Favorites (American spelling) is a program built into Internet Explorer 9 that allows you to create a list of your favourite websites and web pages. The idea being that when you need to go to one of those websites or web pages again you simply select it from the list, as opposed to having to type its web address/url into Internet Explorer 9's address bar each time.

For every website (or web page) you add to the list a Link File is created for it, that contains its web address/url and title for example. That link file is then stored inside the Favorites folder, which also has six default Microsoft sub-folders inside it called Favorites Bar, Microsoft Websites, MSN Websites, Websites For United Kingdom, Windows Live and Mobile Favorites. When you view the favorites list what you are really viewing is the contents of the Favorites folder.

To add a website (or web page) to the existing favorites list first make sure you are viewing a website (or web page) with Internet Explorer 9. In this example I am viewing this Yoingco website. When you have done that click on the FAVORITES (yellow star) button of internet explorer 9 (Fig 1.0) to display the Favorites window, which consists of various menu-items and buttons (Fig 1.1). The FAVORITES (yellow star) button acts as a menu (menu title) for the actual FAVORITES window (menu-items and buttons).

Fig 1.0  Click on the FAVORITES (yellow star) button to continue




Fig 1.1  Click on the FAVORITES Tab, if it's not already the selected tab

The Favorites window consists of a button called ADD TO FAVORITES, which also doubles up as a drop-down menu (on its right-side), three tabbed windows called FAVORITES, FEEDS and HISTORY and a button called SEE SUGGESTED SITES. You can ignore all of them for now!

After clicking on the FAVORITES (yellow star) button the selected tabbed window should be FAVORITES, but if it is not don't worry. Simply click on it (the tabbed window called FAVORITES) and then click on the ADD TO FAVORITES button.

Fig 1.2  Click on the ADD TO FAVORITES button to continue

Clicking on the ADD TO FAVORITES button brings up the following Add To Favorites message requester. Its first component is an edit box called NAME, which is filled with the title of the website (or web page) you have chosen to bookmark (add to the Favorites List). This can be changed by editing it in the normal way. For example. You could, after clicking inside the edit box, change the original text (i.e. FREE Windows 7 Computer Lessons - Explained with Pictures and Text) to something more meaningful such as John's Website, Computer Lessons or whatever. It is up to you.

Fig 1.3  Click on the ADD button to place your favorite website (or web page) inside the Favorites folder

The next component is a drop-down menu, called CREATE IN, that lists all the possible folders you can store your favorite website (or web page) in. Or put another way. It lists the Favorites folder and its sub-folders - The folder or sub-folder where your favorite website's (or web page's) Link File will be created in.

Clicking on the ADD button (Fig 1.3 above) will add your favorite website (or web page) to the favorites list (store its Link File inside the Favorites folder). However, in this example I will create a new sub-folder called Lessons.

Fig 1.4  Click on NEW FOLDER to continue




Fig 1.5  Click on CREATE to create the sub-folder




Fig 1.6  Click on ADD to add the website (or web page) to the Favorites list, inside the new folder.

To create a new sub-folder inside the main Favorites folder first click on the NEW FOLDER button (Fig 1.4 above). This will bring up the Create A Folder window (Fig 1.5 above) where you must type a name for the new sub-folder inside the FOLDER NAME edit box before clicking on the CREATE button. When that is done the sub-folder is created.

Now all you need to do, now that the Add A Favorite window has returned, is click on the ADD button (Fig 1.6 above). This will add your favorite website (or web page) to the Favorites list, inside the Lessons sub-folder in this example. Or put another way. The ADD button will store your favorite website's (or web page's) Link File inside the Lessons sub-folder, which is a sub-folder of the main Favorites folder.

If don't want to create a new sub-folder but want to use an existing sub-folder, or the main Favorites folder, instead simply click on the arrow button of the CREATE IN drop-down menu, select an existing sub-folder (Fig 1.7 below) or the main Favorites folder and then click on the ADD button.

Fig 1.7  Use the CREATE IN drop-down menu to use an existing sub-folder or the main Favorites folder

When you have added your favorite website (or web page) to the Favorites list you can view it by clicking on the FAVORITES button again. The name of the favorite (link file) will be the title of the website (or web page) you have just added to the favorites list. So in this example the favorite (link file) will be called FREE WINDOWS 7 LESSONS....., containing the web address www.yoingco.com, and will be inside the predefined sub-folder called Websites For United Kingdom (Fig 1.8 below).

By clicking on that Websites For United Kingdom sub-folder (Fig 1.8 below), to open it, I can then click on the favorite (link file) called FREE WINDOWS 7 LESSONS..... (Fig 1.9) whereby internet explorer 9 will then display that website.

Fig 1.8  Click on the folder/sub-folder containing your favorite website (or web page).....




