Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 released!

A new version of Sync Clippings Helper, a companion application for the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird that syncs your Clippings data between computers or multiple instances of those applications, has been released, and is now available for download from the AE Creations website.

Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 adds support for new features found in upcoming releases of Clippings and Clippings for Thunderbird, and is compatible with current and older versions of those extensions.

If you already have an older version of Sync Clippings Helper installed, a notification will appear while Firefox or Thunderbird is running, letting you know that the new version is available. Click on it to go to the AE Creations website and download it from there.

The Sync Clippings Helper update notification.

You can download Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 anytime from the Sync Clippings Helper page on the AE Creations website.

What's New

• Supports sync data compression, allowing you to sync more of your clippings. The option to compress sync data is turned on by default in Clippings preferences
• Proper handling of read-only sync files. Creating or modifying a clipping or folder in the Synced Clippings folder is not permitted if the sync file is read-only
  

How to Get It

Go to the Sync Clippings Helper page for download links and installation instructions for Windows, macOS and Linux.

On Windows, the Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the setup program. Rest assured that it's perfectly safe to proceed with the installation. To allow the setup program to run, click More Info, then Run Anyway.

The Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the Sync Clippings Helper setup program.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about the Sync Clippings Helper app should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Groups.io.

macOS users on Intel Macs: Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 2 now available!

This is the second release candidate of the next version of Sync Clippings Helper, a companion application for the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird that syncs your Clippings data between computers or multiple instances of those applications. This version supports the enhancements to the Sync Clippings feature in Clippings 7.0, the next version of the Firefox and Thunderbird extension.

This release candidate was originally available for Linux only, but it's now available as well for macOS on Intel Macs.

What's New

• Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 is now compatible with macOS versions going back to 10.15 Catalina
  

See the this blog post for details on the new features in Sync Clippings Helper 2.0.

Things You Should Know About

• Because there are no changes to the Sync Clippings Helper app, and the app installers for Windows and macOS on Apple Silicon Macs are not affected, the second release candidate is only available for Linux and macOS on Intel Macs. Testers who are using Windows and macOS on Apple Silicon Macs can continue to use the first release candidate build.
  
• Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 is backwards compatible with older versions of Clippings.
• If you're installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup shell script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

Download the updated macOS installer from the Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 2 page on GitHub.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Sync Clippings Helper should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

For Linux users: Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 2 released!

This is the second release candidate of the next version of Sync Clippings Helper, a companion application for the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird that syncs your Clippings data between computers or multiple instances of those applications. This version supports the enhancements to the Sync Clippings feature in Clippings 7.0, the next version of the Firefox and Thunderbird extension.

This release candidate fixes a minor issue with the setup shell script for Linux.

What's New

• Bug fix: On Linux, an error occurs when extracting the setup shell script from the tar archive (issue #23). Despite the error, the shell script will still run normally and install or upgrade Sync Clippings Helper without any issues.
  

See the previous blog post for details on the new features in Sync Clippings Helper 2.0.

Things You Should Know About

• Because there are no changes to the Sync Clippings Helper app, and the app installers for Windows and macOS are not affected, the second release candidate is only available for Linux. Testers who are using Windows and macOS can continue to use the first release candidate build.
  
• Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 is backwards compatible with older versions of Clippings.
• If you're installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup shell script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

Download the updated setup shell script for Linux from the Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 2 page on GitHub.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Sync Clippings Helper should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 1 released!

This is a release candidate of the next version of Sync Clippings Helper, a companion application for the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird that syncs your Clippings data between computers or multiple instances of those applications. This version supports the enhancements to the Sync Clippings feature in Clippings 7.0, the next version of the Firefox and Thunderbird extension. Unless there are any last-minute showstopper issues, this build may become the official release of Sync Clippings Helper 2.0.

(If you've just stumbled upon this blog post and don't know what Sync Clippings is, you can learn more about this feature of the Clippings extension for Firefox and Thunderbird on the AE Creations website.)

