July 13, 2000 Web Services Offer Solutions to Bookmark Overload By JULIA LAWLOR ebbie Tegarden's bookmark file, with 600 or so Web sites, is like a house with overflowing closets. She would like to get rid of the clutter, but the thought of parting with even one item makes her cringe. Ms. Tegarden's collection, amassed over four years, is eclectic. There are sites about opera, manatees, jug bands, woodchucks, Honda repairs, elephants, philosophers, authors and the Boston Red Sox. "It's gotten out of control," said Ms. Tegarden, an editor at Princeton University Press. To get help, enthusiastic bookmark fans like Ms. Tegarden can turn to a number of free, relatively new online services that promise to manage bookmark overload. (Most services find that their users have 50 to 100 bookmarks apiece, though some have thousands). Some bookmark management sites will take a list of Web pages (the entries are called bookmarks in the Netscape browser and favorites in Internet Explorer) and automatically categorize them. Others give their users things like color coding to make it easier for users to do their own organizing. All will upload bookmarks from a browser, let the user get access to them from any computer and share them with others. Users can search the collection of bookmarks submitted by other members to the site; doing that is often a more refined way of conducting a search than perusing the entire Web. If several members of a family use the same computer, establishing an account for each member can eliminate the need to search through a long list of links. To sign onto a site, you simply fill out a form with a member name and password, then click the appropriate button allowing the site to copy the list of links on your browser. On most bookmark sites, no one will be able to view your links unless you specifically request it, but policies vary. The following are the four largest bookmark management sites: CLICKMARKS.COM: www.clickmarks.com Clickmarks started in February 1999 and says it is the oldest of the management sites. Clickmarks cites its automatic categorization feature as one of its highlights, even though a site spokesman, Rizwan Tufail, said the technology was not perfect. "We continuously screen our process for mistakes, but mistakes will happen," he said. The site will also keep track of your log-in names and passwords and log you into any of your Web sites. Clickmarks has more than two million links in its library of members' bookmarks. It provides services for about 100,000 individuals, and it has 110,000 users through ivillage.com and women.com, which are partner Web sites. You can easily move links from one folder to another by dragging and dropping, and you can get access to your bookmarks with a Web-enabled cell phone or other wireless device. BLINK.COM: www.blink.com This site has quickly gained a following because of its numerous features. But it does not categorize links, leaving that task to the individual. "The problem with automatic categorization is that it's not really doable," said Blink's chief executive, David Siegel. "It's a personal decision." Stephanie Denton, a consultant in Cincinnati who helps companies and individuals organize their offices, agreed. "In general, it's more effective for people to categorize their own information the way they might use it," Ms. Denton said. One advantage of Blink is that descriptive phrases can be added to identify each link, while a browser like Internet Explorer allows only the site's title. Links can be customized so they can be displayed in different fonts and colors. Bookmarks can be sorted alphabetically and by how often they are used and when they were used last. Blink also allows the user to drag and drop links from one folder to another and to search the full text of Web pages in its database, not just the titles. It will display related sites. (The site has a database of 10 million links). It also has a Grab Link feature that allows users to go to a Web page, get a list of every link on the page and pick which ones to add to their account. Members also get accounts that allow them to share their bookmarks easily with one another and with people who are not registered with Blink. Users can get access to Blink with cell phones and other wireless devices. A "lite" version without graphics can be viewed on handheld devices like the Palm. BACKFLIP.COM: www.backflip.com This site, started by two former Netscape employees, is simple to use. Backflip says it was the first site to offer full-text searches for a member's own Web pages, which means that words can searched for not only in Web page titles but also in the body of the pages. Backflip also categorizes bookmarks automatically, although the end result is not always perfect. Ms. Tegarden, for instance, tried letting Backflip organize her list and found the Web page of the book publisher St. Martin's Press filed under sporting events. Backflip also sorts your list of links alphabetically and by the latest Web pages you have added. It will also show you the 10 pages you use most often. There is no drag-and-drop feature, so you need to click on Edit and choose a new folder to move a link. Backflip allows access to its links from cell phones and other wireless devices, and it offers its services to 250 partner Web sites, including TheStreet.com and Salon.com. If a group of users is sharing a list of links, each one is notified every time a new page is added. A new feature called My Daily Routine lets you put together a string of sites you tend to visit every day. You can flip quickly through those Web pages, much as you might channel surf on a television. Backflip also provides a list of sites related to your top 10 favorites. HOTLINKS.COM: www.hotlinks.com This site is the largest, with 450,000 members. Unlike most of its competitors, HotLinks' links are public by default, so if you upload your links to this site and want to keep them private, you must specifically ask to do that. But the whole point of the site is for members to be able to peek at one another's links. HotLinks, with a database of eight million links chosen by its members, calls itself "the world's first people-powered directory" because its database is generated by its users, not by editors. The site allows members to categorize their own listings of Web pages. Research conducted by HotLinks found that software to categorize site names automatically worked only 30 percent of the time, said Melissa Lloyd, HotLinks' vice president for marketing. "We won't add automatic categorization until it's 95 percent accurate," Ms. Lloyd said. The site allows users to sort their links alphabetically and to drag and drop links. It also shows links related to whatever Web page the user is viewing. By mid-August, HotLinks says, people will be able to use cell phones and other wireless devices to navigate the site. www.clickmarks.com www.blink.com www.backflip.com www.hotlinks.com