Fig 1.9  .....and then select your favorite website (or web page) for internet explorer 9 to display.

The blue arrow that appears to the right of a sub-folder, and favorite (link file), means internet explorer 9 will open that sub-folder or favorite website inside a new tabbed window when you click on the associated blue arrow.

To delete a website (or web page) favorite (link file) simply right-click on it, to select it and bring up its Options menu, and then select (left-click on) the DELETE menu-item.

NOTE WELL: This will not bring up the usual Confirmation message requester to ask if you really want to delete the favorite (link file). Your favorite will be deleted straight away without confirmation.

Fig 2.0  Select DELETE from the Options menu....

Although there are other options available on the Options menu (Fig 2.1 above), apart from the DELETE option, it is only the RENAME and SORT BY NAME options that will be of any real benefit to you.

The SORT BY NAME option, on the Options menu (Fig 2.0 above), automatically sorts the favorites list into Alphabetical order. Unless you really want to sort the favorites list into your own order (explained below) it is usually a good idea to have it sorted into alphabetical order.

To sort the favorites list into Alphabetical order right click on any favorite (Link File) in the list to bring up the Options menu and then select (left click on) the SORT BY NAME menu-item.

Fig 3.0  Select SORT BY NAME from the Options menu....

Fig 3.1  ....to put the favorites list into Alphabetical order.

In the above example I have scrolled down the favorites window to example the favorites within the main Favorites folder, and have therefore not put into view the actual sub-folders within the main Favorites folder. However, it is the same principle for folders in general. If they are out of order (not in Alphabetical order) they will also be put in order by using the SORT BY NAME menu-item.

If you only want a particular sub-folder's favorites to be alphabetically ordered simply select that particular sub-folder first (i.e. the Microsoft Websites sub-folder) and then right click over one of its favorites (within the Microsoft Websites sub-folder) to then left click on its SORT BY NAME menu-item. Only that sub-folder's favorites will be sorted into alphabetical order - If you have previously used SORT BY NAME then obviously certain favorites will already be in alphabetical order.

To sort the favorites list into the order you want requires mouse dragging, so a little practice and patience is needed!!

Start by clicking on the favorite you want to move, but instead of letting go of the left mouse button keep it pressed (held-down). In this example I am going to click on the Ryanair favorite (Fig 4.0 below), with the intention of moving it up three positions so that its new position will be underneath the easyJet favorite.

Fig 4.0  Move (Drag) your desired favorite upwards/downwards.....

Fig 4.1  .....until it is in a clear space, in your desired position....

With the left mouse button still held down (still clicked) start moving the mouse pointer upwards, in a straight line if you can. As you move the mouse pointer it will change into a NO ENTRY mouse pointer (Fig 4.0 above) to denote that you cannot move the selected favorite on that spot, if you were to let go of the left mouse button. This basically means the mouse pointer is over a favorite and not in-between, above or underneath a favorite or sub-folder - The mouse pointer has to be in a clear space (either in-between, above or underneath a favorite or sub-folder) before you can let go of the left mouse button (Fig 4.1 above).

When you have your mouse pointer in a clear space, in your desired position, feel free to let go of the left mouse button (as I have done in Fig 4.1 above).

Fig 4.2  ....and then let go of the left mouse button.

If all went well, after letting go of the left mouse button, your favorite should of moved into its new position. Fig 4.2 shows that I have moved the Ryanair favorite up three positions, so it is now underneath the easyJet favorite and above the Eurostar Trains favorite as desired. Do not worry if you did not get your positioning right the first time. As said, it does take practice and patience. When you are more confident just follow the above steps again to move other favorites.

As I was passing over some of the other favorites the mouse pointer's message was stating: Move To Favorites. This means if I was to release the left mouse button at any time then I would be placing the Ryanair favorite (link file) inside the main Favorites folder (which I ended up doing anyway). If I would of continued up the favorites list and over the Websites For United Kingdom sub-folder for example and then released the left mouse button, the Ryanair favorite would of been placed inside that sub-folder instead; in which case that sub-folder would of opened automatically in order for me to then decide where to place the Ryanair favorite. The mouse pointer's message would of also changed to: Move To Website For United Kingdom.

Apart from sorting your favorites list (link files) into order, you can also organize them into sub-folders. This next example shows how to create a sub-folder and then put a favorite (link file) inside that sub-folder.

Begin by clicking on the FAVORITES (yellow star) button and then click on the right-side of the ADD TO FAVORITES button, on its drop-down menu, in order to then click on its ORGANIZE FAVORITES menu-item.

Fig 5.0  Click on the ORGANIZE FAVORITES menu-item to continue

After clicking on the ORGANIZE FAVORITES menu-item the Organize Favorites window will appear (below) with the first item is selected, in this case the Favorites Bar sub-folder. It is important to remember this is selected because you could DELETE, RENAME or MOVE it by mistake.

