Who taught browsers to create website thumbnails?
All “adventure games”, like any other software, include only the most necessary, basic functions of web browsers, and additional features are implemented through add-ons (extensions, plugins), the writing of which is available to anyone. Browser makers provide the necessary information for this.
So, one of these additions (extensions) are visual and very easy-to-navigate bookmarks in the form of small copies of sites, and now the only thing left to do is figure out how to add bookmarks to the visual bookmarks of your browser.
Unlike standard ones (in some browsers “Favorites”), visual bookmarks no longer “live” on the user’s hard drive, but on the server of a site on the Internet that provides services for their storage. Their advantage over regular ones lies in their “independence” from the device used to access the Internet.
Visual thumbnails in the Mozilla browser
Despite the fact that the Chrome browser is the leader in the ranking of web browsers, there are many more users concerned about how to visually bookmark a page in Mozilla than those who are interested in this add-on in Chrome.
You can get to the page with extensions by clicking on the “Add-ons” line in the “Tools” menu or in the button menu with three bars at the top right, and also by typing the combination Ctrl + Shift + A.
Here, on the “Get Add-ons” page, you can click on the “More” button (at the top), which will take you to the website addons.mozilla.org, where in the “Extensions” menu there is a “Bookmarks” link. By clicking on it, you can find a suitable visual option by sorting through 1369 extensions.
But in fact, in order to decide how to add bookmarks to visual bookmarks, just go to the "Extensions" page, type the phrase "Visual..." in the search bar and select any of several proposed extensions (Wishstorage, Tabsbook, Speed Start, etc.).
"Visual bookmarks online 1.081"
By clicking the "Install" button on the right, you will allow this add-on to be downloaded as a service onlinezakladki.ru, which can be used from the first click on the cross "Open a new tab" without registration and authorization.
By clicking on the gear button to the right of the search bar, tab settings open, among which there is a “Synchronization” section. When solving the problem of how to add bookmarks to visual bookmarks, we can select the appropriate method for storing them in it and import/export bookmarks from/to an HTML file.
The onlinezakladki.ru service, having secured its presence with an icon with an asterisk at the top right, allows you to select up to 40 bookmarks (the gear button to the right of the search bar) and will provide access to them from anywhere in the world. As soon as you move the cursor to a bookmark, the functions for editing and deleting it will immediately light up.
Editing operations include changing basic data (address, title) and adjusting the image to allow the use of a customized image.
You can add a new page to the bookmarks panel by clicking on the cross in the center of an empty bookmark or on the star icon at the top right.
How to Add Visual Bookmarks in Google Chrome
By default, they are already installed in Chrome, but these are only image links of the pages the user recently visited. Moreover, the new (last visited) page will appear in bookmarks only after restarting the browser, and no keys or combinations thereof will help, including Ctrl + R (the "Reload" command in the page context menu).
Automatically displayed in a new tab, they are devoid of any settings, except for deleting them by clicking on the cross in the upper right corner.
Such a thumbnail service will probably not suit those users who are interested in how to add visual bookmarks to Google Chrome. Therefore, silently click on the three stripes at the top right and select “Additional tools > Extensions”.
If there are no extensions in the window that opens, we agree to the offer: “Do you want to view the gallery?”, and if there are, then click on the “More extensions” link and get to the “Chrome Online Store”.
Here, of course, you can endlessly scroll through the page with countless applications, holding your eyes so as not to wander. But just to find out how to add visual bookmarks in Google Chrome, this
As in the Mozilla browser, here, too, you can simply type the phrase “visual...” in the store search at the top right and “+Install” (as the blue buttons on the right are labeled) any of several proposed extensions.
Among them are the already familiar service onlinezakladki.ru, Evorch, Atavi, Speed Dial and a number of other offers, the installation and configuration of which is simple and understandable for a user of any level, but for example, let’s look at how to add a visual bookmark with 3D mode in Chrome.
Visual bookmarks FVD Speed Dial
Click the “+Install” button, open a new tab and admire the beautiful and impressive express panel of visual bookmarks with 3D mode and synchronization functions.
All the necessary sites are visible, and if there are so many of them that your eyes run wild, you can sort them into groups, to create which you need to click on the cross in the upper right, next to the default groups.
For each site we can create our own thumbnail or use a collection of pictures from the gallery. For the express panel itself, you can also choose your own background if you are not satisfied with the “standard” themes.
Convenient and simple synchronization (a round icon with arrows catching up with each other in the menu at the top right) will allow us to have the same selection of sites on different browsers, computers and other mobile devices.
