Export from Scuttle - Import to Shaarli

An export script for scuttle to HTML and a script to import the generated Bookmark HTML to Shaarli.

For years I am using Scuttle, it is one of the tools I used on a daily basis. However, while using it steadily produced a big error log of several MB. Since it seems not active anymore and errors not fixed, there was the need to use another free bookmarking software.

Recently I have found the script Shaarli and am very happy about it. It is as fast as scuttle, does not need a database (stores entries in file /data/datastore.php) and does not produce any errors!

By the way, I do not want to use a public bookmarking service because they would possess all my private notes within the bookmarks. Furthermore, none of the services I found could import bookmarks from scuttle.

The missing Feature: Export & Import

It is very helpful that Shaarli can import HTML export from SemanticScuttle, in other words: SemanticScuttle has an HTML exporter. On the other hand, the older Scuttle has no HTML export.

That's why I combined the scripts available to create an exporter and importer.

Export from Scuttle (Bookmarks to HTML)

1. Edit the file scuttle_export_html.php in the scuttle folder and enter your database credentials
2. Upload the file scuttle_export_html.php in your scuttle folder on your server
3. Open the path to the file in your browser and receive the HTML output
4. Download the HTML file. Important: Go to "View source code" in your browser, then copy and paste the original output. When saving the HTML directly, most browsers modify the output and the import will not work.

Import the HTML bookmarks into Shaarli

1. Make a backup of your files, you never know.
2. Upload the files shaarli/index.php, shaarli/NetscapeBookmarkParser.php and shaarli/NetscapeBookmarkUtils.php to your server. This will override the existing ones (make a backup, then you can bring them back after the import)
3. Go to your shaarli installation and click on Tools and then Import: Import Netscape html bookmarks (as exported from Firefox, Chrome, Opera, delicious...). Or just open the URL shaarli/?do=import
4. Select your HTML file. Modify import settings as you wish. Hit the Import button.
5. You should see a success message. Done.

I really hope this helps more people like me keeping their own bookmark service alive!

Tips

Shaarli also has a Chrome extension.