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I use multiple Tiddlywiki and WikiOnAStick files to store data, and those files rewrite themself on-disk each time an edit is made. Until recently, each time I made the first edit, the browser would pop up a "warning" asking if I wanted to permit the file to write to disk, which I would obviously answer with "Yes", and "remember this setting" (and then Firefox would forget the next time the browser was closed and later restarted).

Well, now with Firefox 16, they've "closed the security hole" that permitted those files to rewrite themselves on disk... but not completely. Finally, the files that I had repeatedly told older versions of Firefox to remember to permit to write themself to disk aren't asking anymore, and are just silently working. But, any new WikiOnAStick or Tiddlywiki are just patently refused (by Firefox) the ability to write whatsoever.

The Tiddlywiki guys have worked out a solution where you can install an extension to re-enable the save function for their files. It is nice that they were able to do that, but they shouldn't have had to in the first case, and this doesn't help for new instances of WikiOnAStick.

The selective permitting of previously known files to rewrite themself leads me to believe that there is a white list somewhere in Firefox that tells it that those files are trusted.

So, with that, I get back to the question. How do I add a file to Firefox's hidden white list of trusted files?

Some recommendations I've found involve installing an older version of Firefox somewhere to use just for WikiOnAStick (and maybe Tiddlywiki) instances. But, I'm not interested in having another browser window open all the time, and last I checked, Firefox didn't let you open multiple instances at a time. So this "solution" is a non-starter.

I figure there's some way of hacking the Tiddlywiki extension to also supply the save ability again to WikiOnAStick files too. But then I'm sure there are other similar projects that are now rendered valueless without the ability to save. The problem is in Firefox. That's what I want to fix. I don't want to have to "pop a pill" to "abate the symptom" (possibly causing some other symptom later).

[edit] In the past couple weeks, it looks like whatever tolerance Firefox was showing for known files that I had self-edited has completely dried up, and the files I prefer to use most are now "stuck" in their last state.

I really don't want to have to go installing an old version of Firefox, or worse, whipping up a VM from an old, insecure version of Ubuntu or Vector Linux. But I will if I have to. And if I have to, I'll have even more reason to want to ditch recent builds of these browsers that seem to be forgetting or missing the point entirely.

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  • Not an answer so I'll put it as a comment but have you tried TW v5? five.tiddlywiki.com Jan 20, 2013 at 15:51
  • @JulianKnight It looks nice, but the interface seems to be lacking. Maybe that's from not seeing the TiddlyWiki controls I'm used to. Probably why it hasn't been promoted to be the default Tiddlywiki yet.
    – killermist
    Jan 20, 2013 at 16:49
  • Yeah, I read a bit more and realised that it is still Alpha quality - due for release by the end of this year though it's been a work in progress for at least a couple of years now. I've used TW a lot in the past but it is getting rather less relevant now unfortunately as it isn't keeping up with current technology trends. Jan 20, 2013 at 18:45
  • BTW, this is a creeping problem. IE was the first to block file access, followed by Chrome and now FF. However, there ARE replacement HTML5 technologies that would work better using a combination of offline files and local data storage. Jan 20, 2013 at 18:47
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    Just a mention that you can run a new instance of another profile by using the -no-remote command line, if you do decide to go down that route. Jan 21, 2013 at 2:24

2 Answers 2

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There is a Firefox extension called TiddlyFox that lets Tiddlywiki write to the local filesystem.

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  • I have that installed to use with Tiddlywiki, but it doesn't help at all for getting WikiOnAStick to function correctly again.
    – killermist
    Oct 21, 2013 at 0:16
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Try using Tiddly Desktop. It runs as a browser specifically to process Tiddlywiki files.

if you refer to https://tiddlywiki.com/ it lists a number of approaches that gets around the problem of saving caused by increased browser security. The info is in the "Saving" tiddler.

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