is a browser extension that provides save and backup functions when you edit local TiddlyWiki files in the browser. Inspired by file-backups and savetiddlers.
- Works with the latest Chrome based browsers. Tested with Chrome v96, Chromium v96 and Edge v96. Uses Manifest V3 for these.
- Works with the latest Firefox v95. Uses Manifest V2 in this case.
- Tiddlywiki Saver is written in modern, vanilla Javascript that embraces recent APIs.
- Zero external dependencies, not even Node nor NPM are needed to build and use it.
- Configurable, timestamp based backups. You can set up a number of backups as well as a limit on used space.
- Download shelf in Chrome based browsers can be hidden further improving user experience.
- Only TiddlyWiki5 files are supported.
Provided build script works on Linux or macOS.
git clone [email protected]:jsiembida/tiddlywiki-saver.git
cd tiddlywiki-saver
./build.sh chrome
./build.sh firefox
The build artifacts are in the build directory.
In Chrome, open about:extensions, enable the "developer mode" and load
unpacked extension from the build/chrome directory.
In Firefox, open about:debugging, select "this firefox" and load
the temporary add-on manifest from build/firefox.
Despite the naming, in both cases the extension gets permanently installed and becomes
immediately usable.
By default, the extension will keep three most recent backups with no limits regarding the space they use. This can be changed in the extension / add-on options page in your browser.
Local TiddlyWiki files open in browser are automatically recognized by the extension and when saved, instead of the usual download mechanism, the extension will try to save the TiddlyWiki file in place and also create a backup copy as per configuration. This mechanism is subject to limitations imposed by the browser security model and only works when the wiki file is within browser's downloads directory, or in any subdirectory thereof. Since Chrome and Firefox respect soft links, an example setup could be:
mkdir ~/Documents/wiki
mv wiki.html ~/Documents/wiki/index.html
ln -s ~/Documents/wiki ~/Downloads/
Chrome can open local html files in application mode, which allows a much better integration with the desktop.
Please see provided tiddlywiki.desktop and linux-desktop.sh, they can be used as follows:
./linux-desktop-integration.sh ~/Downloads/wiki/index.html
In Windows or macOS custom Chrome "shortcuts" can be configured to improve the user experience, too.
Furthermore, to increase isolation, a dedicated Chrome instance can be pointed to a separate user data directory and have a custom downloads directory configured as needed.