I haven't figured out what the "New folder" option when saving bookmarks is for

I haven’t figured out how the “New folder” option that displays at the bottom of the dialog box when saving bookmarks works.

I would expect it to be used to create a new sub-folder to hold the bookmarks you’re storing if you don’t want them to go into the selected parent folder (the one that’s shown in the left sidebar).

Yet when I select the “New folder” option I always end up with an empty sub-folder under the folder where the bookmarks were stored.

It seems that just entering a name in the dialog box automatically saves the bookmarks to a sub-folder with that name that’s located under the folder shown in the left sidebar.

So what is the “New Folder” option at the bottom of the dialog intended for?

Thanks.

Before clicking new folder button, in the directory structure, click the folder where you’d like the new folder to be created in. Then click the new folder button and give your new directory a name. Your new bookmark will be created in that newly created folder…

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@megaspaz Thanks. If I understand you, the result you refer to seems to be obtainable just from first locating the parent folder (or accepting the default folder that’s already pre-selected) and then doing, e.g., a ‘Bookmark all tabs’ and entering a folder name in the top part of the dialog.

What I was asking about was the ‘New Folder’ option at the bottom of the dialog.

► Here’s what’s at the top:

image

► And here’s what’s at the bottom:

image

In other words, why are there two ‘New folder’ options in the same dialog box – one at the top and one at the bottom?

Bookmark all tabs is something i never use. But looking at it, it looks as if for both flows it’s same UI, but the workflows don’t match exactly the UI. it makes sense for one tab, but for all tabs, it’s not necessary… but it would be redundant work to create different UI’s for each workflow…

> Bookmark all tabs is something i never use.

Thanks but I’m not following what you were trying to get across. (My post, btw, didn’t rely on bookmarking ‘all tabs’ – it was just an example.)

There are two ‘New folder’ options in the dialog that opens when you bookmark one or more tabs.

The one at the top is clearly the name of the folder where the tab or tabs will normally go.

The one at the bottom is the mystery (and the reason for my original post).

One might (as I did) assume it’s intended to allow the bookmarked tab(s) to go instead into a subfolder of the one indicated on the top of the dialog. (Potentially helpful to a user who may want that as the location of the bookmarked tab(s), by eliminating the step otherwise required to first create that subfolder.)

I tried to use it in that way.

However, all that ever happens is that I get an empty subfolder (under the one selected at the top of the dialog) with the title ‘New folder.’

So I wondered what it’s for and how to use it correctly.

@mattches If you can clarify this, please do. Thanks.

If you just bookmark a single tab, the ‘name’ is just the title of the webpage. The new folder is just a way of saving that bookmark where you want to. By default the bookmark is saved at the last location used. It works the same with bookmark all tabs, but the name is defaulted to a folder name instead of webpage title. The new folder in this case is kind of redundant to the new folder button - the button really isn’t needed in the bookmark all tabs folder. It’s functionality doesn’t change though.

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I’m really not sure what the confusion is here.

As @megaspaz stated, when you save a bookmark(s), it defaults to the last place a bookmarked was saved w/respect to the directory.

If you want to save it somewhere else, pick the appropriate folder to save it in from the directory in the dialog box and save it.

The New Folder button is not a mystery or glitch or anomaly. The only reason there is some confusion here is because if you save multiple bookmarks – like Right-click --> Bookmark all tabs..., for example – the browser will automatically save them all in the same folder. So the New folder here is the default name of the directory they will be saved in – feel free to change it:

Now, by default it will save them in a new folder, in the directory you choose. So why is the other New folder option there still? The answer: …because?

That’s the way the dialog box appears anyway and it would be a waste of code to attempt to change that UI for every different potential action regarding bookmarks. Also, what if you want to save the bookmarks another level deeper? You need a way to create a new folder within a new folder so you can use the button to do this:

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Yes you’re right, saving a single tab is treated differently. I should have written “two or more tabs.”

In @mattches’ reply, he seems to be agreeing that the bottom button serves a purpose: nesting the bookmarked tabs in a subfolder under the one spec’d in the folder field at the top of the dialog box.

In practice, however, I don’t see that it does that.

@mattches

The New Folder button is not a mystery or glitch or anomaly.

I didn’t write that it was. The mystery was only whether the New Folder button on the bottom of the dialog box (when saving multiple tabs to bookmarks) serves a purpose that the top-of-dialog-box field (which also defaults to ‘New Folder’) doesn’t.

Also, what if you want to save the bookmarks another level deeper?

I assumed that was what it was for and mentioned that possibility in the post you replied to. But as I noted, the tabs being bookmarked don’t end up in that lower level subfolder.

Alright, this should be the last post in this thread – the functionality is quite straight forward:

  1. This is the name of the folder that all the bookmarks will be placed in, because when you save a group of bookmarks, the browser will always default to grouping them together in the same directory:
  2. This button creates a New Folder in whatever directory you want. It doesn’t mean you have to save the bookmarks here, in fact you could just hit the button to create a new folder and just leave it there. But the idea is that you can create additional structure, then store your bookmarks there:

Lastly, to clear any possible confusion surrounding the functionality of this dialog box, here is a video of me showing the exact functionality:

@mattches Thanks for that. I meant to address your statement in your previous reply where, unless I misunderstood, you indicated that the bottom ‘New folder’ button could be used to store the bookmarked tabs in a Level 2 subfolder.

You seem to be indicating that that can’t be done in one shot through the dialog box. You can only create the Level 2 subfolder. You’d then have to move the bookmarks into that subfolder separately.

If I’m not interpreting the video correctly it’s because it’s small (& apparently not expandable), and you do move pretty fast through the steps (which would probably be okay if it were larger).

Thanks again.

@mk7z,

  1. Use this to name the folder where all of your bookmarks are going to end up:
  2. If you want to create additional levels/folders BEFORE hitting save, then do it using the New Folder button at the bottom.
  3. Don’t want to add additional levels/folders? Don’t use the button – just highlight the directory you want the tabs to be saved in, name the folder at the top (or don’t, up to you) and hit Save.

Pretty straight forward.

@mattches Thanks, I understand all that. Unless I misunderstood, you had indicated that if the bottom button option was selected, the saved bookmarks would go there instead of in the folder entered at the top of the dialog box.

I don’t find that that happens. That was my only point.

I just get an empty folder, disconnected from the ‘save’ (bookmarks) operation.

If that’s all it does, and is the intended behavior, I don’t understand its usefulness, but so be it.

It is how it works… Take a screengrab of what you’re doing…

bookmark_all_tabs_new_folder.mp4