Forum Discussion
Edge favorites menu
Hey can you guys add the Drop down favorites and hisitory book and downloads reading list menu from the old edge to add it to this one please
- This is great feedback. Are you looking for a way to access your favorites and history withough having to open a new tab?
Our question has always been, will we be able to access the Favorites directly from the Windows Explorer as we were able to in all previous versions of Internet Explorer? Since Chromium based browsers hide their Bookmarks in a json data base that you cannot get to, will we be able to manage those Favorites for Enterprise users? Our Energy IT Trade Group last week expressed concern that the new Edge Browser would be designed for home and small business users, and ignore the needs of global corporations. We need to be able to have access to the Favorites without being forced to open the browser itself. We custom build Favorites groupings based on Business Unit, Team, Engineering, Financial, Operation, etc. We provide laptops to all our employees (I oversee computing distribution for about 42,000 North America staff members) and need to provide a laptop that is secure and preloaded with the tools to help that employee do his/her job. Everyone agreed. The sad part is that Microsoft's main income stream come from us Enterprise customers and we're afraid we'll have to keep using a modified IE-11 just for the Favorites feature alone. That scares us in the IT units, but it's crucial to global corporations with multiple business units and siloed teams.
Spoiler
techViewsorg wrote:
Our question has always been, will we be able to access the Favorites directly from the Windows Explorer as we were able to in all previous versions of Internet Explorer? Since Chromium based browsers hide their Bookmarks in a json data base that you cannot get to, will we be able to manage those Favorites for Enterprise users? Our Energy IT Trade Group last week expressed concern that the new Edge Browser would be designed for home and small business users, and ignore the needs of global corporations. We need to be able to have access to the Favorites without being forced to open the browser itself. We custom build Favorites groupings based on Business Unit, Team, Engineering, Financial, Operation, etc. We provide laptops to all our employees (I oversee computing distribution for about 42,000 North America staff members) and need to provide a laptop that is secure and preloaded with the tools to help that employee do his/her job. Everyone agreed. The sad part is that Microsoft's main income stream come from us Enterprise customers and we're afraid we'll have to keep using a modified IE-11 just for the Favorites feature alone. That scares us in the IT units, but it's crucial to global corporations with multiple business units and siloed teams.
Hi, have you checked out the Group Policy files for Edge insider Dev?
https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/enterprise
That's how Enterprises and organizations of any size do it. There are policies for managing favorites and a lot of other details of the browser.
please do that and if you still think there is a policy missing, you can suggest it in the forum or via the feedback.
it's correct that you cannot manage favorites via file explorer like old times but Microsoft provided other ways to do just that even more efficiently.
I've tried them myself. please refer to the code below. the full Group Policy guide is inside the zip file that you can download from that URL above.
ManagedFavorites
Configure favorites
Supported Versions: Microsoft Edge on Windows and Mac since version 77 or later
Description
Configures a list of managed favorites.
The policy creates a list of favorites. Each favorite contains the keys "name" and "url," which hold the favorite's name and its target. You can configure a subfolder by defining a favorites without an "url" key but with an additional "children" key that contains a list of favorites as defined above (some of which may be folders again). Microsoft Edge amends incomplete URLs as if they were submitted via the Address Bar, for example "microsoft.com" becomes "<a href="<a href="<a href="https://microsoft.com/" target="_blank">https://microsoft.com/</a>" target="_blank"><a href="https://microsoft.com/</a" target="_blank">https://microsoft.com/</a</a>>" target="_blank"><a href="<a href="https://microsoft.com/</a" target="_blank">https://microsoft.com/</a</a>" target="_blank"><a href="https://microsoft.com/</a</a" target="_blank">https://microsoft.com/</a</a</a>>>".
These favorites are placed in a folder that can't be modified by the user (but the user can choose to hide it from the favorites bar). By default the folder name is "Managed favorites" but you can change it by adding to the list of favorites a dictionary containing the key "toplevel_name" with the desired folder name as the value.
Managed favorites are not synced to the user account and can't be modified by extensions.
