Two Bookmarklets

13/07/2024

Listen "Two Bookmarklets"

Episode Synopsis


I love bookmarklets. They are an incredibly useful way to add browser functionality without extensions. I have two I want to share with you.
If you think the code for either of these is inefficient, just reply to me on Mastodon or send an email. I’m not an expert here.
To make a bookmarklet, bookmark any page inside Favorites. Then, choose “Edit Address…” and paste the javascript. Rename the bookmarklet to whatever you like.

Wikipedia
This opens a new tab and searches the English Wikipedia for the selected text on the current page. If you’ve selected no text, it goes to the Wikipedia home page. You can edit this for other versions of Wikipedia.
This is a lot faster than “Look Up” or “Search” in Safari.
javascript:(function(){var selectedText=window.getSelection().toString().trim();var searchUrl=selectedText?'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search='+encodeURIComponent(selectedText):'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page';window.open(searchUrl,'_blank');})();

Wayback Machine
This searches for previous incarnations of the current page on the Wayback Machine from Archive.org. Any time I hit a dead link or a paywall, I click this.
javascript:(function()%7Bvar%20url%20%3D%20document.URL%3B%0Avar%20newURL%20%3D%20%60https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F%24%7Burl%7D%60%3B%0A%0Awindow.location.href%20%3D%20newURL%3B%7D)()%3B

Got a bookmarklet you love? Share it with me! I’m curious.

More episodes of the podcast LMNT

Nob 14/01/2026
Star Wars 13/01/2026
Philly 05/01/2026
2026 01/01/2026
Willow 31/12/2025
Grid 26/12/2025
Big Day 25/12/2025