27 May 2006

Clippings 1.99.5 Released

This is a feature-complete release. That is, all the features that you see in this release is what will be present when Clippings 2.0 finally comes out.

If you already have Clippings 1.x or any previous development snapshot release installed, you must uninstall it first before installing this release.

Download link: http://downloads.mozdev.org/clippings/devel/clippings-1.99.5-en-US.xpi (51 KB; English-US; compatible with Firefox 1.0 - 1.5.0.x)
All development snapshots to date can be found here: http://downloads.mozdev.org/clippings/devel/

Much effort has been made at finding and fixing bugs; however, this release is still rough around the edges, and ordinary users not comfortable trying out new software should stay with the current stable release, or wait until Clippings 2.0 is out.

Summary of New Features
  • Folders and subfolders to organize your clippings. You can choose which folder to place a new clipping in, create new folders (or delete folders you no longer need), and move or copy clippings into folders in Clippings Manager.
  • Automatic back up of Clippings data. Back up files are stored in a ".clipbak" folder in your Firefox user profile folder.
  • Automatic recovery of corrupted Clippings data. Clippings can now detect corruption of the data source file (clipdat2.rdf) and restore it from backup files.
  • Export Clippings as HTML for printing or display in a Web browser.
  • Export as Clippings 1.x format, for backwards compatibility with Clippings 1.x series.
  • Clippings Manager window dimensions now remembered between sessions.
  • Numerous bug fixes.
Known Issues
  • Imported folders do not appear on the Clippings menu unless a new window is opened or Firefox is restarted.
  • (Firefox 1.0.x only) Clippings menu doesn't appear again after creating a new clipping using the New or New From Selection commands on that menu.
  • (Firefox 1.0.x only) Exporting as HTML doesn't work.
Things You Should Know About

The new folders feature necessitated a new data source structure, which is NOT compatible with Clippings 1.x. As a result, the Clippings data is stored in a new file in your user profile directory, clipdat2.rdf. (Clippings 1.x data is stored in clipdat.rdf.)

Your existing Clippings data (if you had Clippings 1.x before) will be automatically imported into the new data source file when you start Firefox the first time after installing this release of Clippings. The old Clippings 1.x data source file, clipdat.rdf, will be left untouched, in case you want to revert back to Clippings 1.x.

Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug, first reread the above to see if it's not already a known issue. Then do a search here to see if it's hasn't already been reported yet. If it is indeed a new bug, please file a bug report at http://bugzilla.mozdev.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=clippings. A Bugzilla account on Mozdev is required.

Thanks for trying out Clippings.

23 May 2006

Clippings 1.2.1 Released

Shortly after Clippings 1.2 was released, there was word that clippings with 2-byte text were being saved as garbage characters. Yesterday during work on the upcoming Clippings 2.0, I found out why: the back end changes that were made for Clippings 2.0, but were incorporated into Clippings 1.2, broke the ability to save clippings with 2-byte text.

Ooops.

A minor release of Clippings was rushed to fix this problem. It is now available from the Clippings official web site, or you can click the download link below:

Clippings 1.2.1 (28 KB; English-US; compatible with Firefox 1.0 - 1.5.0.*)

If you already have Clippings installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled in Firefox. Otherwise, open the Extension Manager in Firefox, then right-click on the entry for Clippings in the list of installed extensions and choose Find Update.

11 May 2006

Clippings 1.99.4 Released

A development snapshot release of Clippings is now available for testers and those brave early-adopter types who crave the latest and greatest.

If you already have Clippings 1.x or any previous development snapshot release installed, you must uninstall it first before installing this release.

Download link: http://downloads.mozdev.org/clippings/devel/clippings-1.99.4-en-US.xpi (41 KB; compatible with Firefox 1.0.x - 1.5.0.x)
All development snapshots to date can be found here: http://downloads.mozdev.org/clippings/devel/

A quick note about version numbering: "1.99" means that this is a development snapshot of what will eventually become Clippings 2.0. The revision digit "4" indicates that this is the fourth development snapshot.

WARNING!

This release is made available for testing purposes only. While it has been made as stable as reasonably possible for a testing release, there will be bugs and there are no guarantees that data loss, data corruption and general loss of functionality won't happen. If this scares you, you should probably stick with the current stable release, or wait until Clippings 2.0 is out.

What's New
  • Automatic recovery of corrupted data source file. Clippings can now detect corruption of the data source file (clipdat2.rdf) and restore it from backup files.
Clippings Manager changes:
  • Bug fix: Drag 'n drop in Clippings Manager tree list. With this bug fix, the Move Up and Move Down commands in the tree list context menu are redundant, and have been removed.
  • Bug fix: Status bar count wasn't accurate
  • Bug fix: Unable to undo or redo move or copy to a folder or creation and deletion of a folder
  • Import from Clippings 1.x data source
  • New "Move" toolbar button for moving or copying clippings to folders
  • "Paste New" command moved to Options menu and renamed "New From Clipboard"
Known Issues
  • (Firefox 1.0.x only) If you move a folder or clipping once, it is not possible to perform another move operation again until you close and reopen Clippings Manager. The same applies to copying a folder or clipping.
  • After moving a clipping or folder in Clippings Manager, the clipping or folder may not always be selected. This can happen if the folder in which the item is moved to isn't expanded in the tree list.
  • Update problems in Clippings Manager, after moving or copying a folder or clipping, or undoing a move or copy, can cause the previously-selected item to be renamed to the same name as another item.
  • An extra click is needed to close the Move menu in Clippings Manager.
  • It is not yet possible to export Clippings data for use in Clippings 1.x series.
Things You Should Know About

Folders names in menus are set off in square brackets; for example, "[My Stuff]". There are no cute little folder icons yet.

The new folders feature necessitated a new data source structure, which is NOT compatible with Clippings 1.x. As a result, the Clippings data is stored in a new file in your user profile directory, clipdat2.rdf. (Clippings 1.x data is stored in clipdat.rdf.)

Your existing Clippings data (if you had Clippings 1.x before) will be automatically imported into the new data source file when you start Firefox the first time after installing this release of Clippings. The old Clippings 1.x data source file, clipdat.rdf, will be left untouched, in case you want to revert back to Clippings 1.x.

Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug, first reread the above to see if it's not already a known issue. Then do a search here to see if it's hasn't already been reported yet. If it is indeed a new bug, please file a bug report at http://bugzilla.mozdev.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=clippings. A Bugzilla account on Mozdev is required.

Thanks for trying out Clippings.