Magnolia or Delicious?

September 6, 2007 9:49 AM

Magnolia or Delicious?

I've used Magnolia and Delicious for a while now and need to settle on one. Magnolia looks better, but it seems all the geeks love Delicious. Does one have something over the other that I'm not getting? Has anyone used both and have a concrete reason they pick one over the other or is it simply personal taste?

posted by gtr to Technology (15 answers total)

I think Del.icio.us has better Firefox extensions. YMMV.
posted by box at 9:55 AM on September 6, 2007

Del.icio.us.

Because it's not so full of that fucking Web 2.0 bullshit on every page. It's so refreshing to use a website that's...just...text.

Don't believe the magnolia hype.

Seriously, though, it's all personal taste. Don't fret.
posted by Jimbob at 9:55 AM on September 6, 2007

del.icio.us because it works on every browser since Netscape 2, and sometimes that really matters.
posted by bonaldi at 9:59 AM on September 6, 2007

Use del.icio.us. If you feel you want to change, you can always import bookmarks into ma.gnolia.

I've tried both, and feel del.icio.us is better, simply because it's just so clean and simple. Does what it says on the tin, basically.
posted by djgh at 10:03 AM on September 6, 2007

What you're not getting is that Del.icio.us is way older. Like years older... 2003 vs 2006 or so.

Check out this blurb:

Ma.gnolia is a new social bookmarking site. That’s right folks - another one... So yes, it’s a good effort - but also a completely unimaginative one. How many more photo sharing sites, social bookmarking services, ajax start pages and online calendars can the market withstand? Is Ma.gnolia bringing anything new to the table, or just rehashing the same old formula? I think it’s a shame to see talented developers and designers building me-too applications when there are so many great ideas still up for grabs.

The question is more, why would people switch to Magnolia from Delicious?
posted by smackfu at 10:13 AM on September 6, 2007

I continue to use del.icio.us despite them having been bought out by the anti-midas Yahoo. If Ma.gnolia is still independent that may be an arguement for using them (I dread the day Yahoo integrates del.icio.us IDs ala Flickr).
posted by Mitheral at 10:30 AM on September 6, 2007

I'm completely biased in favor of Delicious, but here's what I think: do your friends - and other people who have bookmarks that you're interested in - use Delicious or Magnolia? It's social bookmarking, so if your friends use it, you'll get so much more out of it. (Note that Delicious has a ton more people than Magnolia does, but Magnolia does have a bunch of interesting people too.)
posted by dreamyshade at 10:35 AM on September 6, 2007

I will throw yet another log on the fire for del.icio.us. I stick with them because of the nearly infinite amount of things you can make it do.

A bit of a self-link, but I did a del.icio.us presentation for librarians that went very well for the 5 weeks to a social library event. Check it out if you're looking for ways to leverage del.icio.us.

I'm not sold that Magnolia is nearly as versatile.
posted by griffey at 11:04 AM on September 6, 2007

ma.gnolia is easier to use, though, especially if you're trying to implement a company-wide sharing plan. We picked it over del.icio.us because of its moderation abilities, and tasty looking interface.

Maybe it's not as technology-rific, but my boss understand it, and that's a big plus.
posted by beezy at 12:31 PM on September 6, 2007

"The question is more, why would people switch to Magnolia from Delicious?"

* I can login using OpenID
* I can use tags with spaces
* thumbnail screenshots of sites linked (a little wonky, as some screenshots are to the front page when I link inside a site)
* groups, private and public
* it's prettier
* their tech support rocks (haven't tried del.icio.us' tech support though) and the community manager links to and comments on most reviews, positive or negative
* permanent links for each individual bookmark, so I can refer to a specific comment someone made without linking the page with everybody who bookmarked something
* ratings (you can do it in del.icio.us with tags, but that's not very elegant)
* I could (and did) import every single del.icio.us bookmark, though saving an XML file to my HD then importing it to Ma.gnolia is awkward
* I can thank and be thanked for bookmarks (which makes it more social than del.icio.us: if I don't get cues that people are listening, it makes it more difficult to share)
posted by sillygwailo at 12:53 PM on September 6, 2007

Note that all the things sillygwailo lists as extra "features" could also be considered "extra junk". Why would I need to make "groups" on a social bookmarking site? Why would I need tech support for something so simple that has just always worked? Why would I need to rate bookmarks (makes me immediately think of Digg...) or thank people for bookmarks?

I don't. Sillygwailo does. What do you need to do?

One one end of the scale is del.icio.us, with pure simplicity in concept and execution. On the other end is, say, Stumbleupon, with flashing lights and funky colours. Magnolia is in the middle somewhere.
posted by Jimbob at 1:51 PM on September 6, 2007

I've been using Diigo which synchronizes with both of them.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 1:53 PM on September 6, 2007

del.icio.us has been rewritten from scratch and the new site will debut fairly soon, to boot.

I'd second StumbleUpon for a not-quite-orthogonal experience, as well. :)
posted by kcm at 4:52 PM on September 6, 2007

A complete rewrite mixed with a redesign. Wow, talk about tempting fate.
posted by smackfu at 6:20 PM on September 6, 2007

Thanks for all the input everyone. Lots of good points that will help me pick one or the other.
posted by gtr at 8:21 PM on September 6, 2007