Bookmark Strategy in Tor Browser
Current bookmarks shipped in TB: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/blob/tor-browser-115.10.0esr-13.5-1/browser/base/content/default-bookmarks.html?ref_type=heads
Issues:
- Right now the book marks are in the "Bookmarks folder" which isn't really a thing in modern firefox. They do appear summarized and unordered in menu/bookmarks in a "recent bookmarks" list, but this doesn't seem optimal and many long time users were unaware they exist. (shown below)
- All the URLs are to .onions but there has been requests that some shouldn't be so that if there are connection and bootstrap issues a user could dig out these URLs, copy them, and paste them into another browser to get help. Mixing .onion and clearweb bookmarks seems unoptimal from a UX point of view
Possible options on the table:
- 2 bookmark folders: one with onions, with one out. However alone, with teh current UI they will probably be mixed in the "recent bookmarks" list and still confusing unless users then pick from the bottom "manage bookmarks" to see the folders, which as far as I can tell have no other way to see anymore
- Revive the bookmarks toolbar and move existing and new bookmarks there. IIRC that is what browsers do now, usually prepopulating it with a few help links
- Alternately, if the non onion links are for use when bootstrap fails, is there another way we may want to surface them like on the actual error pages in connection assist?
As you can sort of see in the pre tor rebrand MR: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/blob/d6c057215a5ce673ff88c9f4522a154bf6b18528/browser/base/content/default-bookmarks.html
Firefox is marking things for the personal_toolbar_folder, and I believe it is displayed on a fresh install? but can't confirm. But if a user enabled it, there they'd be.
Edited by Dan Ballard