We are excited to announce the beta launch of Foxmarks' latest feature: Password Synchronization! With this feature enabled, Foxmarks will synchronize your passwords between your computers just as it does today with bookmarks. Now, you can save a password at work, and not have to worry about remembering it when you get home!
We know how sensitive passwords are, so we built this feature with security in mind from the very beginning. In order to synchronize your passwords, Foxmarks will ask you choose a secret PIN that is different from your password. This PIN will be used to encrypt your passwords before synchronization so that your passwords are secured even before they leave your computer. Only you and your computer will have knowledge of this PIN, so nobody but you will be able to decrypt and access your passwords - not even Foxmarks!
What's more, while we know that many of you want to synchronize passwords (we've been listening!), we also know that some of you may not want to use this feature. That's why Password Synchronization is completely optional and is turned off by default. If you leave it disabled, Foxmarks will simply ignore your passwords.
Password Synchronization is currently a beta feature—though we've done our best to make sure it's foolproof, it may still contain a few kinks. We would love for those of you who are interested to give it a try and let us know what you think. The download page below contains instructions on how to backup your passwords and bookmarks just in case and how to send us your feedback.
Once you download the beta, open the Foxmarks Settings dialog (located in Tools > Foxmarks > Settings...), click on the "Types" tab and select the checkbox labeled "Passwords". Thanks for giving it a spin!
Tell us what you think about this feature on GetSatisfaction.
Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteBut one question, where the password store? On Foxmarks servers?
Geat! :D
ReplyDeleteI use Google toolbar to sync book marks between my Windows machines. But there is no Google toolbar for solaris, so I can not sync bookmarks between windows and solaris.
ReplyDeleteThis foxmark, is it OS agnostic? Can I use it under Solaris + Firefox or are you tied to Windows?
This sounds great! However, I do have one question...do the passwords sync differently under different profiles? And if not, could this be implemented easily? For instance, the family uses different profiles of bookmarks for the several machines in the house, but I'd rather they not have my passwords on their machines.
ReplyDelete@Gavin: " Can I choose which passwords are synchronized to which computers? (Does it support Sync Profiles)?
ReplyDeleteNo. Password Synchronization does not currently work with Sync Profiles. This means that all your passwords will be synchronized across all computers on which you have enabled this feature. We may consider adding Sync Profiles support for this feature in the future. "
-From the wiki(image links to it)
For more details, go here: http://wiki.foxmarks.com/wiki/Foxmarks:_Password_Sync#How_it_Works
@RoksVempire: Details about that are also on the linked page. They _are_ stored on the Foxmarks servers, but they're encrypted with a "PIN" that you choose, which Foxmarks has no knowledge of.
Good, thx for reply:)
ReplyDeleteOk, sounds great!
ReplyDeleteActually, could we actually get the exact same effect by not enabling the password sync on some of the computers?
@Nobu: Thanks for responding to these questions Nobu! You're always here for us!
ReplyDelete@Gavin: Yes you're right! Simply leave password syncing on those computers disabled and they won't appear there.
@gaurav: I wouldn't say always; Sometimes their questions stump me too. I try to help when I can, though.
ReplyDeletePerfect! Thanks guys!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteIs there some plan to sync preferences, history, cookies, extensions, etc.?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteadding in preferences, history, cookies, and extensions would make firefox a truly computer independent browser.. any internet cafe, home, the office, you could browse the way you want! Heavenly...
@Kebabbert: No, it's not tied down to Windows--it should work anywhere you can use a Mozilla-released version of Firefox.
ReplyDelete@fmarcia: Check out the discussion on Get Satisfaction for some thoughts on other synchronization possibilities.
ReplyDeleteOne info, how to delete password stored on server?
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your hard work!
ReplyDeleteYou probably made a lot of people happy with this feature. I know I am :)
@RoksVempire: We don't have a feature to delete your passwords on the server in this first beta release, but we will definitely have such a feature when we launch a final version which will be soon (in a couple of weeks)!
ReplyDeleteGood!Thx!
ReplyDeleteInteresting feature. What I am wondering though is if the beta works for Firefox 3.1? In the Trunk and the current alphas of that browser, they have recently changed from using the text file method of storing passwords to sqlite like Places.
ReplyDelete@WildcatRay:
ReplyDeleteWe haven't tested on the Firefox 3.1 alphas yet, but it looks like the change that you're talking about won't impact Foxmarks. We typically don't get serious about testing for compatibility until the first beta builds of Firefox, but feel free to force-install yourself and let us know how it works for you.
Hi all
ReplyDeleteFirstly, let me say I've already been a die-hard foxmarks fan. You're the only guys I trust with my 800-odd collection of bookmarks.
Secondly though - I've started using lastpass.com for password synchronisation. And I'll probably continue to use them until you do the following:
- create your own password manager that stores password information locally with AES
- have a plugin for both FFox and IE
Having said that, I've always loved your work so I'll download the beta and give it a whirl anyway.
Steve
*cited, not quoted.
ReplyDelete@WildcatRay:
ReplyDeleteYes, that's right -- since Foxmarks operates inside the browser, it uses the browser's interfaces to access the browser's data.
Todd,
ReplyDeleteAs near as I can tell from the Foxmarks log file, it appears that it has copied my passwords up to the server. Now I need to add the beta to my other computer and see how things proceed.
[...] As many of you know, we are currently running a beta program for our new password synchronization feature. Today we released an updated version (2.2.0.17) that allows you to assign passwords to a Sync Profile. This means that you now have complete control over which passwords get synced to which computers. Keep your banking passwords at home and your work related passwords at the office! [...]
ReplyDeleteI'm up to v2.2.28. Am I the only one who has to uninstall and then reinstall Foxmarks because of adversely affecting the toolbar and prohibiting the buttons of other extensions from showing in the customize dialog?
ReplyDelete@WildcatRay:
ReplyDeleteAs far we know, yes, you're the only one. We don't interface directly with the toolbar or the customize dialog, so I'd be surprised to hear that we are causing trouble there.
Nonetheless, if you can provide some more details (especially around the "adversely affecting the toolbar" part), we'll look into it.
[...] profiles to keep your personal passwords at home, and your work passwords at the office. Read our original post or view our feature description to learn more about password [...]
ReplyDeleteTodd,
ReplyDeleteI have three profiles across 2 computers. I have them set up to share all bookmarks and passwords. Starting with 2.2.28 and now 2.5, when installing the updates, when the browser restarts in particular on my portable using Win2K and only 256MB RAM, I lose my toolbar customizations and cannot see the buttons from most if not all other installed extensions when opening the Customize... dialog box. This is for both FF 3 and Trunk.
The 2 ways I have "overcome" this is by deleting the extension.* files in the profile folder and starting up the browser or uninstalling and then reinstalling Foxmarks.
@WildcatRay: This sounds similar to an issue reported on Get Satisfaction:
ReplyDeletehttp://getsatisfaction.com/foxmarks/topics/foxmarks_2_5_destroyed_my_ff_profile
Can you chime in on that thread? Thanks!