Supported features:
Can be mandatory: Yes
Can be recommended: No
Dynamic Policy Refresh: Yes
Data Type:
Dictionary
Windows information and settings
Group Policy (ADMX) info
GP unique name: ManagedFavorites
GP name: Configure favorites
GP path (Mandatory): Administrative Templates/Microsoft Edge/
GP path (Recommended): N/A
GP ADMX file name: MSEdge.admx
Windows Registry Settings
Path (Mandatory): SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
Path (Recommended): N/A
Value Name: ManagedFavorites
Value Type: REG_SZ
Example value:
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ManagedFavorites = [
{
"toplevel_name": "My managed favorites folder"
},
{
"name": "Microsoft",
"url": "microsoft.com"
},
{
"name": "Bing",
"url": "bing.com"
},
{
"children": [
{
"name": "Microsoft Edge Insiders",
"url": "<a href="<a href="<a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a</a>>" target="_blank"><a href="<a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a</a" target="_blank">www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</a</a</a>>>"
},
{
"name": "Microsoft Edge",
"url": "<a href="<a href="<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a</a>>" target="_blank"><a href="<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a</a" target="_blank">www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</a</a</a>>>"
}
],
"name": "Microsoft Edge links"
}
]
Mac information and settings
Preference Key Name: ManagedFavorites
Example value:
<key>ManagedFavorites</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>toplevel_name</key>
<string>My managed favorites folder</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>name</key>
<string>Microsoft</string>
<key>url</key>
<string>microsoft.com</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>name</key>
<string>Bing</string>
<key>url</key>
<string>bing.com</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>children</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>name</key>
<string>Microsoft Edge Insiders</string>
<key>url</key>
<string><a href="<a href="<a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a</a>>" target="_blank"><a href="<a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a</a" target="_blank">www.microsoftedgeinsider.com</string</a</a</a>>>>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>name</key>
<string>Microsoft Edge</string>
<key>url</key>
<string><a href="<a href="<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a</a>>" target="_blank"><a href="<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a</a>" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a</a" target="_blank">www.microsoft.com/windows/microsoft-edge</string</a</a</a>>>>
</dict>
</array>
<key>name</key>
<string>Microsoft Edge links</string>
</dict>
</array>
Thanks for the additional info,
that is huge I admit it but Windows servers are scalable and with the right trust relationships between different forests/physical location/etc, each server admin can take care of his/her/their own employees and roll out that group policies.
the point is that it IS possible and achievable with little to no additional hassle and complications.
Let me also add that Microsoft's Azure is specially built for organizations like yours and even bigger such as national projects. i hope the bosses of bosses of your enterprise decide to migrate to the Azure cloud. Microsoft data servers/centers are all over the world, on the ground, underground, even under ocean (recently added). it is highly scalable, highly secure and safe, it will definitely reduce your costs greatly.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/
You're welcome,
Bon Appetit!- We do not use a master server system, each Business Unit and sub functional unit has it's own system. This is due to a security arrangement made after a virus was introduced a few years ago that spread across the system. As a result the different groups, drilling, explorations, legal, operations, land, permitting, construction, acquisitions, marketing, financial, onshore, offshore … on & on … were separated for security. My guess is that it was mostly from knee-jerk paranoia. Maybe not the best way to manage things, but was the decision from people at a level much higher than me. A simple modification to a business units server system isn't going to cover the other units across the board. There is no longer a central server system. And remember, our trade group is just North America. We operate in over 22 countries.
Anyway, I'm hoping that the needs and requests from corporations like ours, especially in the energy business, are taken seriously and considered. We are not alone. We give a lot to Microsoft, and we're hoping our mass of licenses get some attention.
Thank you all for your comments. Nothing said here is ignored.
….. Off to dinner. - May I ask how much familiar are you with server management?
even if you have 1 million computers to manage, as long as they are in one or separate identifiable OUs, it won't take more than 20 mins (approx) to set up policies for them.
there is nothing un-feasible about it. Edge policies are New so you just add them, no need to modify anything from the past and there won't be any conflicts.
btw what's your domain/forest functional level in your environment? - I know a lot of people want the latest, greatest, shiniest toy. And there are a LOT of people who snicker when they hear that a major corporation hasn't completely upgraded yet. It's about money allocated to the thousands of units that can only be rolled up over time, not all at once. But I assure you that not every major corporation has fully migrated, nor can they afford to, even after five years. That is why Microsoft allows extended support to Enterprise users. And you are correct that the GPE isn't something that the new employees have use of, but that's not the point. Going back and modifying all existing computers with changes through the GPE just to accommodate a new browser is totally not feasible.
