Understanding How and Where Firefox 3 Bookmarks are Saved?
With the advent of Firefox 3, everybody is talking about the new bookmark system. Most like it, while some don’t. But the major confusion among the new people who have started using Firefox 3 is the question, where are the Firefox 3 bookmarks stored or saved?
Where were bookmarks saved before?
In Firefox 2, the bookmarks were stored in bookmarks.html file under C: Users –> <User Name> –> AppData –> Roaming –> Mozilla –> Firefox –> Profiles –> (some random characters.default ex 2xd8htj.default) –> Bookmarks.html
Even though you find this file in Firefox 3, you may find that it doesn’t have the latest bookmarks you have added in Firefox. You may find only the imported bookmarks in that file. That’s because Firefox 3 bookmarks are not stored in the same way it was stored before. (Note: You can tweak Firefox 3 to save bookmarks in bookmarks.html also)
Where are bookmarks saved in Firefox 3 now?
It stores both the bookmarks and the history as the database with the help of SQLite. This is the reason why Firefox 3 is able to add tags to the bookmarks and the awesomebar is able to list the suggestions as per most visited links. This also enable Firefox 3 to handle these requests very fast. SQLite database bookmark system was added since Firefox 3 Alpha 5 – Mozilla Development Center.
So in the same place where you found bookmarks.html, you will find places.sqlite and this is the database which handles all the Firefox 3 bookmarks.
So what is JSON and what has to do with Bookmarks?
JSON is JavaScript Object Notation which is a data-interchange format. In the same folder where you found places.sqlite, you will find a folder called bookmarkbackups which has backups of Firefox 3 bookmarks. In case you lose your database or it gets corrupted, you can import these files through Bookmarks –> Organize Bookmarks –> Import and Backup –> Import. So this just serves as your backup and this is not where primarily the Firefox 3 bookmarks are stored.
So now how to view bookmarks in places.sqlite?
The best way is to install the SQLite Manager addon which helps to view all the 11 tables that are present in the bookmark database. This includes table for history, favicons, keywords, bookmarks root etc.
Once you install the addon, click Connect Database and browse to select places.sqlite and you can view all the bookmarks in the table moz_bookmarks. If you prefer to do it this way, you can also manually add, edit or delete bookmarks through this table.
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You guys think you have problems now?
Wait until you try doing something simple like bookmarking the same site twice and saving it to two different folders.
Let’s say you have a “Why Mozilla Sucks” folder and a “Stupid Programmers” folder and you want to bookmark this page in both folders. All you used to have to do is click “Bookmark This Page”, save it to the first folder, then repeat that and save it to the second folder. So simple. So convenient.
Not anymore.
You can only save one copy of a bookmark using the “Bookmark This Page” command. If you try to save a second copy of the bookmark then it will only change the folder name of the bookmark. Only one copy of the bookmark will exist, in one folder.
In order to save a bookmark to two or more folders, you have to save it to the first folder, then go into “Organize Bookmarks” and copy it from folder to folder. This clumsy workaround is working now, but it’s only a matter of time before some developer decides that’s too easy for the end users and attempts to fix it.
Another problem I’m seeing all to often is that folder names are getting overwritten. Let’s say you have three folders, A, B, and C. Each folder has subfolders, 1, 2, and 3.
A - 1 2 3
B - 1 2 3
C - 1 2 3
Now let’s assume that you add a new folder to B called 4. The new folder is added, but when you look at your bookmarks again you find that folder C has been renamed to 4.
A - 1 2 3
B - 1 2 3 4
4 - 1 2 3
Ruh-Roh!
This is just stupid. It’s obvious that real reason that Mozilla put in a database engine to handle the bookmarks is because some nerd at Mozilla was either taking a SQL class or needed to add SQL to his resume.
This kind of idiocy explains why JWZ (google “JWZ Netscape” if you don’t know who he is) is running Macs with Safari instead of Linux and Firefox in the Internet kiosks at the DNA Lounge.
I loved that comment from Ed Walters!. Funny, and understandable. Actually, the database engine does have its advantages, — but also disadvantages. I suggest using only portable version of firefox, — that way you can have numerous versions at once on your computer, and open eitehr one, depending on which you prefer.