Create Design Projects Faster with Xmarks

In my recent iPad posts I've mentioned Xmarks and promised to elaborate on exactly what Xmarks can do for your company. Xmarks is a synchronization tool that allows you to sync bookmarks across all of your browsers and devices. This is one of my most favorite time saving tools I use in my business. I can logon to any of my devices and be able to access the same exact bookmarks. When Owen, my son, showed me Xmarks several years ago I downloaded it immediately and went right to work getting my Firefox browser organized. I guarantee you'll love it.

You can sign up for a free account or their premium account which gives you access to a few more features. Premium accounts can sync bookmarks with their phone. The Premium account bundle with Last Pass (a secure online password keeper) is $20 per year. I think it is worth every penny. (Last Pass will be explained in a future article.)


Why install Xmarks?

• Have you ever forgotten a vendor's web address?
• Have you spend too much time looking through your never ending list of bookmarked websites?
• Would you like to have your favorite and frequently visited websites one click away?
• Would you like to have all of your favorite bookmark icons instantly setup when you purchase a new computer? Who doesn't want that!
  
• It's easier to recognize an icon (picture) instead of reading text. Website name is displayed when you mouse over an icon.

What type of websites should you save?

• All fabric vendors
• All paint vendors
• All furniture vendors
• All accessory vendors
  
• All hardware vendors
• All social media websites
• All business vendors i.e. Comcast, At&T, Verizon, State Government
  
• All miscellaneous websites i.e. Shutterfly, YouTube
  
• All personal websites i.e. Church, Directv, weather, sports
  

Ready to get started?

1. First, visit Xmarks.com and register for an account. You can sign up for the free account or they offer a premium account. I signed up for the premium account since I use Last Pass as my secure online password keeper. TIP: As you signup for the account, don't check any of the browser/search help boxes. They can slow down your internet browsing.
   
2. Next, install the Xmarks add-on for each of your browsers. Once Xmarks is installed on your browser, sign into your Xmarks account.
3. Make sure to enable the Bookmark Toolbar in Firefox; right click next to a tab and place a checkmark next to Bookmarks Toolbar. (see dia. 1) In IE you want to place a checkmark next to the Favorites Bar. I recommend unchecking all other toolbars except for Navigation in Firefox and Menu Bar in IE.
4. Right click on the toolbar to delete all default Bookmarks that Firefox or IE installed. Make sure you have a totally clean toolbar before you begin to add your favorite bookmarks.The Bookmark Toolbar is located right under your main Navigation Toolbar or Menu Bar. (Tip: In Internet Explorer these toolbars are called Menu Bar and Favorites Bar.)
   
5. Let the fun begin! Visit EVERY website you use on a regular basis and drag the icon to the Bookmark Toolbar. That's right, just grab the icon and drag it down to the Toolbar.(TIP This icon is located next to place where you enter a website) (see dia. 2)
6. Right click on every icon that has an image > click Properties > delete Name > (DO NOT delete the location) > click Save. The text take up valuable space on the Toolbar.
7. In Firefox, you can group all similar types of websites together on your Toolbar. Right click beside each desired grouping and select New Separator. You can easily move icons by dragging them to another location on the Toolbar.
8. Create separate profiles one for work, another for home and a mini profile for your phone. (I created two profiles, one for work/home and a mini profile for my phone.) Profiles can be renamed. IMPORTANT: First, create a home/work toolbar with all favorites and then you can uncheck the unnecessary bookmarks for the mini phone profile. NOTE: Phone sync is a premium feature. Profiles can be managed on the Xmarks website.
9. I found a great video on YouTube EXCEPT he does enable the Bookmark Toolbar. He demonstrates the old fashion way of keeping bookmarks. What's the matter with him? Dia. 1 & dia. 2 illustrates an example of the Bookmark Toolbar. The toolbar is the secret to less clicking.
   

dia. 1 (Firefox - uncheck all unnecessary toolbars; I also uncheck Tabs on Top)

dia. 2 (Firefox browser screenshot of Bookmark Toolbar)

dia. 2a (Firefox browser additional screenshot of Bookmark Toolbar)

I have found that Xmarks works well in both Firefox and IE. Firefox crams the icons a little closer together, so Firefox still wins out as my default browser. However, the Safari toolbar does not display the icon images. Therefore, on my Mac computer I do not use Safari.

15 Reasons Why a Designer Should Purchase an iPad

It seems almost every designer has an iPad, Xoom or Playbook on their wishlist for 2011. If you're currently schlepping your laptop to client appointments, you should consider purchasing one of these new tablet devices. They're powerful, compact and lightweight. Those three features alone are compelling enough to convince designers to shell out the cash.

If you're new to tablet arena, it's easy to get confused with all the choices. I have an iPad and love it. When I purchased my iPad it was the only choice. The biggest reason I recommend an iPad over the other tablets is the access to iTunes and Apple App Store.

We receive lots of emails and calls into the office asking questions regarding the iPad. Many designers want to know which iPad they should purchase. Due to the nature of our business I purchased the iPad with 3G and the 64GB hard drive. Yes, it was the most expensive iPad. Adding the 3G capability to your iPad gives you the ability to connect to the internet when a Wi-Fi connection is not available. When I'm at client's home I don't want to ask my client if I can connect to their Wi-Fi, therefore, I needed the 3G capability. I recommend the 32GB or 64GB hard drive since our business is visually oriented and images from our digital cameras can be quite large. All of my personal and client project photographs are accessible on all my devices through Dropbox* which I discussed in a previous blog "A Smart Way to Backup Your Files."

*Saving photographs ~ Systematize: When downloading images from your camera, SAVE only the good photographs. You will save hard drive space in Dropbox and on all your devices as well as saving yourself from browsing unnecessarily through bad photos. During the initial downloading of photographs from your camera take the time to delete ALL of the bad, the ugly and duplicate photos.

15 Reasons to purchase an iPad:

• Large viewing screen
• Powerful, compact and lightweight
• Battery life is incredible (10 hours) compared to a laptop
• Instantly on and ready to use; reboot is hardly ever necessary
  
• Multi-Touch screen is precise and responsive (no mouse or touchpad necessary)
• Large on-screen keyboard makes it easy to type
• An impressive way to present your portfolio (clients can actually browse through your portfolio themselves)
  
• Ability to access the internet at your client's home (as low as $15 per month for service)
• Quickly access initial photographs of a client's project for a quick memory refresher
  
• Checking emails is much faster than on your desktop or laptop computer
  
• Viewing your calendar is easy
• Thousands of Apps available (lots of them are free)
• Connects to your iTunes account
• Play music, watch videos and listen to audiobooks
• Read books, pdf documents or manuals while waiting for a doctor appointment or waiting in line to pick up kids
• Bonus: Take actual photos with iPad 2's built-in camera
• Bonus 2: As you sync to iTunes your entire iPad is being backed up
  

Watch the short video below to see the amazing iPad in action.

|View Video|

An iPad is like having three devices in one; it's an iPod, an electronic book reading device and a computer all in one very sleek package.

Next week, I'll share my favorite business apps for my iPad.