Backup Del.icio.us
I find I’m moving more and more to a networked way of working. I don’t want to be tied to static files on one machine because I can’t guarantee where I’ll be next but wherever that is I want access to the same information.
This is why I use IMAP for email, bloglines for RSS reading and del.icio.us for bookmarking.
But what if del.icio.us went down?
To backup is simple. wget http://del.icio.us/api/posts/all --http-user=username –http-passwd=password will download all your del.icio.us posts into one xml file (saved as “all” - you might want to rename it) which you can then store safely.
(NB this sends your password in the clear and it could be seen by anyone else using the same machine if they were running ps at the time. If you are concerned about this man wget will provide you with some suggestions for keeping your details private.)
September 28th, 2005 at 12:51 am
NB that should be two-hypens before http-passwd but wordress seems to be converting it into a long em-dash, ie
wget http://del.icio.us/api/posts/all –http-user= –http-passwd=
Using italics in the original to specify “username” and “password” (which, of course, you replace with your own) seems to have provoked this conversion.
September 28th, 2005 at 12:53 am
It’s still converting it.
Use:
- - http-etc
with no spaces between the hyphens.
September 29th, 2005 at 9:34 pm
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the tip. Can you restore your backup to del.ico.us? Is the backup file similiar to exporting your bookmarks out of firefox?
I’m with you on static files. I am really trying to move away from that approach as well. I have recently written a post on this topic but haven’t published it yet.
September 30th, 2005 at 9:41 am
Hey Corey
There’s no simple one line restore however since you can post items via api it should be possible to write a script that parses your exported bookmarks file and re-uploads them one at a time to del.icio.us: the api documentation is here.
I look forward to reading your post. I just find it maddening to have not only a different environment but different files on each machine.
I just need to find the perfect answer to syncronising address books. So far, that escapes me.
October 1st, 2005 at 8:31 pm
My problem has been keeping all of my notes, todo lists, files, etc. accessible at all times regardless of where I am. If I can figure that out I’ll be well on my way of getting some things done.
Sorry, wish I could help synchronize your address book. Will keep my eyes open though.
October 4th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
I hear you. Synchronizing data is a major problem - and one that makes the tools that are supposed to help us organise our lives more of a hindrance. Whoever makes the product that simplifies this will make a fortune.
October 4th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Well, what are we waiting on?
October 7th, 2005 at 7:45 pm
Good question
December 21st, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Anyone have any tips on how to best use del.icio.us to help promote one's websites? I have recently signed up, added a few friends, and am trying to
add interesting, useful sites before I add my own (which I'll do when I'm finished with my first set of tutorials). My sense is that it may be wise to
make some of the more “popular” del.icio.us members my friends, but for now I've stuck solely to people who are related to my industry. What do other
people think? Any good tips out there?
All the best,