What's New

• Supports sync data compression, allowing you to sync more of your clippings. The option to compress sync data is turned on by default in Clippings preferences
• Proper handling of read-only sync files. Creating or modifying a clipping or folder in the Synced Clippings folder is not permitted if the sync file is read-only
  

 Things You Should Know About

• Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 is backwards compatible with older versions of Clippings.
• If you're installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup shell script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

Sync Clippings Helper is available as a Windows setup program (requires Windows 7 or newer), a macOS installer package (requires macOS 11.7 Big Sur or newer), and a shell script for Linux that can be run from the command line. Get them from the Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 release candidate 1 page on GitHub.

If you're already running Sync Clippings Helper on Windows or Mac, you can install this release over your current version. On Linux, the setup script will automatically detect and prompt you to upgrade a previous version of Sync Clippings Helper.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Sync Clippings Helper should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 beta 1 released!

A beta release of the next version of the Sync Clippings Helper application is now available for testers and early adopters trying out the new Sync Clippings features found in Clippings for Thunderbird 7.0 (and soon, Clippings 7.0 for Firefox). Read on to learn more about how to get it, things you should know about, and how to report a bug.

(If you've just stumbled upon this blog post and don't know what Sync Clippings is, you can learn more about this feature of the Clippings add-on for Firefox and Thunderbird on the AE Creations website.)

What's New

• Supports sync data compression, allowing you to sync more of your clippings. The option to compress sync data is turned on by default in Clippings preferences
• Proper handling of read-only sync files. Creating or modifying a clipping or folder in the Synced Clippings folder is not permitted if the sync file is read-only
  

 Things You Should Know About

• Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 is backwards compatible with older versions of Clippings. Or rather, it should be -- testers are welcome to verify this!
  
• The macOS installer package is not available for this beta release; it will be available at a later date. Until then, see the next section, "How to Get It," for instructions on installing this beta release on macOS
• If you're installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup shell script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

Sync Clippings Helper is available as a Windows setup program (requires Windows 7 or newer) and a shell script for Linux and macOS that can be run from the command line. Get them from the Sync Clippings Helper 2.0 beta 1 page on GitHub.

To install on macOS, run the Linux setup shell script, which works on both Intel and Apple Silicon systems.

If you're already running Sync Clippings Helper on Windows, you can install this beta release over your current version. On macOS and Linux, the setup script will automatically detect and prompt you to upgrade a previous version of Sync Clippings Helper.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Sync Clippings Helper should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

If you find a bug with the Sync Clippings Helper app or its installers, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Sync Clippings Helper doesn't work on Firefox releases packaged with Snap or Flatpak

There's a known issue affecting Firefox releases that are distributed with Ubuntu 22.04 and Fedora 40; both of these Linux distributions use Snap and Flatpak, respectively, to distribute software packages. Firefox releases that were installed via these package managers are unable to connect to Sync Clippings Helper.

A symptom of this issue is an error that appears when trying to open the Sync Clippings settings dialog from the extension preferences page:

The About dialog also shows that Sync Clippings Helper is not installed, even if it is:

To work around this issue, download Firefox for Linux from the Mozilla website and install that instead of from the default package manager in Ubuntu, Fedora or other affected Linux distributions.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 released!

A new version of the Sync Clippings Helper app has been released, and is now available for download from the AE Creations website. Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 introduces support for macOS and Linux, which has been a popular request from Clippings users.

If you already have an older version installed, a notification popup will appear when Firefox or Thunderbird is running, letting you know that you can download the update.

The Sync Clippings Helper notification popup.

You can download the update anytime from the Sync Clippings Helper page on the AE Creations website.

What's New

• Now available for macOS and Linux
• Supports the ability to browse for the sync folder location in the Clippings preferences page (requires Clippings for Firefox 6.4 or newer, or Clippings for Thunderbird 6.2 or newer)
  

How to Get It

Go to the Sync Clippings Helper page for download links and installation instructions for Windows, macOS and Linux.

