test that, when I have more time...
I still think, this should be easier... :-\
You are correct it is working as intended. The + character only adds a condition that all the results must have been tagged. It does not search tags only
I guess I only add tags where there is no such string in the title or bookmark url. I only use tags as an addition to the other methods of identifying a bookmark.
Of course you can also search within the bookmarks library itself. You can not use the special characters there but the customised columns make up for that. You also get the option to open virtual folders for each individual tag. Your folder for the tag testbookmark will not contain google.com
I like to find at least one tag I can set per bookmark. I guess, this is more about being cautious.
I often use the library for managing and searching my bookmarks. I think it's a great tool, I even set it to be my homeparge. Like I said, it's the main reason I switched back to FF.
But when I get to browsing, I really like to use the location bar. Tagging gives me the power to narrow everything down to a few bookmarks when typing in the bar. At least that would be the case if there was a tag-only search.
I'm even thinking of writing an addon myself... Adding a custom keyword for a different sql-query can't be that hard. But I won't have any time before July and I really hoped to have someting by then...
The virtual folders are awesome, but unfortunately you can only select one at a time. (On a side note: What happened to saving bookmark searches as a custom dynamic folder? I find a lot of manuals on how to do it, but it seems to be removed...)
Just stumbled across this as an open tab.
The dynamic queries|smart bookmarks folders were removed a long while ago. As is often the case with Firefox there is an addon that lets create and you use them if you wish:
- SavedSearchButton 1.3.1-signed https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/savedsearchbutton/
(I think the last time I answered an enquiry relating to this was /questions/951511#answer-411536 - although I don't think the manual creation method works now. )