Title: Self-hosted web browser bookmarks syncing
Author: Solène
Date: 02 November 2024
Tags: security network
Description: In this guide, you will learn how to use Floccus to
synchronize your bookmarks
# Introduction
This blog post is about Floccus, a self-hosting web browser bookmarks
and tabs syncing software.
What is cool with Floccus is that it works on major web browsers
(Chromium, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi and
Microsoft Edge), allowing sharing bookmarks/tabs without depending on
the web browser integrated feature, but it also supports multiple
backends and also allow the sync file to be encrypted.
HTML Floccus official project website
The project is actively developed and maintained.
HTML Floccus GitHub repository
If you want to share a bookmark folder with other people (relatives, a
team at work), do not forget to make a dedicated account on the backend
as the credentials will be shared.
# Features
* can sync bookmarks or tabs
* sync over WebDAV, Nextcloud, git, linkwarden and Google Drive
* (optional) encrypted file on the shared storage with WebDAV and
Google Drive backends
* (optional) security to not sync if more than 50% of the bookmarks
changed
* can sync a single bookmark directory
* sync one-way or two-ways
* non HTTP URLs can be saved when using WebDAV or Google Drive backends
(ftp:, javascript, data:, chrome:)
* getting rid of Floccus is easy, it has an export feature, but you can
also export your bookmarks
# Setup
There is not much to setup, but the process looks like this:
1. install the web browser extension (it is published on Chrome,
Mozilla and Edge stores)
2. click on the Floccus icon and click on "Add a profile"
3. choose the backend
4. type credentials for the backend
5. configure the sync options you want
6. enjoy!
After you are done, repeat the process on another web browser if you
want to enable sync, otherwise Floccus will "only" serve as a bookmark
backup solution.
# Conclusion
It is the first bookmark sync solution I am happy with, it just works,
supports end-to-end encryption, and does not force you to use the same
web browser across all your devices.
Before this, I tried integrated web browser sync solutions, but
self-hosting them was not always possible (or a terrible experience).
I gave a try to "bookmark managers" (linkding, buku, shiori), but
whether in command line or with a web UI, I did not really like it as I
found it rather impractical for daily use. I just wanted to have my
bookmarks stored in the browser, and be able to easily search/open
them. Floccus does the job.