Handling Google Chrome (Chromium)'s sucky bookmark manager

Get Firefox. Register Xmarks account. Install XMarks extension on both browser. Sync on Chrome. Sync on Firefox. Edit bookmarks as you like in Firefox. Sync again, on Firefox, then on Chrome. Problem solved. Well, at least I have to do this until Chromium devs implement a better bookmarks manager.

My feature wish list for a bookmarks manager:

1. Multiple select, drag and drop
2. On-the-spot editing
3. Tags
4. Merge trees
5. Search redundant entries

No. 1-3 is already in Firefox's. No 3 may introduce performance overhead, watchout! No.5 is good for Alzheimer's patients.

Side talk: Chrome Extension directory mess

Forget about looking for rare extensions in the Chrome Extension directory (for some reason, the site uses secure connection). It's a hodgepodge of redundant stuff. Searching for 'bookmark' returns 1213 items, while 'bookmark manager' yields 128. And so many of them giving the same functionality of 'one-click access to bookmark manager, which normally requires you to click on wrench then the menu item to open up'. Yes, I agree it makes for more comfortable browsing experience for casual users. Why click twice when you click once? OTOH, I usually never open it up, I just trust my address bar (be it AwesomeBar or Omnibar) to look it up for me. If I ever need to open it, like on this occasion, I just alt-F,B in Chrome. (FYI, alt-F opens the wrench, and B is the accelerator for bookmark manager)

Back to our directory story, the whole directory feels like CPAN. Not that I program in Perl often, but I remeber the horrible experience that caused me to think twice before starting to Perl-script ever again (Tips to CPAN maintainer: consolidate search results so that multiple entries from same parent namespace appear as one entry under that namespace). I don't know how results are ordered in Chrome extension search, but I can see that the simple implementation puts little burden on the server. Hooray for light implementation! But at the price of user experience? That cannot be justifiable. Here is what I think ought to be there at minimum:

1. Filter by category
2. Sort by date, downloads, rating
3. Show only extensions by verified authors

I suppose the problem has its factors in the absence of the bookmark button in default install, and also the low entrance barrier to making Chrome extensions. The process can observed as follows:

1. The average IT graduate is frustrated that his bookmark button isn't there
2. He notices Chrome's extensibility (which is probably the reason he and many other nerds download it in the first place)
3. He proceeds to find the API (and fail to search for the extension first)
4. He goes "Wow, this easy? I can create it in a matter of minutes" (and fail to realize that if it was that easy, someone else would have probably done it before)
5. He codes, deploys, and becomes impressed with the sheer magnificience of his work and how his browsing becomes much easier
6. He thinks it's a good idea to share his extension, and goes to the directory to publish it
7. He finds there already are extensions with same functionality, yet goes on to upload it because "theirs are inferior compared to mine anyway"
8. He resumes browsing without remorse

The whole phenomenon goes against the hacker code "don't reinvent the wheel". We see redundant programs in other realms of software development; maybe the same thing is occuring? Some applications may seem redundant but if they take different approach maybe to fulfill certain special requirements, that will be acceptable reinventation. And the whole of the bookmark shortcut extension, is not.