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Old 25 Nov 2019, 02:38 AM   #1
edu
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Saving bookmarks or notes?

Hello.
I'm looking for a way to save my bookmarks when I need it without having to log in + 2FA in my Fastmail account. Not in my browser but maybe in a "website" or uploading them to Notes (I don't know how, I only saw about using an Apple device but I don't use it).

Is there something like a ftp or better sftp to upload Notes or Bookmarks to my personal account or to a website, and share those bookmarks if I want to?, Do you think it's possible or some way to do it?.

Thanks a lot.
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Old 26 Nov 2019, 07:59 PM   #2
JeremyNicoll
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My approach is that I have a set of bookmark HTML pages, each of which has links to others. So for example one is used for BBC and other TV/ RADIO companies URLs, one for local bus companies (and specific timetables and maps), one for news websites etc.

All these pages have a common format and they all have links to each other, so no matter which one is open in one tab in the browser I can find the others with a single click.

The HTML files all live in one of my Dropbox folders, so they are physically resident on the disk of my pc (and any pc that shares that DB account), and synced between them.

In each browser I have a very small number of hardcoded bookmarks on the browser's toolbar - in fact, just two. One is the Google Advanced search page, the other file:///C:/Bookmarks/main.html

If I want to add a URL to one of these pages I open it in an editor and add the URL and a suitable description to the right section of the right page. Because I started this a long time the pages already contain every URL I use often.

I use a home-grown program to associate nicknames with files; to open one of these files in an editor I only need to type bk-xyz to identify the file - "bk" for bookmarks, "xyz" eg "bus" for "bus info". The nickname of each list is displayed in the top corner of its webpage.

I'm sure bookmark manager programs exist which do this sort of thing... but not having to run a manager program that must work on every platform and with any browser is an advantage. Simple html pages work everywhere.

An example of such a page:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/63tjval6uu...20BBC.png?dl=0

and part of its html source:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6wwf5hpb8i...0html.jpg?dl=0


Apart from that, I have Firefox set up to save all the current sessions whenever it is shut down. So pages I have visited today when idly surfing around will still be there if I shut the browser later and reopen it tomorrow. BUT, I make a big effort to prune those, and usually when I shut the browser there won't be any tabs, apart from my bookmarks page or Google Search open (and I usually clear all the browsing history too - so not clearing it and keeping info on open tabs is something I only do quite rarely). If I want to save a handful of URLs that I surfed to but haven't had time to explore, but are not important enough to add to one of my saved lists pages, I just c&p them from the browser tab to a day-to-day notes file that is usually open in a text editor window all the time (and if not it opens in one click from a QuickLaunch area shortcut).

Last edited by JeremyNicoll : 26 Nov 2019 at 08:08 PM.
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Old 27 Nov 2019, 07:05 PM   #3
edu
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Thank you, it sounds complicated...
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Old 27 Nov 2019, 08:15 PM   #4
JeremyNicoll
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edu View Post
Thank you, it sounds complicated...
It's not.

It avoids having to use FTP or anything else to upload new information to a website, by keeping the information in files stored in my Dropbox folder ... so all the upload/download/syncing between devices happens invisibly/ automatically. (And if you do use the FTP method, you still need to edit the files you are about to upload, first.)

It avoids installing somebody-else's bookmark-manager program, which might not run in exactly the same way on every platform, and means one does not have to cope with bugs in such a program maybe losing or corrupting your data.

It avoids installing extensions to browsers, which might not work the same way in every browser.

Yes, I have several lists of bookmarks rather than just one - but I decided I didn't want one huge long list that had to be scrolled to the right section. Using different lists means each one never has to be scrolled (at least, not on a decent-sized laptop screen - I expect it would be necessary on a smartphone).

Yes, I have a weird way of opening a file in an editor; but you could just as easily have a desktop shortcut that opens a bookmarks file in your editor.

You need to comfortable with pasteing a new URL and the description you want to use for it into a file, surrounded by a very small amount of HTML. Once you have a template for that file, adding another line is not difficult.
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Old 27 Nov 2019, 11:24 PM   #5
BritTim
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If you want something really simple minded, just have a Google Doc, or similar,open in a tab. To save a Bookmark Ctrl-L, Ctrl-C , go to tab with doc, & select a suitable insertion point, Ctrl-V (total about five seconds, or a bit longer to add a description). For a quick note, copy and paste anything relevant, go to the doc tab, paste/edit in appropriate place.

I have a standard Doc that I use for short term notes, and I periodically organise my quick record into a structured form when I have the time and inclination.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 02:24 AM   #6
edu
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Yes, but itīs a hard way only to save bookmarks.

I thought in a simple way: save the bookmarks in a text file (1.txt, 2.txt, etc) and upload these txt files to a website I can create in Fastmail like for example: links.domain.com

So I could see these txt files and open them with a click to check my bookmarks everytime I go to my "website".

The problem is to be always creating a new txt file, copying the bookmarks and uploading them. But maybe is less work.

Thank you both!


Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyNicoll View Post
It's not.

It avoids having to use FTP or anything else to upload new information to a website, by keeping the information in files stored in my Dropbox folder ... so all the upload/download/syncing between devices happens invisibly/ automatically. (And if you do use the FTP method, you still need to edit the files you are about to upload, first.)

It avoids installing somebody-else's bookmark-manager program, which might not run in exactly the same way on every platform, and means one does not have to cope with bugs in such a program maybe losing or corrupting your data.

It avoids installing extensions to browsers, which might not work the same way in every browser.