But in order to use synchronization, we will have to agree to the offer to download the Eversync application from the Chrome Web Store, after which a synchronization button will appear in the panel at the top right.
By clicking the indicated button, we will see a proposal to log in to your EverSync account (if you have one) or create a new account. We will have to agree to this, because, having figured out how to add visual bookmarks in Google Chrome, we need to figure out how to synchronize them with other browsers and various mobile devices.
Synchronizing standard links
The Ever Sync service can save and synchronize not only FVD Speed Dial bookmarks, but also standard ones (favorites). Click Bookmarks and deal with the window that opens.
Here we can enable/disable auto-synchronization, combine local and server information (Merge button), replace data on the server (Upload button) and replace local information (Download button).
To transfer (copy) bookmarks to the server, you need to decide between the actions “Merge” or “Download”, choosing the second if synchronization is performed for the first time. You will find the copied links by clicking the "My EverHelperAccount" button.
Now bookmarks copied to the cloud can be transferred to any other browser or computer if the EverSync extension is installed on it.
Sync links created in Speed Dial
To close the question of how to add visual bookmarks with 3D mode in Google, we return to the application menu and open the Speed Dial tab, where we will synchronize the bookmarks of this extension.
As in the previous case, click the “Download” button, confirm your choice (Ok) and after 10-40 seconds, making sure that “Synchronization was successful” (as indicated by three green checkmarks), close the window.
Visual Bookmarks are now ready to use on another computer or browser (if you have the Speed Dial application installed).
Visual bookmarks in the Yandex browser
Users of Mozilla, Chrome, Opera and a number of other well-known browsers whose home page is set to “Yandex” will confirm with what persistence and tenacity “Yandex” offers to download its browser.
And these efforts were crowned with success, because this browser is rapidly gaining popularity. Therefore, as a “snack”, let’s find out how to add a visual bookmark in Yandex.
One of the Yandex elements, the Visual Bookmarks add-on, is also popular among similar services. But if we try to install it in the browser, we will receive the following message: “The Yandex browser already has a board with visuals...”. And by adding a new tab, we will make sure of this.
And in order to “place” a new site miniature on the display, you just need to click on the “baptized” inscription “Add”, enter the site address or its name and add a signature.
In the context menu of each tab, you can unpin it, delete it, change the site, and customize the thumbnail board in general.
Judging by the “demand” on the RuNet, this function in Yandex suits the majority of users. But here too, just like in Chrome, we can add a visual bookmark using any other service that we find in the catalog of add-ons for Yandex in the “Add-ons” section in the “three-bar” button menu at the top right.
Visual bookmarks are one of the most effective ways to quickly access saved web pages. The most popular and functional extension in this area is Speed Dial for Mazila.
Speed Dial is an add-on for Mozilla Firefox, which is a page with visual bookmarks. The add-on is unique in that it has a huge package of features that no other similar add-on can boast of.
You can either immediately go to the Speed Dial download page using the link at the end of the article, or find it yourself in the add-on store.
To do this, click on the menu button in the upper right corner of Mozilla Firefox and in the window that appears, go to the section "Extras" .
A search bar will open in the upper right corner of the window that opens, in which you will need to enter the name of the add-on you are looking for, and then press the Enter key.
The addition we need will be displayed first in the list. To begin installing it, click on the button to the right "Install" .
Once the installation of Speed Dial is completed, you will need to restart your web browser by clicking on the corresponding button.
How to use Speed Dial?
To display the Speed Dial window, you will need to create a new tab in Mozilla Firefox.
The Speed Dial window will appear on the screen. While the add-on is not very informative, but after spending some time configuring it, you can make it the most useful tool for Mozilla Firefox.
How to add a visual bookmark to Speed Dial?
Pay attention to the empty windows with plus signs. By clicking on this box, a window will appear on the screen in which you will be asked to assign a URL link to a separate visual bookmark.
Unneeded visual bookmarks can be reassigned. To do this, right-click on the window with the bookmark and select the item in the context menu that appears "Edit" .
A familiar window will open in which you need to update the URL pages to the desired one.
How to delete visual bookmarks?
Right-click on the bookmark and select the item from the menu that appears "Delete" . Confirm deleting the bookmark.
How to transfer visual bookmarks?
In order to find the bookmark you need as quickly as possible, you can sort them in the desired order. To do this, hold down the bookmark with the mouse and move it to a new area, then release the mouse button and the bookmark will be fixed.
How to work with groups?
