How to Use del.icio.us Like a Pro

Guide Note:This page contains information and tips on how to use the social bookmarking service del.icio.us.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site where you can save links to all of your favorite websites. You can access your del.icio.us bookmarks from any computer whether it be at home, in the library or half-way around the world.

Step 1: Create a del.icio.us Account

del.icio.us is one of the best tools available on the web for saving and sharing the sites that are important to you. The best part of all? It's free. Setting up an account with del.icio.us only takes a few minutes and requires no special technical knowledge.

Go to the del.icio.us homepage.
Click the Get Started or Register link.
Choose a username and password.
Fill in your email address.
Click the Register button.
Click Install Extension Now to add del.icio.us buttons for Firefox or Internet Explorer to your web browser. After they're installed, you can bookmark pages easily by clicking on the del.icio.us buttons in your toolbar. (These buttons are not available for the AOL, MSN or SBC Yahoo! proprietary browsers.)

- Other Browsers: Drag and Drop the del.icio.us bookmarklet buttons into your toolbar. The "drag and drop" buttons allow you to bookmark pages easily though they lack some of the options available to users of the "installed" buttons, including the ability to see your bookmarks without visiting the del.icio.us website.
7. Go to your email.
8. Open the verification email from del.icio.us.
9. Click on the verification link.
10. Now you're ready to start bookmarking.

Getting Started with del.icio.us from Liz Craft

Step 2: Import Bookmarks

If you have bookmarks or favorites saved in your web browser that you'd like to add to your del.icio.us account, you have the option of importing them. This way you can access your bookmarks from anywhere on any computer. (Note: Bookmarks are called "Favorites" in Internet Explorer.) To do this you will first need to save your bookmarks in a file on your computer.

How To Save Your Bookmarks as a File for Firefox Users

Choose Manage Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu.
Choose Exports from the File menu.
Choose a location to save your file, such as your desktop, and click Save.

How To Save Your Favorites as a File for Internet Explorer Users

Choose Import and Export from the File menu.
Click Next, choose Export Favorites and click Next.
Choose which folder you want to export from and click Next. (The top folder will export all of your favorites.)
Choose Export to a File or Address.
Choose a location for your file, such as your desktop, and click Next.
Click Finish, then OK when your computer reads "successfully exported favorites."

Import Your Bookmarks

Now that you have your bookmarks saved, you're ready to import them!

Visit the del.icio.us homepage.
Log in to your account.
Click on the Settings link on the top right-hand side of the page.
Click on the Import/Upload link under the Bookmarks heading.
Save your browser bookmarks or favorites to a file on your desktop.
Click on the Browse button to locate your bookmark file for importing.
Choose a tag to apply to the imported bookmarks.
Choose whether or not you want popular tags for each site to be added to the bookmark when it is imported.
Choose whether or not an imported bookmark should replace a duplicate bookmark already in your del.icio.us account.
Click the Import Now button.
Your web browser's bookmarks are now included in your del.icio.us account.

Step 3: Bookmark Sites Using Tags

When you bookmark a webpage on del.icio.us, you "tag" it with keywords that describe it. A tag lets you organize your bookmarks. You can sort your bookmarks by tags to find the sites you've saved as well as search other users' tags to discover new sites.

Notes on Using Tags

There are no wrong tags. Your tags should make sense to you.
Use as many or as few tags as you want. You can always change, add or delete them later.
Be consistent when using tags. You want to be able to find things later.

Bookmarking Sites with Browser Buttons

Fig. 1: del.icio.us Toolbar Buttons

Click on the del.icio.us Tag or Post to del.icio.us button in your browser's toolbar.
Enter the site's description, notes and tags in the del.icio.us pop-up window.
Check the Do Not Share checkbox if you'd like to keep the bookmark private.
Click the Save button.

Fig. 2: del.icio.us Add Bookmark Pop-Up Menu: Tags Field; Do Not Share Checkbox

Bookmarking Sites without Browser Buttons

If you use a web browser that is incompatible with the del.icio.us toolbar buttons, you can still bookmark sites using del.icio.us.

Go to the del.icio.us Posting Page.
Enter the URL of the site you'd like to bookmark.
Click the Save button.
Enter the site's description, notes and tags.
Check the Do Not Share checkbox if you'd like to keep the bookmark private.
Click the Save button.

Cool Things You Can Do With Bookmarks and Tags

Research: Whether you're working on a paper for school or comparison shopping, del.icio.us allows you to keep track of all your online sources.
Vacation Planning: Save links to hotels, helpful travel sites, cool tours and maps using del.icio.us.
Event Planning: Trying to plan a wedding or another big event? Use del.icio.us tags like "Budget," "Dresses," "Venues" or "Honeymoon" to keep your online options in order.
Wishlist: Keep an online wishlist of products you'd like mom and dad to buy you this holiday season by using a "Wishlist" tag.
Podcasts: By searching the "MP3+Podcast" tag, you can find some great podcasts to subscribe to as well as keep track of your own.
Cookbook: Keep track of recipes and online cooking sites using del.icio.us tags like "Recipe" or "Cooking."
Collaboration: Share links with co-workers or friends working on a project by creating a shared del.icio.us account or aggregating your bookmarks through a shared network.
Manage Movie Rentals: Keep track of movies you want to rent by bookmarking their IMDb page in del.icio.us with the tag "ToRent."
Discover Popular Resources: No matter what you're looking for, someone on del.icio.us has bookmarked a site related to it. Discover other users' resources through a simple search from the del.icio.us homepage. Better yet, sort that search by popularity and discover the sites bookmarked by the most number of people.