- Spoiler
techViewsorg wrote:
I guess what most people in this forum fail to understand is that in a global corporation, not all the laptops are running Win-10, many are still on Win-7. The cost to completely upgrade and switch all at once is prohibitive. So we make those changes on a roll-out program, and retire most of the Win-7 units when an employee leaves. Of course when new arrivals are onboarded they get the new stuff. So everything did not suddenly change from one OS to another over night.
The other issue is that part of our job is to make sure that employees are furnished with the tools to do their jobs. Not everyone has the skillset of most of the posters in the forum. Some are at an elementary or intermediate skill level, and others are expert to the coaching level. But we have to make sure that *everyone* has what they need to do their job. For most, a very large percentage, the ability to manage Favorites based in a Favorites Folder allows us to preload each laptop with Favorites specific to their job (ie: eam, BU, functional group, etc). And simply importing an HTML file to the browser is useless since the Favorites need to be manipulated outside the browser and not in a database.Those Favorites aren't to places like The Weather Channel, Google, Facebook, and other non-useful business websites. They are researched and collected and applied specific to that person's departmental use. And just over half of the Favorites are to a location inside our internal corporate web. We have a small staff that works with all the various business groups and departments to make sure what we provide to the employees is specified by their managers, and up to date. It's no small feat, really. And there are cases where a new employee completely does a newbie thing and crashes his computer and we have to reload it. That means having a clean and updated set of Favorites ready to go.
I assure you that with the thousands of Windows units we work with no one will be messing with the Group Policy Editor, at least at the employee level. Although you may be correct in your suggestion, we are dealing with a large number of Windows users and a wide range of usage expertise. We have to accommodate each of them.I understand, but the fact is Windows 7's life time is near the end and Windows 10 has been around for almost 5 years now.
Anyway that's not the point at all, even if we ignore that, the Group policy option is Not limiting you to Windows 10.
Have you tried that on Windows 7 and failed ?Look i think you misunderstood a few things:
- employees do not need to know any other special skill to use your custom organization's favorites. normal employees do not need to use group policy. they aren't even supposed to be able to use that!
- it's the job of your system administrator or whoever is in charge of managing group policies to apply that and it is in their skillset to do it.
- I would gladly explain it to them if you want.
- I guess what most people in this forum fail to understand is that in a global corporation, not all the laptops are running Win-10, many are still on Win-7. The cost to completely upgrade and switch all at once is prohibitive. So we make those changes on a roll-out program, and retire most of the Win-7 units when an employee leaves. Of course when new arrivals are onboarded they get the new stuff. So everything did not suddenly change from one OS to another over night.
The other issue is that part of our job is to make sure that employees are furnished with the tools to do their jobs. Not everyone has the skillset of most of the posters in the forum. Some are at an elementary or intermediate skill level, and others are expert to the coaching level. But we have to make sure that *everyone* has what they need to do their job. For most, a very large percentage, the ability to manage Favorites based in a Favorites Folder allows us to preload each laptop with Favorites specific to their job (ie: eam, BU, functional group, etc). And simply importing an HTML file to the browser is useless since the Favorites need to be manipulated outside the browser and not in a database.Those Favorites aren't to places like The Weather Channel, Google, Facebook, and other non-useful business websites. They are researched and collected and applied specific to that person's departmental use. And just over half of the Favorites are to a location inside our internal corporate web. We have a small staff that works with all the various business groups and departments to make sure what we provide to the employees is specified by their managers, and up to date. It's no small feat, really. And there are cases where a new employee completely does a newbie thing and crashes his computer and we have to reload it. That means having a clean and updated set of Favorites ready to go.
I assure you that with the thousands of Windows units we work with no one will be messing with the Group Policy Editor, at least at the employee level. Although you may be correct in your suggestion, we are dealing with a large number of Windows users and a wide range of usage expertise. We have to accommodate each of them.