News (January 2010)
All of the extensions on this site have been successfully tested on Firefox 3.6. If you find any compatibility issues please e-mail me with the full details of the problem.
If Firefox lists an extension as incompatible then please reinstall it using the links on this page.
Bookmark Backup
Version 0.4.11
Install
Install Bookmark Backup 0.4.11
Description
Bookmark Backup is a simple extension that helps to keep your bookmarks (and optionally other Firefox settings) safe. Each time Firefox is closed, a copy of your bookmarks file will be made to a backup location. If Firefox's bookmarks become corrupted or lost, find the most recent uncorrupted backup and copy it into your profile folder. By default the backups can be found in the Backups folder inside Firefox's profile folder, though this location can be changed in Bookmark Backup's Options dialog.
Additionally, thanks to code contributed by Nickolay Ponomarev, other files may also be backed up along with the bookmarks file. You can specify which files to backup in the Options dialog. Just check the box for each type of setting you want backed up, any other files can be listed in the following text box separated by a | character. Please refer to the MozillaZine Knowledge Base for details about what data is stored in each file.
Please remember, this extension should be used in addition to a regular profile backup not as a replacement.
Note: Firefox 1.5 (and later) makes its own backup of your bookmarks, therefore this extension is only useful if you want to backup other settings or to control where the backups are stored.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Why is the backed up copy of bookmarks.html an old file?
Firefox 3 and later now store their bookmarks in a file called places.sqlite, the bookmarks.html file is no longer used. You can confirm this by checking the last modified date of the original bookmarks.html file in your profile.
2. I have lost my bookmarks, how do I restore the backup?
- Close Firefox.
- Find the Backups folder in your profile folder (or in your custom backup location, if configured).
- Go into the sub-folder from yesterday (don't use today's backup, it will be corrupted). Copy whichever files you wish to restore into your profile folder.
- Restart Firefox.
If you use Windows and don't know how to perform any of these steps please feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to walk you through them.
3. Does this extension work on Mac OS?
Maybe, some people say it does, other say it doesn't. I don't own a Mac so I can't confirm one way or the other.
4. Why is there a bookmarkbackups folder in my profile? How do I disable it?
The bookmarkbackups folder is created by Firefox itself (this feature was added in Firefox 1.5). The two sets of backups should not conflict, however if you wish to disable the built-in backup you can do so by setting browser.bookmarks.max_backups to 0 (this requires Firefox 2 or later).
5. Will you add support for, timestamped backups, more than 7 days of backups, less than 7 days of backups, scheduled backups, weekly instead of daily backups, or backing up files outside the profile?
At the moment I have no plans for any of those features.
6. Can I use wildcards in the other files box?
To a limited extent yes, you can backup a whole folder simply by typing it's name (e.g. Cache). You can backup a set of files with the same extension by typing *.extension (e.g. *.rdf), using the * operator in any other position will not work.
7. Can I use paths in the other files box?
Bookmark Backup supports primitive relative paths, use a forward slash (/) as the path separator. There's currently no way to backup files outside the profile folder.
Contributors
- Nickolay Ponomarev (Multiple file backup code)
- Thomas Bertels (Icon and French translation)
- Patrick Ruh (German translation, retired)
- Carlos of Proyecto Nave (Spanish translation)
- Willy Young (Traditional Chinese translation)
- Giovanni Francesco Solone of eXtenZilla.it (Italian translation)
- Orçun Apaydýn (Turkish translation)
- Petr Jirsa (Czech translation)
- Sampan Sittiwantana (Thai translation)
- Premier (Japanese translation)
- SlovakSoft (Slovak translation)
- bigbigbomb (Simplified Chinese translation)
- Toni Hermoso Pulido (Catalan translation)
- KAMI (Hungarian translation)
- Pedro Failla (Brazilian Portuguese translation)
- Junyeob Kim of Mozilla Update Korea (Korean translation)
- Team erweiterungen.de (German translation)
Release History
0.4.11
- Added support for the latest Firefox 4 nightlies (2010-07-02 and above).
