Xmarks the spot
February 27, 2010 3:55 PM Subscribe
I've decided to create new Firefox profiles on my home Windows XP machine -- one for distraction-free work with work-only bookmarks (HomeWork), and the other for everything, work or leisure (HomePlay). How can I make Xmarks play nicely with them?
I already use Xmarks to sync bookmarks and passwords with my office, which worked just fine when I had one profile at each. It's also clear that Xmarks would allow me to pick and just precisely which bookmarks I want to share across locations -- say, if I wanted to go through and uncheck all my bookmarks having to do with, oh, stamp collecting. I can then save this stuff as a "profile" in the Xmarks sense. But how can I get it to just use the Firefox profiles, so that it keeps syncing with just one facet of my home or office life (e.g., between a HomeWork and an OfficeWork Firefox-type profile, and between a HomePlay and OfficePlay profile)?
Put defensively, how can I ensure that if I pare down my home PC's bookmarks in the HomeWork profile to the bare minimum and use that profile some evening, that Xmarks won't repopulate it when it next looks at my office PC?
Or -- and I hesitate -- is there an easier way to accomplish all of this, short of using a different browser for different purposes? Thanks much. Sorry for being a cretin.
I already use Xmarks to sync bookmarks and passwords with my office, which worked just fine when I had one profile at each. It's also clear that Xmarks would allow me to pick and just precisely which bookmarks I want to share across locations -- say, if I wanted to go through and uncheck all my bookmarks having to do with, oh, stamp collecting. I can then save this stuff as a "profile" in the Xmarks sense. But how can I get it to just use the Firefox profiles, so that it keeps syncing with just one facet of my home or office life (e.g., between a HomeWork and an OfficeWork Firefox-type profile, and between a HomePlay and OfficePlay profile)?
Put defensively, how can I ensure that if I pare down my home PC's bookmarks in the HomeWork profile to the bare minimum and use that profile some evening, that Xmarks won't repopulate it when it next looks at my office PC?
Or -- and I hesitate -- is there an easier way to accomplish all of this, short of using a different browser for different purposes? Thanks much. Sorry for being a cretin.
Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestion. Unless I am missing something (quite possible), creating separate Xmarks accounts wouldn't solve the problem of getting one (or both) Xmarks to identify one and only one Foxmarks profile -- as opposed to plucking whichever one was active, or forcing me to create a new pseudo-profile by selecting (on a static basis) particular bookmarks.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 4:20 PM on February 27, 2010
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 4:20 PM on February 27, 2010
Best answer: Since Xmarks is a Firefox extension, I'm pretty sure you'll have to install and configure it separately for each Firefox profile. You can simply not install it on your "work" profile, or you can install it there but configure it differently. Guarav from Xmarks says here that you can use different sync profiles for different firefox profiles.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:46 AM on February 28, 2010
posted by mbrubeck at 7:46 AM on February 28, 2010
Response by poster: I think I just did this successfully, based on your suggestion. Xmarks' advice is a little off on this, as it tends to prescribe based on establishing different Xmarks profiles. But here's what I did, I think successfully, in case anyone else finds this:
1. Created a separate "HomeWork" profile.
2. Copied everything from the master "HomePlay" file into that profile's folder.
3. Went into HomeWork (via profile manager at the command line) and (a) took off the Xmarks extension; (b) closed and restarted (just to be safe); (c) stripped out all the distracting bookmarks save that which I need for work.
4. Opened HomePlay profile, synced via Xmarks, and checked that everything seemed to be working fine.
5. Created a separate shortcut on my desktop that goes directly into Firefox/HomeWork profile; otherwise, the default for running Firefox from the machine is to go into the broader HomePlay file (which I could retrofit to be just fun stuff, but not worth it).
Thanks for your help.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:20 AM on February 28, 2010
1. Created a separate "HomeWork" profile.
2. Copied everything from the master "HomePlay" file into that profile's folder.
3. Went into HomeWork (via profile manager at the command line) and (a) took off the Xmarks extension; (b) closed and restarted (just to be safe); (c) stripped out all the distracting bookmarks save that which I need for work.
4. Opened HomePlay profile, synced via Xmarks, and checked that everything seemed to be working fine.
5. Created a separate shortcut on my desktop that goes directly into Firefox/HomeWork profile; otherwise, the default for running Firefox from the machine is to go into the broader HomePlay file (which I could retrofit to be just fun stuff, but not worth it).
Thanks for your help.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:20 AM on February 28, 2010
Response by poster: Let me add, unnecessarily, that if anyone thinks I have done something tragically wrong above, please do feel free to note that -- future generations of those who should be working instead of checking this site will salute you!
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:30 AM on February 28, 2010
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 9:30 AM on February 28, 2010
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posted by royalsong at 4:12 PM on February 27, 2010