Previously Bookmarked pages do not show blue star when opened again - even if opened FROM Library page
I love my FF Bookmarks - using them constantly and for years. I have Bookmarks in nested folders, sometimes several generations deep.
Issues with Bookmark folders (nested or not) has been the one ongoing beef I have with FF Bookmarks - because if I can't find a site I know I've previously bookmarked and I have to resort to a Search from the Library page – it will find the bookmarked page, but it will still not show me which nested folder it has been saved into. As a work-around, I usually then open that bookmark in a new tab and then pretend to ‘Bookmark this page' again - which would then show me which folder the bookmark had previously been saved in so I can take note of the folder name. This is the key – to find the folder in which the bookmark was already saved.
I was willing to live with this odd workaround until now – because it no longer works.
Note, this problem is randomly random. I thought it had something to do with which folder (or generation of nested folders) it was in but as I did more and more tests while typing this, that didn’t hold up as diagnostic. I tried variations on Safe Mode/Disabled add-ons but that wasn’t the final answer.
Interestingly, AS I’m opening one of these pages from an old bookmark, the Star is blue WHILE it is opening but once the page has fully loaded, the blue disappears. I can make a duplicate ‘new’ bookmark and this page will, naturally, now show a Blue Star. If I then open the same page but by using the original (old) bookmark, that page will NOW show the previously missing Blue Star. But, fascinatingly, the newly reappeared Blue Star on the page opened from the OLD Bookmark will now DISAPPEAR if I delete the NEW Bookmark, leaving only the old original bookmark in the Library!
After hours of studying this phenomenon of the disappearing Blue Star, it seems to possibly be related to a change in the address of the page that opens from the Old bookmark (perhaps https, formerly http or some other thing that still allows the old bookmark to open but no longer match the ‘Location’ details precisely). If that is what a wise reader is going to comment, then let me list my two needs when I’m using bookmarks:
1) I may well come upon a page that I would like to ensure I have saved as a Bookmark. It is possible that I have already saved this page previously and, in the past, I could be certain that it is in my Library by checking the Blue Star status. However, given my new discoveries, I cannot be sure that a page is actually Bookmarked, even if it is. This seems like it will lead to many many duplicate Bookmarks – and a lot of wasted time making all of them again.
2) The other issue is trying to find a previously saved Bookmark in an unknown folder. As I described above, there is no way to find out what folder a Bookmark is saved to. Why is this? Why could this information not be viewable on the bottom of the Library page (in the section with Name, Location, Tags, Keyword etc.) Why is ‘Containing Folder’ not an option so one can find its location? If, as I’ve described above, my old workaround of opening a Bookmark found using a Library search and then looking to see where is was saved is forever broken by this quirk in the Bookmarking Library, how will I ever find the containing folder?
If I’ve failed to clearly explain my problem, please ask any questions you might have so I can get back to loving (and finding) my FF Bookmarks!
Many thanks.
Chosen solution
jscher2000 said
I think what's happening is that the site is redirecting to a slightly different URL than the one you bookmarked. There isn't a great solution for finding the location of a bookmark, but a couple of workarounds are: (1) Install the Show Parent Folder extension, choose its option to show the whole path, and add that column to the Library dialog's bookmarks list. See: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/show-parent-folder/ I haven't used this extension for a while, so I don't recall the details about how it works. (2) Export your bookmarks to an HTML format file, open the HTML format file as a web page in Firefox (in a tab) and then use Find (Ctrl+f) within the page to discover the current location of the folder. This is a convenient reference format, and also a kind of backup, but of course it's static and won't update in real time. See: [[Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks]
Many thanks for your reply!
As you know, the redirecting is what I was suspecting. I guess I should be glad they redirect and aren't just dead links.
1) Ooooh! Awesomesauce. In my haste, I didn't carefully read past "Install the Show Parent Folder Extension" ... and so I only saw the Parent and not the Grand- and Great-Grandparents as well. While it was as good as I had before, I was greedy and wanted more! But, just before I clicked post, I actually read all your words - and Voila! The entire path. So great!! Thank you.
