XML Bookmark Exchange Language (XBEL) gets a proper home

XML Bookmark Exchange Language (XBEL)

The Python XML SIG has had some really great times in its history. One of the highlights is the development of XML Bookmark Exchange Language (XBEL). In September of 1998, just as I was joining the group, they were developing this bookmarks exchange language that's still used in more browsers and bookmark management projects than any other particular format. The XML-SIG has fallen on quiet times, and one of the side effects of this is that additional work on XBEL has been neglected.

Earlier this year we agreed on the SIG to give XBEL its own home on SourceForge, but no one stepped up to make it happen, until John L. Clark got to it last week (thanks, John).

XBEL's new home is http://sourceforge.net/projects/xbel/. The old home is still up, but I think we should move it to http://xbel.sourceforge.net/, with some updates and maybe a design update (maybe make the page XHTML). We'll be discussing such things on the new XBEL mailing list, so please come join us. The main goal is to add more features to XBEL needed for its original role in browser bookmarks exchange, but I'm also interested in making it a useful format for general Web resource lists such as feed lists (e.g. a superior alternative to OPML).

John wrote up a good summary of recent discussions of XBEL.

I'll have more on our efforts summarized here on Copia as we progress.

[Uche Ogbuji]

via Copia
1 response
Thanks for the announcement, Uche. 



To anyone interested in XBEL:



I have planned on migrating the site over.  At the moment I'm working on converting the old spec from LaTeX to DocBook for future work, at which point I can post it on the site.  I am very close to being finished with that; next on my TODO list is to develop an initial layout for the new site, which will largely be a reflection of the current site.  I will post to the mailing list once I get the initial vestiges of the site up and running, and hopefully we can discuss things from there.



While you're waiting, why not look over and comment on some of our initial thoughts on link clustering?[0]



[0] http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=14030904