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Del.icio.us is the social bookmarking site that started the whole trend and it remains one of the most popular. Thanks to its handy search and sharing features, del.icio.us is also an interesting site to explore even if you don't use it.
####How it Works
The process of saving a bookmark is simple. Just drag del.icio.us' bookmarklets to your browser toolbar and, whenever you're on a site you want to bookmark, click the button and it will be automatically added to your del.icio.us account. The bookmarklet will take you to the "post" page on del.icio.us where you can then fill any additional information you want to add such as a description, notes, tags and privacy setting.
By default del.icio.us sets all your bookmarks to public which means anyone can see what you've bookmarked. If you'd like to make them private you need to check the "do not share" box when you create a new bookmark. Del.icio.us also auto-suggests tags that might fit your bookmark which can save you some typing.
Once you've saved your bookmark, del.icio.us will return you to the page you were viewing.
The whole process is actually much simpler than it may sound; it takes far more time to describe it than to actually do it.
####Give the People What They Want
Once your bookmarks are in del.icio.us you can share them in a variety of ways. There's a search feature that pulls in results from everyone's bookmarks including yours. And you can also search just your bookmarks to find that lost site you've been looking for.
Del.icio.us also allows you to share your bookmarks with designated people through a feature called "your network." To add people to your network you just enter their screenname, and viola! their (public) bookmarks will be added to your "network" page.
Your network is useful for sharing with friends, family and coworkers, but if you want to see everyone's bookmarks, tags are the way to go. To do this you can use the subscriptions feature. Subscriptions can be by tag, person or both. In other words you can limit a subscription to just Uncle Albert's bookmarks tagged "deer trophies" or you could subscribe to all bookmarks tagged "deer trophies" and so on.
It's also possible to designate individual bookmarks for other del.icio.us users. When you save a new bookmark if you add a for:username tag to it, they will see your bookmark under the "for you" link the next time they log in. This sharing feature works for both public and private bookmarks
Nearly every page in del.icio.us has an RSS feed of some sort, whether it' by tag, user, your network or your subscriptions you can always stay up-to-date via your RSS reader. There's also a nice backend API if you'd like to access your account directly with outside programs.
####Personal Gripes
I may be overly anal or perhaps just old-fashioned, but I rather like putting my bookmarks in folders. I suppose you could argue that tags are a kind of folder, at least on the metaphorical level, but tags are really the only organizational tool del.icio.us offers. The newly redesigned Yahoo Bookmarks has folders though, and since Yahoo owns del.icio.us it's possible this feature could find it's way to del.icio.us at some point.
Many people complain about del.icio.us' rather primitive interface, other people love the minimalist look, you'll have to decide for yourself, but in terms of functionality, del.icio.us has been, and continues to be, one of the sites to beat.
####The Low Down
**Pros**
* Simple and easy to use
* Good sharing features
* Nice backend API
**Cons**
* Not enough organizational options
* No screen captures (The bookmarks on the main page have them, but individual pages don't)
* Bookmarked pages aren't cached
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