WANTED: Safari bookmarks hack

[Syncopator]

In the menu that shows your bookmark folders, when adding a new bookmark, I've always wished that the folders were further indented than they are. My list is pretty long, and the current, "shallow" indentation level is difficult to follow. (See my "before" and "after" shots, attached. Of course, the "after" is a mock-up of what I'd like to see.)

Does anyone know how I can adjust this? Yes, I realize there's no official way to do this, hence the subject "WANTED: Safari bookmarks hack."

I'm not afraid to hack into Safari -- but I'd need very specific instructions on what to edit.

Thanks!

 

[beegie]

I'm with you on that Syncopator... this is a two-year-old post but it seems nobody replied...

Besides the further indentation that you desire, I'm simply trying to find out how to CLOSE all the OPEN bookmark folders which appear when you click on Safari menu Bar > Bookmarks > Add Bookmark > where, at that point, it has the drop-down-menu entitled "Bookmarks Bar" with my THOUSAND bookmarks and folders ALL OPEN, so to have to scroll through all of that to simply ADD a bookmark into the appropriate folder in Safari has been miserable since I had to give up IE for Mac (which was a BREEZE to do Everything With Bookmarks... why can't apple re-create/bring up-to-date a pseudo- IE for Mac? It was great, piece of cake in every way, until it just wouldn't work with all the new fangled websites anymore).

Well, I'll keep looking through all the threads here re: Safari...

And yes, I already googled for the past several hours, re-wording my query in a dozen different ways, reading through numerous useless articles and posts, none of which simply gave a clue as to how to CLOSE all the OPEN Bookmark folders in the Safari Menu > Bookmarks > Add Bookmark > Drop-Down-BookmarksBar-Menu...

 

[VirtualTracy]

Hello beegie

I had a quick look around and it was a bit of a hit'n'miss affair. I did however find the following quote:

While it will be nice to be able to do this through the Finder's own GUI, note that adjustable spacing is already present in "Tiger" and can be set in the "com.apple.finder.plist" file using '/usr/bin/defaults', "Property List Editor.app", etc. The properties 'FXDesktopLayoutGridCharCount', 'FXLayoutGridCharCount', 'FXLabelHorizontalPad', 'FXLabelVerticalPad', 'FXMaximumLabelLines' (the above all take an integer value), and the icon and font sizes all influence the spacing.
However, these are Finder defaults settings so they will apply to all windows, so the ability to have separate settings for individual windows might be new.

I don't really get into editing .plist files but wondered if this was relevant for you? I wouldn't know what exactly would need editing in this case but it's possible that someone might comment of the validity and relevance of the above with reference to your wishes ... if you can change the spacing of icons in icon view then who knows ....?

 

[beegie]

heehee, hi again VirtualTracy and thank you for your time/effort in taking that look around! Not always fun and rewarding, is it? ;-) That tip you found sounds a wee bit scary to implement... (at least for me), esp. if it will change ALL files.

Syncopator from 2006 wanted to "Further Indent" the bookmark folders in the drop-down "Bookmarks Bar" menu (Safari-Bookmarks-Add Bookmarks). And I agree that would be grand as I know exactly what he/she means by the Folders not being indented enough.

But my main issue and hunt tonight was to see if I could find a way to CLOSE all my subfolders in that same stream: Safari Menu Bar > Bookmarks > Add Bookmarks > Bookmarks Bar's drop-down-menu.

Glad somebody else is up tonight... oops, I see it is now morning already, lol.

 

[VirtualTracy]

Just gone 10pm here ... don't say you've been up all night playing googly games ... !!

I'm still trying to understand what you're after ... with the above path ... what exactly are you doing at the time you want to close the sub-folders?

I looked at the above path but while I see the sub-folders I can't see that they are open ... what I mean is that their content isn't showing ... just the folder, as a destination point for any bookmark I may want to add ...

Is this a Leopard thingy? Well, that couldn't be the case because I'm using Safari 3 despite still running Tiger so our views should be the same ... >>

Here's a screen grab of what I see but tell me if I'm way off in what you are trying to achieve ...

I'm off to make a cuppa so I'll check back in 5 mins ...

 

[beegie]

Just gone 10pm here ... don't say you've been up all night playing googly games ... !!

::ha:: Yes 'um sure have, lol. This week have been seeking out answers to all those little annoying things on Mac that normally we just try to ignore day by day, but got in the mood tonight to see if I could find freeware/shareware, or tips/hints/codes, etc. to fix more of these irritating little boogers...

Before I started on this bookmark subject, the other thang that always drives me batty was incessantly having to change all my new folders FROM the default ICON view. I want mine to always open in LIST view. But I found answers to that by googling, praise the Lord for small favors! ::love::

And a few days ago I wanted Safari's "Mail Contents of This Page" to work as it wouldn't, and there were other little things like that, which I can't even remember now. So far I was having success finding answers, but closing all the subfolders in Bookmarks I'm still striking out.

I'm still trying to understand what you're after ... with the above path ... what exactly are you doing at the time you want to close the sub-folders?

Yes, you're right, wanting to "ADD" a new bookmark...