One of the most interesting features of Speed Dial is the sorting of visual bookmarks into folders. You can create any number of folders and give them the desired names: “Work”, “Entertainment”, “Social networks”, etc.
To add a new folder to the Speed Dial, click on the plus sign icon in the upper right corner.
A small window will appear on the screen in which you will need to enter a name for the group being created.
To change the group name "Default" , right-click on it, select "Edit group" , and then enter your name for the group.
Switching between groups is carried out in the same upper right corner - you just need to click on the group name with the left mouse button, after which the visual bookmarks included in this group will be displayed on the screen.
Customizing the appearance
In the top right corner of the Speed Dial, click the gear icon to go to settings.
Go to the central tab. Here you can change the background image of the picture, and you can either upload your own image from your computer or specify a URL link to the picture on the Internet.
By default, the add-on has an interesting parallax effect activated, which slightly shifts the image as the mouse cursor moves on the screen. This effect is very similar to the effect of displaying a background image on Apple devices.
If necessary, you can either adjust the motion of the picture for this effect or turn it off completely by choosing one of the alternative effects (which, however, will no longer produce such a wow effect).
Now go to the very first tab on the left, which shows a gear. You will need to open a subtab "Decor" .
Here you can fine-tune the appearance of the tiles, starting with the displayed elements and ending with their size.
In addition, here, if necessary, you can remove the inscriptions under the tiles, exclude the search bar, change the theme from dark to light, change horizontal scrolling to vertical, etc.
Setting up synchronization
The downside of most Firefox add-ons with visual bookmarks is the lack of synchronization. You spend a lot of effort and time on detailed configuration of the add-on, but if you need to install it for a browser on another computer or completely reinstall the web browser on your current PC, then you will need to configure the add-on again.
In this regard, a synchronization function was implemented in Speed Dial, however, it is not immediately built into the add-on, but is downloaded separately. To do this, in the Speed Dial settings, go to the third tab from the right, which is responsible for synchronization.
Here the system will notify you that to set up synchronization you will need to install additional add-ons that will provide not only Speed Dial data synchronization, but also an automatic backup function. By clicking the button "Install from addons.mozilla.org" , you can proceed to install this set of add-ons.
And in conclusion...
Once you've finished setting up your visual bookmarks, hide the Speed Dial menu icon by clicking on the arrow icon.
Now visual bookmarks are fully customized, which means that your experience of using Mozilla Firefox will henceforth be extremely positive.
Mozilla Firefox is a flexible browser-designer that can be supplemented with various functionality using built-in extensions. This functionality includes an express panel of visual bookmarks for quick and convenient access to users’ favorite sites.
Mozilla Firefox comes pre-installed with quite powerful functionality for working with regular bookmarks, including the ability to quickly add favorite sites to the browser collection, sort bookmarks into thematic folders, as well as export, import and create backup copies. But the pre-installed visual bookmarks that open in a new browser tab leave much to be desired - the number of cells for selected sites is limited, and adding new thumbnails is possible only after removing old ones from free cells. In this case, free cells are filled only by automatically adjusting new sites from the browser history to them.
Let's look for more impressive and practical express panels of visual bookmarks for the Fire Fox in the extension store. Let's look at the best of them.
5 Best Visual Bookmark Express Panels for Mozilla Firefox Browser
How to equip the browser with various extensions, including specifically Mozilla Firefox, is described in the article “”.
Top-PageThe Top-Page extension is a cross-platform solution that will certainly be of interest to those who constantly change browsers or computer devices.
The Top-Page.Ru web service offers a completely free service for storing user bookmarks in the online organization of an express panel of site thumbnails.
Once you set up the express panel and organize your favorite sites on it, you can instantly access visual bookmarks from any browser window, on any device - be it a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone. To do this, you just need to first register in the Top-Page.Ru web service and then log in.
The Top-Page express panel for visual bookmarks is not the best masterpiece of design, it is far from the most advanced functional product, however, it is possible to change the background image and adjust the number of thumbnails of selected sites by width.
To add a site to your Top-Page visual bookmarks, click the empty cell with the plus sign and enter the web address. If you are too lazy to enter the name, you don’t need to do this. The name will be generated automatically.
Another cross-platform option for organizing an express panel of visual bookmarks in the Mozilla Firefox browser is Atavi Bookmarks from the free Atavi.Com web service.
But these bookmarks, unlike all other express panels presented in this review, are installed not from the Mozilla Firefox extension store, but from the Yandex Elements website.
Fast Dial is a custom extension for Mozilla Firefox.
