bookmarklets
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Quix makes bookmarklets even easier to use
Bookmarklets are one of my favorite things. I have an entire folder of them in my Safari Bookmark Bar for Instapaper and Readability and bit.ly and Pukka and Tumblr and ... well, you get the idea. They're incredibly handy for doing "something" with the current webpage that you are viewing, or quickly looking up other information. Quix has come up with a way to make them even better. It calls itself "Your Bookmarklets, On Steroids" and it's hard to argue with that description. Imagine all of your bookmarklets together in one, and being able to come up with shortcuts to trigger each one. The interface is extremely minimal: a javascript popup window with a text input space. What you type in that space dictates what happens next. Quix comes with a bunch of commands already built-in, and using them is a breeze. The syntax couldn't be simpler: just type a command shortcut (such as "imdb") followed by a word or words (like "ghostbusters" or "raiders of the lost ark"), then press Return. As Jeff Goldblum used to say "There's no step three." Some of the other built-in commands: Search IMDB: "imdb search word(s)" Search Google: "g search word(s)" Search Google Images: "img search word(s)" Search Wikipedia: "w search word(s)" Search only the current site using Google: "gs search word(s)" Reformat the current page using Readability: "read" Share on Tumblr: "tumblr" Share on Facebook: "fb" Share on Delicious: "db" Clip current page in Evernote: "evernote" There are scads more for shortening links, sending the page to other programs like CSSEdit, MarsEdit, Pukka, Tweetie, or many others. and if you don't find the one you want, you can add your own using Quix's easy syntax in a plain text file (Mine is available for anyone who wants to use it.) If you still are not convinced, checkout their two minute video which shows it in action. By the time I finished watching it, I was already sold. Instead of an entire folder of bookmarklets, I have one for Quix, which does everything that I did before, and more. Oh, and one more thing: since this is just javascript, it also works on Mobile Safari on the iPhone. Ever tried to find a specific word on a long page of text in Mobile Safari? It can be a real hassle. With Quix, just type "find search word(s)" and Quix will highlight all instances of the word on the current page and show you the first one. Quix is incredibly handy. Check it out at Quixapp.com.
Automatically paste your way to bookmarklet happiness
Awesome TUAW Reader Tom King enjoyed using my javascript iPastelet (his phrase--isn't it great?) and created this interactive tool that automates the bookmarklet design process. His web form lets you specify the text to paste and the bookmarklet name. You can even skip the "Paste here" confirmation alert and paste into the first available field. Click "Make iPastelet", drag the link into your bookmarks and you're ready to sync. Cool stuff. Read more about here. Great job, Tom.
TUAW Responds: Reader Requests iPhone Javascript Pasting
TUAW reader jadam asks if someone would please code up a bookmarklet that allows you to paste into website fields. It's a bit of a hack but I've put together this bookmarklet that you can sync to your iPhone and paste a pre-defined phrase into Safari. This version pastes the word TUAW but you can easily replace TUAW (defined by "replacetext") with any other phrase. The bookmarklet iterates through all the form fields on your page, allowing you to select where to paste. You're welcome, jadam!
Tabulate adds Safari "tabs" to iPhone and iPod touch
Now here's a clever trick. Inventive Labs Gadgets has designed a Safari bookmarklet that adds "tabs" to your iPhone browsing experience. Just drag their bookmarklet into your Safari bookmarks bar, then sync your iPhone or iPod touch. (Make sure you've selected Info > Web browser > Sync Safari bookmarks in iTunes.) Once synced, open a web page and then choose Tabulate from your iPhone bookmarks list. A small orange icon appears at the top-left of the screen. Next, tap on any link. The three-button control window shown here appears. Tap on blue to open the link in the current tab, green to open the link in a new tab (i.e. a new Safari page, in iPhone terms), and orange to add the link to the list of flagged links to open later. The flagged items appear in orange at the top-left of the screen. So how does it work? Not too badly. It's a little annoying opening the bookmarklet for each page and sometimes the javascript "took" better on some pages than others. That being said, I found it very useful to have around and it's staying in my permanent collection of iPhone javascript bookmarklets. Good job, Inventive Labs guys! Thanks, Virginia. There really is a javascript clause.
