A look at Bookmark Buddy

August 6, 2006 by erw.

Recently I decided that it would be good to start managing my bookmarks. Now, that may sound silly, but I’m one of those people that end up reloading Windows three or four times a year. So even though I bookmark web sites with my browser, I tend to lose them every time I re-install Windows. So with that in mind I started hunting for bookmark management tools.

My quest led me to some interesting apps. Some were very image oriented storing thumbnails of the site. Others were glorified text lists that were barely usable. So I created the following criteria for my idea bookmark manager. First, it had to have backup capabilities (after all, thats how the search started). Second, it have to be reasonable with my resources and not consume too much CPU and memory. Third, it had to work with most browsers. I’m not a big Internet Explorer fan, so I need a flexible tool. Fourth, it had to store additional info about a site like passwords and maybe a description. Finally, it needed to have working search function, so I could find sites in the database easily.

After installing, testing, and deleting several applications, Bookmark Buddy by Edward Leigh was the only one that fit all my needs. Version 3.5.4 installed without complications, added requirements, or conflicts on my XP Home system. The program imported my existing browser bookmarks without any issues and allowed me to categorize them myself. The categorization of bookmarks in BB is straight forward with the use of categories and subcategories. Using the “Save Copy” selection in the file menu I can easily backup my bookmarks in case of a tragedy. Other features include (but are not limited to) encrypting the database, web site user/password saving, notes, keywords, checking status of bookmarked sites, and duplicate management.

For me, there is no real down side to the tool, but some may be bothered from a lack of GUI beauty. The interface is basic and functional, which I always prefer over “pretty”. The only other thing worth mentioning is that the registration process is a bit tedious. But it’s well worth the effort…

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