At the bottom of the window are details of the selected item. In this case the details are telling you that Favorites Bar is inside the main Favorites folder and that the Favorites Bar sub-folder was last modified on 04/07/2011 at 13:06. Modified meaning the last time it was created and/or used. This information can be useful, especially if the selected item is a favorite (link file). For example. Clicking on a favorite, as opposed to a favorite sub-folder, tells you how many times that favorite (website or web page) was visited and when it was last visited (Fig 5.2 below).

Fig 5.1  The Organize Favorites window displaying info about a sub-folder




Fig 5.2  The Organize Favorites window displaying info about a favorite (link file)

As you can see in Fig 5.2 above, by selecting a favorite you get its website address information as well as the number of times it was visited and the last date/time it was visited. Now imagine someone who uses your computer saying "I did not visit that bad website"...."I was not on the computer at that time" and so on. The evidence is right here!!

If you right click on a favorite, or sub-folder, it will bring up an Options menu that gives you more or less the same basic options as those found on the Organize Favorites window (i.e DELETE and RENAME - MOVE can be emulated with COPY & PASTE actions). These are standard things to do.

To start organizing your favorites list you normally create new, categorized, sub-folders for your existing favorites (link files) first and then MOVE those existing favorites into their new, categorized, sub-folders. In this example I have created a new sub-folder called TRAVEL whereby I will move the Ryanair favorite into it.

To create a new sub-folder simply click on the NEW FOLDER button to create a new folder (sub-folder) called New Folder and then rename it as normal. In this example I have changed the name New Folder into Travel. I have not shown these steps here simply because you should know how to create a new folder by now.

With your new sub-folder created (i.e. Travel), inside the main Favorites folder, the next thing to do is select the favorite you want to move into that new sub-folder. In this example I have selected the Ryanair favorite (Fig 5.3 below). From there, click on the MOVE button to bring up the BROWSE FOR FOLDER requester. It allows you to select the sub-folder where you are going to move the selected favorite into (Fig 5.4).

Fig 5.3  Select a favorite and then click on the MOVE button to continue




Fig 5.4  Select the sub-folder where you want the selected favorite placing before clicking on the OK button




Fig 5.5  Click on the selected sub-folder to see your favorite inside it

After clicking on the MOVE button (Fig 5.3 above) the BROWSE FOR FOLDER requester appears (Fig 5.4 above) whereby you then need to select the sub-folder where you want your selected favorite placing. In this example I selected the newly created Travel sub-folder before clicking on the OK button. Clicking on the OK button closes the BROWSE FOR FOLDER requester and returns you back to the Organize Favorites window. To view the move simply select the sub-folder where you have just placed your selected favorite (Fig 5.5 above).

To move other favorites, into other sub-folders or even into the main Favorites folder, simply follow the steps above; creating new sub-folders along the way if need be. For example. Keep doing the above until all the Travel favorites are inside the Travel sub-folder. You could then create a Books sub-folder, a Computers sub-folder and so on and then place (MOVE) the relevant favorites into their respective sub-folders.

The above was a very simple example - You can also MOVE a sub-folder into another sub-folder if you want to, making that sub-folder a sub-sub-folder. Another thing you can do is drag an item, as shown in Figures 4.0 to 4.2 above, within the Organize Favorites window therefore cutting out the need to use the MOVE button.

When you have finished simply click on the CLOSE button on the Organize Favorites window. This will bring you back to Internet Explorer 9 where you can view the changed organized favorites by opening the FAVORITES window again. As you can see, by organising your favorites (link files and sub-folders) you can make them look tidier and easier to find.

Fig 5.6  A much tidier, organised, Favorites List

Each time you add a website (or web page) to your favorites list the Favorite's built-in icon feature downloads that website's icon into the main Favorites folder of Windows 7, if an icon exists on that website. Otherwise a generic Internet Explorer 9 icon is used/displayed instead.

The main Favorites folder is stored inside your USER folder. Its Path Name is Hard_Drive_Letter\Users\UserName\Favorites. So in other words, when you add a website (or web page) to the favorites list you also inherit that website's icon. Depending on how your Favorites folder is viewed you may see the website icons or the generic Internet Explorer 9 icons (below). Either way, the website icons will be displayed properly in the actual Favorites list as above.

Fig 6.0  The main Favorites folder as stored by Windows 7

Hopefully you can see that favorites (link files) and their sub-folders are just normal folders and files at the end of the day, and that they can be deleted, renamed, moved and so on just like normal folders and files. In other words, there is nothing special about them. And you can back them up onto a Flash Drive for example simply by copying and pasting them from the above, Windows 7, main Favorites folder.

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.