How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

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BretMan
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How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

For may years I've included personal comments into most of my thousands of accumulated bookmarks. When creating a bookmark in the bookmark window there was a blank space for this. Often, bookmarked articles automatically added a few lines in this space about the articles. This was no different whether I used the All-In-One-Sidebar add-on or not or if I accessed my bookmarks directly via the FF Bookmarks tab.

Yesterday I updated FF to v64 and I'm not sure if for the rest of the day I continued to add comments into my bookmarks. This morning after startup from sleep and a reboot, that comments window is definitely gone when creating new bookmarks and checking any past bookmarks shows them gone as well. I also see that the All-In-One-Sidebar add-on isn't compatible with v64. My comments are extremely useful with much needed information. Where did they go? Are the comments there but I'm doing something wrong?

Is it possible to revert FF to it's state before the update yesterday without an existing manual backup? My last full backup of FF was on Aug-4-2018, what version was FF then?

Please advise.
BretMan
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

Thanks very much. I read the comments and it seems since v62 the comments/description window has been removed, so my backup on 8-4-18 must be an earlier version. The backup file name doesn't indicate what version of FF it is. Is there any way to tell before doing a restore?

There is a comment "Users who have used this feature can still save the descriptions by exporting the bookmarks as HTML or JSON. " If the descriptions aren't associated with the bookmarks this is very impractical. The other suggested workarounds seem to be works in process, not yet confirmed. I don't have that level of expertise.

What would be the restore steps to get FF back to v61 and also include the bookmarks I've accumulated since then, now in v64?
Brummelchen
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by Brummelchen »

never would come back. if you need descriptions go using firefox 60 esr. there is no alternative for you. no notice as written: there exist NO extension to access this because there is no longer code behind to access. and i would say that firefox will remove descriptions in the next updates finally so that early backups are mandatory because the current wont contain them any longer.
BretMan
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

I searched online for "return firefox to a previous version" and got a Mozilla page with links to download v62.0.2 (64bit) - I have Windows 10. I first created a restore point, then did a MozBackup of the v64. I didn't rum the MozBackup restore of 8-4-18 and instead ran the downloaded v62.0.2. in standard install mode. It opened and Viola! All my bookmarks, including all my comments were restored. Success!!! What a relief. Then via Tools>Options I turned the updates to "Never check for updates..." The risk is worth the information saved. I hadn't previously noticed buy the All-In-One sidebar add-on (very handy) also isn't compatible with v62.0.2 but that's another worthy loss.

Another post states only a fraction of FF users use the description window. Could be true but it's a necessary tool for researchers for making notes about keep article data, in case the article link is gone some day, which happens a lot. I vote it be brought back.

Thanks very much for your help.
morat
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by morat »

You can use the bookmark backup reader utility to export the bookmarks with descriptions to a viewable HTML file.

Bookmark Backup Reader for Firefox (old version)
http://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/bookbackreader.html

Bookmark Backup Reader for Firefox (new version)
http://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/bookbackreader.html
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James
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by James »

BretMan wrote:I searched online for "return firefox to a previous version" and got a Mozilla page with links to download v62.0.2 (64bit) - I have Windows 10. I first created a restore point, then did a MozBackup of the v64. I didn't rum the MozBackup restore of 8-4-18 and instead ran the downloaded v62.0.2.
Getting the versions mixed up a bit.

While there was the 61.0.2 Release, there is no Firefox 62.0.2, maybe in future if there are a couple of minor updates for security or stability fixes. The current Release is just 62.0 as you can see on http://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

As for v64 you are either referring to the 64-bit (Win64) Firefox releases for 64-bit Windows or a 64.0a1 build on Nightly development channel meant more for developers and testers.
BretMan
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

James - You're correct. Yes, v62 is the version with the issue about not having the bookmark description window anymore. v61.0.2 is the version (last one) which does include the description window and which I reverted FF to.

My mistake - sorry about that.
Brummelchen
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by Brummelchen »

V61 ist vulnerable and not acceptable. Thats why I advised v60esr.

Why don't people listen...?
BretMan
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

I see that "the-edmeister" posted here: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &t=3041530 that regarding the 60.2 ESR version will have the description window until its update to v68.2 ESR in Oct 2019. It will still get security updates but as I understand it, not the description window after the update. By switching to ESR I'd gain only a month of security. I don't know how ESR is different from what I'm using now but if there were a better choice for a "last" FF version for me to use until the possibility the description window returns, which would be best? Is it possible to run both at the same time to compare them and if so, how?
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James
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by James »

BretMan wrote:I see that "the-edmeister" posted here: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &t=3041530 that regarding the 60.2 ESR version will have the description window until its update to v68.2 ESR in Oct 2019. It will still get security updates but as I understand it, not the description window after the update. By switching to ESR I'd gain only a month of security.
By switching to 60 ESR you would have a year, not a month.

60.9.0 ESR (sixty.nine.zero) may be the last version. For ESR second number goes up in line with a new major Firefox Release while the last number is for minor updates if warranted for security and or stability fixes.

Firefox 60 ESR is based on the 60 Release but with security and allowed stability fixes since. It is meant more for Enterprise users in mind as they generally do want to be testing a new major Firefox release every so often. The Firefox 52 ESR became more public to regular users as it was the only real option for Windows XP and Vista users to still have a updated version for a while longer.

See the image on https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/
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jscher2000
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by jscher2000 »

BretMan wrote:I don't know how ESR is different from what I'm using now...
Yes, that is the problem!

Firefox 60 ESR is Firefox 60, but with a very different update schedule. The ESR series has stable features -- it will be Firefox 60 for 10-12 months -- and gets only critical security updates. Then you will be updated to the next release in the ESR series, which is expected to be Firefox 68 and that will be stable for 10-12 months.

Info:

* https://support.mozilla.org/kb/switch-t ... elease-esr
* https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/organizations/faq/
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MarkRH
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by MarkRH »

Saw this thread on Reddit: Bookmark Notes – quick-'n'-dirty replacement for now-defunct bookmark descriptions : firefox so looks like there might be an alternative being worked on. I have not looked at it since I rarely used or looked at descriptions.
BretMan
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by BretMan »

Sounds great that we may get it back, even as an add-on. The user/tester made these comments:
"These are some general thoughts, although don't make changes just for me because I am unlikely to use this.

Note: I run NoScript in case that is an issue.
Toolbar button doesn't open the sidebar on mine for some reason (there is an empty little popup).
Initial load takes a really long time; not sure if you can show any kind of icons during that.
Expanded/collapsed state is not remembered. Not sure how hard that is to handle.
Users may not realize they can expand/collapse folders without an icon.
Highlighting current page would be handy.
Search box would be handy.
Having a way to launch a bookmark would be handy, it could be from the dialog where users enter notes.
It could be convenient to have the option to show just bookmarks with notes rather than scrolling through."

They all sound like good improvement suggestions. The "Highlighting current page would be handy." triggered my memory of my long time suggestion/search for an add-on which will highlight individual bookmarks in different colors, which I think would be very handy to quickly find different types of information. As of now, I add asterisks (*****) at the beginning of those I need to designate a ranking or importance, plus keywords.
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jscher2000
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Re: How to restore bookmark comments in FF v64

Post by jscher2000 »

BretMan wrote:The user/tester made these comments:
Ha! That was me. The extension author incorporated some of the suggestions, but I think (the lack of) a description importer is the big stumbling block to people adopting it at this point.
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