In its settings, the number of visual bookmark cells displayed on the page can be adjusted by setting any numeric value for width and length. The size of the bookmark cells themselves can also be adjusted.
In Fast Dial settings
You can set your own background image for the visual bookmarks express panel. You can also choose the design of the cells, the font of the inscriptions and other design details.
To add a new visual bookmark, click on an empty cell and enter the web address of your favorite site. Each visual bookmark can have its own logo, as well as assign hot keys for quick access.
Fast Dial is one of the most beautiful express visual bookmark panels in the Mozilla Firefox extension store.
But, at the same time, it is somewhat inferior to the next participant in the review - the FVD Speed Dial express panel for visual bookmarks.
FVD Speed DialFVD Speed Dial is perhaps the most beautiful, most impressive, most functional, most customizable express visual bookmark panel for Mozilla Firefox.
But, at the same time, it is also the heaviest.
The effects and functionality of the extension may slow down the browser on weak computer devices. Alas, you always have to sacrifice something.
FVD Speed Dial contains a lot of settings, thanks to which the design and organization of the express panel can be finely tuned to your taste - choose a beautiful background image, adjust the font of the inscriptions, set the transparency of the buttons, specify the size of the cells, etc.
FVD Speed Dial allows you to organize visual bookmarks into thematic groups, thereby preventing the express panel from becoming cluttered with bookmarks. In this case, a group of popular bookmarks from regularly visited sites is formed automatically. Switching between groups is very convenient; their links are neatly lined up at the top of the express panel.
To add a new visual bookmark, we traditionally click on the empty cell with a plus sign on the express panel, enter the web address of the site, and we can assign a group, title, and image from among those suggested for the bookmark.
Despite the fact that FVD Speed Dial is far from being an accomplice to the performance of Mozilla Firefox, the advantages of this express panel of visual bookmarks are obvious - beauty will save the world.
Users of low-power netbooks and older PC builds can, for example, abandon the bulky background image, leaving the preset background of the Express panel white, so as not to burden the browser.
Speed Dial for Google Chrome is an addon that places a customizable panel with visual bookmarks on empty browser tabs. Links with preview images of sites are displayed in the form of blocks. To load your favorite resource in Google Chrome using the Speed Dial, just click on the block in the panel. This provides convenient access to a selection of your favorite bookmarks.
There are two versions of this add-on in the online application store for Chrome: FVD Speed Dial and Speed Dial 2. These solutions differ from each other in interface appearance and configuration features. Let's look separately at how to download, install and configure each version.
Attention! Speed Dial extensions (both versions) are distributed free of charge through the official Chrome application store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions).
Speed Dial (FVD)
Installs a beautiful 3D panel with dynamic graphic elements. They move slightly synchronized with mouse movements and create a kind of illusion of spatiality.
To connect Speed Dial (FVD) to your browser, enter its name in the store’s search bar and press “Enter.” Go to its page and click “Install...”.
Once the installation is complete, open an empty tab. It will display the addon's 3D panel.
In the upper left corner there are groups - profiles with various collections of bookmarks. They can be quickly switched with a single click of the mouse. For example, in the “Popular” group you can collect links to social networks and forums, and in the “Video” group - links to video hosting sites.
By default, the extension has two groups (“Popular” and “Default”). But you can add your own groups:
To the right of the group names, click the “+” icon. In the “Name” field, enter the name of the URL collection corresponding to the topic. So that you can quickly find what you need. For example, “Games”, “Music”, “Video”, etc.
In the “Position” option, specify the location of the new group in the tab bar: whether it will be at the beginning of the menu or at the end. Then click the "Add Group" button.
Adding a bookmark is done in almost the same way. In the block in which you want to see a link to the site with its thumbnail image, click the plus sign.
In the "URL" line, enter your domain name. If necessary, use the list of hints that appears when you type the address.
If for some reason you are not satisfied with the installed preview of the block, click the “Show more” button under its image. And use alternative options for installing a visual image. Below, in the same window, there are modes for creating previews (automatically and manually).
The “Name” line is not required. The add-on will set the block name according to the entered address.
The “Auto-Update” add-on updates the block (reloads the specified link) with a specified time interval. Initially it is turned off.
After entering all the necessary bookmark parameters, click the “Add site” button. And the block will immediately appear in the express panel.
At the top right of the visual links tab is a group of function buttons (from left to right).
“Speed Dial” - setting the number of dils (blocks with links) and columns, enabling the add-on, setting up display (in the form of previews or regular links, without pictures), list of groups.
“Most Popular” - a list of the most frequently visited web resources.
