Bookmarklets are small
cross-platform JavaScript programs that can be contained as
URLs within the
bookmarks of most popular
web browsers, or within
hyperlinks on a
web page. Because Microsoft
Internet Explorer uses the term
favorites instead of
bookmarks,
they are also less commonly called
favelets.
Bookmarklets can be saved and used like normal webpage bookmarks. They are therefore simple "one click" tools which can add substantial functionality to the browser, for example:
- Modify the way a web page is displayed within the browser (change the font size, background color etc.)
- Extract data from a web page (links, images, text ..)
- Jump directly to a search engine, with the search term(s) input either from a pop up[?] dialog box or from a selection already made on the web page
- Submit the page to a validation service and display the results
The first Bookmarklets were named and created by Steve Kangas of www.bookmarklets.com (http://www.bookmarklets.com/) from an idea suggested in the Netscape JavaScript Guide.
- Jesse's Bookmarklets Site (http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/) by Jesse Ruderman. Contains bookmarklets for several different categories (links, forms, text and data, "annoyances", web development etc.). They have been tested on Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla and Opera.
- web-graphics (http://web-graphics.com/), "a daily compilation of hypertext design resources, links, commentary and notes" which occasionally posts bookmarklets.