Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Using Firefox Xmarks to Create Super Knowledge Base

Here is a really neat trick using several items to create a custom knowledge base for either projects or just general use.  As I was putting together a white paper (to be described in the next posting) I needed to open up a lot of previously bookmarked items along with new research … it became a real chore keeping the windows open and shifting between items as needed, so here is the system that I came up with …

Using Xmarks (formerly Fox Marks), which has become my standard bookmark utility as it is cross platform 6-2-2009 8-13-38 AMusing firefox, the system revolves around the hundreds of bookmarks that I routinely make throughout my day from feeds and reads … this first shot shows my new map in MindManager 8 using the browser to open up the Xmarks account … notice that I establish this connection in the MM8 map as the starting point … you can initialize any project or compilation completely by also establishing your google app (see older posting) directory and you would then have old docs ready to go (another aside, google finally enabled file compatibility with Office 2007 files this week) … when you open up your Xmarks web interface, you then have all your bookmarks compiled … notice the highlighted entry on the shot …

Now, the trick is to open any of the bookmarks in the browser … then hit the attach and notice what has happened in the second map entry … your article is now viewable and linked directly into the map … you can do this as may times as you like and create more singular entries … you can nest info on thoughts, you can create subsets of info, you can work in distinct areas … you are limited only by your imagination …. this 6-2-2009 8-08-57 AMsimple trick greatly enhances work flow … you can go from page to page without losing track of your thoughts as you always have your defined structure bounded by the map …

By starting with the marks, you can use this trick as a reuseable template to grow ideas, erase areas no longer needed, and explore paths while having your trail always defined … 

No comments: