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How to identify date/time of items in history?

  • 2 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by harleymonk

harleymonk
harleymonk
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Because of extensive research I accomplish, I do not clear my history.

One of the useful inclusions of Opera, Chrome, et al. is sorting one's browsing history by date and time. When one selects "ALL," not only are page visits grouped by date, the time of the visit is included as well. This is especially helpful when I know the approximate date or time of a page visit as it allows me to focus on a specific time period. Similarly, if I do a general history search, Opera at least gives me the date of all of the returns. Again, this is most helpful if I wish to limit my search to a particular time period.

Firefox does none of this. Yes I can view today, yesterday, this month, last month, etc. on the home page but no further sorting is possible. For example, in December 2017, I have more than 2000 site visits. I remember that, a couple of weeks ago, I visited a site that discussed - whatever - but I don't remember the site name. Where in those 2000+ entries is a couple of weeks ago? I also remember that I visited that site close to the end of the day. Where in those 2000+ entries are those near the end of the day? You get the point.

Surely Firefox could be written to include date/time columns - yes?

Monk

Because of extensive research I accomplish, I do not clear my history. One of the useful inclusions of Opera, Chrome, et al. is sorting one's browsing history by date and time. When one selects "ALL," not only are page visits grouped by date, the time of the visit is included as well. This is especially helpful when I know the approximate date or time of a page visit as it allows me to focus on a specific time period. Similarly, if I do a general history search, Opera at least gives me the date of all of the returns. Again, this is most helpful if I wish to limit my search to a particular time period. Firefox does none of this. Yes I can view today, yesterday, this month, last month, etc. on the home page but no further sorting is possible. For example, in December 2017, I have more than 2000 site visits. I remember that, a couple of weeks ago, I visited a site that discussed - whatever - but I don't remember the site name. Where in those 2000+ entries is a couple of weeks ago? I also remember that I visited that site close to the end of the day. Where in those 2000+ entries are those near the end of the day? You get the point. Surely Firefox could be written to include date/time columns - yes? Monk

Chosen solution

Hey thanks jscher2000,

I wrongfully assumed that "sort by most recent" would perform a Z>A sort if one had changed the default sorting to something else (so I did not click on it). So that adds the date and time that I was hoping for.

I installed MZHistoryView and it contains everything I need and then some.

Thanks again for the speedy response and most helpful tips.

Monk

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All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hi Monk, there is a column for the date and time of the last visit called "Most Recent Visit". It might not appear by default, but if you are viewing history in the Library window (Ctrl+Shift+h) and you right-click any of the column headings, you should be able to add it from the little context menu.

Now... you may wonder about all the OTHER visits you've made to that page, or why an entry under September shows a time for a visit today. Firefox does not expose every single visit in the Library window. You can use a third party external tool for that. I don't know if there are any extensions for it.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/mozilla_history_view.html

Note: mine went non-responding for a minute at an indicated 200,400 records while the display was laid out. Some patience is needed with a large history.

Using the initial load file dialog for filtering is more effective than searching in the list display. However, you might also consider moving it into your own archiving system since Firefox continuously cycles out old history as you browse.

harleymonk
harleymonk Question owner
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Chosen Solution

Hey thanks jscher2000,

I wrongfully assumed that "sort by most recent" would perform a Z>A sort if one had changed the default sorting to something else (so I did not click on it). So that adds the date and time that I was hoping for.

I installed MZHistoryView and it contains everything I need and then some.

Thanks again for the speedy response and most helpful tips.

Monk