Yes, I have several lists of bookmarks rather than just one - but I decided I didn't want one huge long list that had to be scrolled to the right section. Using different lists means each one never has to be scrolled (at least, not on a decent-sized laptop screen - I expect it would be necessary on a smartphone).

Yes, I have a weird way of opening a file in an editor; but you could just as easily have a desktop shortcut that opens a bookmarks file in your editor.

You need to comfortable with pasteing a new URL and the description you want to use for it into a file, surrounded by a very small amount of HTML. Once you have a template for that file, adding another line is not difficult.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 02:27 AM   #7
edu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BritTim View Post
If you want something really simple minded, just have a Google Doc, or similar,open in a tab. To save a Bookmark Ctrl-L, Ctrl-C , go to tab with doc, & select a suitable insertion point, Ctrl-V (total about five seconds, or a bit longer to add a description). For a quick note, copy and paste anything relevant, go to the doc tab, paste/edit in appropriate place.

I have a standard Doc that I use for short term notes, and I periodically organise my quick record into a structured form when I have the time and inclination.
Itīs good but I need it in many situations and online, not only when the doc is available, so what I posted in the previous answer could be a simple solution.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 02:32 AM   #8
edu
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What Iīd like is that Fastmail could offer some service like for example https://scrapp.it or others. Even some service where you could share your bookmarks with other people too in a simple way inside our Fastmail accounts. Something like "Notes" but with the possibility to upload the bookmarks easily.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 03:28 AM   #9
BritTim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edu View Post
Itīs good but I need it in many situations and online, not only when the doc is available, so what I posted in the previous answer could be a simple solution.
Do you really have a need for this when on some kind of computing device that either does not have a browser, or is offline with no offline support? That seems pretty unusual these days. I must say that I dislike any solution that involves many small text files that need to be correctly synced to the cloud, and presumably then to my other devices. What you tend to end up with (if really having no Internet access on a regular basis) is multiple files with the same file name that in the cloud are distinguished from each other in some way, but not always in a way clear when managing the files on a specific device.

In the end though, the correct solution is whatever you are comfortable using.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 04:28 AM   #10
somdcomputerguy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edu View Post
... a website I can create in Fastmail like for example: links.domain.com ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by edu View Post
What Iīd like is that Fastmail could offer some service like for example https://scrapp.it or others.
You could create links.domain.com and simply make it redirect to your account on a service such as that. I'm not familiar with that service you listed, but they offer an archive of your content, which you would probably have to manually 'sync' to any other devices. A service such as DropBox or similar could make that easier. There is an 'offline' feature mentioned on their main page as well.

- Bruce

eta:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BritTim View Post
Do you really have a need for this when on some kind of computing device that either does not have a browser, or is offline with no offline support? ... In the end though, the correct solution is whatever you are comfortable using.
I must say I agree with this.

Last edited by somdcomputerguy : 28 Nov 2019 at 04:37 AM.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 06:18 AM   #11
edu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BritTim View Post
Do you really have a need for this when on some kind of computing device that either does not have a browser, or is offline with no offline support? That seems pretty unusual these days. I must say that I dislike any solution that involves many small text files that need to be correctly synced to the cloud, and presumably then to my other devices. What you tend to end up with (if really having no Internet access on a regular basis) is multiple files with the same file name that in the cloud are distinguished from each other in some way, but not always in a way clear when managing the files on a specific device.

In the end though, the correct solution is whatever you are comfortable using.
You are right, it could be confusing to know which files contain some bookmark.
I need it in my browser but I use different browsers in different places: at home, in my job, in my smartphone, etc... I know I could create an account with Firefox for example and sync with the other devices, but I donīt use Firefox in all places.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 06:23 AM   #12
edu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy View Post
You could create links.domain.com and simply make it redirect to your account on a service such as that. I'm not familiar with that service you listed, but they offer an archive of your content, which you would probably have to manually 'sync' to any other devices. A service such as DropBox or similar could make that easier. There is an 'offline' feature mentioned on their main page as well.

- Bruce

eta:


I must say I agree with this.
What I donīt want is to login to my Fastmail account or another account online everytime I need to save/upload a bookmark in some place or website, you know: user, password and 2FA, and then creating a new Note...

I want a place to store all the bookmarks Iīll ever need and read them where I need to be.

If someday, no matter where I am, I need to visit a website and I donīt remember the link Iīll go to this place to find it.

If Notes in Fastmail could be read or edited without writing my username/password/2FA would be great. Something like ftp, a program, rss or who knows what.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 06:34 AM   #13
somdcomputerguy
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I think the Notes folder can be created, read, or edited by an email client, where each 'note' is treated by the client as an email. I'm not sure how to 'tweak' this for your needs though.

- Bruce
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 06:37 AM   #14
edu
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy View Post
I think the Notes folder can be created, read, or edited by an email client, where each 'note' is treated by the client as an email. I'm not sure how to 'tweak' this for your needs though.

- Bruce
Thanks.
In my smartphone I use K-9 and I can see the Notes but I canīt edit or create them.
So, I donīt know how I can do it in email clients.
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Old 28 Nov 2019, 06:43 AM   #15
somdcomputerguy
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On my laptop I use the Fossamail email client. With that, I can just read the note (email) and select 'edit as new' from the message menu. With K-9 on my phone, I don't see a similar function.

- Bruce

Last edited by somdcomputerguy : 28 Nov 2019 at 06:44 AM. Reason: changed 'tools' to 'message'
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