Browser bookmarks are a great way to keep track of websites you want to refer back to, interesting articles you plan to read some day or sites you visit everyday. But bookmarks are only useful if you can find them again. 

Throw hundreds of bookmarks into your browser with no organization and it will likely take you as long to find the bookmark as it would to search the site on Google.

Fortunately Firefox offers several ways to keep your bookmarks in order -- tools like folders, tags and syncing them between computers mean you'll have your bookmarks under control in no time.

Here's out guide to become a bookmark ninja using Firefox.

== Organize what you already have ==

The first thing to do is open up the Firefox bookmark window (Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks) and take a look at what you've got. 

One of the easiest ways to keep your bookmarks organized is to create folders within the Firefox Bookmarks Bar and then sort your bookmarks into those folders. Create, for example, a folder for all your favorite tech blogs and dump the bookmarks inside. Then you can get to your list of tech blogs from any browser window just by click on that folder in the Bookmarks bar.

Alternately you can create the same folder system, but drop it in the Bookmarks Menu and access your bookmarks from the main Bookmarks drop-down menu.

Tip: Having trouble figuring out which bookmarks and filed and which aren't? Head to the "Unsorted Bookmarks" item in the bookmarks window to see which ones you've missed. 

Another organization method is to use tags, which work a bit like folders in GMail. To edit the tags on your bookmarks you'll need to go through each bookmark and individually tag them, which can be time comsuming, but does allow you to have the same bookmark in multiple tag bundles.

== Organizing new bookmarks ==

The key to any sucessful filing system is to make sure that it's easy to file new items -- otherwise you'll just end up with another mess in a few months, or even weeks if you frequently bookmarks websites.

Fortunately, as of version 3.0, Firefox offers a handy drop-down menu whenever you add a bookmark, which makes it easy to filter the new bookmark into the approriate folder or add whatever tags you'd like. If nothing in your current collection of folders fits the new bookmark you can even create a new folder within the add bookmark dialog.

In fact, it's possible to keep your bookmarks perfectly organized without ever needing to re-visit the "organize bookmarks" window.

== Sync ==

Your bookmarks are useless if you can't get to them no matter what computer you're on. Firefox makes it easy to keep your bookmarks sync with it's new built in syncing tool. Sadly, Firefox 4, the first version with built-in syncing, is still a beta release at them moment. You can try using the beta or grab the [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10868/ Firefox Sync extension], which will tide you over until the final version of Firefox 4 arrives.