What kind of smart folder do you mean?

Live feeds are loaded from a website via an XML file and are displayed in the order as listed in that file.

I'm talking about this: link text

Sorry, I don't think those folders can be alpha sorted, they are algorithmically sorted based upon your use of Firefox and the web sites in those folders.

Those smart folder are generated via a database query and are not real existing folders. Most Visited is sorted based on visit count and the "Recently.." smart bookmarks are sorted on date and time. So it wouldn't make sense to sort them alphabetically.

I have the same problem that smartfolders don't sort alphabetically. Really, I can't find any useful way that my smartfolders are sorted. I'm not talking about the "Recently Bookmarked" or "Most Visited" smartfolders. I get those. I am talking about smartfolders where you are using a tag or tags as the basis for the folder.

I used to use the Delicious add-on on Firefox 3.x and it worked great. I installed it on all my machines. When I had a new bookmark, I would add it to Delicious. I would then be able to access it via the same add-on from any PC or my iPhone. I would create smartfolders based on a tag. For example, I would create a folder called "work." Any bookmark tagged with "work" would appear in the smartlist. The add-on allowed you to sort by date or by name (alphabetical or reverse alphabetical).

When I got Firefox 4 and saw the ability to sync the bookmarks from within Firefox and the "Firefox Home" app, I was excited. I thought, "hey, no need for the junky Delicious plug-in anymore." I had been using Delicious since 2004 and had 731 bookmarks in there. I went through the trouble of exporting my bookmarks from Delicious, converting them to a .json format for Firefox 4 and importing them all in. The solution I used worked great. All the tags and bookmark information converted seamlessly. I created smartfolders based on the tags and smartfolders that I used in Delicious. All was right with the world. Then, it happened. I started using the smartfolders. The bookmarks weren't in alphabetical order or any order really that made them easy to access. I have two work smarfolders with 54 and 71 bookmarks respectively and a personal smartfolder with 39 bookmarks. Do you know the time wasted looking through those folders trying to find my bookmarks because there is no discernible order? A lot.

Now, you may say, "hey, why don't you just use the awesome bar and type in the name of the bookmark?" One word: inconvenient. If I'm browsing with the mouse, I have to take my hand off and start typing, rinse, repeat.

Then, you might say, "why not just create a 'dumb' folder with all the bookmarks you want and alphabetize that?" One word: cumbersome. I did that, but it defeats the purpose of a "smart" folder. Every time I tag a new bookmark, I have to add it to the "dumb" folder, rinse, repeat.

If smartfolders really are just a query to a local bookmark database, can a player please get an option to add an "ORDER BY Name ASC" clause in there?

I've been using Firefox 4 for a almost a month now and the smartfolders have not become any easier to navigate. Firefox 4 is great, if not eerily similar to Chrome 10 in speed and appearance. However, Firefox 4 owns Chrome because of the smartfolders. Now, if we could just get this sorting thing worked out, I could start using my bookmarks again.

You can try to sort them by adding a sort parameter to the query.

See:

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Places_query_URIs

Thanks for answering. And a special thanks to Barionic that explain the very exact situation that is mine! I also fully with the fact that a "smart" folder with many items is not that useful.

So I guest there is a improvement to add to Firefox. It is true that Delicious had sorting option for each smart folder (most recent, alpha, inverse alpha). Who is going to had this to Firefox's Wishlist? (As it is my very first post on this forum, it may be wiser that a more senior member do this (correctly!))

Thanks.

Stéphane

The places query URI would basically solve all our problems when used for smart/dynamic folders/bookmarks.

The queries proposed here seem however not to work in FF4 (Win7/Mac): https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Places_query_URIs

This is what I get: Firefox can't find the file at jar:file:///C:/Program Files (x86)/Mozilla Firefox/omni.jar!/chrome/browser/content/browser/places/content-ui/controller.xhtml.

Is there a new 'places' syntax in FF4? Is there any starting point manual / tutorial how to set up your own smart folders in FF4? (Beside using bookmark library and hitting save)

Thx

cor-el: I disagree completely. If I have a smart folder or tag search, I WANT it to sort alphabetically as opposed to randomly (or so it seems). What "makes sense" is what the people in this forum are saying. Any query can be made to sort results as desired. Why Firefox has given us half a tool is beyond me - we can create these powerful dynamic searches with smart folders, but we can't see the results in a useful format. I'm sure this is a simple fix.

barionic: Right on barionic. I've investigated this problem as much as you have, and haven't found any solution. I like any folder or smart folder on my Bookmark Menu to be sorted alphabetically, as I'm sure many people do. In the case of regular folders - I've got them sorting automatically with Sort Places. But with the smart folders, it's chaos.

Seems a shame to have such a powerful query function in the tag feature, and not be able to use it easily. Very frustrating.