On Windows, the Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the setup program. Rest assured that it is safe to proceed with the installation. To allow the setup program to run, click More Info, then Run Anyway.

The Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the Sync Clippings Helper setup program.

Help and Support

Questions and comments should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 release candidate 1 released!

A release candidate build of the next version of the Sync Clippings Helper app is now available to testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. Unless there are any last-minute showstopper bugs, this may become the official release of Sync Clippings Helper 1.2.

Read on to learn more about what's new, and how to get it.

What's New

• Now available for macOS and Linux. Mac users can install Sync Clippings Helper using the macOS installer package (requires macOS 10.14 or newer); make sure to choose the correct installer package for your system (Intel or Apple Silicon). Linux users can download the .tar.gz file, extract it, and then run the extracted shell script to install Sync Clippings Helper.
• You can now browse for the sync folder location from the Sync Clippings settings dialog in Clippings preferences (requires Clippings for Firefox 6.4 or newer, or Clippings for Thunderbird 6.2 or newer)

Things You Should Know About

• If you are installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup shell script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

The release candidate build for all supported platforms is available from the Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 release candidate 1 page on GitHub.

Help and Support

Questions and comments should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug with the Sync Clippings Helper app or its installers, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 beta 2 for macOS and Linux released!

This is the second beta release of an upcoming version of the Sync Clippings Helper app, which introduces compatibility with macOS and Linux. This beta release is intended for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. Read on to learn more about how to get it, things you should know about, and how to report a bug.

What's New

• Now compatible with macOS and Linux
• You can now browse for the sync folder location from the Sync Clippings settings dialog in Clippings preferences (requires Clippings for Firefox 6.3.2 or newer, or Clippings for Thunderbird 6.1.2 or newer)
  
•  New in 1.2b2  When choosing the sync folder location from Sync Clippings settings, the folder picker dialog will now default to your home folder, rather than the system root folder
•  New in 1.2b2  Bug fix: Thunderbird is unable to connect to Sync Clippings Helper on macOS (issue #11)

Things You Should Know About

• This beta release is only available for macOS and Linux. Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 will be available for Windows at a later date.
• Apple Silicon users: The installer package has not been tested on Apple M1 systems; it's possible that it (or the Sync Clippings Helper app) may not run at all, or it may require Rosetta 2. Use the shell script instead to install Sync Clippings Helper (see the next section, "How to Get It"). A version of the macOS installer package for Apple Silicon is planned for release.
• If you are installing Sync Clippings Helper using the setup script, make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

How to Get It

Sync Clippings Helper is available as a macOS installer package (requires macOS 10.14 or newer) or a shell script that can be run from the command line. Get them from the Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 beta 2 page on GitHub.

Uninstalling the Previous Beta Release

If you installed Sync Clippings Helper 1.2 beta 1, you should uninstall the old version first before installing version 1.2 beta 2.

If you installed it using the macOS installer package, open Terminal and go to the folder location /Library/SyncClippings/1.2.0. Run the script uninstall.sh with sudo, and follow the prompts.

If Sync Clippings Helper was installed using the setup script, delete the following folder paths/files:

• /usr/local/opt/sync-clippings (default installation location)
  
• ~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/syncClippings.json
• ~/.config/sync-clippings
  

Help and Support

Questions and comments should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug with the Sync Clippings Helper app or its installers, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Sync Clippings Helper for macOS and Linux: Beta release now available

Until now, the Sync Clippings Helper application has only been available for Windows. Due to popular demand, that's finally changing -- with a beta release of the next version of Sync Clippings Helper which is compatible with macOS and Linux!

The beta release of the Sync Clippings Helper app for macOS and Linux is intended for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. Read on to learn more about how to get it, things you should know about, and how to report a bug.