0.4.10
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2008-08-18 and above).
0.4.9
- Added support for Firefox 3 final.
0.4.8
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2008-03-14 and above).
0.4.7
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2007-12-06 and above).
0.4.6
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2007-06-21 and above).
0.4.5
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2007-06-18 and above). Thanks Tony E.
0.4.4
- Updated the list of backed up files for current trunk builds (2007-05-22 and above).
0.4.3
- Updated the list of backed up files for Firefox 2.0.0.2 and current trunk builds (thanks Alan Baxter and Tony E).
0.4.2
- Added support for Firefox 2 final. Due to my lateness in getting the file to the translators not all locales are ready yet, if your locale is missing please check back later, I'll update the extension and this post as locales come in. The following locales are included at the time of writing (2006-12-01): ca, cs-CZ, de-DE, en-US, es-ES, fr-FR, hu-HU, it-IT, ja, ko-KR, sk, th-TH, zh-CN, zh-TW.
- Added a Korean (ko-KR) locale, contributed by Junyeob Kim of Mozilla Update Korea.
0.4.1
- Fixed a potential backup failure when the bookmarks file can't be found.
- Added a Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR) locale, contributed by Pedro Failla.
0.4
- Partially rewritten to make the extension more reliable, additionally it now performs backups both at shutdown and every 2 hours. The backup interval can be tweaked by setting the bookmarkbackup.interval pref to a value in minutes, you can also enable/disable startup/shutdown backups with the bookmarkbackup.startupBackup and bookmarkbackup.shutdownBackup prefs.
- Added a logging mode to help track down backup problems. To enable it set the pref bookmarkbackup.loggingEnabled to true, this will create a file named
bookmarkbackup.login your profile folder. - Added an icon, contributed by Thomas Bertels.
- This extension no longer works on older versions of Firefox, you must be using Firefox 1.5 or above.
- Added a Catalan (ca-AD) locale, contributed by Toni Hermoso Pulido.
- Added a Hungarian (hu-HU) locale, contributed by KAMI.
0.3.3
- Changed the passwords checkbox in the Options dialog to also backup pre-Firebird 0.7 style password files (e.g. 1234567.s) since people with old profiles may still be using that style of file.
- Added an Italian (it-IT) locale, contributed by Giovanni Francesco Solone of eXtenZilla.it.
- Added a Turkish (tr-TR) locale, contributed by Orçun Apaydýn.
- Added a French (fr-FR) locale, contributed by Thomas Bertels.
- Added a Czech (cs-CZ) locale, contributed by Petr Jirsa.
- Added a Thai (th-TH) locale, contributed by Sampan Sittiwantana.
- Added a Japanese (ja-JP) locale, contributed by Premier.
- Added a Slovak (sk-SK) locale, contributed by SlovakSoft.
- Added a Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) locale, contributed by bigbigbomb.
0.3.2
- Fixed an issue with backing up whole folders (e.g. Cache) from the profile folder.
- Added a Traditional Chinese (zh-TW) locale, contributed by Willy Young.
0.3.1
- The most common settings now have a checkbox in the Options dialog to make it easier to specify the files to be backed up.
- Each day's backups are now copied into a sub-folder of the Backups folder, this keeps the files for each day together and resolves the problem of files getting the wrong extension.
- Added a German (de-DE) locale, contributed by Patrick Ruh.
- Added a Spanish (es-ES) locale, contributed by Carlos of Proyecto Nave.
- Removed the automatic
install.rdfupdate link due to bandwidth constraints, from now on you'll have to manually check for updates.
0.3
- Bookmark Backup can now optionally backup other files in your profile. Simply go to the Options dialog and enter a list of extra files to be backed up (separated with the
|character). Code contributed by Nickolay Ponomarev (thanks Nick).
0.2.1
- Fixed some previously unlocalisable strings.
