Estimated time: 1 hour
A 30 minutes project. We simply create a floating landmark list (fixed, semi-transparent), and we can create landmarks (named anchors) on a page: no fuss, we just use absolute positioning in body. Useful when reading long documents. Loaded through a bookmarklet. Could have a server-side part to save the list.
I propose to do this using jQuery. I'll use Django if I do the server part, but it could be anything, really.
Tasks
- Adding a landmark: just a floating piece of text
- The floating landmark list
- Maybe a server-side component with a simple table: URL, landmark text, x, y
Well, I didn't see it as something you'd share, but it could be done if we have enough manpower on the team :P
I see this as a tool you'd use in pages in which you go back and forth when reading (say when you're reading source code online: you put sort of reference points to navigate more easily, like bookmarks for text positions).
Actually, hey, we could create a cross-page version of this: it wouldn't be much more expensive. You come to the site, create a new "landmark list", give it a name, and then add landmarks that accumulate over different pages in that list.
1 year ago
OK it was clearly time for progress here! :P So I've coded a first draft of a bookmarklet, works pretty well, actually, with some quick smoke tests in FF3: http://fsavard.com/code/landmarks.js.
Basically you add the code for the bookmarklet (given at top of script) in a bookmark, go to a page, click the bookmark. Then if all goes well a floating box should appear. Afterwards, select some text, click "New landmark..." and it should add links based on your selection, to make it easier to come back.
Some possible remaining tasks: * saving bookmarks to server-side (right now they aren't saved anywhere) * testing this in other browsers, more pages (this is a bookmarklet after all... its immune system needs strenghtening) * code some pretty CSS/layout for the box, since they links inherit the page's style, the button is an ugliness incarnate, etc.
EDIT: other tasks * add functionality to bookmarklet: * hide the box, * add something visible in the page for each landmark (possible by modifying the node that gets inserted as landmark [HTML_REMOVED])
Other?
1 year ago
Nice job on the frontend. I forked the project and added the js to the repository. http://github.com/webiest/landmarks/tree/master
1 year ago
Created a Google App Engine account to house the bookmarklet and the accompanying web service.
The name "landmarks" wasn't available, so I took the liberty of renaming the project to Instamarks. I updated the github repository to reflect the name change.
1 year ago
http://github.com/webiest/landmarks/tree/master Created initial appengine app, moved some files around and made index page for draggable bookmarklet.
1 year ago
I'm working on a more compact UI for the bookmarklet itself. I added a stylesheet for the website, too.
I don't think we need to authenticate users with any kind of password - all people can save are html anchors on public pages - so I think we can get by with our own Users model that has an ID (string, 3-15 characters), maybe a hidden email address, and a timestamp rather than make people use their gmail accounts to log in.
1 year ago
Nice. Looking forward to seeing the changes. I agree about the user auth, lets keep it as simple as possible.
1 year ago
I updated the bookmarklet UI substantially and deployed the latest code to App Engine.
1 year ago
Hey, how about we make the instamarks bookmarklet the actual add button, so it instantly adds the selected text? And if you don't have any text selected, it shows you each page and which instamarks you have on that page. This would be more efficient.
1 year ago
I have an idea for a modification that can also be used for http://www.clusterify.com/projects/list/psytek/43/. When a user clicks anywhere on a page that is not a link, a textarea comes up allowing you to add a note, when you submit the note, a small marker appears where you clicked and an index on the side lists all of your items.
1 year ago
Nice work jccovey, I like the new UI. I agree landmarks could be saved publicly, but otherwise Google accounts could be used (real simple).
As for the notes and markers, there are already many webapps offering such features, I think. Diigo springs to my mind.
(Sorry for lack of updates, I've been away traveling for 3 weeks)
1 year ago
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What would you say are some possible functions of a landmark bookmarklet? Will landmarks be shared among all users? I'm curious about the potential use cases, but I'm happy to help implement the idea.
1 year ago