I love bookmarklets. They are a handy way to get more functionality out of your browser on certain web pages. If you've never heard of them, a bookmarklet is simply a bookmark consisting of Javascript code instead of a website address. When you click a bookmarklet while on a web page, it will perform some kind of function on that page. Sounds kind of techie, but give it a try.
To use one of my bookmarklets, simply drag a red button below up to your bookmarks bar. Then just click it while on an appropriate web page.
short URL v0.4 — This bookmarklet uses a website's own capabilities to shorten the URL (as opposed to using a 3rd party URL shortener). For example, if you've ever seen a really long Amazon URL, perhaps you didn't realize that all you really need is the product's dp number. Consider this URL for my brother's book:
The above URL includes tracking codes, the product title, etc. Well, all you really need is this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732951209/
To use it, simply click the bookmarklet while on any Amazon product web page. It'll display for you the shortened URL which you can then copy and paste or visit just to be sure it works. This bookmarklet works on the following web sites:
amazon.com, ebay.com, etsy.com, indeed.com, walmart.com, youtube.com
If you know of other sites that you'd like me to add or figure out, just let me know.
search this v0.2 — This bookmarklet searches for any text that you highlight on the web page. Just highlight the text and click the bookmarklet. If you don't highlight anything, it'll prompt you to enter the text to search for.
But here's the cool part. If you enter (or highlight) a tracking code for USPS or UPS, it'll take you directly to their appropriate shipment tracking page. Otherwise, it'll perform a Google search.
go to date — Quickly go to a specific date in your Google calendar.
What about security?
So, are these things safe? I'll answer that two ways. First, yes. Of course they're safe. But secondly, the code is there for you to inspect if you want. Just edit the bookmark like you would any bookmark (right click on it, select "Edit"). The URL field contains all of the code. Now, I must warn you that the code may look nasty and difficult to read because it's all on one line. But you can copy and paste it into any text editor (i.e. Notepad) and look it over. You can even edit it and make your own bookmarklet if you want. The source code is 100% Javascript and it's open for all to see.