I looked at the above path but while I see the sub-folders I can't see that they are open ... what I mean is that their content isn't showing ... just the folder, as a destination point for any bookmark I may want to add ...

You are right again... They are Folders/Subfolders and not the individual links. My eyes go googly when that Bookmarks Bar drops down because I have so many...

Is this a Leopard thingy? Well, that couldn't be the case because I'm using Safari 3 despite still running Tiger so our views should be the same ...

Yeah, no Leopard here, it's still Tony the Tiger for me...

>>

Here's a screen grab of what I see but tell me if I'm way off in what you are trying to achieve ...

Ha, loved your pic, earlier I was thinking maybe I should make a pic, easier than trying to explain, but I knew a screenshot would not begin to convey how long my Bookmark Folders/Subfolders list is...

Going by your Visual, I let my Bookmarks Bar menu drop down next to your picture, and counted that my list of Folders/Subfolders is 42 -- yes FORTY-TWO (42) TIMES LONGER than what your pic shows.

So maybe that helps convey why I was hoping I could get all the Subfolders to CLOSE UP, that way I would only have to scroll down 25 individual "Main" Folders. And if those "Main" 25 Folders had "arrows" with the Subfolders to the Left or Right, then I could "slide over sideways" and drop the New Bookmark into whichever appropriate folder.

I'm off to make a cuppa so I'll check back in 5 mins ...

I may have to join you... why not, afterall it's morning, lol, the "normal" coffeetime...

 

[ora]

As an alternative, put a folder on your bookmark bar called 'to sort' and drag new bookmarks direct to that, then once a day/week/month whatever open up the full bookmark view and file them. That way you avoid the 'add bookmark' menu and just drag the icon from the address bar to the folder on the bookmark bar.

 

[beegie]

Thank you Ora for the Helpful Tip! That 'tis an idea, and would spare us from facing that dreadful long list of Folders/Subfolders as often ('cuz it truly IS a royal pain the way Safari has it).

And I always thought Steve Jobs was supposed to have been a thousand times smarter than Bill Gates... ;-/

 

[beegie]

FWIW, I just checked my copy of Opera, v.9.6.3 which I think is the newest, and it's not any better for "adding bookmarks" as it also has my very long list of Folders/Subfolders without any way (that I can see) to CLOSE UP the SUBfolders; and no "arrows" on either side of the MAIN Folders with which the Subfolders could be off to either side of the Main Folders.

 

[Syncopator]

wow. i started this thread almost 3 years ago (back when i still started sentences with capital letters). lol. i'd forgotten all about it....

a while back, i moved everything to delicious.com and never looked back. it's exponentially better. sure, i still have some buttons on safari's bookmark bar, for quick access, but for everything else, i can't imagine ever being confined to folders again.

in fact, i have a button on safari's bookmark bar called "save to delicious." since it's the 3rd item, i can hit command-3 from any web page to immediately save it to delicious. i type a few tags, and that's it.

you guys should try it. it'll change your (browsing) life.

 

[ora]

Nice to see you back in the thread syncopator

I too use delicious (i miss original the del.icio.us address though) and have it set up the same way as you, it is a great system.

 

[VirtualTracy]

FWIW, I just checked my copy of Opera, v.9.6.3 which I think is the newest, and it's not any better for "adding bookmarks" as it also has my very long list of Folders/Subfolders without any way (that I can see) to CLOSE UP the SUBfolders; and no "arrows" on either side of the MAIN Folders with which the Subfolders could be off to either side of the Main Folders.

If you keep all of your bookmarks in the bookmarks bar of your browser, it's likely that you'll end up with a giant list of websites that's harder to navigate than the Strait of Magellan. If you're in a situation like this, you should sign up for Delicious, a social bookmarking service that recently rolled out a major upgrade to its website.

Beegie, I think the you should consider Delicious.com to manage your bookmarks as you would have to agree that your gajillion bookmarks navigation problem matches up with the above simile:

"harder to navigate than the Strait of Magellan"



I'm currently looking into Delicious.com at the moment as I too have a plethora of 'marks .... mainly used to help out in forums/fora ....

Learn More about Delicious



.

 

[beegie]

LOL re: the Strait of Magellan!

Thanks guys, but whaaa whaaaa whaaaa (whiney baby)... I don't want to have to keep another browser window open for bookmarks. I use enough browser windows as is on my now-puny-looking 15-inch screen (which looked better than the previous 13 inch a few years ago)...

I looked for screenshots of this Delicious thang, saw (through squinted eyes) a few which were TOO small and would not enlarge, and I don't get it. So instead of a gazillion folders in my current browser, I would simply have in a separate browser window a LONG list of a GAZILLION "INDIVIDUAL LINKS"? LOL. So what's the benefit in that? ;-)

Since my brain works in "cubicles" (folders), I just don't know if I could get the hang of it. Can't do google gmail on the web either... drove me crazy w/no folders, but do love it as a Freebie Email program in my Mac based email (OE soon to be Entourage '08, ordered, received but not yet installed).

I know I know, I'm old fashioned and No Fun, lol. But THANKS PEOPLE for the "heartfelt" suggestions! ;-D