0.2
- The backup location can now be specified in Bookmark Backup's Options window.
- Fixed the Linux permissions issue when creating the Backups directory.
0.1.2
- Now supports the backup of a bookmarks file that has been moved with browser.bookmarks.file.
0.1.1
- Bookmark backups are now stored in a sub-directory of the profile directory named
Backups.
0.1
- Initial Release.
Comments
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@Matt
As long as you are using a Firefox 1.5 beta or newer build then yes you can just backup the extensions folder. You don't need to backup the other files, Firefox now automatically recreates those on startup.
Matt, it works only in 1.5.
True, some install insane numbers of extensions & themes, size could be a problem.
Installed Test Build 4 in latest nightly Branch build, confirmed creation of backup in default location, size of files correct. Changed to custom location,confirmed same there. Tomorrow I'll try using this data in a test profile, so far it seems to work perfectly. Also enabled logging, confirmed creation of log.
I'm always using a Firefox 1.5 nightly. I have been for a few months now. :P
Huh, the other files aren't required (well, they can be deleted and are automatically recreated...) Interesting. :)
Installed Test Build 4 in 1.0.7 as well, working fine in both versions. Making backups every 2 hours. Built a new profile for 1.5 Beta from a backup, I'm running it now, it appears to be flawless. Haven't encountered any bugs, so far this build seems good to go.
When I attempt to install, I get "Updating existing profile install of BookmarkBackup to version 0.3.3", then "Error: Could not install Bookmark Backup 0.3.3 (Error code : -239)" the "Chrome Registration failed" Running Mozilla version 1.7.12 Any ideas?
@Ken
This extension (and all those listed here) are Firefox only.
Hey, one thing that could be neat is if Bookmark Backup could compress the files it backs up. My history.dat and bookmarks.html are very large, so having eight copies of them (plus the five copies of bookmarks.html that Firefox now makes on its own) takes up quite a bit of space...
Also, it would be nice if Bookmark Backup would tell you what files the different "Additional Files" checkboxes back up. Maybe a "Show file names" checkbox below the "None" button.
That would, of course, have to be translated, but that shouldn't be much of an issue.
Also also, why do you use "1.9+" as the maxVersion? You never know if something will change, though that's unlikely. (The major storage changes are coming with 3.0, I think.)
Also also also, why is "(Test Build 4)" in the name of the extension instead of the version being 0.4 alpha or beta 4?
Okay, I'll shut up now. :P
Last last last things:
I still say the Bookmark Backup preferences should have an option for changing how often the automatic backups are made. :P You said before that the average person wouldn't care to change it, but nor is the average user likely to want to add extra files to be backed up, or even change the backup location to a different place...
Also....Eek, I forgot what else I wanted to say. Uhh. Well, I'm sorry if you get emailed for every single new comment. Might want to change it so you only get emailed once between visits. phpBB does that.
Really last things:
1.) It would be more convenient if the directories were named like '1-Monday', '2-Tuesday', etc. so they'll be in order.
2.) It would be cool if you could turn off backing up on shutdown and only back up on the timer, because a few times when my history was erased, I would close Firefox to restore to the backup, and overwrite it! Actually, that apparently happened when I removed anything from the history, and I've stopped doing it, so it hasn't happened again, but still.
3.) I mentioned this before and you disagreed (I think), but I would like if it automatically removed backed up copies of files that you decide not to back up in the preferences. Maybe there could be a preference for it...? Though that's a somewhat excessive amount of preferences...
@Matt
Re: Zip
Firefox doesn't have an API for creating zip files (only for reading them). I could call out to a user-specified external zip program though, not a priority but it might happen at some point.
Re: Filenames
Adding a checkbox to show filenames is the worst UI suggestion I've ever heard... :-P I've been meaning to include the filenames in a tooltip attached to each checkbox, would that do instead?
Re: maxVersion
If I had to sum up my personality in one word it would be "lazy". Updating the maxVersion before each new Firefox release is too much like hard work.
