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Visual cues for bookmark keyboard shortcuts in browsers Web Browsers
I try to do as much as possible from my keyboard using shortcuts, because I think it's more efficient than using a mouse. As such, I frequently employ the Safari (and Camino, not sure about Firefox) keyboard shortcut Command-(1 through 9) that triggers your Bookmark Bar bookmarks. The problem is this actually slows me down because I can never tell at a quick glance whether a particular bookmark is Command-4 versus Command-5, or Command-6 versus Command-7, etc.

Here's the fix: in the Mac OS Character Palette (under the International icon in your menu bar), select the All Characters view from the View drop-down. Select the by Category tab, and then under the Symbols section in the left frame, select Numbers and Number Symbols. Scroll about two-thirds of the way down and look for the rows of seemingly-normal number characters right below the fractions. The first row of 0-9 are actually superscript characters, and the second row are subscript (I prefer subscript, but either will work):


Switch over to your Bookmarks editor in your browser, set your cursor in the bookmark's name field, and then select that bookmark's corresponding number in the character palette. Hit Insert and that's it! I usually put a space between the character and the name of my bookmark, which makes it more readable. It also helps to make the bookmark name all caps. Detractors will say, of course, that you could just put normal number characters in there, but I like my solution better. They don't take up too much space, but they're still quite readable without being distracting.

[robg adds: You might also try some of the white numbers with black backgrounds, as I found they stand out for easy readability.]
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Visual cues for bookmark keyboard shortcuts in browsers
Authored by: Crazor on Jul 11, '07 11:04:06AM

As for Firefox, Cmd+Number switches Tabs, so no use for this in FF. I like tab-switching by shortcut better, anyways =)



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Visual cues for bookmark keyboard shortcuts in browsers
Authored by: dcottle on Jul 11, '07 12:30:34PM

Nice hint. I'm constantly counting across my toolbar for the bookmark number.

For Firefox, download the add-on "bookmark keys" for access to toolbar bookmarks using control-number. (And if you've never looked at the add-ons page, be prepared to spend a few hours. I find FireFTP, Notify, Tab Mix Plus, Google Desktop, Location Navigator, Download status bar, etc., useful.)

But I don't see the point in using special characters. Just Name each hint with a leading number using the default font.

Also, in Firefox, you can set a keyword for a bookmark (use get info, then type just the keyword in the location bar), which I also can never remember, but can be fixed with this hint. So I've now renamed all my toolbar bookmarks with a number (just a plain ol' 1-9), then my keyword. For example:

1 apple 2 rumors 3 hints

So I can use control-number, or if I'm already in the location bar (com-l), then the keyword, which I can now remember.

Finally, if you have a folder for one of the bookmarks (my apple bookmark contains six apple related locations), then control-1 will open tabs of all six apple sites, which I can then access using com-1 thru 9.

Slick!



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Visual cues for bookmark keyboard shortcuts in browsers
Authored by: sjmills on Jul 11, '07 07:16:33PM

Nitpick: That's "popup menu", not "drop-down menu".



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Visual cues for bookmark keyboard shortcuts in browsers
Authored by: izpinoza on Jul 12, '07 04:59:45AM

nice hint, but I have to admit, after a few days, I've pretty much memorized what number new bookmarks are at. after all, you'll be bookmarking sites you go to often, no?

And it seems like numbering the names with sub and superscript is very time-consuming, whereas if you hit the wrong shortcut by mistake, you could take another shot at the right number, and voila!



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Re: keyboard shortcuts
Authored by: keyxl on Aug 27, '07 02:48:59AM
Yeah its pretty hard to remember all those keyboard shortcuts! A good reference site is:-

http://www.keyxl.com/

They have keyboard shortcuts for hundreds of programs (mac, win and linux). thanks.

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My circle-6 now shows up as (6)
Authored by: dzurn on Sep 11, '07 07:49:00AM
I just noticed today that my bookmark special characters are displaying digit ligatures instead of the circled numbers I had used, in both FireFox 2.0.0.4 and 2.0.0.6.

I've been nuking my font caches so it might be related to that.

Basically my bookmarks marked with a circled number now display as the number in parentheses, even though it's still a single glyph. ❻ 0x277B [DINGBAT NEGATIVE CIRCLED DIGIT SIX] now displays in the bookmark bar and properties as ⑹ 0x2479 [PARENTHESIZED DIGIT SIX]. Several other number symbols also revert to the parenthesized numbers instead.

Odd.

---
Madness takes its toll.
Please have exact change.

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