After 16 months of hard work, FakeTag, which is a Chrome extension that allows you to use your bookmark folders as tags, is finally out!
For more information, please read FakeTag User Guide.
2019/06/27
2019/06/26
5. Options page (FakeTag User Guide)
In this chapter, you will learn how to use FakeTag's options page.
Opening the options page
By toolbar icon
Right-click on the toolbar icon (
) and choose "Options".
By extension manager
Open the extension manager (chrome://extensions/) and look for an entry labeled "FakeTag", then click "Details" to open the details page. In it, there is a link to the options page labeled "Extension options".
Subpages
On the left side of the options page, there is a list of option categories. Click one of them to open the corresponding option subpage.
The last item is a link to the bookmark manager.
"Search operators" subpage
In this subpage, you can change characters to use as search operators.
Click "Edit" to open a text box. Click "Save" or press Enter to save your modification. Click "Cancel" or press Esc to cancel it.
A search operator can be any character that doesn't belong to whitespace characters, but you are strongly advised to avoid one that is used for your tag (folder) names, otherwise your search terms can be parsed incorrectly.
To disable a search operator, leave the text box empty and save.
"Notes" subpage
In this subpage, you can delete "unused notes".
What is "unused note"?
Let's say, you create a bookmark for a fictional website called "Long story" (http://longstory.com/) with "Literature" and "Read later" tags attached to it, along with a note indicating where you left off the last time you visited it ("p1024"). As already mentioned in chapter 2, the note is stored separately from other data.
[Storage for folders/bookmarks] ┣ [F1: "Literature"] ┃ ┗ [B1: "Long story"] (=> http://longstory.com/) ┗ [F2: "Read later"] ┗ [B2: "Long story"] (=> http://longstory.com/) FakeTag treats the folder/bookmark relationships above as: [B1/B2: "Long story"] ~ [T1: "Literature"][T2: "Read later"] [Storage for notes] http://longstory.com/ => "p1024"
Now, imagine that you detach both tags, which is equal to removing two bookmarks that point to http://longstory.com/, without deleting the note.
[Storage for folders/bookmarks] ┣ [F1: "Literature"] ┗ [F2: "Read later"] [Storage for notes] http://longstory.com/ => "p1024"
The note "p1024" is now associated with a URL that no bookmark points to. Notes like this are called "unused notes".
Deleting unused notes
To delete unused notes, select them and click "Delete selected notes".
4. Address bar search (FakeTag User Guide)
In this chapter, you will learn how to search your bookmarks by tags using the address bar.
Basic usage
To start a search, type # into the address bar and press Tab, then type a tag name. As you type, bookmarks that have one of matched tags are shown.
To open a webpage, select (highlight) a bookmark in the same way as you select tags with a search box (using ↓, ↑, etc.) and press Enter. You can also click on a search result directly. Press Esc to cancel the current search.
Search operators
Search operators are characters that have special meaning in address bar search. You can change characters to use as search operators in the options page.
">" (Show next 5 matches)
By default, the address bar search only shows first 5 matches. To see subsequent matches, append ">" to your search term.
This operator can be repeated like this:
tag : 1st to 5th tag> : 6th to 10th tag>> : 11th to 15th
"&" (Combine tags)
You can specify multiple tags by combining them with "&" to search for bookmarks that have all of them.
"/" (Match nested tags)
If "/" is appended to a tag name, not only bookmarks that have one of matched tags but also those having one of matched tags' subtags are included in search results as shown below.
┗ [F1: "Asia"]
┣ [F2: "Singapore"]
┃ ┗ [B1: "The Straits Times"]
┗ [F3: "Japan"]
┗ [B2: "The Japan Times"]
Combining search operators
Here's an example of using all the available operators at the same time.
News&Asia/&Economy>>
This is interpreted as 'search for bookmarks that have "News" and "Asia" (or its subtags) and "Economy" tags, and show the 11th to 15th matches'.
