How to use Linker

How to use Linker

Install Linker

Linker works on Chromium-based desktop browsers version 116 or newer, including Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, and compatible Chromium forks.

1. Open your browser's extensions page:
   • Chrome: chrome://extensions
   • Brave: brave://extensions
   • Edge: edge://extensions
2. Turn on Developer mode.
3. Choose Load unpacked and select the Linker directory.
4. Pin Linker to the browser toolbar from the extensions menu.

Linker does not currently have a Firefox build.

Description

At this time ( it will update ) it does the following:

Functionality

Add, Search, Delete, Edit go/link shortcuts

You can add, delete, overwrite go/link based URLs! As expected.

There's a search bar at the top, which you can use to search existing entries.

To create a shortcut, click Linker's toolbar icon to open the shortcut manager in the browser's side panel, then open Add new shortcut. Enter the website URL in Destination URL, enter the shortcut name after go/, and click Save shortcut. When opened from a page, Linker pre-fills the active page URL for you.

Shortcut names are case-insensitive and are stored in lowercase. They may not contain spaces or URL punctuation. Destination URLs must use http:// or https://.

Using go/links

You can both click on the extension's saved entries to go to the bookmark / shortcut, or type on your browser go/<value> to go whichever entry contains <value>.

For example:

go/gh --> redirects to --> https://github.com/

Dynamic syntax ( cool stuff! )

You can use variables or parameterized values on your go/links! Let me explain;

For example, if the destination URL for gh is https://github.com/{*}:

go/gh/taichikuji/linker --> redirects to --> github.com/taichikuji/linker

You can use {*} within a destination URL to redirect dynamically to said URL. This can help speed up a lot your browsing experience!

Another example:

go/issue/linker --> redirects to --> github.com/taichikuji/issues/linker

For the issue shortcut, the destination URL would be https://github.com/taichikuji/issues/{*}.

The Default go link to URL is required for a parameterized shortcut. It is used when you open go/issue without a value, and it is also the URL opened by the shortcut's button in the manager.

There's a lot that you can do purely based on this! And none is hardcoded, so you can customize this behaviour to your liking!

Import and export

You can export your database for sharing with another computer, or if you are going to reset your PC... Whatever you want to do. This allows you to essentially make a backup of your current state of the Linker Database.

It follows the same JSON nomenclature for exporting/importing as Linkify, hence it is directly compatible ( for now! ) and you can migrate easily to Linker if you want.

The export button downloads a JSON file named like linker-export-YYYY-MM-DD.json. Direct shortcuts use this format:

{
  "gh": "https://github.com/"
}

Parameterized shortcuts use an object containing both URLs:

{
  "issue": {
    "url": "https://github.com/taichikuji/Linker/issues/{*}",
    "fallbackUrl": "https://github.com/taichikuji/Linker/issues"
  }
}

When importing, existing shortcuts are only replaced after you confirm. Invalid shortcuts are skipped and the manager reports how many were skipped.

Permissions and privacy

Linker stores shortcuts in browser sync storage and does not send browsing data to an external service. The all-sites permission lets its local redirect rules recognize go/<shortcut> when the browser turns that text into a web request or search query.

Because the browser applies limits to sync storage and redirect rules, Linker displays a warning when you approach a limit and prevents saves or imports that exceed one.

The extension only redirects http:// and https:// destinations. It does not redirect browser-internal pages such as chrome:// URLs.

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That's it for now. As you can see it is minimal, but I will continue to work on it as it goes on. This is by design, just like Stasher.

Manage saved shortcuts

• Use Search shortcuts to filter the list by shortcut or destination URL.
• Click a saved shortcut to open it. Parameterized shortcuts open their default URL from the manager.
• Use the edit button to change a shortcut, its destination, or its default URL.
• Use the delete button to remove a shortcut. Linker asks you to confirm first.
• Click the Linker toolbar icon again whenever you want to reopen the side panel.