Firefox Sync Part 1: Bookmarks

Time was Google ran a service called Google Browser Sync.  It synchronised each of your Firefox installations, which was great for people who wanted to sync login details and bookmarks between home and work.  Google’s stopped running the service now, but there are alternative ways to clone the core functionality.

In these articles we’re going to look at syncing bookmarks and user accounts.  Google currently recommends using Mozilla Weave to do this, but the software requires an invitation to use.

Delicious

The Delicious addon is my favourite way of organising bookmarks between browsers.  Since all the bookmarks you add are through the Delicious service, they’ll appear on each of your browsers.  Not only does this cut down the effort of managing bookmarks, but it also works cross browser: there’s plugins for Safari and you can always use the web site.

Foxmarks

Foxmarks is an addon that is primarily designed to sync bookmarks between your computers, but also syncs passwords.  The data is stored on their servers, so you don’t need to install or manage any server stuff.  There’s also a web interface at my.foxmarks.com which offers full editing and search.

To use the addon, visit the Foxmarks site and install the plugin.  After Firefox restarts it runs a wizard-like interface to walk you through account creation and initial sync.  Then do the same thing on each of your computers.

Once installed, access Foxmarks from status icon area:

GMarks

GMarks syncs with your Google Bookmarks.  It adds a menu item and a tool for organising your bookmarks.  It’s easy to use and automatically detects your Google account so you don’t need to login.