Step 4: Share Bookmarks

del.icio.us has several built-in tools that make it easy to share your new bookmark collection with friends, co-workers, students and other del.icio.us users.

Social Bookmarking in Plain English from Common Craft

Ways to Share Bookmarks

Link to all of your bookmarks by using the following URL configuration: http://del.icio.us/username
Link to your bookmarks arranged by tag by using the following URL configuration: http://del.icio.us/username/tag
Share a single bookmark with a fellow del.icio.us user by adding the following tag to your bookmark: for:username
Encourage others to subscribe to your bookmarks through a RSS feed. A clickable RSS button is located at the bottom of every user's bookmark page.
Create a network, an aggregated page of several users' bookmarks.

How to Create a Network

Visit the del.ico.us homepage.
Log-in to your account.
Click on the Your Network link on the top left-hand side of the page.
Add another users' name to the Your Network field on the right-hand side of the page.
That user is now a part of your network.
Visit your network at any time by logging in to del.icio.us and clicking on the Your Network link.

Step 5: Discover Bookmarks

del.icio.us is great way to not only save links, but to discover them as well. Explore other users' bookmarks by popularity, tag or at random. You're bound to discover a site you'll want to bookmark yourself!

Discover sites through the del.icio.us Hotlist located on the del.icio.us homepage. This list aggregates the sites being currently bookmarked by del.icio.us users.
Discover sites through the del.icio.us Popular and Recent lists. These lists are accessible from the del.icio.us homepage. Click on the Popular and Recent links located under the Hotlist title bar.
Search specific tags by entering a term into the del.icio.us search bar accessible from the del.icio.us homepage.
Search a combination of tags by using the "+" symbols between words. Example: iPhone+hacks.
Create a network, an aggregated page of several users' bookmarks.
Subscribe to other users' bookmarks through a RSS feed. A clickable RSS button is located at the bottom of every user's bookmark page.

Discover Bookmarks With the Randomizer Button

The del.icio.us Randomizer Button acts as a remote control for your web browser. Click the button, and it takes you to a random page bookmarked by another del.icio.us user.

Visit the Random Buttons page via the del.icio.us help section.
Drag the del.icio.us randomizer link into your toolbar.
Click on the Randomize button to visit sites bookmarked by other del.icio.us users.

Discover Bookmarks by Subscribing to a Tag

A tag subscription updates you every time someone bookmarks a site using that tag. By subscribing to a tag, you'll discover websites devoted to your interests that other people liked enough to bookmark.

Visit the del.ico.us homepage.
Log-in to your account.
Click on the Subscriptions link on the top left-hand side of the page.
Click on the Edit link under the Your Subs header on the right-hand side of the page.
Enter the tag you wish to subscribe to.
If you only want to receive tagged bookmarks from a particular del.icio.us user, enter that users' name.
Click the Subscribe button.
You are now subscribed to that tag and/or user.
Visit your subscriptions at any time by logging in to del.icio.us and clicking on the Subscription link at the top of the page.

Step 6: Become a del.icio.us Power User

As your bookmark collection grows, consider using some of the tools and techniques developed by del.icio.us' long-time users.

Bundle Your Tags

Fig. 3: del.icio.us Tags Options Menu

A tag bundle is a group of related tags. By bundling related tags together under one heading, you make your bookmarks easier to find for yourself and other users. For instance, if you wanted to create a virtual cookbook, you could bundle the tags "Soups," "Entrées" and "Desserts" together under the bundle name "Recipes."

Visit the del.icio.us homepage.
Log into your del.icio.us account.
Click on the Your Bookmarks link on the upper left-hand side of the screen.
Click on the Bundle Tags link listed beneath the Tag Options menu on the right-hand side of your screen.
Enter a tag bundle name in the New Bundle field on the left-hand side of your screen.
Click the Create button.
Enter the tags you'd like to include in the bundle in the large field.
Click on the Bundle Saved button.
Your bundle has been created. It will now appear in the tags column at the right-hand side of your screen whenever you are logged into del.icio.us and on your bookmarks page.

Display a Button on Your Blog

If you have a blog or website, you can encourage readers to bookmark your posts to del.icio.us by displaying a del.icio.us Save This Page button on your blog. This is a great way to drive traffic to your site. The more people bookmark your page on del.icio.us, the better your chance of attracting new readers to your site.

Visit the Save Buttons page via the del.icio.us help section.
Copy the Save This Page code.
Paste the Save This Page code into your blog's source code.

Use Unofficial del.icio.us Tools

Developers have created dozens of free tools that can be used in conjunction with your del.icio.us account. You can do all kinds of cool things with your del.icio.us account, from creating slide shows of your bookmarked sites to displaying your most recently saved links on social networking services like MySpace and Facebook. For a complete list of del.icio.us tools, check out Quick Online Tips' Absolutely Del.icio.us Tools Collection.

Integration Tools: MySpace, Facebook, Google Reader
Visualization Tools: Graphs, Slideshows

Resources for How to Use del.icio.us Like a Pro

- Mahalo's Guide to Del.icio.us