“Recently Closed” - history of visited pages. The appearance of the list is configured by the options at the beginning of it: “Name” - names of sites; URL - links.
“Synchronization” - creating a backup of the settings and contents of the panel (including all created groups) and restoring the configuration from the backup copy.
“Basic settings” - addon settings panel with options sections:
“Background settings” (brush display) - set the background color, load an alternative background image and add-ons for its localization (stretch, tile, center, etc.). And an additional feature is downloading ready-made themes for Speed Dial.
“Font settings” (letter “A”) - adjusting the appearance of inscriptions in the tab interface (separately for each element: lists, headings, links).
“Power off” - restricting access to the visual bookmarks profile through the authorization procedure (login by providing a login and password).
“Widgets” - manage widgets (autoscroll parameters, transparency level, background setting).
“Envelope” - forms for sending messages to developers, instructions for use.
Speed Dial 2 - New Tab
Compared to the FVD version, this solution consumes less system resources. But at the same time it displays the panel in two-dimensional format (2D).
After installing Speed Dial 2, a plus icon appears in the empty tab.
Click it. In the window that opens, select the setup mode:
“Most popular websites” is a layout option for an express panel from a catalog of preset links.
Mark the required sites with a mouse click and click “Save”.
“Custom URL” - adding your own links.
In the “URL” line, enter the site address, and in “Title” - the name for the tab. In the “Customize Thumbnail” section, you can configure the preview image for the visual block. You are given the opportunity to upload a picture and place a link to it.
After entering the data, you must click the “Save” button so that the bookmark is installed in the panel on the tab.
The add-on has two context menus:
if you right-click on a block, a list of commands for the tab over which the cursor is placed opens;
and if you right-click on a tab on a space free from elements (outside the panel), a list of general commands opens (parameters, statistics, adding a tab, group).
You can go to the extension settings by pressing the “three stripes” button (located at the top right).
In the retractable panel, parameters for the appearance of visual bookmarks are set: number of columns, width, distance between blocks, etc.
The “Themes” section has a large selection of different background images for the links tab. Click the thumbnail of the visual composition you like and click “Save Settings”.
If you have a dilemma about which Speed Dial option to install, be guided not only by your own taste preferences, but also by the capabilities of your computer.
Speed Dial (FVD) has a more beautiful appearance, but it is also more resource intensive. And Speed Dial 2 has a relatively minimalistic panel, without graphic bells and whistles. However, on low-power machines this addon will work quickly and stably.
In case you decide to remove the express panel, go to: Menu → Additional tools → Extensions. And click the “Trash” icon to remove the add-on from the browser. When prompted, confirm to run the command (click “Delete” again).
Browse websites in Google Chrome with Speed Dial! It's simple and convenient!
Allowing you to display your bookmarks in a convenient form. This add-on will be an excellent alternative to standard visual bookmarks.
Instead of an inconvenient list of bookmarks, 9 specified sites with visual previews will be displayed (the number of icons can always be changed). And to quickly go to the desired site, just click on the miniature image of the page or press the hotkey combination Ctrl+X, where X is the number of the site icon.
Installation and configuration of Speed Dial.
Installing Speed Dial, like any other add-on for Firefox, is done in two steps:
2. Click "Install Now" and restart your browser. 
3. After rebooting, you need to make some minor adjustments to the Speed Dial. If you previously installed visual bookmarks from other developers, for example, the company, you need to disable them in the “Add-ons” menu.
Now let's move directly to the Speed Dial settings. Go to the Firefox menu and click Settings. 
4. Opposite “When Firefox starts” check the box "Show home page", and in the home page column enter the address ya.ru. Click OK. 
5. Go to the Firefox menu and click Add-ons. Open Speed Dial settings. 
6. Check the boxes next to "In the new empty windows" And "In new empty tabs". Click OK. 
7. Now open a new tab and right-click on any free area. Select Change Group. Here you can set row and column metrics, as well as a different background color (or your own image). Also click OK. 
8. There's just a little bit left to do. Click on any empty icon and enter a new bookmark address. 
9. Almost immediately your miniature website page will load. 
10. Speed Dial has the ability to create groups of bookmarks. This function allows you to create any number of groups and group sites at your discretion. To create new groups, go to the “Add-ons” section in the browser menu, open the Speed Dial settings and click “Manage Groups”. A new window will open, in which click “Add” and give the new group a name. After this, a new group will appear on the Firefox home page, in which you need to add new sites in exactly the same way. 
The Speed Dial setup is complete. Enjoy!