3. Bookmark manager (FakeTag User Guide)
In this chapter, you will learn how to use "bookmark manager", which is similar to Chrome's built-in bookmark manager (chrome://bookmarks) but allows you to browse your bookmarks using tags instead of folders.
Opening the bookmark manager
By toolbar icon
First, open FakeTag's options page by right-clicking on the toolbar icon () and choose "Options".
Then, click "Open bookmark manager" on the left side of the options page.
By keyboard shortcut
You can also set a keyboard shortcut to open the bookmark manager using the browser's extension manager (look for a field labeled "Open bookmark manager").
Extension manager (chrome://extensions/shortcuts)
By bookmark
The bookmark manager has a permanent URL, so you can create a bookmark for it and put it into, say, the "Bookmarks bar" folder for quick access.
Using the bookmark manager
The bookmark manager is divided into the following components: the tag selector (left), the search results view (right) and the bulk actions bar (top right).
Tag selector
Select one or more tags using a search box or a tag list to search for bookmarks that have them.
Click "Deselect all tags", or press Enter while the search box is empty (and has focus) to reset the search criteria.
Multiple tags are interpreted differently depending on the selection mode. If the selection mode is AND, bookmarks that have all the selected tags are matched. If the selection mode is OR, bookmarks that have at least one of the selected tags are matched.
Tag list's additional functionalities
The tag list used for the tag selector has additional functionalities described below.
Special tags
A special tag is a "virtual tag" (a tag that has no corresponding folder like normal tags) used to search for bookmarks that satisfy certain criteria.
"Selected bookmarks" tag
As you will see later in this chapter, each bookmark shown in the search results view has a check box that allows you to select it. This "selected" state of a bookmark is maintained even if you change the search criteria. The "selected bookmarks" tag is used to show the currently selected bookmarks. To clear the currently selected bookmarks, hover over this tag and click 
.
"Multi-tagged bookmarks" tag
A multi-tagged bookmark is a bookmark that has multiple tags attached to it, which actually is composed of multiple bookmarks that point to the same URL as shown below.
┣ [F1: "News"] ┃ ┗ [B1: "BBC"] (=> https://www.bbc.com/) ┗ [F2: "UK"] ┗ [B2: "BBC"] (=> https://www.bbc.com/) FakeTag treats the folder/bookmark relationships above as: [B1/B2: "BBC"] ~ [T1: "News"][T2: "UK"]
The "multi-tagged bookmarks" tag is a virtual tag used to search for such bookmarks.
This feature can also be used to remove unintentionally created duplicate bookmarks.
Temporary tags
A temporary tag is a virtual tag used to save search results temporarily for further searching. By using temporary tags, you can combine AND searches and OR searches like this.
Step 1: [China] OR [Japan] OR [Korea] => [Temp: "CJK"] Step 2: [Anime] OR [Comic] OR [Games] => [Temp: "ACG"] Step 3: [Temp: "CJK"] AND [Temp: "ACG"]
A newly created temporary tag (more on how to do that later) is added to the "Temporary tags" section and can be used like other tags. To delete a temporary tag, hover over it and click .
Deleting tags
Tags listed on the "Normal tags" section can be deleted by clicking except for some that are protected by your browser such as the "Bookmarks bar" tag and the "Other bookmarks" tag. Before deleting a tag, make sure that it isn't selected or used (a tag is said to be "used" if the corresponding folder has bookmarks or subfolders).
Search results view
The search results view is a table view, each row of which represents a bookmark that satisfies the current search criteria and consists of the following three columns: "selector", "Name/URL" and "Tags".
"Selector" column
A bookmark can be selected by clicking somewhere within the "selector" column (including the check box). As already mentioned above, selected bookmarks are maintained until explicitly deselected.
Click 
to select all bookmarks shown. Click 
to deselect all of them.
"Name/URL" column
The "Name/URL" column of each bookmark shows its name (top) and URL (bottom).
