Hold that spot! Bookmarking your way through cyberspace

by Alexandra Middleton | 21 May 2013

If you’re reading content across a couple of web pages at one time, then jumping between multiple tabs is the way to go. However, if you have a number of web pages you regularly visit or would like to save and revisit later, then bookmarking is for you.

What is bookmarking

Similar to those used in hard copy books, a web bookmark marks your place so that you can return to it later.

If you have selected to bookmark a page it will be saved in a list in your web browser.  Then, all you need to do is open a new webpage, click on the page you wish to visit in your saved bookmarks and it will take you there.

The bookmarking feature is available on all web browsers but what it’s called differs across each. For instance, if you are searching the web using Internet Explorer the saved list of websites will be called favourites, while for Firefox and Safari users the sites are saved as bookmarks. 

Step-by-step guide to creating a bookmark

1. Open your web browser by double-clicking on the browser icon.
2. Type the address of the web page you would like to visit in the URL bar, or use the keywords to search for a web page using your search engine.
3. Once you have navigated to the web page you would like to visit and save, click on the word Bookmark, which can be found in the skinny bar of commands running along the top of your screen. This skinny bar is also where File, Edit and Quit are found.
4. Clicking on Bookmarks will reveal a list of options, including Show All Bookmarks, Add Bookmark, Add Bookmark Folder etc. To save the page you are currently on, scroll down and click on Add Bookmark.
5. Once you click on Add Bookmark a command box will appear that reads, Add This Page To.
6. Select Bookmarks Bar from the drop down menu and in the box provided type a short name for the webpage for example, Probus and click Add.
7. Below where you type web page addresses you will now see ‘Probus’, saved in your Bookmarks Bar. Click on this whenever you would like to return to the webpage. No matter what webpage you are on at the time, clicking on this Bookmark will take you straight to the allocated website.

Organising your bookmarks

At step four, if you instead clicked on Bookmarks and then Add Bookmark Folder, this would allow you to create a folder in which you could save multiple Bookmarked web pages, such as a selection of your favourite news web pages.

Clicking on Add Bookmark Folder will automatically take you to another page that prompts you to label your new folder, News.

To add webpages to this folder return to step six and instead select the desired folder, News from the drop down menu. 

To find this folder and the bookmarked web pages saved within it at a later date, click Bookmarks in the skinny command bar and scroll down to Show All Bookmarks. Clicking on this will reveal all your Bookmark folders on the left-hand side, click on News, and select the web page saved within that you wish to navigate to.

Creating Bookmarks on a tablet device

Creating a bookmark on a tablet device such as an iPad is very similar to creating bookmarks on a computer web browser.

1. Open your web browser by clicking on the icon. 
2. To the left of the URL bar where you type web addresses you will see an icon of a box and arrow. Click on this and select the open book icon labelled Bookmark.
3. Type a name for the bookmark where prompted and hit Save.
4. To locate the bookmark you have just saved, click on the open book icon to the left of the URL bar. This will reveal a list of your saved bookmarks. Select the page you would like to visit and it will take you straight there. 

If you are using a Samsung tablet device the bookmark icon is located to the left of the URL bar. The Samsung icon is a box with a triangle cut out of the base and a plus sign in its centre.

Click this icon, create a name for the page and hit OK. 

If in doubt, use the Help function on your tablet device or chosen web browser.