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Hey Vlad ,

Thank you for your answer :-) , and I think one of those extensions working very well with Orion is closer than one might think!
I have good news about that: I tried a few different options and I finally got Floccus to work and to sync with Orion!

Before setup : I unticked the iCloud Sync of Orion on macOS & iOS, and deleted the iCloud data from the settings app to start fresh, and kept it unticked for now.

Step by step :

  1. I used another browser (Brave) to create a Floccus sync folder (called Default like the profile) with Nextcloud as the target.
  2. Since Orion doesn't work when trying to create the connection, instead, I exported the account with the Floccus extension on Brave, and imported it in Orion, which worked.
  3. The Floccus extension on Orion says it ‘doesn't find the folder’ (I suppose the 2 browsers have a different way to manage bookmark folders.
  4. In the Orion Floccus extension options, one should change the local folder that is used for syncing, and use the root folder in the window.
  5. That way, I'm not entirely sure if everything works, but the Bookmark Tar of each browser is synced properly, which is great!
  6. Ticking again the iCloud Sync in macOS then iOS.
  7. The Bookmarks are Syncing to iOS too :-)

Hope those infos and steps might help others to set up that Floccus cross-browser bookmarks syncing!

Best regards to everyone,
Charlie

      5 days later

      CharlieCortial Your trick worked! FYI, I had my Brave floccus set to the root folder already, and I was able to export and import this profile directly in Orion and it synced without issues.

          6 days later

          Hi patrixl, I'm very glad I could be of help, and that it worked for you too! 😊
          Since then, I kept using this setup and it works well, I didn't have any real problem. I just tend to mostly switch between Push and Merge options, depending on the situation, and also switch between Auto and Manual sync.
          Cheers,
          Charlie

            10 months later

            CharlieCortial Is this still working for you? I've tried following these steps but the extensions requests permission to access *://*/*, clicking 'Allow' doesn't seem to do anything as I end up with errors in floccus for "E036: Missing permissions to access the sync server"

            Extension is set to be always allowed on all websites.

            Orion, OS, Hardware
            Orion Version 0.99.127.2-beta (WebKit 619.1.1), macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, M2 Air

                2 months later

                bfayers I have the same problem using WebDAV sync, haven’t tried nextcloud bookmarks.
                To me seems two different problems:
                1- the extension is somehow blocked from connecting to the server you choose
                2- the extension is prevented from read/write in the bookmarks folder

                Another point is that there is no floccus for safari so I hope that all this get solved when the translation layer for extensions and orion itself go out of beta

                    Merged 16 posts from Self Hosted Bookmarks.
                      2 months later

                      Really appreciate this conversation and, as always, Vlad's patience in thinking through problems. Like others, I am dealing with the challenge of a work owned laptop on which icloud services are disabled, and wishing my Orion RC browser there could play well with my home desktop. Not the end of the world of course, but I will check back from time to time to see if anyone finds a stable solution. I really appreciate this community!

                      • Vlad replied to this.

                        jbeg You can use Floccus extension which should work with Orion.

                            11 days later

                            Hi @Vlad,
                            I tried out the Floccus Extension with Orion, because it would be exactly what I wished for. Still I can't get it to work with either the Chromium as well as the Firefox extension.

                            Have you or others got this working?

                            In my case, the Firefox extension throws an exceptions, the Chromium one is just not syncing.

                            Thanks a lot in advance!

                              a month later

                              Hi, I am in an unusual situation, where I'm using Orion while at work as well. However, as you might expect, iCloud syncing is disabled on the work laptop, therefore I can't use the browser sync feature.

                              Then I realised that for me this would be the one feature that would definitely get me to sign up for the browser subscription:

                              Implement a feature that mimics the existing iCloud-based sync but on the Kagi servers, so that it could work independently. I am not suggesting replacing the existing sync, but rather offering this as an alternative, potentially for paid users to offset the cost of storage.

                              Simply having a dropdown menu in settings to choose the type of syncing the user chooses.

                              Merged 1 post from Browser sync via Kagi servers for paid users.
                                Vlad changed the title to Browser syncing Without iCloud (Firefox sync or Orion sync) - via Kagi servers for paid users .

                                  One other idea -- sync data via IMAP server. Since IMAP ~ email and already trusted with sensitive/personal information (and it may be a self-hosted for many), storing this kind of data there doesn't spread it to new servers. I realize that IMAP wasn't designed for this (for Notes to use IMAP it basically creates a sometimes hidden folder there) and this is unlikely to drive the revenue for Kagi but still wanted to throw the idea out there as I am trying to minimize the use of proprietry services outside of my control.

                                    2 months later

                                    I also can’t sync with iCloud on my work computer. Having a non-iCloud option for Kagi and/or Orion+ subscribers would be awesome. Also, I would love if all profiles synced, but that’s probably another suggestion 😃

                                    6 days later

                                    Just found this thread, as I was searching for a way to sync my bookmarks across different browsers on Windows, Mac, and iPhone. I am currently using XBrowserSync and Eversync (Everhelper). Both work great and allow any changes that anyone in my family makes to bookmarks in Chrome, Firefox, or Edge -- at work or home -- to propagate to all of our devices, Windows and Mac. Unfortunately, to use this extension (or any other), one must disable any native browser bookmark sync (Chrome, Firefox, etc.), as failure to do so will result in a mess as multiple systems try to sync data. iPhone browsers do not support extensions, so Firefox on my iPhone cannot get any of the bookmarks saved on Windows or Mac.
                                    I was hoping Orion would be my solution, even though there is no Windows version yet. Unfortunately, neither of the two extensions works on Orion, either on mobile or desktop.
                                    To answer Vlad's question (reiterated frequently, as a clarification of complexity and cost of development): I am an Orion Lifetime subscriber and Kagi subscriber. I would happily pay more for a working bookmark syncing feature to enable headache-free access to all of my bookmarks via native bookmark interfaces in Firefox, Chrome, and Orion.
                                    Thank you for all the hard work and effort you put into continuing it.

                                      Vlad stickied the discussion .

                                        VirtualPanther We will try to get some of these extensions working soon. Getting them to work on iOS will be more challengingdue to Apple limitations, not the lack of our ambition. For Orion native sync, it is a matter of time and resources.

                                            I know that GNOME Web (Epiphany) has/had integrated Mozilla/Firefox Sync into their WebKit browser for this exact purpose.

                                            https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/sync/overview.html

                                            It's also apparently possible for people to self-host their own Firefox Sync instance: https://thesmarthomejourney.com/2023/03/18/self-hosting-firefox-sync/

                                            If this is possible still today, this may be the easiest thing for Orion to integrate.

                                            15 days later

                                            Can e2e encrypted backup not simply be allowed to be exported to cloud service of choice eg Dropbox? This can then be restored on second device without needing to use iCloud. This works for people like me who have to use devices with different iCloud accounts for work and home.