A floating menu that appears when you hover over a bookmark allows you to perform some actions on that bookmark. Click 
or the URL to open it in a new tab. Click 
to edit it using the tagged page editor explained in the previous chapter. If it has a note, hover over 
to show its content.
"Tags" column
The "Tags" column of each bookmark has a list of tags attached to that bookmark. Click to remove a tag from the list.
Bulk actions bar
Left
Right
The bulk actions bar allows you to perform some actions such as adding/removing a tag on multiple bookmarks at once.
The target bookmarks of an action is either "Matched & Selected" (default) or "Matched". Note that if "Matched & Selected" is chosen, selected bookmarks that are not currently shown in the search results view are excluded.
Available actions are as follows.
- Add tag
- Remove tag
- Remove all tags
- Create temporary tag
- Open
The "Add tag" and "Remove tag" actions need a target tag (a tag to add/remove) in addition to target bookmarks. To set a target tag, click "Select" and select one using a search box.
As already mentioned above, a temporary tag is a virtual tag used to save search results temporarily for further searching. Invoking the "Create temporary tag" action brings up a dialog asking you to enter a name for the new temporary tag and then saves the current target bookmarks under the given name.
2. Popup (FakeTag User Guide)
In this chapter, you will learn how to use a tool called "popup" that allows you to create/edit a bookmark for the "current page" (a webpage you are viewing when the popup is opened).
Opening the popup
By toolbar icon
After installing FakeTag, an icon like this () is added to the browser's toolbar. Clicking on it opens the popup.
By keyboard shortcut
You can also set a keyboard shortcut to open the popup using the browser's extension manager (look for a field labeled "Activate the extension").
Extension manager (chrome://extensions/shortcuts)
Using the popup
The initial content of the popup depends on whether the current page is bookmarked or not. If the current page isn't bookmarked yet, the "untagged page editor" is loaded into the popup. If the current page is already bookmarked, the "tagged page editor" is loaded into the popup. Note that a webpage is said to be "tagged" if there is at least one bookmark that points to it.
The "star" icon located at the right edge of the address bar indicates whether the current page is bookmarked (= tagged) or not.
unbookmarked (= untagged)
bookmarked (= tagged)
Untagged page editor
Fill in all the required fields and click "Save" to create a bookmark. If a bookmark is created successfully, the popup's content switches to the tagged page editor.
Press Tab to move the focus to the next field. Press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the previous field. Press Esc or click somewhere outside of the popup to close the popup.
Text entered into the optional "Note" field is stored in a different place within your browser (because it's handled directly by FakeTag unlike bookmarks), but is synchronized by your browser if the browser's "sync" feature is enabled.
Tags can be selected using a search box or a tag list.
Search box
As you type into the search box, available choices are shown in a drop-down menu. Press Enter to select an item that the arrow icon (
) points to. You can also select an item by clicking on it directly. Press Tab or ↓ to move the arrow icon down. Press Shift+Tab or ↑ to move it up. Select the topmost item labeled "New tag" to create a new tag with the entered text as its name. A new tag becomes a child tag of the "Other bookmarks" tag. Press Esc to cancel the selection.
If there are tags that have the same name, hover your mouse over them to see their parent tags.
Selected tags are listed above the search box. Each tag has two icons. Click to open the tag editor (discussed later). Click to deselect it.
Tag list
The tag list is a hierarchical list of your tags. Click somewhere on a list item to select it. Click 
to create a new child tag.
Tagged page editor
Click "Edit" to open a text box.
Click "Save" or press Enter to save your modification. Click "Cancel" or press Esc to cancel it.
If bookmarks that point to the current page's URL have different names as shown in the diagram below, the "Name" field looks like the following screenshot.
┣ [F1: "Foo"] ┃ ┗ [B1: "New Tab"] (=> chrome://newtab/) ┗ [F2: "Bar"] ┗ [B2: "NTP"] (=> chrome://newtab/)
Click "Unify" to rename all the bookmarks to the clicked item's name. If you want a completely new name, type it into the "New name" text box and click "Rename" or press Enter.
