fyi-bookmarklets

bookmarklets to easily create an email from the browser with the current page title, url and any selected text in the new email

The "fyi" bookmarklets make it easy to select text on a web page and fire off an email that quotes the selection and includes the page title and URL.

All of that is done without you doing copy-and-paste work or back-and-forth app switching.

Available v2.8.0 versions include:

fyi-webkit - optimized for iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod) and Chrome
fyi-firefox - optimized for Firefox to support address bar with custom keyword %s argument
fyi-ie - works with Internet Explorer and its (odd-to-me) DOM selected text methods

Install

Desktop browser

Drag the desired bookmark to the bookmark bar or add bookmark/favorite. Optionally edit or rename the bookmark/favorite. Firefox users may want to set bookmark properties so the Name is "fyi email" the custom Keyword is "fyi" for reasons detailed in Usage below.

fyi-webkit - fyi
fyi-firefox - fyi
fyi-ie - fyi

Mobile browser
Tap the link below, bookmark the new page and follow the instructions on the page to turn a saved bookmark into a JavaScript bookmarklet.

Setup fyi-webkit - Setup fyi

Usage

General Use
Visit a web page. Activate the fyi bookmarklet (click it on bookmark bar or use the Bookmarks/Favorites menu).

The fyi bookmarklet will open a new email with the page title in the subject line, the page title repeated again in the body, along with the selected text (if any text was selected), and the URL of the original page.

iPad Use
For quick access, store the “fyi” bookmark in the “Bookmarks” folder. Use the Settings app, Safari settings to set Always Show Bookmarks Bar to ON. With one tap, you'll be able to send a nicely formatted email with the current page's title, URL, and any selected text.

Quick Use
With Firefox you'll be able to do something like:

Cmd-L/Ctr-L fyi user@domain.com Enter

For details see Firefox Custom Keywords below.

Firefox Custom Keywords
Each bookmark in Firefox can have attributes including a Name, Tags, and a Keyword. Custom keywords can be used with a dynamic "replacement string" for the bookmark location (URL or javascript:…). For general information on Custom Keywords, see Firefox Custom Keywords.

The fyi Firefox bookmarklet can take advantage of a Custom Keyword, and a replacement string (to pre-address the email). The recommended bookmark Name is "fyi email" since this gives a syntax hint when using it. The recommended Keyword is "fyi".

Given a designated keyword (ie, "fyi"), the bookmarklet can be activated by typing the keyword in the address bar and pressing enter. The intended syntax is:

fyi [emailAddress(es)]

The optional argument is one or more email addresses, separated by semicolons. The email address(es) will be put in the TO field of the new email. Outlook users can include multiple recpients using syntax like:

fyi Lastname1,Firstname1;Lastname2,Firstname2;…

There is a Known Issue with using Custom Keywords— the current page URL appears properly in the email, but is over-written in the browser's address bar. The work-around is as follows: when you return to the browser, click in the address bar and then press Esc.

Requirements

Web browser. Tested with Firefox 3.6-41.x, Safari 5.x-9.x, Mobile Safari 4.x-9.0.x, and who uses IE 8 anymore?

Source Code Notes

Source code is available as text files for each bookmarklet.

License

MIT License - http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

Author

Tom King (mobilemind@pobox.com)

Download

You can download this project in either zip or tar formats.

You can also clone the project with Git by running:
$ git clone git://github.com/mobilemind/fyi-bookmarklets