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What is Sync's Strategy

  • 5 replies
  • 15 have this problem
  • 14 views
  • Last reply by skywire

PhredE
PhredE
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There's this amorphous thing called 'Sync' that synchronises records, say, bookmarks, on different installations of a user's Firefoxes. But what does that mean? What's the detail? Sync emerges as a feature after I've been using Firefoxes on my computers - obviously they have their own bookmarks, and I decide that syncing would be a good idea. (Or I may have had one Firefox de-paired for some time.) But nowhere do the descriptions of sync say what it does. Do I assume that every Firefox group I pair into has one master set of bookmarks and all others are blank, or will sync MERGE my bookmarks from all my computers (whether 2, 5 or 100)? Do I stand to lose some sets of bookmarks? How would I know? Synchronise ALWAYS should refer to a STRATEGY. How does the strategy lend itself to deletions? What if I delete a bookmark on one computer, delete another on another, then delete another on the first machine? Are deletions honoured in turn, or is there a 'sync window' in time that can exclude some changes? Are 'syncs' immediate? Are changes time-stamped? If an initial sync merges bookmark sets is sync smart enough to merge folder contents into folders of the same name, or are folders of the same name duplicated? (If so, is there a de-duplicator/post-merger?) Sync is a thorough MYSTERY. Can anyone help?

There's this amorphous thing called 'Sync' that synchronises records, say, bookmarks, on different installations of a user's Firefoxes. But what does that mean? What's the detail? Sync emerges as a feature after I've been using Firefoxes on my computers - obviously they have their own bookmarks, and I decide that syncing would be a good idea. (Or I may have had one Firefox de-paired for some time.) But nowhere do the descriptions of sync say what it does. Do I assume that every Firefox group I pair into has one master set of bookmarks and all others are blank, or will sync MERGE my bookmarks from all my computers (whether 2, 5 or 100)? Do I stand to lose some sets of bookmarks? How would I know? Synchronise ALWAYS should refer to a STRATEGY. How does the strategy lend itself to deletions? What if I delete a bookmark on one computer, delete another on another, then delete another on the first machine? Are deletions honoured in turn, or is there a 'sync window' in time that can exclude some changes? Are 'syncs' immediate? Are changes time-stamped? If an initial sync merges bookmark sets is sync smart enough to merge folder contents into folders of the same name, or are folders of the same name duplicated? (If so, is there a de-duplicator/post-merger?) Sync is a thorough MYSTERY. Can anyone help?

Modified by PhredE

All Replies (5)

Midhun M
Midhun M
  • Locale Leader
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check it here https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-firefox-sync-and-how-do-i-use-it

PhredE
PhredE Question owner
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I can't see that that addressed any of the aspects that I raised, Midhun. What is it that you are pointing to, other than the base description of sync's function and install?

tdonnelly
tdonnelly
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I agree w/ PhredE, before I go sync'ing my Firefox on multiple computers, I really want to know exactly what is going to happen.

Do all my bookmarks become the same? Is there a "master" computer and everything down stream matches this? Do I need to remove bookmarks on each or just the "master" computer?

I think I would be just as happy with a merge bookmarks tool and not get into having all my data floating around in Mozilla's server especially since I am not sure how the system is actually going to work.

koolezt
koolezt
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yoo-hoo! anybody home? bump

skywire
skywire
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This is not the only thread in which some user has asked the all-important question that anyone with any sense would require the answer to before attempting to use Sync: What does it do?

It boggles the mind that the Firefox team have not bothered to simply state what Sync does, and that no-one has been willing since Sync was introduced to answer that all-important question in this Forum. The root post in this thread may currently show only 13 people saying that they have the same problem, but in reality, there are surely closer to 1.3 billion who need the answer, whether they realize it or not.

Is there anyone in the world who knows the answer, and is willing to share this esoteric insider information with the rest of us?

Modified by skywire