ClipClip vs. Ma.gnolia 157 days ago by Justin Perkins – Skip to comments

I just recently discovered a really cool little web application called ClipClip. It helps me save little bits of information from webpages I visit. It’s cool because it allows me to save snipits that I would normally remember by bookmarking. I hate bookmarking. I rarely do it and when I do, I usually forget to come back later and visit the supposed special page I bookmarked.

Just another del.icio.us right?

Not exactly. More like ma.gnolia

If you’re not familiar with magnolia or clipclip, in a nutshell they are like delicious, but with the ability to highlight segments of text and then save them through the use of a handy bookmarklet. It’s really great for things like classifieds (or any other listing page) where you probably had to search for data and it’s hard to use bookmarks because you were submitting a form (search criteria).

I’m using clipclip like crazy right now because I’m looking at houses for sale in Austin. It may not look like the prettiest app on the block, but where it lacks in looks it makes up in providing exactly what I need (and not much more). Not only can I save blurbs of text (read: classified listing), but it saves images as well. As far as I know, only clipclip allows you to save images and text, all with a kickass bookmarklet.

The creators of clipclip have some JavaScript chops to show you they aren’t messing around, which is something Magnolia is greatly lacking in the “slick” JavaScript department, in my humble opinion.

Instead of going on and on, how about a little side-by-side opinionated comparison?

Why I like clipclip:

1. Small featureset
2. One bookmarklet
3. Video showing how to use
4. Amazing JavaScript to save highlighted text/images
5. Low learning curve
6. Easy to remember/type domain name
7. Written with Ruby on Rails

Why I don’t like clipclip:

1. Markup needs work (spotted: layout-related tables!)
2. Design (or lack thereof) is scary

Why I like magnolia:

1. Well designed (aesthetically)
2. Great markup/CSS

Why I don’t like magnolia

1. Can’t save images
2. Too many features
3. Too many bookmarklets
4. High (higher than clipclip anyway) learning curve
5. No video showing how to use
6. Trendy, hard to remember domain name

What Do I Like the Best?

ClipClip of course!