What are bookmarklets?

Bookmarklets are like bookmarks on steroids. A standard bookmark allows you to click it (or select it from your Bookmarks menu) and quickly go to a web page. A Bookmarklet behaves the same way, but it does extra stuff. For example, if you have the bookmarklet below named "People Search" saved in your browser, then you simple click it in your Bookmark Toolbar and it will immediately prompt you to enter a name; when you click OK, it takes you to the SNC directory search with the results. This saves you many keystrokes normally required by going to the web page then searching.

The "People Search" bookmarklet works fine, no matter what web page you're currently on (because it has nothing to do with the web page). But some bookmarklets are highly dependent on the web page that you're currently on. For example, the "Printer Friendly" bookmarklet below only works on St. Norbert web pages that were generated in Cascade. The "Wayback" bookmarklet takes you to the Wayback web site, showing you archived versions of the web page you're on.

I highly recommend that you just try one first, to see how they work. You have to use bookmarklets to appreciate them.

Information about bookmarklets can be found at Wikipedia and Google.

Do you know of any good bookmarklets that would benefit an SNC user?

Yep. I've written a few that are handy for use here at St. Norbert College. Perhaps you'll find them handy too:

Link Description
Same Window New Window
Form Tester   fills in a form with dummy text; great for form testing
Go Go enter a "go" keyword and it takes you there
People Search People Search allows you to search the SNC people directory by name
Printer Friendly   gives you a printer friendly version of an SNC web page
Printer Friendly Directory   gives you a printer friendly version of all pages in the same directory as an SNC web page
Quick Page Quick page enter a directory name like 'it' and it takes you to that URL on the SNC web site; it simply prepends "http://www.snc.edu/" to your entry then takes you there, so you can also enter something like "techsupport/staff.html"
Wayback   allows you to view older versions of the current web page; see what our web site looked like back in 1997!
Web Search Web Search allows you to search the SNC web site

How do I save a bookmarklet in Firefox?

Right click on it, select "Bookmark This Link". In the "Create In" field, select "Bookmarks Toolbar". Click OK.
- OR -
Drag the link to your Bookmarks Toolbar.

What is a Bookmarks Toolbar? How do I turn it on?

The Bookmarks Toolbar provides easy access to your most frequently used bookmarks. You can turn it on by selecting View -> Toolbars -> Bookmarks Toolbar. Gunnar Jurdzik, the owner of the unofficial Mozilla FAQ site, has created a nice Firefox Bookmarks Tutorial.

How do I change the name of a bookmarklet once it's saved?

Right click on it, select "Properties", change the name, click "OK".

It's important to know that the amount of space that a bookmarklet takes up in your Bookmarks Toolbar depends completely on the length of its name. So, feel free to make up abbreviated versions of your bookmarklet names to save space. For example, if you're using the "Printer Friendly" bookmarklet above, you may want to change it's name to "PF".

How do I delete a bookmarklet in Firefox?

Right click on it, select "Delete".

How do I save a bookmarklet in a different browser?

Use Firefox.

Who writes/creates bookmarklets?

Anyone can (if you know how). There are web sites that have hundreds of standard bookmarklets that you can get for free (I've never seen anyone charge for bookmarklets). Try the Google link above.

What if I have a need for a bookmarklet but can't find a good one anywhere?

Ask me. I'll probably write one for you.

What if I'm still a bit confused, and I'm not sure if I need a bookmarklet or not?

Call me (x.3149). I'll be happy to explain further, and even walk you through a quick demo.

 


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