Yes, to preempt any who might suggest it, I have tried googling to answer to this question, but I haven't gotten satisfactory explanations from Google.
I had to reinstall Windows, and by way of that, Firefox. I looked before I did this to see what the best way was to save my bookmarks, and the first three sites I went to all said to go to the profiles part of my Firefox program file, save the bookmark file there, and then install Firefox and simply replace the bookmarks file that it comes with with the old one, and voila, back to normal.
Did that. Not back to normal.
I tried to open the bookmark file, as it's saved in html, in Firefox so I could just click the links and then resave them, but that didn't work either. Instead I have a huge pile of html gibberish and no discernible links.
Was I fooled and now I have to wade through all this junk to find the links, which I will then have to copy/paste to a new window and then resave?
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Could you describe more specifically how you saved the bookmarks? What specific file you copied, or specific menu option you used?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I went here: %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ if you type that into the run box, and then open the file it takes you to, there's a file called bookmarks right there. I saved it, then replaced the default bookmarks file with the saved one in my reinstalled Firefox.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
It's been a really long time since I've had to do things that way, so I can't remember what I did in the past (though I vaguely remember opening an html of my old bookmarks to open all the links and then re-bookmark them in the new version). That's really odd that you end up with html gibberish rather than the parsed version of the gibberish.
Not terribly helpful now, but I would highly recommend using Xmarks (firefox addon) to save your bookmarks remotely (very useful when you want your bookmarks on multiple machines too).
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
If you go to Organize Bookmarks (in the Bookmarks menu), there should be an "Import and Backup" menu. Choose Import HTML from that, and select the file you have.
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
IN firefox there are two ways to import/export your bookmarks, and it sounds like you are trying to access them incorrectly.
The two methods to save bookmarks are "Backup" and "Export as HTML"
quote: I tried to open the bookmark file, as it's saved in html, in Firefox so I could just click the links and then resave them
If you exported as html then theoretically you should be able to open the file and do what you described. However, it would be much faster if you just imported as HTML--a few clicks total versus a few clicks per bookmark.
If you made a back up of your bookmarks then I think it will be gibberish if you try to open it. If you chose the "backup" bookmarks option, you need to restore the backup.
Essentially you go to "Organize Bookmarks" and then click on "Import and Backup." You should see an option to "restore" or to "import HTML"
You can then restore or import depending on whether you made a backup or an export.
EDIT: Dang you fugu for beating me with a more succinct answer!
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
quote:Originally posted by fugu13: If you go to Organize Bookmarks (in the Bookmarks menu), there should be an "Import and Backup" menu. Choose Import HTML from that, and select the file you have.
Hm, I missed that option before.
But I just did it, and nothing happened. It showed my HMTL file, I selected it, I clicked import, and the screen went away but my bookmarks are still nowhere to be found.
I think I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to do this the long way. I've already rebookmarked about a fifth of the bookmarks I use on a regular basis. But I've certainly learned a valuable lesson to save a lot of trouble if I ever have to do this again. I appreciate the help.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
In my experience, when I used export HTML and import HTML, my bookmarks were reordered. (Alphabetical order, I think) Not handy if you have them in order of importance to you.
Use the backup function. (same method: bookmarks, organize bookmarks, import and backup - then use backup) The file is a JSON file. To restore, go to bookmarks, organize bookmarks, import and backup - then use restore, choose file. You can browse for the file you saved.
I periodically save my bookmarks and email them to myself. I don't use Xmarks because I think it reordered my bookmarks when I used it as Foxmarks. Plus I have a hard time remembering my password.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Next time:
1) Use Google Bookmarks instead. 2) Save your FF profile, rather than just the bookmarks. That takes care of all the add-ons as well.
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
I'll have to check Google Bookmarks. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Google is taking over my life.
And I like it.
On a daily (or almost) basis, I use:
Gmail
A dozen distinct Google calendars (own, co-own, or subscribe to)
Google Bookmarks
Google Books (although just as a subset of search; not as a cataloging method -- that's what Goodreads is for! )
Google spellcheck
Plain old Google
On a weekly basis I use:
Google Scholar
Google Product Search (aka Froogle)
Google Maps
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
I love how in Google Calendar's task list, you can have as many layers of sublists as you want, and that they are easy to move around. I haven't seen that in any of the other organizing programs that I've tried, and it has very quickly become essential for me.
--Mel
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Thanks for the tip rivka.
You know Microsoft is gearing up for a major offensive against Google. Google is supposed to be prepping their own OS, while Microsoft is teaming with Yahoo for a new web search engine to steal people away from Google.
I don't see that many people jumping ship, though Microsoft will throw a lot of pizazz out there that Google has thus far been unwilling to promote.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by theCrowsWife: I love how in Google Calendar's task list, you can have as many layers of sublists as you want, and that they are easy to move around. I haven't seen that in any of the other organizing programs that I've tried, and it has very quickly become essential for me.
Cool! I haven't used Tasks much (although I do have it set up), but that's good to know.
Also, I forgot GChat from my list.
Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :
I don't use Tasks from the Calendar page, because it is way too small and there's no way to resize it that I can find. Instead, I access it through GMail and then pop it out into its own window.
--Mel
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*takes notes*
Posted by Learz (Member # 8925) on :
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
)![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)