Re: Version
In Fx 1.0 there is a very strict version number format (basically x.y.z.n) so there is no way to say 0.4 alpha, the closest would be to say 0.3.9.9 or something. So I just stuck with 0.4 and added a description to the extension name.
Re: Adding backup frequency option
Most people I've spoken to use the existing options, I've only heard from a couple of people who want the frequency options. Besides, saying X sucks therefore you should add Y (which also sucks) seems back-to-front, it would make more sense just to remove X.
p.s. I do get e-mailed every time someone posts, I don't get enough comments to worry about it though.
Re: Ordered folders
Some of the translators do that, I'm not too bothered either way personally, but if enough people prefer leading numbers then I'll make the change.
Re: Disabling shutdown backup
I'll add a hidden pref to do that in 0.4 Test Build 5.
Re: Automatically removing old backups
I currently play it very safe, I only ever delete a file that I'm about to immediately replace. If I was going to remove the contents of an entire folder, I'd need to convince myself that there is absolutely no way a bug in BB or an Fx API change could cause the wrong folder to be deleted...
Phew!
Re: Re: ZIP
All right. ScrapBook (<http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/>) allows you to externally back all its data up, and you can pick what program to use and any arguments to give it. If you do decide to do it, that could give you ideas on how to. :)
Re: Re: Filenames
Ah, a tooltip is a much better idea. I'd just like a way to see the filenames, other than looking at bookmarkbackupSettings.js. Having a checkbox to show them isn't a great idea, but I didn't think of a better way at the time. Tooltips are good. :)
Re: Re: maxVersion
Heh.
Re: Re: Version
Hmm, I didn't know it was that strict. Since Firefox 1.5 and up internally can use, like, 1.6a1, can extensions also now do that?
Re: Re: Adding backup frequency option
Meh. I guess I'm thinking that since it just wouldn't hurt to also add that to the GUI, not that it would actually be a good thing.
Yeah, but, well, sorry for sending you six emails in a couple hours. :P phpBB forums only email you once for all the new messages in a thread until you visit it again, but that would be difficult for you to do here since I doubt you log in in any way.
Re: Re: Ordered folders
Oh, they do? They can? Well, it isn't a big thing. Best would be using dated directories, but you've said how you don't want to have to try to be deleting things in case it messes up.
Re: Re: Disabling shutdown backup
Okay, cool. :) Does that mean test build 5 is coming soon?
Re: Re: Automatically removing old backups
I don't mean removing the contents of an entire folder, just that if someone goes in to the Bookmark Backup preferences and decides to uncheck backing up Cookies, Bookmark Backup would go through its backup directories and delete all the 'cookies.txt's.
Hehe. :) Okay, I'm out of ideas now. You odn't have to worry for another couple months. :P
Ohh, I messed up the ScrapBook link by using the < and >. Oh well.
@Matt
Re: Versions
I haven't actually tested but I think that extensions can use the new version format in 1.5.
Re: Removing old backups
I see, that would be more workable, I suppose it would have to store the files to be removed and then only do it on shutdown or something (in case the user unchecks the files, clicks on OK then changes their mind, you don't want them to lose their backups).
p.s. Yes, I've done Test Build 5, which is a Fx 1.5 only version, with a pref to enable/disable shutdown backup (enabled by default) and startup backup (disabled by default), the tooltips on the checkbox thing, and some other minor fixes. I'll upload it tomorrow sometime.
p.p.s. Looks like I need to fix the linkification function on these comments as well.
saves my bottom everytime.
Yeah, InfoLister is using version 0.9b.1.
Ah, I'll try test build 5 in a minute. But it backs up on startup? You mean the timer-based backing up?
Mm-hmm, turnnnning off shutdown backup works. :)
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Oh, you can copy the extensions directory? What about the other extensions.* files in the main profile? I've just been reinstalling all my extensions when I switch to new profiles... (Which, since I save the XPIs, is not difficult, but it's certainly harder than copying a directory!)