2) This suggestion will take more time than I have at the moment but it would certainly work when I'm really stumped. I thought I had exported some Folders/subfolders in the past as a way of sharing them with others - but just now I can't seem to figure out how I might have exported only a subset of my bookmarks. Is this possible? (I realize this is slightly off topic but you certainly sound like an expert.)
Thank you again.
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (6)
Places Maintenance {web link} Allows to run Maintenance tasks on the database that drives Places, the bookmarks and history module behind Firefox.
Open the Add-ons Manager. Locate the add-on and press the Options button. Then follow the directions.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh).
Is the problem still there?
I think what's happening is that the site is redirecting to a slightly different URL than the one you bookmarked.
There isn't a great solution for finding the location of a bookmark, but a couple of workarounds are:
(1) Install the Show Parent Folder extension, choose its option to show the whole path, and add that column to the Library dialog's bookmarks list.
See: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/show-parent-folder/
I haven't used this extension for a while, so I don't recall the details about how it works.
(2) Export your bookmarks to an HTML format file, open the HTML format file as a web page in Firefox (in a tab) and then use Find (Ctrl+f) within the page to discover the current location of the folder. This is a convenient reference format, and also a kind of backup, but of course it's static and won't update in real time.
See: Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks fixed link j99
Modified by John99
This is what it looks like;
FredMcD said
Places Maintenance {web link} Allows to run Maintenance tasks on the database that drives Places, the bookmarks and history module behind Firefox. Open the Add-ons Manager. Locate the add-on and press the Options button. Then follow the directions.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh).Is the problem still there?
Thank you for your reply.
As I mentioned in my, admittedly, tl:dr post, running in Safe Mode without add-ons did not help. And just to be thorough, I ran the Places Maintenance but, as expected, that was not the solution.
It seems more and more likely that I was correct when I said that it probably comes down to the web address (properly called a URL - oops!) being slightly different than the bookmarked one. This is also being supported by another reply in this thread.
Chosen Solution
jscher2000 said
I think what's happening is that the site is redirecting to a slightly different URL than the one you bookmarked. There isn't a great solution for finding the location of a bookmark, but a couple of workarounds are: (1) Install the Show Parent Folder extension, choose its option to show the whole path, and add that column to the Library dialog's bookmarks list. See: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/show-parent-folder/ I haven't used this extension for a while, so I don't recall the details about how it works. (2) Export your bookmarks to an HTML format file, open the HTML format file as a web page in Firefox (in a tab) and then use Find (Ctrl+f) within the page to discover the current location of the folder. This is a convenient reference format, and also a kind of backup, but of course it's static and won't update in real time. See: [[Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks]
Many thanks for your reply!
As you know, the redirecting is what I was suspecting. I guess I should be glad they redirect and aren't just dead links.
1) Ooooh! Awesomesauce. In my haste, I didn't carefully read past "Install the Show Parent Folder Extension" ... and so I only saw the Parent and not the Grand- and Great-Grandparents as well. While it was as good as I had before, I was greedy and wanted more! But, just before I clicked post, I actually read all your words - and Voila! The entire path. So great!! Thank you.
2) This suggestion will take more time than I have at the moment but it would certainly work when I'm really stumped. I thought I had exported some Folders/subfolders in the past as a way of sharing them with others - but just now I can't seem to figure out how I might have exported only a subset of my bookmarks. Is this possible? (I realize this is slightly off topic but you certainly sound like an expert.)
Thank you again.
kiki95 said
I thought I had exported some Folders/subfolders in the past as a way of sharing them with others - but just now I can't seem to figure out how I might have exported only a subset of my bookmarks. Is this possible?
I don't think it's possible in Firefox in the past several years. Maybe it was possible in the Firefox 1 - 1.5 - 2 days when bookmarks were stored in a completely different way than they are in Firefox 3 and later.