You can (de)select tags just like you do with the untagged page editor. When the last tag is detached, the popup's content switches back to the untagged page editor because by then there is no more bookmark that points to the current page (remember again that detaching a tag is equal to removing a bookmark). One thing to keep in mind here is that the note (the content of the "Note" field) associated with the current page is not removed automatically. If you want it to be removed along with bookmarks, empty the "Note" field and save it before detaching the last tag. That said, you don't have to worry too much about it because you can remove notes like this later in the options page.
Tag editor
The tag editor allows you to rename the target tag and change its parent tag. Click "Back" to go back to the (un)tagged page editor. Field elements that constitute the tag editor are already covered above.
1. Folder vs Tag (FakeTag User Guide)
In this chapter, I will try to explain what I meant by describing FakeTag as a Chrome extension that "turns your bookmark folders into tags" at the beginning of this guide and how it works.
The difference between folders and tags
Let's discuss this fundamental question first: what is the difference between folders and tags in the context of a web browser? Both are used to organize bookmarks but they have an important conceptual difference as explained below.
Folder concept
The following screenshot shows an example of using folders, which is Chrome's default method of organizing bookmarks. The diagram that follows represents the relationship between the folder and the bookmark that appear in the screenshot. Conceptually, folders are objects that contain bookmarks as shown in the diagram. Therefore, if we see folder names as keywords to categorize bookmarks, each bookmark has one and only one keyword associated with it (in other words, a bookmark can't belong to multiple folders at the same time).
┗ [F1: "News"] ┗ [B1: "BBC"]
Tag concept
Now, let's look at an example of using tags. Conceptually, tags are objects attached to bookmarks as shown in the diagram. Therefore, if we see tag names as keywords to categorize bookmarks, each bookmark can have more than one keyword associated with it.
[B1: "BBC"] ~ [T1: "News"][T2: "UK"]
That's the conceptual difference between folders and tags. The purpose of FakeTag is to allow you to organize your bookmarks in the latter way.
Using folders as tags
Unlike other bookmark-tagging extensions out there, especially cloud-based ones, that have their own databases for tags, FakeTag implements the bookmark-tagging functionality by putting multiple bookmarks that point to the same URL into different folders and treating those bookmarks as a single entity (a composite bookmark) as shown below. In other words, "tags" that FakeTag offers are actually ordinary folders made to look like tags (or "fake" tags, if you will).
┣ [F1: "News"] ┃ ┗ [B1: "BBC"] (=> https://www.bbc.com/) ┗ [F2: "UK"] ┗ [B2: "BBC"] (=> https://www.bbc.com/) FakeTag treats the folder/bookmark relationships above as: [B1/B2: "BBC"] ~ [T1: "News"][T2: "UK"]
Before going into details on how to use FakeTag, let me give you some pros and cons of this approach.
Pros:
- You don't need to create tags from scratch after installing FakeTag.
- Your tags are synchronized by Chrome itself (not by an unfamiliar third-party server).
- You don't lose your data after uninstalling FakeTag.
Cons:
- Your bookmark collection becomes "cluttered" with a lot of duplicate bookmarks.
- For technical reasons, sometimes you still need to think in terms of folders and bookmarks as you'll see in later chapters.
FakeTag User Guide
[This document is also available in Japanese (日本語).]
FakeTag is a browser extension that adds bookmark-tagging functionality to your browser.
Downloads:
This user guide consists of five chapters.
Copyright and license information
Source code
Copyright (c) 2019, 2022 U. Mitaka. All rights reserved.
Images
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$PACKAGE_ROOT/icons/logo{16,24,32,48,128}.png
These images are derivative works of hashtag_media_network_social_icon by Ramy Wafaa, used under the license displayed on the LICENSE section of the download page. The derivative works are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license by U. Mitaka.
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$PACKAGE_ROOT/icons/*.png (except for those mentioned above)
These images are Material Design icons by Google (unmodified), which is licensed under Apache license version 2.0.
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