02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

Notes Bookmarks

Collaboration & Messaging
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

When you think of a bookmark, you may think of Netscape Navigator’s Bookmarks or Microsoft Internet Explorer’s Favorites feature. These popular browser features allow you to easily retrieve Web pages you visit over and over again. Lotus Notes 5.0 client provides a similar bookmarking feature that allows you to bookmark most any Notes application element.

According to Notes documentation, Notes bookmarks allow you to “link to anything.” While this statement might be a bit of a stretch, I will say that with Notes bookmarks you can bookmark most common Notes elements such as databases, views, folders, and documents. You can also bookmark Internet elements such as Web pages and newsgroups.

In this article, I will describe Notes Release 5.0 bookmarks (bookmarks weren’t available prior to Release 5.0) and how to use them. By learning how to use bookmarks, you will be able to make more efficient use of your Notes client software. The bottom line is more efficient use of your time.

The Bookmark Bar

Notes uses two methods for storing bookmarks: the bookmark bar and bookmark folders. The Notes bookmark bar resides on the extreme left side of the Notes application as a vertical frame or column. The bookmark bar can contain any number of bookmarks, but, as you’ll discover, it’s best to limit the number of bookmarks you store on the bookmark bar. Bookmarks placed on this bar appear as icons. In Figure 1, you can see the bookmark bar on the left side of the screen. Viewing from the top of the bookmark bar, the first icon (an envelope) represents a user’s email inbox, followed by the user’s calendar, address book, to do list, and so on. When you hover your mouse pointer over a bookmark or bookmark folder, Notes displays the description of the element. A single left-click on a bookmark opens the element to which it is linked (e.g., a database).

I’ve discovered two problems with the bookmark bar:

• It’s difficult to determine when there are more bookmarks than can be displayed on the bar.


• When additional bookmarks exist beyond the viewable area of the bar, it’s difficult to navigate to them.

Suppose you determine there are bookmarks beyond the end of the bar. Here’s a method you can use to navigate to them. Click on any available space in the bookmark bar and then press the down arrow key. You should notice the area around the first bookmark—the one at the top of the bookmark bar—becomes recessed. Using the down arrow key, you can navigate to the next icon until you notice that icons begin to scroll up. The unexposed bookmarks will become viewable as you navigate down beyond the last viewable bookmark. When the icon you want to open is exposed, you can click on it to open it. Even with this method there’s still a problem. Not all bookmarks become recessed when you navigate to them, so you can’t detect that it’s selected. All you can do is continue to press the down arrow key until the icons begin to scroll up. Lotus could have solved this weakness very easily by placing a clickable down arrow symbol at the bottom of the bookmark frame and a clickable up arrow symbol at the top of the bookmark frame to indicate additional bookmarks exist beyond the viewable area.

Because of these navigation problems, you’ll probably want to avoid adding more bookmarks than will fit on the viewable area of the bookmark bar. Fortunately, there is another method for dealing with more than a few bookmarks. This method employs bookmark folders.

Bookmark Folders

Bookmark folders can be used to organize bookmarks into logical groups. For example, you could create a bookmark folder for your most important bookmarks. Look at the red exclamation point bookmark icon in Figure 1. This is my Important bookmarks folder I created to store my most often used bookmarks. The three bookmarks that follow my important bookmarks folder are also bookmark folders.

There’s a problem with bookmark folders: It’s difficult to know when a bookmark represents a bookmark folder. Some bookmark folders are represented by a folder image, and some aren’t. One option you can use to determine if a bookmark is a bookmark folder is to right-click on it. If you see options such as Create New Folder and Remove Folder, you know it’s a bookmark folder.

To create a bookmark folder, select an exciting bookmark folder, right-click, and select the Create New Folder option. Assign a folder name and select a location for the folder. You can place the folder on the bookmark bar, or you can place the folder in an existing bookmark folder. To place the folder on the bookmark bar select the Folders item at the top of the list. A plain folder icon will be added to the bookmark bar right after the last folder on the bar.

To modify the appearance of the folder icon, position your mouse pointer over the icon, right-click and select the Change Folder Icon option. A dialog will appear with a long list of image resources. From the list, select the image you want to use and click OK.

To open a bookmark folder, single-click on the folder icon with the left mouse button, and the contents of the bookmark folder (i.e., the bookmark page) will appear as a frame overlaying the left side of the main Notes desktop Window. Figure 2 illustrates the bookmark page that appeared when I clicked on my important bookmark folder. As you can see, the folder contains two bookmarks and one bookmark folder. If you select a bookmark from the bookmark page, the bookmark frame automatically disappears. To prevent the bookmark frame from disappearing, use the pushpin at the upper right of the frame (see Figure 2). When you pin the bookmark page, it won’t disappear. Also, the bookmark frame no longer overlays the main window content; instead, the window content is shifted to the right. You can close the bookmark page at any time by clicking on the X, also in the upper right of the frame, just above the pushpin.


Bookmarking

Bookmarking can be done several ways. One method is to right-click on a Notes item such as a document and select the Bookmark option. A dialog will appear that allows you to assign a bookmark name (by default, the bookmark name is the title of the Notes item) and choose where the bookmark is to be placed (see Figure 3). If you don’t want to place the bookmark on the bookmark bar and you can’t find an existing folder that’s appropriate for your bookmark, you can create a new folder for it by using the New Folder button on the Add Bookmark dialog (see Figure 3). The new folder will be created in the bookmark bar or within an existing bookmark folder, depending on the item in the Add Bookmark dialog that is selected at the time you click the New Folder button.

Another method is to right-click on the Notes item and drag it to the bookmark bar in the desired location and drop it. You can also place the bookmark in a bookmark folder by dragging it over the top of a bookmark folder and dropping it.

When every vertically visible position on the bookmark bar becomes occupied with an icon, you can continue to add bookmarks by dragging them under the last visible bookmark icon, which will cause Notes to scroll the bookmarks up, exposing those normally not viewable. When the desired icon is exposed, you can drop the icon above or below it. As I mentioned, it’s probably a good idea to keep the number of bookmarks on the bookmark bar limited to those that will fit in the viewable area.

If you want to remove a bookmark, right-click on the bookmark and select the Remove Bookmark option. To remove a bookmark folder, right-click on the folder and select the Remove Folder option.

Bookmark This

Lotus could have done a better job with the bookmark user interface. But, once you get used to some of the interface quirks, bookmarks can be a useful feature. Working with Notes applications means accessing many application elements including databases, views, folders, and documents. Knowing how to use bookmarks can go a long way toward quick access to your most often used items and better management of your Notes applications.


Notes_Bookmarks04-00.png 402x719

Figure 1: Notes bookmarks reside on the left-most frame of the Notes desktop.


Notes_Bookmarks05-00.png 354x393

Figure 2: Notes bookmark folders can contain bookmarks and even other bookmark folders.

Notes_Bookmarks05-01.png 397x322

Figure 3: The Add Bookmark dialog allows you to add bookmarks to the bookmark bar or to a bookmark folder.


BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: