General-Use Bookmarklets

Bookmarklets are short JavaScript programs that you activate by selecting a bookmark in your browser. They can save you lots of time. Here's the ones I use frequently. Some of these may have been snagged from Bookmarklets.com, most, if not all, have been modified in some way. I store them in an "Answers" folder on my Mozilla Bookmarks toolbar and on my Internet Explorer Links toolbar.

To save a bookmarklet do one of the following:

  1. Click and drag the bookmarklet's link to your bookmarks (or links or personal) toolbar.
  2. Right click on the bookmarklet's link and add a bookmark for the link.

Tip: Most of these bookmarklets will use selected text. For example, let's say you see a word on a web page that you don't know and you want to get a definition of it. Simply highlight the word and click one of the Dictionary bookmarklets. Instant definition! If nothing is selected, the bookmarklets will show a prompt box.

I also have bookmarklets for Open Directory Project (DMoz) Editors and to help you track Bugs in Mozilla.

Navigation

Up (N3,N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Takes you up a level in the site directory structure. Extremely useful if a search engine dumps you into the middle of a site and you want to see higher level pages or if the page is 404. Try it here and go to the WorldTimZone home page.
Find (N4,Moz)
Why Netscape decided to take this off the toolbar I'll never know. Put it back. Search the current page for what you want! Don't be confused and think this searches the web; It only searches the page you're currently viewing.
List all links (N4,Moz)
Pops up a list of all the links on the current page. Great for printing the links with their URLs. When you click on a link in the list window it is opened in the original window. Doesn't work with frames.
List all links (IE4)
Pops up a list of all the links on the current page. Great for printing the links with their URLs. When you click on a link in the list window it is opened in the original window. Doesn't work with frames.
Dup (N3,N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Duplicates the current page in a new window. Makes it easy to copy a page so you can return to it later.
Go to URL (N4,Moz)
Select a URL on a page and click this bookmarklet to visit it. You can select plain URLs like www.example.com or ones that include the protocol like http://www.example.com/ If nothing is selected, it will prompt for a URL to go to.
Go to URL (IE4,IE5)
Select a URL on a page and click this bookmarklet to visit it. You can select plain URLs like www.example.com or ones that include the protocol like http://www.example.com/ If nothing is selected, it will prompt for a URL to go to.
Back to Link Page (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5) new
Takes you back to the page that had the link you clicked. This is helpful if you opened a new window or tab for a link and want to go back to the page you came from.

Convenience

Rename Tab (Moz) new
Lets you change the title of the web page window or tab. This might be useful if you're working with a lot of similarly named tabs.
Google! (N4,Moz)
Instant Google Search - use selection or type in keywords
Google! (IE4,IE5)
Instant Google Search - use selection or type in keywords
InferenceFind (N4,Moz)
Instant search with selection or type in keywords for http://www.infind.com/
InferenceFind (IE4,IE5)
Instant search with selection or type in keywords for http://www.infind.com/
AltaVista (N4,Moz)
I used to search AltaVista all the time. I realized the other day that I haven't used AltaVista in more than a year. Google and DMoz are about all I need. Still, this is great bookmarklet because it pops to AV's text only interface. Very fast.
AltaVista (IE4,IE5)
I used to search AltaVista all the time. I realized the other day that I haven't used AltaVista in more than a year. Google and DMoz are about all I need. Still, this is great bookmarklet because it pops to AV's text only interface. Very fast.
DMoz (N4,Moz)
Instant DMoz Search - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
DMoz (IE4,IE5)
Instant DMoz Search - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
IMDb (N4,Moz)
Find information about films or actors from the Internet Movie Database. - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
IMDb (IE4,IE5)
Find information about films or actors from the Internet Movie Database. - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
KLOV (N4,Moz) new
Find information about classic arcade video games. - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
KLOV (IE4,IE5) new
Find information about classic arcade video games. - Uses the current selection or lets you type in keywords.
HotBot (N4,Moz)
Select text or enter keywords in HotBot
HotBot (IE4,IE5)
Select text or enter keywords in HotBot
Ask Jeeves (N4,Moz)
Select text or enter keywords. Ask Jeeves likes question words: Where can I find... What is....
Ask Jeeves (IE4,IE5)
Select text or enter keywords. Ask Jeeves likes question words: Where can I find... What is....
Yahoo (N4,Moz)
Do you, um, yahoo!? Select text or enter keywords.
Yahoo (IE4,IE5)
Do you, um, yahoo!? Select text or enter keywords.
About.com (N4,Moz)
(The site that was the Mining Co way back when...)
About.com (IE4,IE5)
(The site that was the Mining Co way back when...)

Uncovering lost treasures

Wayback Machine (N4,Moz,IE5)
Find a URL in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. This a nice way to check the history of a page or do historical research.
Google Cache (N4,Moz,IE5)
Find a URL in the Google cache. Apparently this is also available from the PageInfo button on the Google Toolbar and the Googlebar. Inspired by a post by Jon Udell. This is extremely useful if the page has been slashdotted or the site is down.
Coralize (N4,Moz,IE5) new
Find a URL in the Coral NYU Distribution Network. Adds .nyud.net:8090 to the end of a hostname to have the Coral proxy fetch the page and deliver it to you from its cache. Can be helpful with slashdotted or banned sites.

Religion and Christianity

Bible Gateway (N4,Moz)
Look up a passage in the Bible (New King James Version). You can select a reference (book ch:vs) or enter one when prompted. Edit the version= part of this bookmarklet if you prefer a different translation or paraphrase. In addition to the NKJV, the Bible Gateway supports NIV, RSV, KJV, NASB and more.
Bible Gateway (IE4,IE5)
Look up a passage in the Bible (New King James Version). You can select a reference (book ch:vs) or enter one when prompted. Edit the version= part of this bookmarklet if you prefer a different translation or paraphrase. In addition to the NKJV, the Bible Gateway supports NIV, RSV, KJV, NASB and more.
Find Saint (by name) (N4,Moz)
Search for a saint by name to find the feastday or nameday on the Orthodox Ministry ACCESS Saint of the Day calendar. Just select a name and use the bookmarklet or type one at the prompt.
Find Saint (by name) (IE4,IE5)
Search for a saint by Name to find the feastday or nameday on the Orthodox Ministry ACCESS Saint of the Day calendar. Just select a name and use the bookmarklet or type one at the prompt.
Find Saint (by name - OCA) (N4,Moz) Broken by OCA redesign - Mar 3, 2005
Search for a saint by name on the OCA feasts and saints site. You can select a name and use the bookmarklet or type a name at the prompt.
Find Saint (by name - OCA) (IE4,IE5) Broken by OCA redesign - Mar 3, 2005
Search for a saint by name on the OCA feasts and saints site. You can select a name and use the bookmarklet or type a name at the prompt.
Orthodox Calendar (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Find what feasts or saints are commemorated today (or enter a date) on the Orthodox Ministry ACCESS Saint of the Day calendar
Orthodox Calendar (OCA) (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5) Broken by OCA redesign - Mar 3, 2005
Find what feasts or saints are commemorated today (or enter a date) according to the OCA Feasts and Saints of the Day calendar
Orthodox Calendar (New Skete) (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Find what feasts or saints are commemorated today (or enter a date) according to the Orthodox calendar as used by New Skete monastery.
Today's Readings (OCA) (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5) Broken by OCA redesign - Mar 3, 2005
Get the scripture readings and the hymns for the feasts or saints of the day from the OCA website.
Today's Hymns (OCA) (N4,Moz,IE4,IE5) new
Get the troparia and kontakia hymns for the feasts or saints of the day from the OCA website. (A replacement for the one above that was broken by their site redesign.)
Today's Epistle (OCA) (N4,Moz,IE5) new
Get today's epistle reading from the OCA website.
Today's Gospel (OCA) (N4,Moz,IE5) new
Get the today's gospel reading from the OCA website.

Word definitions

Check Dict.org (N4,Moz)
Get instant definition of a word using Dict.org.
Check Dict.org (IE4,IE5)
Get instant definition of a word using Dict.org.
Define a word (N4,Moz)
Get instant definition of all words longer than 3 letters.
Define a word (IE4,IE5)
Get instant definition of all words longer than 3 letters.
Dictionary (M-W) (N4,Moz)
Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Dictionary (M-W) (IE4,IE5)
Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Thesaurus (M-W) (N4,Moz)
Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Thesaurus.
Thesaurus (M-W) (IE4,IE5)
Look up a word in the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Thesaurus.
Thesaurus (Roget's) (N4,Moz)
Look up a word in Roget's Interactive Thesaurus.
Thesaurus (Roget's) (IE4,IE5)
Look up a word in Roget's Interactive Thesaurus.
Acronym Finder (N4,Moz)
Found an acronym you don't know? Try this bookmarklet.
Computer Dictionary (N4,Moz)
Look up words in the FOLDOC Computer dictionary. The main site is at http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html

Recipes

Epicurious Recipes (N4,Moz)
SOAR Recipes (N4,Moz)

Translate this!

Google Translate (N4,Moz,IE) new
Translates the current page into English using the Google translation service.
Translate this page (N4,Moz,IE)
Uses BabelFish to translate the current page.
Translate InterTran (N4,Moz,IE)
Translates the current page.
Translate Go.com (N4,Moz,IE)
Translates the current page.

Web Developer

View HTTP headers and HTML source (N3,N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Uses the terrific Mozilla web-sniffer tool to show the complete headers and html source of the current page.
View HTTP headers (verbose) and HTML source (N3,N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Same as above, but uses the verbose mode of terrific Mozilla web-sniffer tool to show the complete headers and html source of the current page.
View Source (N3,N4,Moz,IE4,IE5)
Pops up the source of the current page.
View Venkman Source (Moz)
If you have Venkman (JavaScript debugger) installed and running, this bookmarklet will give you the source of the current page. It includes line numbers so this is a work around for bug 15364!
View Generated Source (IE5,N6,Moz)
Shows the generated source of the page. This is a work around for the problem that Mozilla cannot view the source of a form post (bug 55583). This builds a source view from what's currently in the browser window. This bookmarklet is also useful for seeing the results of a javascript dynamically generated page. I've noticed that ampersands sometimes are not the & entity as in the original source.
View Syntax Highlighted Generated Source (N6,Moz)
Builds the source from a page directly from the DOM (like previous bookmarklet), but then passes it as a data stream to view source. I couldn't find a good (quick/efficient) way to escape the special characters, so this may be very slow for long pages. I've noticed that ampersands sometimes are not the & entity as in the original source.
Form values (N4,Moz,IE) new
Generates a list of the names and current values from the forms on a page. It shows only the checked value for checkboxes or a radio button set. Update: It now lists the values of ALL forms on the page and not just the first one.
Convert string to HTML entities (Moz,IE)
Lets you enter a text string and then it shows it converted to HTML entities (sometimes called ampersand entities) that look like &#nnn;, where nnn is a decimal number. I needed a quick way to do this to help internationalize a product, so I made a bookmarklet. Note that this converts every character, which generally isn’t necessary for ASCII.

Note: Items marked with new were added or updated after February 01, 2004.