Firefox 56 apparently broke Xmarks

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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Ever since FF updated itself to ver 56.xx.x, Xmarks doesn't sync and has lost user response in several of its dialog boxes. Thought it was just me, but checking xmarks and FF forums resulted in quite a few complaints. Anyone find a fix yet? Not much in the way of replies from FF or xmarks so far. Probably arguing over who's fault it is.
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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I went back to the previous version of FF and all was good again. But I forgot to uncheck the automatic updates in tools/options. So when I rebooted FF later in the day, it updated itself to version 56 again. Grrr. Got to do it all over again.
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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Thanks. But your link seems broke. Goes to a FireFox 'not found' page. Is that where you wanted me to go?
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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Thank you. It seems to have worked, although now Xmarks is interfaced in FF totally different than it used to be.
 

drewyc2016

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Oct 28, 2017
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Yesterday I got screwed over by xmarks & firefox 56....

My xmarks Bookmarks vanished yesterday out of the blue. When I logged into my xmarks, nothing was saved on the xmarks server since Sep 28th.... So I just lost a months worth of saved bookmarks. Funny cause I always saw the sync box and everything looked like it was working. I had no clue my stuff wasnt syncing/saving.

I had no choice but to uninstall the addon and reinstall. xmarks is way different now, I get logged out every time I clean my history through firefox and/or ccleaner. Sometimes it syncs and others it doesnt. It doesnt seem to auto sync like it should. and sometimes syncing takes 5-10 minutes.

Right now, xmarks is very unreliable and Im so pissed.

Anyone have any suggestions for an xmarks alternative?

: |
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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The latest FF update (56.0.2 64bit) seemed to have somewhat fixed the issue with xmarks. But xmarks still takes forever to sync, and it occasionally messes up the bookmarks; leaving some out. I had to repair to get things back. I've used xmarks forever, but I may have to find another bookmark pgm. if this keeps up.
 

danijel.domazet

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Nov 10, 2017
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I just lost all bookmars locally. They are seen on Xmarks servers, but can't sync them down.
Tried everything.
Waiting eagerly for a fix, otherwise will have to look for other solutinos...
Would be a shame, used Xmarks for years with no issues whatsoever.
 

amirihq

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Dec 4, 2017
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It's a shame because I've removed it from Chrome and Firefox, in fact it messed up all of my bookmarks and duplicated some.

I would rather have the latest version of Firefox than xMarks but it would be amazing to have both.
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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I've given up on Xmarks completely. Removed it from all my machines and am now self-saving my bookmarks on my network hard drive every time I close a session. Really a shame that the Xmarks team can't figure out how to make it run correctly on the new Firefox after all this time.

Btw, Xmarks works like crap on IE too, now.

I have found however, that if I want to run FF 55 I can use Xmarks just fine. But I have to first uninstall FF and delete all its data files it leaves behind, then install the older FF version (with my internet disabled,else it will self update to the latest version), then select that FF does not check for updates. Finally, re-enable my internet.
 

othmar.wigger

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Dec 5, 2017
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It seems that the problem's root cause is Firefox, not Xmarks. Firefox 56, and even more Firefox 57 apparently changed fundamentally the way add-ons must be programmed so that, basically, all add-ons must be rewritten in an entirely new way. This is not very nice from the part of Firefox.

I give Xmarks credit for being surprised by Firefox and that they are working full steam to support the new Firefox add-on philosophy. In the meantime, I use the Chrome browser that shows no such hiccups.

In the long term, however, I will require Firefox Xmarks to work again. After all, cross-browser operation is Xmark's only raison d'être. I also request an official statement from Xmarks what their plans are.
 

takovtheenight

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Dec 10, 2017
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All bookmarks (probably a couple thousand) disappeared Dec. 7, & Xmarks failed to restore. Nothing worked, at all. After thrashing around a bit, I found where Xmarks stores its backup synchs. The latest, dated Dec. 4, was an empty file, but Nov. 27 had them all, at least up to that date. So I opened that file in FF and saved the page as an html file to HD. Complained to Xmarks, got no answer. Likewise Mozilla. Finally today I found the import/export bookmarks function in FF (never had a reason to use it before, so I had no idea it was there), and used it to import that html file back into FF bookmarks. That actually worked fine, so all the bookmarks (up to Nov. 27) are back. Whew, to say the least...

I'm not sure that this solution is good for everyone, but it might help someone. Oh, I also turned off auto-synch in Xmarks. From now on looks like I'll just have to manually backup bookmarks to an html file. Ugh. One more chore.

So why have we been put through this crap? I'm pissed at Mozilla for just casually breaking FF add-ons in the first place, as well as not issuing warnings, or admitting on its website that they're giving us a royal pain in the butt (for something as essential as bookmarks!) while they tinker around with new code. I'm also pissed at Xmarks/LastPass for much the same reasons. They have all our email addys, so why no warnings, explanations, apologies, nothing?? Stinks.
 

jcissek

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Jan 8, 2018
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Same problems. Can you tell us, where Xmarks stores its backup synchs?
 

takovtheenight

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Dec 10, 2017
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takovtheenight

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Dec 10, 2017
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1. Click on the X Marks doohickey up in the upper right corner of FF
2. Click on "My X Marks"
3. Log in.
4. All your bookmarks are there, but click on the "tools" button up along the top.
5. Click on "Explore & Restore"
6. Pick a date & open

Incidentally, I was wrong when I said saving this as an html file and importing back into FF fixed everything, because while this process brings in titles and URLs for each bookmark, it leaves behind all your tags. Thus when you conduct a search of bookmarks in FF, results are only what is in titles. Needless to say, this is still seriously messed up! However, X Marks still has your tags (highlight a bookmark on the "My Bookmarks" page and click on "details"). I haven't yet figured out how to bring tags over, either because I haven't had the time to work on it recently, or because there is no way. I hope it's the former....
 

helliwell.coms

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Feb 5, 2018
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I have some 50,000 (no joke) carefully curated bookmarks, been an Xmarks user since its Day One as Foxmarks, plus a premium user since it was acquired by Last Pass.

Sadly, my solution is to install Xmarks in Chrome -- where it tends to be cumbersome -- and use an add-on called Tidy Sidebar. (I am on Mac.) I still surf/work in Firefox but, if I need to find a bookmark or add a new on, I resort to Chrome. It syncs between my desktop and notebook just fine.

At least it's something until they find a fix ... if they ever find a fix.