“Notes” is a browser extension that helps explore all the notes or comments that were left behind in the code which makes up a website. Understanding a website as more than the designed layer you interact with, but also a written document performed by machines. Documents that are not detached from the person who writes them, while they supposedly float in a void to perform actions. This tool exists for you and me to go on the same journey, exploring notes, artifacts, and other quirks of web-making—to cherish the personal aspect of leaving marks, notes or thoughts in the margins of code for others. And maybe, if you‘re not already doing it, encourage you to peek behind the curtain of what makes a website run.
This Browser extension was part of a Bachelor Project at HFBK Hamburg, 2025.
This extension searches a website for all comments, specifically the HTML document, as well as all linked and inline CSS Stylesheets and Javascript Files.
Notes has two ways of displaying the comments. These can be used together or seperatly.
The Notes Reader is a small overlay that is always part of the website and can be opened to read comments left. As soon as the reader is opened, it displays either HTML, CSS or Javascript comments in a full-screen view. In addition to the comments, further information is displayed, such as related elements, the file names in which the comments were found and the corresponding line numbers.
The Comment Markers refer specifically to HTML comments only and are an alternative view to the Notes Reader. The comment markers display the comments in relation to the following HTML element. The markers are positioned at the height of the respective HTML elements and display the content of the comment.
You can download the plugin here and manually install it. Here are two short guides on how to do it for Firefox and for Chrome.
Notes is also available in the Chrome Store and Firefox Add-on Store
GPL-3.0 license