(If you've just stumbled upon this blog post and don't know what Sync Clippings is, you can learn more about this feature of the Clippings add-on for Firefox and Thunderbird on the AE Creations website.)

Sync Clippings Helper for Mac

Available as a macOS installer package (requires macOS 10.14 or newer). Get it from the Sync Clippings 1.2 beta 1 page on GitHub; look for the file named SyncClippings-1.2b1-macos-x64.pkg. Simply save it to your system, then double-click on the file to launch the installer and follow the prompts.

If you're comfortable with the command line, you also have the option of running a shell script to install Sync Clippings Helper. You can get it from the Sync Clippings 1.2 beta 1 page on GitHub; look for the file named syncClippings-1.2b1-setup.tar.gz -- download the .tar.gz file, extract it, and then run the extracted shell script to install Sync Clippings Helper. Make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system; get Python 3 from the Python website, or use a package manager such as Homebrew.

Apple Silicon users: The installer package has not been tested on Apple M1 systems; it's possible that it (or the Sync Clippings Helper app) may not run at all, or it may require Rosetta 2. Use the shell script instead to install Sync Clippings Helper. A version of the macOS installer package for Apple Silicon is planned for release.

Sync Clippings Helper for Linux

Get the setup script from the Sync Clippings 1.2 beta 1 page on GitHub; look for the file named syncClippings-1.2b1-setup.tar.gz -- download the .tar.gz file, extract it, and then run the extracted shell script to install Sync Clippings Helper.

Make sure that Python 3 and the Tkinter package (python3-tk) is installed on your system; you can get them through a package manager such as apt or yum. The setup script will check for those dependencies and will inform you if they aren't found.

Help and Support

Questions and comments should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug with the Sync Clippings Helper app or its installers, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.1 update now available

A new version of the Sync Clippings Helper app has been released, and is now available for download from the AE Creations website.

If you already have the older version installed, a notification popup will appear when Firefox is running, letting you know that you can download the update.

The Sync Clippings Helper notification popup, as it appears if using Clippings version 6.2.8 or newer.

You can download the update anytime from the Sync Clippings Helper page on the AE Creations website.

What's New

Version 1.1 adds support for Clippings for Thunderbird 6.0 or newer. If you're synchronizing your clippings between Firefox and Thunderbird, you'll want this update.

Previously, Sync Clippings Helper wasn't necessary if you were only syncing between instances of Thunderbird, and not Firefox -- but it's now required if you have Clippings for Thunderbird version 6.0.

How to Install

Download the Sync Clippings Helper setup program to a file location on your system (for example, the Downloads folder). Then double-click on it to launch setup.

On Windows 10, the Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the setup program. Please be assured that it is safe to proceed with the installation. To allow the setup program to run, click More Info, then Run Anyway.

The Windows Defender SmartScreen dialog may appear when launching the Sync Clippings Helper setup program.

Once the setup program is started, follow the on-screen instructions to install or update Sync Clippings Helper.

As always, questions and comments should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.0 released!

If you have turned on the Sync Clippings feature in Clippings, then you will likely have the Sync Clippings Helper application installed. The Sync Clippings Helper app works quietly in the background to keep your synced clippings updated between Firefox and Thunderbird, or other instances of Firefox.

Sync Clippings Helper 1.0 is now released, and this marks the end of beta testing status for the Sync Clippings feature.  It is available for download in the Sync Clippings page on the AE Creations website.

The Sync Clippings Helper app is compatible with Windows 7, 8 and 10.  The setup program is available for both 32- and 64-bit Windows, and it is digitally signed to ensure that you are getting the genuine installer.

Many thanks to all the beta testers for your interest, bug reports and feedback!  Users should upgrade to the official 1.0 release, as future updates to the helper application will require that you have version 1.0 installed.

Go to the Sync Clippings page on the AE Creations website for download links, instructions and more information on the Sync Clippings feature.