In this post, we’ll be sharing how to set up Horse Browser as your own online productivity system.
Horse Browser is an innovative new web browser designed to help you manage your internet research. Its clever in-built features also make it an ideal choice to enhance your productivity.
What is Horse Browser And Why Does It Work So Well As A Productivity System?
Horse Browser replaces Tabs with its unique navigational method, named Trails. Every time you click on a link, it opens in a new page on the Trail, creating nested pages that track your online research.
Trails appear as vertical list in your sidebar and act as your History, Bookmarks and Tabs in one. Your Trails are saved and ready-to-view every time you open your browser, even after a shut down or update.
Horse Browser tracks your research and saves your pages, much like a Notes App, making it a potential powerhouse for productivity. Everything you need is conveniently stored in one place.
Let's explore how you can leverage Horse Browser to build your own productivity system. We will also highlight its in-built productivity features that promote organisation and efficiency online.
How to Use Horse Browser As Your Productivity System
➤ 1. Using Areas in Horse Browser
An Area acts as an umbrella container for your Trails and Projects (more on those below). This feature allows you to create different Areas, where you can focus on different parts of your life or work projects. It’s a great organisational tool for setting up your productivity system.
Here’s how to use an Area in Horse Browser:
- To open a new Area, click on the icon on the left at the top of the sidebar
- Write the name of your Area and hit Return to save
- Scroll over the Area and click + to add Subtrails to your Area or use ⌥ + ⌘ + T on Mac or Alt + Ctrl + T on Windows and Linux
- Alternatively, simply drag-and-drop Trails inside
➤ 2. Using Projects and Notes in Horse Browser
A Project is where you initiate a new project. This can come in handy when you have in-depth research tasks, with multiple aspects to them, that you wish to group together. Projects features an opening Project page, where you can name your project and make some handy notes.
Here’s how to use Projects and add Notes:
- To open a new Project, click on the document icon at the top of the sidebar.
- Write the title of your Project.
- You can then add notes to your Project area by writing under the title. At the moment, the notes in Horse Browser are plain text only.
- Scroll over the Project and click + to add Subtrails to your Project or use ⌥ ⌘ T on Mac or Alt + Ctrl + T on Windows and Linux. You can also add Side Trails to your Project.
- Remember, you can drag-and-drop any existing pages and Trails into your Project.
➤ 3. Grouping Trails by subject or task
Grouping Trails and pages by task or subject area helps eliminate context-switching and makes your sidebar extra streamlined. It’s a great way to get more productive.
Here’s how to group your pages and Trails:
Mouse users: Simply drag-and-drop your Trails and pages to where you need them
Keyboard users: ⌘ + ⇧ + arrow keys on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + arrow keys on Windows / Linux
➤ 4. Naming your Trails by project or task
To quickly access the information you need, giving names to your pages and Trails can help you identify your research, tasks and projects at a glance. Here’s how to name your pages and Trails.
Mouse users: Select the ‘set name’ option in Menu or under ••• next to the page or Trail
Keyboard users: ⇧ + ⌘ + L on Mac or Shift + Ctrl + L on Windows / Linux
➤ 5. Categorising your Trails and Projects with custom icons
Categorising your Trails and Projects with custom icons is a great visual way to organise your productivity system. You can create your own coding system by adding certain emojis and icons for research projects or areas of your life.
Here’s how to add custom icons:
- Click on the blank square next to your page or Trail, and select your preferred emoji. You can also remove the icon in the same way.
- Alternatively, right-click or click on ••• on the relevant page or Trail and select Set Icon.
➤ 6. Using SideTrails and SubTrails to create personal workflows
Using Horse Browser’s SideTrails and SubTrails is a clever way to create your personal workflows. In Horse Browser, the Trailhead is the parent Trail and its ‘Child’ SubTrails are nested underneath. SideTrails exist underneath the Trailhead but aren’t nested. Think of them as separate-but-connected lines of enquiry or tasks.
To create a workflow system, drag out pages to start new SideTrails of research. Group your tasks into a Subtrail. Horse Browser gives you endless flexibility to create the most productive workflow according to your needs. Read more about Sidetrails and Subtrails here.
➤ 7. Converting your Trails into to-do lists
To take your productivity system to the next level, try converting Trails into your own to-do list.
Here’s how:
- First up, drag-and-drop your pages by priority, making your Trail into a list of tasks. For example, you might drag the page for a drafted blog post to the top of the list, followed by an online google sheet to fill in etc, etc.
- Add reminders by writing in dates to your page names so you know which day you will be tackling each task. You can also add your custom emojis to categorise your tasks.
- Finally, check off tasks by deleting pages as you complete them. It's so satisfying! **
** Remember, you can re-open a page you just closed by visiting the Menu. Or hitting ⇧ ⌘ T on Mac or ⇧ + Ctrl + T on Windows.
In Conclusion
In this post, we’ve shared how to use Horse Browser as your own productivity system. Using your browser as a productivity system is a novel idea but it is extremely effective.
With Horse Browser, everything you need is conveniently stored in one place. By implementing the strategies we've discussed, your online research projects and important sites will be organized and instantly accessible each time you open Horse. The Trails feature of Horse Browser ensures you never lose track of your progress. You can pick up right where you left off, saving time and helping you stay on top of your research at all times.
To find out more and try out Horse Browser for yourself, visit here.
