We have just added an incredibly powerful tool to the Sharing Links arsenal of tricks. It is called the Sharing Links Browser Search, and it lets you search your own bookmarks (and the recommendations of the Sharing Links community) right from your browser.

You will need Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 for this to work, but with a simple click to install, this new addition is really “da bomb!”

Here is the install page. It includes a few screenshots to show you exactly what to expect.

http://www.sharinglinks.com/browser-search 

Please let me know what you think by posting your comments below.

The SharingLinks.com beta test is going really well, we have hundreds of testers who have shared thousands of links. But we have also added a few new features, and we need a hundred more beta testers to put our system through its paces. I suspect those beta spots will fill up rather quickly, since I am emailing my Surfnetkids newsletter list tomorrow.

Here’s the scoop:

Sharing Links is tool to manage your bookmarks so they can be accessed from any computer, anywhere. Now you can access the same bookmarks from home, classroom or office. Sharing Links is also a community of teachers and parents sharing educational links with each other. It is a way to discover new sites through the eyes of colleagues (virtual and otherwise.)

For example, here’s what’s been happening lately with the tag “reading.” (Tag is simply another word for keyword phrase.)

http://www.sharinglinks.com/tags/reading

I want call attention to the “Related Tags” cloud on the right-hand side. There you will find links to the tags literacy, harry potter (tags are always lower case!), reading and books. Take a few minutes and explore these links.

Now, here’s another view of “reading.” This one is a search, so it includes bookmarks that have reading not just in the tag, but perhaps in the description or the title. So, it is a little less focused than the first, but contains lots more goodies.

http://www.sharinglinks.com/search/all/reading

Anyway, of course, reading is just one of hundreds of tags. Want to see a bigger tag list? Here’s a list of popular tags:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/populartags

Have I gotten you interested yet? If so, please join our beta test. To join, you will need a betatest Invitation Code. To get one, please sign up below. We can only take a limited number of testers at this time, so if you are interested, don’t delay.

http://www.surfnetkids.com/sharinglinks.htm

P.S.  Okay … remember I said this was a test, right?  So my first set of instructions were a little confusing.  Here’s what you need to do to get an Invitation Code and to register on Sharing Links.

1) Sign up for the beta test mailing list here:

http://www.surfnetkids.com/sharinglinks.htm

2)  Watch your inbox for confirmation email, and click on the confirmation link

3) Watch your inbox for an email titled “Your Invitation Code”

4) Use your Invitation Code to sign up for a free Sharing Links account at:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/register

Hope this explanation helps.  If your Invitation Code does NOT arrive in your mailbox, you can ask for one

by posting here, or over at http://www.replytobarbara.com

Today a member asked if there was a page where she could view all her tags. She was used to a folder system, and wanted to navigate through her list of tags. At first I wasn’t so sure, but then I found it for her, and thought you might be interested also.

The syntax for your own list of tags is:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/alltags/yourusername

Just replace “yourusername” with your own username. My list of tags, for example, is on:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/alltags/barbara

This page gives you the option of sorting your tags alphabetically, or by popularity (frequency of use.)

It also obeys the rivate setting you may have used on some bookmarks. If you are NOT logged in, you will not see any of the tags that you have ONLY used on “Private” bookmarks. So, no one else will ever see them either. If you are logged in, however, you will see all your tags listed.

If you want to navigate to your alltags page from the “SL” button on the toolbar (or from you My Bookmarks page)… simply click on the “Tags” link in your Profile in the upper-right hand corner.

Wow! We have over 14,130 bookmarks in SharingLinks.com so far. Have you joined us yet? SharingLinks is both an online bookmark manager (access your favorites from any site anywhere) and a community of teachers and parents (learn about cool educational sites from other SharingLinks users.) Getting started is as simple as 1-2-3. Learn more here:
http://blog.sharinglinks.com/getting-started-in-three-easy-steps/36/

For those of you who have already registered, today’s focus is on the SharingLinks toolbars.

Once installed, the toolbar will give you one-click access to your bookmarks AND make it two-click
easy to add a site to your bookmarks while you are surfing. They are simple and FUN to use.

Ready to learn more? There are two versions of the Sharing Links toolbars:

1) For Internet Explorer/Windows user
2) For Firefox users (on any platform, including Windows and Mac)

To get started, simply click on the appropriate install link on the following
page:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/toolbars/

If you are a visual learner, I have two video demonstrations that show you how to use the toolbar and how to install it. You’ll find links to both videos on the same toolbar page:

http://www.sharinglinks.com/toolbars/

Your feedback is always appreciated, even more so during this private beta test period. Please post your comments below, or if you need an answer, please use ReplyToBarbara.com