Tag Sync Changes With Original Browser and Computer

[balthanon]

Describe the feature you'd like to request

It would be helpful if we could add a tag either to the actual bookmark or in the Floccus logs, when a new change is synced. This would make it easier to identify the origins of issues that cause substantial changes to local bookmarks that weren't expected.

Describe the solution you'd like

When a change is synced for the first time, it should be flagged with a unique ID associated with a given installation of Floccus and stored in the xbel file. It should then be possible to extract this information using Floccus by exporting a plain text version of the xbel file that is not encrypted to the users computer.

This information would also be useful to add to the log files that are generated by Floccus, so you can see where changes are coming from in a specific browser when they happen.

Describe alternatives you've considered

The computer name and browser instead of a unique ID would probably be easier to read in plain text for the user; alternatively the ID could actually be configurable in the Floccus settings.

Providing the option for Firefox users to have the unique ID added to their actual bookmarks as tags would be nice for real time troubleshooting in the browser. It isn't an option for Chromium based browsers though for the most part. This would require a new option in the settings most likely since it would be modifying the users data.

It would be nice if Floccus could add a right click option when you select a bookmark to read this information from the xbel file to the browser; that is likely far more work though.

For the export of the data in the xbel file, it would be nice if it could be done in forms that are more user friendly for the user such as csv or html.

[github-actions[bot]]

Hello :wave:

Thank you for taking the time to open this issue with floccus. I know it's frustrating when software causes problems. You have made the right choice to come here and open an issue to make sure your problem gets looked at and if possible solved. Let me give you a short introduction on what to expect from this issue tracker to avoid misunderstandings. I'm Marcel. I created floccus a few years ago, and have been maintaining it since. I currently work for Nextcloud which leaves me with less time for side projects like this one than I used to have. I still try to answer all issues and if possible fix all bugs here, but it sometimes takes a while until I get to it. Until then, please be patient. It helps when you stick around to answer follow up questions I may have, as very few bugs can be fixed directly from the first bug report, without any interaction. If information is missing in your bug report and the issue cannot be solved without it, I will have to close the issue after a while. Note also that GitHub in general is a place where people meet to make software better together. Nobody here is under any obligation to help you, solve your problems or deliver on any expectations or demands you may have, but if enough people come together we can collaborate to make this software better. For everyone. Thus, if you can, you could also have a look at other issues to see whether you can help other people with your knowledge and experience. If you have coding experience it would also be awesome if you could step up to dive into the code and try to fix the odd bug yourself. Everyone will be thankful for extra helping hands! If you cannot lend a helping hand, to continue the development and maintenance of this project in a sustainable way, I ask that you donate to the project when opening an issue (or at least once your issue is solved), if you're not a donor already. You can find donation options at https://floccus.org/donate/. Thank you!

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Thank you for reading through this primer. I look forward to working with you on this issue! Cheers :blue_heart:

[balthanon]

Logged in response to this issue: https://github.com/floccusaddon/floccus/issues/1899

[marcelklehr]

Interesting idea. Currently the best way to keep track of changes is the git backend, which of course tracks all changes and even adds the source for each change.

[balthanon]

Huh, I need to swap over to that then. I'm not exactly married to Google Drive, at the time I started Floccus I just didn't have Nextcloud set up (well, I still don't) and this seemed like my best option with minimal work. I don't think Git was an option at that point either, though I might be misremembering.

[marcelklehr]

Note, that git is not supported on mobile yet, but other than that it should work fine.

[balthanon]

I don't usually use bookmarks on my mobile device anyway, so I don't bother to sync with my phone, so that's not a major issue. End to end encryption is nice on Google Drive/WebDav, but https is probably sufficient for bookmarks.